I have a cupla V-Picks too, a Tremolo R (1.0mm) which is ok and a Medium Ultra Lite (.88mm) which is only so-so. I like the sticky feeing of them.
I have tried many flavors of picks over the years, but for me, the BC TAD 3R 50 is the one I always gravitate back to. I will pull out some of the old ones from time to time, but after one fiddle tune or song, back I go. Because I also switch back and forth frequently between mandolin and guitar, the 3R really IS a ‘one size fits all’ for me. Now, if I could get back 10 cents on the dollar for all of the other ones I have tried….
I have used a large variety of picks. Most notably, Blue Chip CT 55 and V-Pick Saga. This last year I have played Wegen M150’s, which are somewhat round, as I’m sure you know. I like the tone they produce, the grip control, and smooth attack.
2014 BRW F5 #114
2022 Kentucky KM 950 Master Model
YouTube Original Recording of My composition "Closer Walk"
Yeah, I haven’t tried the M150s. I’m using the M100s right now. They’re ok.
I like the D'andrea Radex 346 for mando and mandola. 1.25 thickness
My wife and musical partner says she likes the sound of them better than the 1 Bluechip I own. She may have a financial incentive to say that, though
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Barbi Mandola
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Yeah, Chuck, I have a cupla D’Andrea 385 Large Round Matte Shell picks coming in the mail. They’ll be here Saturday. I haven’t played any D’Andreas yet, but some have said they liked them.
The D'Andrea picks I have tried I liked, but not as much as the Wegen.
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The white Wegen. I’ve never played in a bar that had white floors
I try not to be too finicky. Today it’s a BC tad 40, tomorrow it could be anyone of 2 dozen others.
Been venturing into rounded picks lately, and really liking them. Tried a prime tone and it surprised me, so I've ordered an apollo in the same shape. We'll see.
Yeah, I like ‘em a lot. My favorite (so far) is Prime Tone Round .3 or .5. I’ve been usin’ them for a long time. They’re great for tremolo, but, as I said before, they’re a bit noisy.
I have a really great looking D’Addorio round mandolin pick. It’s clear, red with white letters and nice and smooth. I guess I bought it for it’s looks, but it’s pretty mushy sounding — kinda thuddy. I guess all that glitters is not gold. Shore is purdy though.
I have a Blue Chip TAD-3R with a simple round bevel (no speed bevel) on order. This one is the size of the CT 55, but it has rounded corners and is 1.5 thick rather than the CT’s 1.4.
2014 BRW F5 #114
2022 Kentucky KM 950 Master Model
YouTube Original Recording of My composition "Closer Walk"
I've found that with a rounded pick, at least on my mandolins, they tend to sound darker (duller, thuddy?) at the same thickness of a larger triangle (slightly rounded, perhaps - not "pointy"), so (e.g.) to my ear, the rounded Apollo PEI pick I use on the NF is 1.2mm compared to the 1.5mm (Mike Marshall) has a very similar sound, while if I use a 1.5mm rounded triangle, it sounds too dull. The thicker one does sound nice on the Eastman, though, which is a brighter instrument overall.
I don't know if that is a general "rule" or just something with the way I hold the picks. It does make sense to me that if there's less material between the strings and your grip, it's going to darken things up a bit, so thinning the pick material may compensate for that. Unless, of course, you want both the feel and tone to shift!
p.s. I also sense that there's something besides the tone shift or feel going on. I was in a small jam just a couple days ago, and the rounded 1.2 PEI pick, that sounds pretty much the same as the triangular 1.5 in my small music room, allowed the mandolin to really drop back in the overall "mix" but pulling out the 1.5 triangle gave it more "presence" in the jams. The experience left my conflicted
2018 Kentucky KM-950, 2017 Ellis A5 Deluxe
I think picks are sometimes maddening. One finally gets a pick that sounds just as he/she thinks it should, but the next time it’s played it sounds different, and the search starts again. Sometimes 1.5mm is just the right thickness and other times it’s too thick, and the new, thin one sounds just right.
I heard a story about some guy who dropped his pick and couldn’t find it, so he took a coin outta his pocket and went on playing.
I think it’s all in how we hold the pick and tilt it and how hard we fret and on and on . . . Probably if we all played exactly the same way every time, any pick would do. Ahhh me . . .
It almost sounds like some of those expressing confusion actually do understand. You try picks. You see what you like and how they perform on different strings and different grips. In the process, you get to know the differences. This one is duller than that one. This one is more percussive than those. You are then able to make adjustments when a change of strings or room gives you sound that could be improved on. You already know which direction to compensate.
Primetone: My "Let's brighten this up and project clean picking"
Pro-Plec: My "Let's mellow this out and tame some shrill"
Wegen: My all around "I can't explain why this one sounds so good"
What I play
2021 Skip Kelley Two-Point
Eastwood 'Ricky'
Morgan Monroe RT-1E
Epiphone Genesis guitars
Various Basses
Mitch, that sounds like good info. Maybe I’ll have to listen a bit closer. Thanks.
JBovier ELS; Epiphone MM-50 VN; Epiphone MM-40L; Gretsch New Yorker G9310; Washburn M1SDLB;
Fender Nashville Deluxe Telecaster; Squier Modified Vintage Cabronita Telecaster; Gretsch 5420T; Fender Tim Armstrong Hellcat: Washburn Banjo B9; Ibanez RB 5string; Ibanez RB 4 string bass
Pedalboard for ELS: Morley Cry baby Miniwah - Tuner - EHX Soul Food Overdrive - EHX Memory Toy analog Delay
Fender Blues Jr Tweed; Fender Greta;
Rounded corners just don't seem to work for the way I play and the groups I play in. Makes it more difficult to be heard. Both by me and others. At least in an acoustic setting. And that does not seem to be instrument dependent. End up using a 346 shape most of the time. From .88 to 1.5 or so depending on the instrument, mood, and how others hear it.
The general baseline seems to be a Blue Chip TAD-1R 40. And will go thicker or thinner from there depending on circumstances. Been playing with the Golden Gate clown b*rf X-heavy or heavy a lot lately. And for home practice The Mandolin store 346 shape seems to be the first I grab.
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I use the Apollo Reischman picks and love them. For me, the sharper the corners on a pick, the more pronounced the clicking sound. I've tried them all, many times over, and keep coming back to the Apollo Reischman.
This is very true, in the thoughts expressed. Mandolins are more sensitive (IMHO) to changes in barometric pressure, humidity, player technique, string taughtness, etc. than guitars (for those of us who came to mandolin from other instruments.) So a pick that sounds great one day may sound terrible (or not as good) on another day. If we always played perfectly, we could probably use any pick and sound good, but how likely is that to happen? For me, not in my lifetime.
Yeah, Lady, I couldn’t agree more. Yesterday I used a light pick that sounded pretty good, yet today I didn’t like it and chose another.. It’s maddening! I guess the pros hafta carry a mixed bunch when they go to gigs.
Such a good point. Something I noticed recently was that on the tenor banjo, when I put new strings on I prefer using a .60mm pick, but once the strings are old that weight doesn't feel right any more and I switch to a .72mm. There I was thinking I was just fickle about deciding on what pick I liked when in fact there is a method to my madness!
2018 Girouard Concert oval A
2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
1969 Martin 00-18
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I wonder if anyone has just the one pick and picks with it every time. Probably a Blue Chip guy/gal.
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