Haha! I know what you mean, they take a bit to get used to. I haven’t tried the Becker ones but they’re the same mould so I assume they’re pretty similar.
I tried a bunch of V-Picks, but none of the really big lads. They feel and sound great, but they seem to lose their tips pretty quickly.
Have you tried anything thicker before?
The Psycho was nice because of the 3 even designed tips. When one tip goes dull, move to one of the other ones.
I got a Big Fattie for the first time from V-Pick in the mail yesterday. It really just plays like a Psycho with worn down tips. I can definitely say for sure that I prefer playing with a nice point on my pick VS anything rounded off.
Bought some Pick-Boy 1.00mm edge carbon fibers and they’re getting the job done. When my hands are really dry they slip around a bit but otherwise I like the shape and size. The V-picks are still my favourite grip but I’m not down to pay ~$45 for five or six picks that take two weeks to arrive. I’ll save those for special occasions such as recording sessions.
No, I haven’t.
there is a very good chance that Dunlop will release the Andy James Ultex 2mm signature pick at NAMM.
I use Tortex sharp 1.35. Great picks!
I also think I’ve been using too small picks, I thought they bring precision, but at least for me, not. When learning two-way pickslanting, a large pick gives more feel to the slanting itself, the motion still being the same. Another a bit strange thing: A woodworker friend made for me one large wooden (lignum vitae, very hard, but endangered species) pick 3-4mm, about jazz lll -shaped, 1.5 times bigger, and it feels very good! It has a lot of friction with the strings and it sounds real edgy, but to me, after a couple of days, might be the thing. Have you tried wooden or bone picks?
I keep trying out those Tortex Sharp picks but I find they grab the strings too much, especially on the wound strings. Maybe I’m not giving them enough time to get used to them.
I haven’t tried wood before. The one issue I am having is with ‘flex’. My current form hits the string pretty hard… so I need something that is pretty firm… bone sounds good though. I honestly wouldn’t mind going even larger… it just feels so comfortable… and long picks are really nice for cross-picking.
This one I have is very stiff, but these aren’t on the market. Maybe one made of stone? Maybe you’re right, the bigger, the better, though the hand may get tired…
Yes, that’s why I mentioned it to Mile-High. I do not have giant musclular arms like him… I have more of a Paul Gilbert body… so my forearms tend get a ‘little bit’ fatigued with the larger picks… but since I am not always playing staccato… its normally not a big deal.
Is there such a thing as a pick with a Tortex-type attack but that doesn’t wear out? With the Blue Chips and Primetones and so on it looks like we’ve arrived at the era of “Everlasting Gobstopper”-type picks that wear very slowly or not at all. Which is great. But all those picks are super smooth. Is there anything in the everlasting category but with a Tortex feel where it’s got that softer, ever so slightly abrasive feel without being scratchy?
I think I tried nearly every material and pick I could think of… and basically came to the conclusion that the pick has to ‘wear’ itself to make that particular sound. I remember I used to buy the tortex in bulk… and I used to have sandpaper/griptape on the back of my guitar so that I could ‘reform the point’… but it was never as good as a fresh one. I havent used tortex/jazz iii for about a year… but I still find them lying around in every corner of my house… getting stuck in the vacuum… etc.
V-picks offer what they call a ‘ghost rim’ on many of their picks. They claim it cuts down on the ‘chirp’ you can get from thicker picks.
This makes the picks less smooth, but don’t know if it would give you the feel/sound you’re looking for. And while V-picks definitely last longer than typical picks, they do wear down…the points on my V-picks are definitely duller than they originally were.
Does anyone know what the largest picks available are? By size I mean height/width rather than thickness. I would love something larger than the Stubby triangle.
@Troy have you tried picks made from acetal? http://www.steveclayton.com/acetal.php
@hamsterman I think it would be the V-Pick Colossal - https://v-picks.com/shop/
@milehighshred is the V-Pick expert on here and I’m sure he can advise you regarding getting a super thick pick.
Enjoying those white tortex jazz iii I presume? I’ve tried a bunch of picks and nothing really cuts the highs like the tortex I’ve tried. I stopped using tortex because I want more high end in my attack.
I had some Clayton acetal sharps that sound similar to torex, but I wore those out faster. One good Metallica tune and you can toss the bitch in the trash.
@demizach the ghost rim makes the attach “chirp” MORE. They frost the edges to make the surface abrasive. You get a high end chirp added to your attack from the sandpaperized acrylic. Reminiscent of extreme edge picking. Blah.
According to info on the Vpicks homepage…
" If you do not like the chirp a thick pick can sometime make, then the Ghost Rim option is for YOU!"
Don’t shoot the messenger…just reporting what they claim.