Starting With Speed question..and Hi!

Introduce Yourself
#1

Hi All,
New member, in my 50s and grew up loving shred and metal. Big EJ fan. Been playing since teens…wish I had more to show for it! Mostly self taught.

I have a question about something I noticed on the Starting with Speed video. When Troy slows it down, it sounds like there are 2 attacks (or clicks) for each note. It appears the first ‘click’ is when the pick first contacts the string and the second ‘click’ is when the pick leaves the string.

Am I hearing it right? Is this intentional? At speed, it almost seems to fatten up the attack. I can see how it might be good sometimes but not so good at others (like a super sensitive high gainer). Any input appreciated.

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#3

Hi! I don’t have that video up in front of me but it sounds like you’re referring to chirp:

This is actually a Pickslanting Primer chapter from the Pick Design section, which you can find here:

The short story is that a pick’s chirpyness is based on lots of factors, but if you don’t like the sound of it you can choose thinner picks, and softer materials which seem to have less of it. The Dunlop Nylon range at 1mm or less is a great low-chirp pick that’s cheap and commonly available.

The Jazz IIIs I use in the Primer lesson you’re commenting is a heavy pick, and even though nylon is a softer material, at 1.4mm thick it’s definitely going to chirp — especially in the XL size, which are pretty chirpy.

C’est la vie!

#4

Thanks Troy! It is the contact that causes chirp (or just a click) that I was referring to. And BTW/FWIW, the red EJ Jazz IIIs are a little more chirpy than the regular Jazz IIIs. They sound brighter too. Amazing what a slight material difference makes.