What picks are you using?

I use the John Petrucci Jazz III exclusively, it’s the best pick I’ve tried so far, so it sounds like I need to try out these Swiss picks.
What I like about the JP is the size is perfect, it’s about halfway between a Jazz III and a Jazz III XL, but I’ve always wished the grip was a little better.

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Exact same boat MCM!
I love those JP picks, but I am intrigued by the Swiss Picks!

I alternately used Dunlop Jazz “Stubby” 3mm and custom Kradl picks depending on what I was doing for many years. I was using a strict alternate picking approach forever and a day.

Once I came across Troy’s work and the explicit demonstration of pick angle and slant, I found myself gravitating to tortoise shell Fender Mediums! They sound better to me than the more traditional looking Dunlop copies.

As my approaches evolve, I find myself reaching for more than one size of pick. With a severe downward pick slant I needed the extra length of the full size pick. As I refine I’m not always using that dramatic slant and the small picks become practical again.

Cheers,
D

Dunlop max grip Jazz III,I went from regular sized Dunlop picks to Jazz III and now find it had to play with regular sized picks.It is all personal preference

It’s funny, at the beginning of this thread nearly two months ago, I was a big supporter of the regular sized Swiss Picks. But now I am a full Dunlop Jazz III (2.0 mm) supporter! I love it so much that I have one in my pocket right now :sweat_smile:

I have to say that lately, I have been experimenting with a floating picking hand instead of anchoring with the pinkie, so I wonder if the new pick choice came as a consequence to my new picking hand style…

I think part of the reason a lot of people grow to like the small “standard” Jazz III is that the small size forces you to choke up on your pick grip somewhat (i.e. less pick tip sticking out from the grip), and that the choking up helps people keep their pickstrokes consistent, even with a floating hand (the flesh around the pick grip provides tactile feedback when the choked up grip gets so close to the strings that it touches them). One reason I moved away from the small version of the Jazz III a while back was because I found I was rubbing the back of the last knuckle on my index finger against the strings when I was doing what we now refer to as DWPS. The “XL” version of the Jazz III lets me grip securely without choking up on the tip so much, and let’s me choose when I want to choke up and when I don’t. I actually still have the tip of my index finger pretty close to the tip of the pick, but the last knuckle is bent at a less acute angle, and the knuckle itself is further away from the pick tip (and the strings).

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Thanks for your fast feedback.

Man, you are describing exactly what I am experiencing at the moment! I started experiencing this since switching back to Jazz III + floating hand. I never had this problem when I was anchoring. But it’s maybe because I was unconscionably pushing away my picking hand from the strings to avoid this "rubbing. Which once again shows how many things we tend to do intuitively while practicing… In my case I seem to have learned more bad habits that slow me down than good habits :sweat_smile:

Quick bit of trivia - the Jazz III XL was originally designed for Buckethead.

I have some Jazz III XL Primetone picks coming to me, hopefully tomorrow, so we’ll see how those go. I have found the Primetone a little grippy on the strings, but at least it’s more picks to add to my collection!

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Before Cracking the Code, one of the great mysteries of picking to me was how anyone could alternate pick with a closed fist without their fingers getting in the way. Never occured to me that slanting the picking motion the opposite way (UWPS) might be a thing.

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The first pick I ever got stuck with, a long long time ago, was the little purple 3mm Stubby, exlusively used for a few years, never thought I’d change. Then switched to Jazz III’s and stayed with them for almost 15 years, never thought I’d change. Then one day someone gave me to try a Dragon’s Heart-and that was it. Been using them for the last couple of years, I don’t think I’ll ever change…:grinning:

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Currently digging these:
image
And also these:

The tone is great and the tip feels a bit more glidy than that of Jazz III’s, so that it takes me less energy to pick fast (or so it seems). Only problem is that they wear out very quickly :frowning:

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Yes those Pickboy picks are cool! I have those nylon ones as well in my collection, I wish I could get more but they are very hard to find in the UK.

The carbon nylon one with the leaf design is cool, I like the tip they have on them, much sharper than the Jazz III.

I’m also in the UK, I often find them on ebay (look for pickboy reefer), usually dispatched from Germany or the US.

Thanks @tommo. I originally got mine through Stringbusters a lot of years ago, it seems they are all sold out and never got any more in.

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Purple TIII for the win?

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I used a variety of jazz iii’s. I am now obsessed with the Dunlop Primetone 308, absolutly my favorite picks ever.

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What gauge are you using? I got the 3mm and 5mm, the 3mm is nice, but the 5mm is way too thick.

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I use the 3mm. They really help me keep tension out and slice through the strings better than anything I’ve found. Also nice on my classical guitars.

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any reason why you like them so much?

did you ever get those in the mail? if so, what do you like about them?

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