I’ve been using .010 to .046 on my Strats for years now with good results. But I’m having a hard time picking through the low E string, now that my speed picking is developing.
What gauge strings would you recommend for speed picking, especially for licks that start on the low E string?
Wondering if I should change to .009’s.
Post video including the E2 string and people will advise you.
What is your pick model and thickness?
Do you have more than one electric guitar with the same scale? If so, you could string them differently to test the difference directly. Of course, the more similar the two guitars the more effective this test will be.
I could be wrong, but I think that the standard wisdom here is that medium-gauge strings (10s or so) are actually easier to pick properly on, and that if you feel like you “can’t get through the string” the issue is likely to be your edge picking, pickslant, or pick point.
I’ve had a similar problem to you in the past, and I think my solution was to simply work on how I was approaching the string (playing with the above three variables) when playing on the lower strings.
Yeah good point!
To elaborate further: try to observe closely the difference in all the variables between a string that you can pick easily (let’s say the G string for the sake of discussion) and another (say the low E) that feels harder.
It’s very likely that the form is different in the two cases. if you reproduce the “G string form” when playing on the low E, you might find that the problem goes away.
EDIT: relevant example from a “pretty decent” player 
Look how Kiko’s hand slides up and down depending on what string he’s playing. In particular, he goes quite far up the guitar body when picking on the low E:
My pick is a Dunlop Red Jazz III. I think those are 1.38 mm. I’m teaching myself to only play with the tip of the pick on the surface of the string.
I heard D’addario makes a 9.5 to a .044. I’ll have to keep experimenting with various things I guess.
I would imagine there are many shred players that use .010 to .046 with success.
“only the tip of the pick on the surface of the string” is, again according to common wisdom here, a trap. Best players in the world don’t really make tiny motions or not dig in.
Listening to that clip of Kiko’s absolute mastery , we should have solved the global injustice by now!
I think one of the best counterexamples to the “small amount of pick” theory is Eddie’s legendary tremolo (video should be cued at around 00:36);
Is this why it feels like I can actually play slightly faster on my guitars tuned to D and C standard with heavier strings?
I think the standard (ha!) wisdom says it’s about tension, rather than string size. I know that my C# standard guitar with 11-52s (roughly 9s tension) is a bit harder to pick accurately on than an E standard guitar with 10s. But I can’t bend a major third with 10s 
If too much pick hits a string, something has to give, right? A flexible pick will bend and presumably not perturb the hand so much, but will a stiff pick cause problems? There is a reason that funk guitarists and EVH choose flexible picks, and Rusty doesn’t? (Rusty aims to hit the top half of the string, if I recall?)
I remember Slash also using very thin (like Dunlop Tortex reds) picks, and he plays pretty heavy gauge strings 11s if I recall. Makes sense.
I don’t know about Eddie or Slash, but I use thinner picks because they give better articulation and allow for much more snap when I want it. For me, edge picking has the same tonal effect as using thicker picks: more consistency in tone from one note to the next with less sensitivity to edge angle picking motion, and less treble in general. Snap is close to impossible for me with thick picks. I want to be able to control the tone with my picking technique, so I prefer thinner picks. In my experience they making picking slightly less smooth feeling, but that can be overcome with technique.
The main benefit of thin picks for me could be a downside for someone who wants more sonic consistency. But I spend most of my time at edge of breakup or less, distortion-wise. With heavy gain I usually prefer less articulation for rhythm, so heavy picks are acceptable but thinner picks with larger edge angles work nicely also, so I do that instea. For lead, though I usually still want more articulation.
The effect is even stronger on acoustic guitars. Clarity and treble are greatly sacrificed with thicker picks and/or more edge angle.
I also like using a thinner pick. Like a .60mm or a .73mm. But the problem I’ve noticed is if I’m picking fast enough, I do in fact have a problem with slop and flop. Because what they say about using a thin pick to pick fast is true.
Can confirm. I actually got better results with my downward pickslanting form by switching away from a jazz sized pick and using a full sized one, as well as holding the pick towards the middle/back. I think it is because I have smaller hands so, when I lean towards the pinky side of my hand, I need more “pick” to reach the strings comfortably.
Regarding the “small amount of pick” debate, I think some alternate picking motions are more resilient to “deep” pick depth than others, and their are nuances like pick rigidity and grip stability. But even in cases where reasonable variations of “amount of pick” might possibly influence the feeling of smoothness, I think the most important aspect is less about “minimizing” the amount of pick, and more about keeping the amount of pick consistent, so that the feeling of resistance from the strings says within a reasonable range with each upstroke and downstroke to facilitate a smooth and consistent reciprocating action of whatever muscles are involved.
I think that this is why edge picking is important
That’s another important variable for sure. I imagine that advocates for “use the smallest amount of pick possible” might be choosing not to use very much edge picking. Or they may not be aware of how little they are using. All other things being equal, the more edge picking you use, the more “depth of pick onto the string” or “amount of pick” you can use and still get a smooth consistent motion.
But the sonic desirability of edge picking can be subjective. Paul Gilbert famously LOVES the scraping sound he gets when he uses Tortex picks at .6mm or .73mm with lots of edge picking. There are other scenarios where for creative/sonic reasons, you might want to use less edge picking. I think it’s useful to explore how you can achieve smooth and consistent picking even with very little edge picking (even virtually none).
I think that in a scenario where you have very little edge picking, a very rigid pick, and a very stiff grip, it is still possible to achieve smooth and consistent picking. But I think in such a scenario, the smoothness of your picking become more sensitive to the effects of: consistency of “amount of pick”, resilience of picking motion to variation in string resistance, and maximum magnitude of “amount of pick”. Among these, I think consistency of “amount of pick” is probably the most important. The more consistent you can keep that, the greater the magnitude of “amount of pick” you can feel smooth with using your picking motion of choice (all other variable remaining the same).
I do think picking motions that use larger muscles and/or incorporate more arm momentum and/or a stiffer arm setup and/or a fulcrum further from the strings (i.e. the arm setup creates a longer lever to act against the string) for the pick stroke will be more resilient to disruption of any of the other variables. But the fact that there are so many famous pickers who achieve amazing results using movements that are primarily wrist (maybe with some larger muscles creeping in at the highest speeds), e.g. Andy Wood, Anton Oparin, Paul Gilbert, many others, shows that you don’t necessarily have to use a motion mechanic that looks like Joscho Stephan or Rusty Cooley to achieve smoothness (I’m not saying they use the same movement as each other, but both are examples of “bigger arm” type movements).
In thinking about “resistance of the string”, consider also what position along the length of the string you are picking. A string will be harder to displace (greater feeling of “resistance”) closer to the bridge, and easier to displace (less feeling of resistance) as you approach the midpoint of the string (12th fret). Other considerations come into play when making that choice as well (e.g. role of palm muting, whether you want to rest on the bridge or not), but it’s a variable to be aware of.
And for anyone wandering in from the street, it’s worth observing that great players typically feel their way into a solution that works for them using a trial and error approach that is less deliberate than what I described above. But maybe being aware of those factors can give some ideas for a few different things to consciously experiment with, and potentially feel your way sooner rather than later into “what works for you”.
I think that you’re right about everything. I have a 2.0mm Dunlop Flow pick and it has sufficiently rounded corners that it sounds nothing like a cello upon impact. The shoulders are wide so hitting too deep by accident isn’t so terrible regarding disruption of one’s motion.