Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 26 to 50 of 51

Thread: One pick for everything?

  1. #26
    Registered User Fstpicker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Casselberry, Fl. USA
    Posts
    556

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I use a BC TAD 40 & 50 for guitar; TAD 50 and Wegen 1.4 for mandolin.

    Jeff

  2. #27
    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Frederick,MD
    Posts
    2,304

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    From what I've read here, one Blue Chip pick is all you'll need for any instrument. It will even work with instruments as diverse as piano, oboe or cello. Plus, it will clear up stubborn cases of acne, make you immediately attractive to the opposite sex (or the same sex if that's your preference), eradicate halitosis and can be used to clean windows sparkling bright. When you think of them in these terms, $35 sounds downright reasonable....
    For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
    www.busmanwhistles.com
    Handcrafted pennywhistles in exotic hardwoods.

  3. #28
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Posts
    2,354

    Default Re: One pick for everything?


  4. #29
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Quote Originally Posted by Paul Busman View Post
    ... When you think of them in these terms, $35 sounds downright reasonable....
    When I think of all the money that flies out my window on nothing in particular every single month of my life, a one time expense of $35.oo that does anything usefull seems a wonder.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  5. #30
    Registered User mandobassman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Delran, NJ
    Posts
    2,921

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I use a Blue Chip XR60 for mandolin in all situations except where I need a little extra volume. Last night I played a noisy wedding and went to the Fender 346 extra heavy because the more rounded edge of the BC didn't cut through the noise. Unfortunately, I lost the sweet tone I've become accustomed to from the BC. I also have a Wegen TF140 which is by far the loudest pick I have ever used, but I hate the tone on my mandolin so I won't use it. I still use the 346 for guitar. I find it works better for me for rhythm.

  6. #31
    Bill Healy mrbook's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Schenectady, NY
    Posts
    695

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I use a heavy (.94) celluloid pick for both guitar and mandolin, but use the upper corner for the mandolin. I was using another kind, but dropped it on a dark stage one night. The guitar pick was in my pocket, and I never went back. I buy them by the 100 or gross with our band name on them.

  7. #32
    Registered User Jim Yates's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Port Hope, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    467

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I use a Fender medium celluloid tri-corner pick for guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo, banduria and long-necked mandolin. I started using these in the 60s and I am now too set in my ways to try another for long enough to get used to it. They get lost regularly or "loaned" and not returned, so I always keep a pocket full. I recall buying these 3 for a quarter, but nowadays they've gone up to about 35 cents. I think I'd probably take better care of them if they cost $35 like the blue chips. I can imagine myself going through the cushions of the couch or trying to recall who borrowed my pick.
    I've tried tortoise shell picks, Grisman picks and Wegans, but I still prefer the tri-corner mediums.

    I don't use these on the mountain dulcimer. I prefer a floppy, thin triangular pick for it.
    Jim Yates

  8. #33
    Registered User Jim Yates's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Port Hope, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    467

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Quote Originally Posted by mandroid View Post
    Depends on your style .. D'jango used a pretty fat pick , I'm told, or at least a heavy melodic style, favored the heavier
    pick for the same up and down stokes for all those little notes, the hemisemidemi Quavers...

    that mandolin's melodic lines, also seem to need..

    rather than chord strumming , then a thinner, mudflap pick, is OK.

    they would all go in a basket, and, you , just do what needs to be done
    I've read that Django used a button from his trousers as a pick. That would be very heavy.
    Jim Yates

  9. #34
    Registered User Jon Hall's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Nacogdoches Texas
    Posts
    1,295

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Although I have several different picks I'll use from time to time, I'm comfortable playing mandolin and guitar with a Fender heavy triangle ( the one with the factory rounded corners not the big pyramid shape).

  10. #35
    Unrepentant Dilettante Lee Callicutt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Myrtle Beach, SC
    Posts
    559

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Sometimes I get in a mood where I do that, though I confess I haven't played mandolin in too long a time -- but when I do, it's usually Golden Gate or a 1.90 Clayton teardrop.

  11. #36
    Mike Parks woodwizard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Knoxville (Piney Bay) Arkansas
    Posts
    2,966

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I use a BC TPR60 on everything. Works for me
    I Pick, Therefore I Grin! ... "Good Music Any OLD-TIME"

    1922 Gibson F2
    2006 Gibson F5 Goldrush
    2015 Martin HD28-V
    2017 Gibson J45

  12. #37
    Okay, I'm with you fellas tburcham's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Jonesboro, AR
    Posts
    726
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I'm in the one pick - many instruments camp. Bluechip TAD 40 one corner hand radiused by me. I have a TAD 50 as well, but find I prefer the 40.
    Tim Burcham
    Northfield Big Mon (Red Spruce/Red Maple)
    Gibson F-9 Custom
    1942 Strad-O-Lin
    1948-54 Gibson LG-3
    2011 Gibson J-45 True Vintage
    2017 Martin HD-28 VTS Custom Shop
    Bailey Mandolin Straps (NFI)
    Bell Arm-rests (NFI)

  13. #38
    Registered User Matt Bowe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Claverack, NY USA
    Posts
    163

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Mike, "PAS" !?! : )
    MJB

  14. #39

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I switch it up from time to time, but when I just pick up a mandolin and play, I always reach for my D'Andrea Pro Plec Large Rounded Triangle.
    Just visiting.

    1923 Gibson A jr Paddlehead mandolin
    Newish Muddy M-4 Mandolin
    New Deering Goodtime Special open back 17 Fret Tenor Banjo

  15. #40
    George Wilson GRW3's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    1,336
    Blog Entries
    8

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Quote Originally Posted by pjlama View Post
    I have a couple real tortoise picks cut from a vintage cigarette case that are rounded triangles which sound great for everything. I do have a crazy amount of other picks but there's nothing like the real thing. I stop at antique stores and look for it when I can. I'm sure this isn't PC but I'm fine with it since I'm recycling.
    No, you're not recycling, you're breaking the law. The treaty considers repurposing tortoise to be the same killing a live turtle in that it encourages the trade. I think it's an intrusive law but not much you can do. Over the years there have been reports of poor guitar players being caught in illicit trade stings. If you find a piece, don't say what you intend to do don't be surprised when can't buy it sometime. No moral judgement just trying to give you a heads up.
    George Wilson
    Weber Bighorn Mandolin
    ca. 1900 Clifford Mandolinetto
    Martin Guitars

  16. #41
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Manchester - Lancashire - NW England
    Posts
    14,187

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Well,i modified the bevels on both my 'Tortex' picks,it made little difference,they're still way too 'slick' on the strings for me.I can't get them to produce the crispness that my 1.00 mm Wegens,or my 'bog standard' Weber freebies have,
    Ivan
    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
    Lebeda F-5 "Special".
    Stelling Bellflower BANJO
    Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
    Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.

  17. #42
    Registered User Kevin K's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    West Tennessee
    Posts
    1,230

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I like the TP40 the best and I modify two of the 3 points. Thin enough to be quick, thick enough for good tone and volume.
    "Can I have a little more talent in the monitors please?"

  18. #43
    Registered User Chip Booth's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Hailey, ID
    Posts
    2,112

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I use different picks for different mandos, different guitars, etc. I carry at least 3 types of picks to every gig, switching between 8 string 10 string mandolins, acoustic guitar and electric guitar. It gets a little cumbersome sometimes but I get the tone I want on each instrument. I use different shapes, large triangles with rounded corners for acoustic instruments and teardrop on the electric, where I use a completely different grip.

  19. #44
    Notary Sojac Paul Kotapish's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Alameda, California
    Posts
    2,484

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Wegen TR-140 for the mandolin. Dunlop Tortex Triangle .88 for guitar. I sometimes switch them around if i want a brighter sound on the mandolin or a warmer sound on the guitar. Both work for the Hofner bass, which I play with a pick--Macca style (in my dreams, anyway).
    Just one guy's opinion
    www.guitarfish.net

  20. #45
    Registered User thejamdolinplayer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    toledo, Oh
    Posts
    190

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Wegen Big City 1.8.... For guitar and mando.

  21. #46

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I had better get with the program, since a better pick from a famous brand at an inflated price will surely make me a much improved player who might then not have to bother with practice to develop silly things like rhythm and fluency and picking skills and scales and arpeggios and musical knowledge. Free from all that time-consuming stuff, I'll be able to spend more time talking about little pieces of plastic.

    rm

  22. #47
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Quote Originally Posted by blueron View Post
    I had better get with the program, since a better pick from a famous brand at an inflated price will surely make me a much improved player who might then not have to bother with practice to develop silly things like rhythm and fluency and picking skills and scales and arpeggios and musical knowledge. Free from all that time-consuming stuff, I'll be able to spend more time talking about little pieces of plastic.
    Ya never know, ya just never know.

    I think one reason that picks get so much chatter is that they are the business end of the whole deal. Its how the sound is made.

    Also its so personal. The pick is the user interface to the mandolin, its the way we interact with it, the man-machine interface.

    And they are relatively cheap so its a lot of fun to switch em up and see how things change.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  23. #48
    Closet Mandolin Player Mark Walker's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Wayland, Michigan
    Posts
    1,552

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I guess - compared to some - I'm a 'simpleton.' For years and years I used a black Jim Dunlop 1mm guitar pick on everything - my six-string flat top dreadnaught, my 12-string guitar, and both of my mandolins.

    Recently I switched to a V-Picks 'Tradition' pick - basically their version of the traditional Fender guitar picks that have been around since Moby Dick was a minnow. Other than the color (I like the 'ruby' color better than the clear; the clear are a BUGGER to find if you drop them) I use them on all my instruments. (NFI)

    I do (at all times) carry a black Jim Dunlop 1mm in my pocket for those occasions when I'm in a music store or at a friend's house and happen to stumble on a stray mandolin or guitar begging to be played....
    "The more I learn, the more I realize how ignorant I truly am..."

  24. #49

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    I'm a Pro Plec 1.5mm user, they seem to fit my hand nicely. I tried a 2.0, didn't like the way it came off the strings. But I do admit to using another Pro Plec pick, I don't know what its made of, it's sorta green, semi transparent and harder than ... well lets say it's hard. I use it on my electric guitars some, but when I really want to get radical, I grab a crushed penny, one that we ran through one of those machines that squeeze through a set of dies at disney, nice shape, this, sharp .... better than the paso used by Billy G. .... well I think so anyways, mine has Goofy on it, seems sorta appropriate in some way.

  25. #50

    Default Re: One pick for everything?

    Quote Originally Posted by Chip Booth View Post
    I use different picks for different mandos, different guitars, etc. I carry at least 3 types of picks to every gig...
    I used to do this...but too often would forget where the picks are and wound up just playing fingerstyle guitar, or fiddle..

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •