why does pick thickness matter in regards to alternate picking? I keep hearing different people on YouTube channel saying that if you want to learn to alternate pick use a thick pic one mm or more. I don’t see the point? I myself have a heavy pick attack. When using thicker pics I have a tendency to grab the string and nearly rip it off. Ordering chords of any kind it always catches on one string or two maybe. I found a Dunlop .73 to be thin enough to accommodate my heavy attack but stiffen up to hit all the strings during the cord or you bite down to accent a note or phrase. granted, I do want to go a little thicker maybe .82 or .88 but I’m in between jobs so .73 seems to be the best for me. I know usually picks are an opinionated preference but it seems like a lot of people are being swayed to change their preference on account that someone else learned with a different choice. I don’t know, opinions? thoughts? Sage-like advice?
Not sure I’m “Sage” enough but I also found the 0.73 to be good enough for any speed picking lick I’d want to play. It does bend but its response is still fast enough for most practical applications. I don’t see why you’d want to change it if it works for you.
For reference I’m not über-fast, but on some simple licks I can hit 200-ish with 16th notes and the 0.73 does just fine!
In terms of elite players, Eddie Van Halen, Paul Gilbert and Andy James have been known to use very thin picks (though AJ has moved to heavy ones recently).
Sage neither, but thick picks like the stubby address tone in the way that pick angle does. I concur that whatever works for you now is a lesser consideration in this case. You just don’t want it flopping around. Plenty of pick threads here right now. Maybe look at whether your heavy attack is working for what you wish to achieve?
Actually that is absolutely more than Sage like advice LOL. I mean as far as talking to other musicians there is a man I talked to that 60 some years old who plays really well but doesn’t no entirely as much as the members of this community form here. And my ex old lady. She plays as well but it is more of a beginner. She’s been looking for the same advice. Since no one to talk to and ask opinion or advice from, I’ve been racking my brain over it. But I very much agree with you and what RockStarJazzCat both said. I mean it works really well it’s not flopping around, I can control the intensity of the strike in the amount of pic or material used. I’ve been trying back and forth through Fender style and Ernie Ball Style medium and Heavy pics as well as Dunlop 1.5 and one mm. I mean besides the issue of unwanted string grab and snags, the most fundamental difference I see is tonality. It seems like the thicker pics produce a more crisper accurate and higher-pitched tinny sound on both clean in distorted sounds. Whereas the 7-3 seems to produce a more Fuller and fatter sound. Almost like evenly Distributing the pic strike amongst all strings in a chord. But actually having heard someone else using the same thing and agreeing is music of a different kind to my ears LOL. As I’ve only had two people for advice I didn’t think anyone was ever going to actually say anything on this topic or forum. I have had many a question that drove me mad. But no one to ask. I’m 35 years old and this is the first time I’ve ever written anything on any Forum anywhere. I know that my questions will probably be stupid, but when I do have more time to ask these questions I hope that you two or anyone else on here would be more than obliged to help. thank you guys so much. I was just about to try out 4 more different pics LOL. You saved me some time now I can actually get to practice LOL
a real quick attribute to the heavy pic I forgot to mention. While using the heavier pics and noticing the high-pitched tinny like sound of each note, I also noticed that the unmistakable sound of the pic hitting the string is more present as well. I know as I develop more technique and more speed that this sound would be less noticeable, but still it’s a sound I often can’t bear with LOL. So thank you for affirming my thoughts about the pick thickness. It just seems on every YouTube video I watch about alternate picking, the Creator / author of the video would state to use a thicker heavier pick one mm or more for practicing alternate picking. and it just bugs me cuz everyone I watched said to do that. well I’m doing fine increasing knowledge and speed with my .73 Dunlop, I didn’t know whether this one mm or more idea was something of a trick or Secret to advancing much faster or not. Which led me to believe I should be at least trying to use a thicker pic. The .73 has a little bit of flex in it once I can get a little money I am going to try a .82 or .88. while the sound is fatter and Fuller I still believe them thicker pics have a little bit more accuracy to the sound of the note. Albeit a little too much in my opinion, that why I was thinking of maybe increasing my .73 just a little to see if there is a big difference in the feel and sound. sorry I could talk about any and every little aspect of guitar and give my opinion all day long LOL. It’s just nice to have someone to talk to about this stuff instead of my cat LOL
Ha. Well, your cat needs someone to interact with maybe? Materials matter, and again, you’ll find several threads on the topic. Have fun! 
I use to think that thicker picks were the trick to being able to play fast. In 2005 or 2006 Paul Gilbert had a slot on a Young Guitar DVD and he was playing with a .73mm and also a .60mm pick and he was playing just as fast as always. These days he uses .50mm.
I’m now of the opinion that pick thickness is more of a tonal consideration rather than something that makes a difference with playing fast or not.
As others have said, go with what’s comfortable for you.
Tone and feel, really.
Only thing I’ll add is I’ve found that sometimes going back and forth between a preferred pick (I like Dunlop 1.0 jazz-sized tortex myself) and a thicker or thinner one can be helpful in really trying to smooth out a picking mechanic. But for the most part, use whatever feels right and sounds right to you.
I’ve gone back & forth… but I like the heavier picks now… they have a nice smooth tone.
One thing I would say is… .if you are a ‘lite’ picker, thinner picks can help you get a bit more attack.
For me pick thickness and pick stiffness matters. It’s fine as long as the pick doesn’t flex around and behaves in a consistent fashion.
I think I get what you mean Lukhas. if it flexes in any way then it’s almost as if you don’t have control over the entire pic. Or perhaps I’m wording that wrong. Maybe a pic that is thick with no flex just means you have control over it. don’t get me wrong I actually do like the way the thicker pics sounds. I just wish there was a way to have my cake and eat it too LOL. To have the best of both worlds. a thicker picks sound but with a medium pics give so that I may compensate for my heavy attack. plus I wish there was a pic with two points on it maybe one side will be your light pick attack but the pic would be heavy , and then the other side would be a medium kind of tiny bit of flex for my heavy attack and medium Fat Sound LOL. That’s what I think that little bit of Flex gives is a bit of a fatter sound. I don’t know it seems like I Like the Way chords sound with a medium flexi pic but I like the way a ripping lead solo would sound with a thick accurate pinpointed heavy pic LOL. Damn it time for some experimenting gentleman! We’re going to tape 2 pics together facing away from each other lol. or maybe even change the position, not just away from each other but side by side at a 45 degree angle or 60 or something to that effect. If I could figure out how to handle and grip The Oblonged awkward thing, perhaps I may be onto something then LOL. I got a feeling all I’m going to accomplish is a waste of time and a waste of tape LOL. Or super glue whatever I can find First
Guthrie Govan seems to have a strong argument for using a heavy pick. Whether he is absolutely correct or not I cannot say for sure, though I have benefited from using a heavy pick for alternate picking.
Guthrie is an awesome player, one of the best ever, but I believe the content of that lesson has become outdated in light of the things we know now.
I would say that guthrie is describing what works for him, but he is leaving out a ton of equally valid options for both motion mechanics and oick choice.
On the other side of the spectrum we have the equally awesome Paul Gilbert, who is a supporter of very thin picks with a slightly rounded tip!
My 2 cents.
A thick pick will give a fatter tone and you also need less strenght to get a good volume with a bigger dynamic range.
However, the main reason for me to use a thick pick is control.
You can have a loose grip, which helps with relaxing the muscles, and there is almost no delay between the movement and the tone produced.
When you just play shred loud volume high gain three note per string stuff, a thin pick will work fine. But as soon as you want to play more advanced lines ( jazz/fusion type) you have much more control with a thicker pick in my opinion, unless you use a lot of hammer-ons and Pull-offs.
I feel that there’s a technique associated with holding the pick that’s remedied with a thicker one. Maybe useful if you have death grip like I do and need to loosen up your hand.
Would agree with you there, definitely a choice about tone.
I know a fast jazz guy (Robert Conti) who plays with a .38 mm Dunlop nylon pick. Ridiculously fast but I find it way too flexible.
Medium picks warp when I play them. The warp tells me which side my thumb pressed against previously.
I’ve spent more years playing Jazz IIIs than anything else, but lately I’ve started using a Dunlop Flow 420. THICK but effective for me. Perhaps because I am 66 and have dry skin: small, thinner picks turn around in my hand.
Unfortunately, the 420 clacks against the strings. I hate that. But it may be something I have to live with.
The behavior of a pick depends very much on the plastic; a medium pick in Ultem is much harder to bend than (say) Tortex. I don’t think that I can bend a 2.0mm Flow (in Ultem). You have a 4.2mm pick, that’s impossible to bend with fingers (at least for me).
Now, turning to rotation: if you look at your thumb as a clock, does the pick rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise? And why do you think it has one preferred direction? If it bumps a little from a downstroke, wouldn’t an upstroke bump it back, etc., so on average shouldn’t it stay about where it is placed? The other question that I have for you is how “deep” is your impact with the string? I tend to aim to hit the top of the string with the point (barely touch it), so the impact is really quite mild; some people have a really strong impact, and that might help to rotate the pick if they had, say, lots of downstrokes in a row.