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Thread: Wegen Picks

  1. #1
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    I'm thinking about ordering some Wegen picks and I'm not sure which model to order. The M series are obviously intended for mandolin, but I'm looking for something less blunt than they appear to be. I have my eye on the TF triangle picks, but am not sure which thickness to order. I want to try something thinner so I was thinking the 1mm...has anyone tried these? Which thicknesses did you play and what did you think? If you've tried the TF100, did it bend at all? How do these compare to, say, Dunlop triangles?

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    I've been using the M150"s and have become quite addicted to them. The bevels are quite nice, not blunt at all.
    Too, too many

  3. #3
    Wanna be manodlin player
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    I'm with phoenix on that the M150 isn't too blunt or too sharp. I enjoy playing both mandolin and guitar with them and the tone is great. I have pretty much stopped using my TS, but I am trying to build one of those like the M150.
    Ron Lane
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    I have really enjoyed the Chad Fadely TF140 pick from Greg Boyd. He custom ordered them to be a bit smaller than the regular TF140s. They are very comfortable and sound great to my ears. They're listed on Greg's site. They ship 'em really fast, too.

  5. #5

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    I use the TF140 also great pick
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  6. #6
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    The dipper is my pick of choice. It's got the rounded edge of a mando pick and a broad, flat side to balance on your knuckle.
    Howard

  7. #7
    Registered User Kevin K's Avatar
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    That Dipper will sure give you some volume especially if you get around the 1.8 mark, but my experience is that it gets hung up in the strings. With the more surface area on your finger it likes to stay put.
    Mandowood, that pick your talking about is the CF140 and I too like it alot. I'm getting a couple built but at 1.8.
    Also mention above, the M150's are good too. Good tone and volume.
    Alex, my suggestion is to get with someone who may have an assortment and bring your mandolin. If not, I would suggest to talk to Greg Boyd, FQMS and others and place an order for a couple different models and try them out. CF are only available through Greg Boyd at this time I believe. If you don't like them, they'll turn around fast here.
    "Can I have a little more talent in the monitors please?"

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    Another vote for the M150s. They don't feel big and bulky at all. I think they coax the best tone out of mandolin of any of the picks I've experimented with, including Dunlop Ultex, Tortex, and Jazztone 207s, and Golden Gate. The M150 wins.
    awm

  9. #9
    Registered User Tom C's Avatar
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    I like the M100s. Too much scratching noise with the thickness and bevel of the M150s.

  10. #10
    Notary Sojac Paul Kotapish's Avatar
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    The TF140 is my current favorite for the mandolin on most stuff.
    Just one guy's opinion
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  11. #11
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    I used a modified M100 which Michael cuts down to .8mm
    which is close to the size i like (similar to a medium guitar pick)
    Ira

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  12. #12
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    Another M150 fan.

    Even though they are quite rounded, they don't sound 'soft' like the Dawg picks. Even a light brush with an M150 will bring out the volume. I find they level out the micro-dynamic variations of my picking in a good way ... I sound smoother using an M150.

    I don't think the tone of the M150 is better than Tortis. I find Tortis to be fuller sounding, and use one as my Go To pick.

    M150's are for gigs and other situations where I want consistency of tone, and good visibility for when I drop one on a dark floor!

    But at the end of the day ... there is only One True Pick, and no commercial product has come close to its tone or projection. The OTP gets used for recording, or in situations where it will not be broken or lost. I did not seek it out (it was a gift), and likely would not seek out a replacement should it go away.

    Ultex and Ultem picks can be found in the storage compartments of all my cases. At 25¢ per, they can be lost, left behind, dropped, and forgotten. They sound allright, too.

    - Benig

  13. #13
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    I use a TP right now and have no plans to stop doing so, but there are disadvantages to it and I want something to supplement it, Wegens seeming to be the best choice.

    I know that what I really need to do is just play a bunch of Wegens but I don't know anywhere to do that, and I don't have enough cash right now to order a bunch, even if I could resell them later.

  14. #14
    Purveyor of Sunshine sgarrity's Avatar
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    I ordered a bunch about a year ago. I tried the Bluegrass pick, the triangular picks and the mandolin picks. I think its hard to beat the M150 for mandolin. I've tried Tor-tis, real tortise and everything else you can imagine. And I always go right back to the M150. Now for guitar, I use the M100 on my mahogany/adi Proulx and I use a Tor-tis mandolin pick that is about 1.0mm on my EIR/adi Breedlove. For some reason the Tor-tis just balances the tone a little better on the Breedlove.

    Shaun

  15. #15
    aka aldimandola Michael Wolf's Avatar
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    I've ordered all three TF sizes and in the moment I play the TF100, but I like the TF140 the same. It depends on the kind of music I'm playing. I do a lot of irish tunes with triplets and therefore the 100 seems a bit better because it sounds brighter. Though I found even the 140 doesn't feel like 140, because of the beveled edges that go easy through the strings.
    With the M i'm not able to do triplets. I also have some custom TFs with more rounded edges, but I found out that I like the more pointed picks.


    Cheers
    Michael

  16. #16
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    My preference is the 1.0mm bluegrass guitar pick. It's also his cheapest (they sell in packs of three). I like a bit of a tip to my picks, which is why I prefer this over the M100.

    Martin

  17. #17
    8 Fingers, 2 Thumbs Ken Sager's Avatar
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    Has anybody used the M200? Are they shaped like the M150, just thicker? I've used the M150 and really like the shape. I just felt they were just a bit too thin.

    Joy to all,
    Ken
    Less talk, more pick.

  18. #18
    Registered User Steve G's Avatar
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    I've tried the M200's. Way too scratchy for my ears. Lots of tinny volume. I use the M150 now and love it. I had to adjust for a little flex after using Dawgs but it was worth it. It has helped to improve my tremolo big time. You know, pick choice is really a personal thing. You might want to try so many of them before you find one that works for you. I wanted a pick that would work for all styles of music and the M150 gives me that. For now.
    ‎"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." - Howard Aiken

  19. #19
    Registered User Ignatius's Avatar
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    Another vote here for the bluegrass model.

    I suppose I prefer guitar picks because I learned to play guitar first, but I also like the sound better when I use a guitar pick (although that may be as much about how I am using the pick as it is the pick itself). I try different picks here and there, but I keep coming back to the Wegen bluegrass pick, and as someone mentioned here, I recently am beginning to hear a different (and better) sound emerge out of my playing as I learn to use the Wegen.

    That, however, may be more about me, the pick, and my mandolin getting to know each other, than it is about any specific element of the set.

  20. #20
    I'll take it! JGWoods's Avatar
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    I like the 1mm dipper and have several in the usual locations- under chair cushions, forgotten in cases, under the bed etc. so that only one is visible and available at any time.
    I find I need to start off playing with a rounded corner as I am stiff and a little sloppy until I get warmed up. The rounded corner helps then. Later I use the pointier corners to get a little sharper sound and more distinct single lines, sometimes switching to the rounded corner for lots of tremelo.
    I also use an electric engraver to put my initials in them which raises up some nice grippy spots.
    Works for me.
    Be yourself, everyone else is taken.
    Favorite Mandolin of the week: 2013 Collings MF Gloss top.

  21. #21
    Registered User mikeyes's Avatar
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    Alex,

    The problem you are going to run into is that every mandolin and every mandolin player is a little different so the "best pick" for one set is probably not he best pick for the next set. Another factor is how good your right hand technique is. If you are not consistent or precise, your tone will suffer and all the picks in the world will not help bring out the best sound in your instrument. Not to say that some picks are not better. TS picks have been the choice for artists for many years. I find that the Wegen material and the Tortise material are very good on my mandolins, but my preference for my nicest mandolin is an inexpensive Dunlop 207 jazz pick. I use a Wegen 150 on another of my mandos. I went through an extensive process (and I have at least a hundred different picks to prove it) of finding the "best" (meaning optimal for my technique and instrument) pick and the trends are towards the picks usually mentioned on this forum: TS, Wegen, Tortise, Ultrem, and the 200 series Dunlop. Pick shape, bevel style, and thickness are all important variables as is your expectations of how your mandolin should sound. I expect a fat woody sound from my F hole models and a sweeter, more trebly sound from my D/O hole mandolins. Thicker often means a fatter sound, but not always. Certain materials offer a certain sound, but not always.

    I am afraid you will have to do what everyone else has done: try them all and see which one works. The investment, especially if you have a very find instrument (but also if you don't, some mandos really come alive with the right pick), is not that much, just as playing around with string types is not that much of an investment once you have found the right ones.

    So what is good for one player may not be good for another. There is a reason why some picks keep getting mentioned in these endless thread about picks (because they probably are better), so it makes sense to start with some of the favorites of the other members. But you have to find the one that is best for you.

    Banjosessions.com




  22. #22
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    Another vote for the M150. I like the tone it pulls on my mando. It makes playing tremolo a breeze too.


    Darrell



    Gibson MM #V-70335 5/2002

  23. #23

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    Does anyone use the Fender picks. I never see them mentioned. I use the largest pick they make, 3 smooth corners and heavy gauge. I know Roland White uses them also.

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