In my many years of playing I started with Fender Mediums. I switched to Jazz III’s 10 years ago but throughout my playing years I’ve never noticed any visible pick wear.
Am I picking wrong? I know kind of dumb question if one has been playing and never had a problem with it, but resources like this kind of make me question every aspect of my playing.
It probably depends on how hard you pick. I will say that jazz III’s seem to not wear out as much as some of the others I’ve used. If you’re happy with the tone you’re getting, probably fine to leave it alone.
I would imagine an almost complete lack of edge picking would really reduce wear on a jazz3 type pick. As far as I know there’s nothing wrong with little to no edge picking.
I wouldn’t worry about it; as @joebegly mentioned, the original jazz III’s (and in my experience most nylon picks) will wear very minimally over time, and that’s with aggressive playing.
I don’t either, but it depends on the pick material.
When I used to use a middle finger grip my picks would barly wear out, now I use a index grip they wear out quite a bit. I think it’s down to the angle of pick attack.
When I started playing again I went round the house and collected all my picks from the different pots and dishes and drawers and pockets. I was amazed at how most of them were worn down and pretty useless.
Most of the picks would of been used when I was in a band and playing fast muted rhythm stuff.
I bought a load of new ones and the Ibanez sand grip picks red started to wear immediately. The Jazz IIIs haven’t worn at all, even though I’ve been using them for hours every day.
Impressive, most impressive.
I have found the jazz 3 to not wear much too, tho they are so small I don’t get a great grip. I wonder if it’s the material or the shape?
And be careful, the dark side is very seductive lol 
Just an update on the pick question and what I’m doing. Watching Troy & others videos, the picking hand has a lot more pick showing than my technique.
It was hard to tell in the youtube video I posted in the “Critique” section because it was acoustic, but it was “wimpy” sounding compared to these pros. Somehow I adapted this “choked up” way of holding the pick so it would easily glide over the strings, but not strike them very hard.
I stumbled across this video the other day and have consciously tried to change my technique. This exposing more pick and striking the strings harder seems like a breakthrough in clarity of what I’m playing and how it sounds. I’m going to continue on this path which only makes sense that this would wear a pick down more (depending on the material of course).
[edit I removed the video after doing a little research on this dude and not very fond of what I learned]
You have a very strong elbow technique in your video You could look at the interview with Bill Hall for some inspiration.
The only thing I could say is do a video amped up, acoustic is really different to amped playing. Your “wimpy” sound acoustically will be bound to sound way more powerful with an Amp. And you might not have an issue at all. The Amp is like a microscope, it can show a lot.
Hitting the strings hard is not at all nessecerry with an Amp, infact, a more delicate and light touch is exactly what you want, I know from my own experience with loud amps that the more intricate and delicate you are the better your playing. Some people can whack the strings like zakk wylde, but they have a more loose gypsy jazz style that allows a lot of range of motion without hitting adjacent strings.
You are attacking the strings very horizontally, and this requires more accuracy, and gives you an easy double escape motion, but it is totally fine if you have the control, Michael Angelo Batio is a good guy to look at if this horizontal playing feels comfortable for you.
Just a quick note, maybe off topic, but I seem to pick lightly if I’m really “on my game” and playing with feel and passion, and I don’t dislike the results but I dont sound like Yngwie or EJ or RR or anyone else (and that’s what I would like of course).
If I’m sitting there consciously working on picking I seem to pick heavier.
Something I am feeling lately is that I should stop trying to play like other people and just let my own style shine through.
This doesn’t mean that I’ll stop working on picking technique or doing exercises, because my picking has definitely improved since discovering CtC and working on it. Just I feel like any guitarist plays best when playing with feel and passion rather than thinking about every tiny pickstoke technically and for me that seems to result in light picking.
I agree, you have to think about it at some point if you’re coming at this as a conscious adult, but ultimately, if you want to really use the guitar as a tool of expression, you need to let your subconscious mind take over. All the best players do that from an early age, and is why they are such bad teachers, because all their skill is subconscious, like all of us talking with our mouth n tongue, we can’t begin to explain it, it is all subconscious.
This made me laugh out loud! Lots of truth here though. It really is hard to explain things that we know inside and out.
Thanks for the input! I’m also going a little off-topic but just wanted to explain where I’m coming from. What really turned me on to the CtC (I new to this) was Troy’s “scientific” way of describing the intangibles. I went to HS in the 80’s and love all the pop culture and nerdy references in his videos.
However I was really into Post-Punk stuff like The Cure, Clash, Jam, XTC, REM, Replacements, etc. at that time in my life. I guess more DIY, than virtuoso, but had a record collection full of all the great bands & players of the 70’s & 80’s which I listened to a lot but were in another universe from what I could play. Judas Priest was my favorite, must had seen them 6 times, TWO lead guitar players that played like that blew my mind!
Anyways with all the crazy stuff going on today, Music is the one constant that keeps me sane. It makes everyone feel good. And it’s a journey that will go as far as you want to take it. So I still search for those moments when you practice and practice and Finally the abstract “clicks” and you just feel it, and then go all night until your fingers bleed.
Rock On,
Jen
My journey on CtC has brought me to a new place, the Tone of my pick. I have a couple packs of various Tortex picks but never liked the “chalky” feel of them, however I thought I should give them another try.
I’ve been comfortable with Jazz III’s for many years however I like to play Rockabilly and Country licks. Jazz III’s never had a bright enough “Pop”! These Tortex Flows are Da Bomb! I can’t believe I stayed away from Tortex for so long because the “chalky” feel wears away quickly. The green has just enough flex for that “snap” and the Orange makes my old acoustic strings come to life!
I’m going to stick with these for a while 
Cool !
Ive got some greens hanging around somewhere, I always found them too bright and snappy for the fast widdly widdly rock stuff that I like to try and play, but I’ll give them another go see how it feels and sounds.
@motochick if you want to experiment with different pick materials for tone but want to stay in the Jazz III shape, I dig / recommend the nylon line (not the same nylon as the OG, it seems to be more “cut”) and the tortex line. I love switching between them when I want more snap / high end (tortex) or smoothness (nylon).
The ULTEX has a jazz shape too. Ultex is one of the best materials I’ve used. Idk what others think of them tho?
I’ll give them a try!
My test for the pick, is to play a “Chuck Berry” style lick with double stops, if it sounds good, that’s what I’m looking for.
It’s kinda fun trying out different Picks. Cheap way to change your tone
Pre CtC I was a lifetime jazz III user. One of the things suggested on here a lot is to try a bunch of different picks/grips etc to provide your motor learning process with some variations. I now have a handful of other go-to picks and actually the jazz III are my least favorite of the bunch. I’m using: