I picked up the new Petrucci Flow pick and gave it a whirl. It feels great - smooth across the strings and I’m suprised that a thicker pick than usual was easy to adjust to. All was going well then I switched to the bridge pickup to hear a awful amount of pick “chirp” - almost more than the note itself. Has anyone else experienced this with the flow picks? (or any other pick). Its hard to believe that pro players can tolerate the levels of chirp that I’m experiencing!
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Yes, I’ve experienced this with several picks.
The issue is that when a pick makes contact with a string, the pick briefly acts as a fret, which results in the “chirp” note being excited on the string. If the pick is made of a hard plastic like acrylic or lexan, or a harder material like glass or metal, the attack and sustain of this note is more pronounced, and so the chirp becomes more noticeable, especially on the bridge pickup.
Imagine touching a glass or steel slide on the string where you would make contact with the pick. That’s the chirp note.
I hate chirp, so I favour picks made of soft, matte nylon.
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I got mine yesterday, totally agree.
Positive:
- Glides off the strings like butter
- Good tone and easy to strum chords unlike some other thick picks
- Doesn’t slip between your fingers
Negative:
- Starts “chirping” at higher speeds
I like Jazz III style picks for playing fast but when strumming chords they have a harsh tone and are a bit difficult. The Flow pick hits a nice balance between being able to strum and shred. They’re only $3.50 at Amazon so thumbs up for me.
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Thanks for the reply.
After many years of the Jazz III, I normally use Dava gel picks (the pinkish ones) and they have a little bit of chirp, but not enough to put me off.
Thats interesting - I was only using it for higher speeds when testing, so I’ll try at a variety of speeds tonight and check the results.
Do you think the amount of edge picking changes the amount of chirp that you produce?
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To me the chirp starts getting noticeable with high gain on the B and E strings when the chirp is almost as long as the note played. On clean tones I barely hear it. I’ve been a bad boy and haven’t changed strings in a couple of months so that’s probably a factor as well.
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You and me both! I’ll test that too!!
This is why I use delrin tipped Dava jazz grips. Delrin is the most solid material I have found that doesn’t chirp. I really liked how long Gravity picks last but the chirp was driving me insane.
Is that the red-tipped ones? I used to use that before the pink ones, they were good - I might go back!
That’s them. I blind bought them at Sam Ash a while back hwne they didn’t have any Gravity sunrise and I’ve made a 5 pack last for about a year. I like that they are bigger than the standard dunlop jazz. Keep in mind the further you grip from the tip the more flexible they become.
Yeah I like them. The variable flexibilty depending on grip was something I wasn’t sure about when I got them but I found that you could use it to strum as well as shred. I’m a bit dissapointed with the Petrucci Flow, so I think I will stick to the Dava…
I’m not familiar with that particular pick but I kinda like the pick chirp noise!!
You savage!!! Lol. I find a little bit of chirp is okay as long as it is not at the expense of the note
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