What picks does John Petrucci actually use?

I bought a 6 count shortly after this thread was created. I don’t see myself ever wearing those out but it’s since been my go-to pick. Great product!

1 Like

The best way that I can describe them is to take a regular Flow and cut down the top, so it effectively has three points. So in some sense they are clever, but on the other hand, I only need one point, not three. So it’s worth trying if you happen to want the same thickness and material, otherwise a regular Flow will more than suffice.

But note that the injection moulding processes will damage one of the three edges in its middle. This area is unlikely to hit a string, but the defect is there.

How about pick wear? I haven’t seen signs of it yet but I am sure at some point (no pun intended) soon there will be some regular wear, scratches or other damage. Pretty nice to keep the same pick, just rotate 120 degrees : -)

Also, I don’t play out but back when I did every once in a while I would either drop the pick and catch it mid air or have to grab another from the strip on my mic. A pick like this makes recovery easier since there is no fumbling in trying to orient it so the point is where you want it to be.

1 Like

They’re finished slicker than a regular Flow (which has kind of a somewhat matte feel to it), and there’s three points, so thrice the durability unless you’re sure to always use the same side all the time. The attack is a bit sharper and the pick immediately slips off the string, while the regular 1.5 Flow has a rounder attack (but still some chirp). There’s a bit of an edge to it that you can feel running your finger across it, while the regular Flow are perfectly smooth, which might explains the sharper attack.

And yeah, John Petrucci has turned into a human billboard over the years. Always new pickups, guitar finishes, now an amp sim (which is like the 7896469386348th prog metal sim from Neural DSP) on top of his signature amp, picks almost every two years and when you look at his mike stand live, they’re not always the same as retail. Always tinkering with something. I’m surprised he only has two signature pedals to be honest! :sweat_smile:

1 Like

I’ve yet to see any significant wear on the trinity picks I use. I grab it randomly rather than try to orient it the same way, so theoretically each tip gets about the same amount of use. After several months they still look new.
Your mileage may vary.

1 Like

I’ll bet it will last for so long that you’ll lose it first! I must confess, there is an elegance to rotation.

To me, “Ultem” seems to last a long time, but I wonder if something new will become popular soon, as there seem to be so many fine plastics to choose from!

I think two of his signatures are essential the Jazz III primetones which are exactly that more ‘premium’ (wear better, harder material, better grip) Jazz III picks. I do like his 1.38mm Jazz III signature black pick quite a bit, its sharper than the normal jazz III primetones but the primetones have a better grip imo.

The one I have is this with just his initials either side

Is this not his regular pick then? I think is a great pick.

It’s his first signature pick… and not his last. As discussed above, there are others, and I’m not even sure he’s always using them. The Trinity is the last one, the one before that is the Flow, then the Primetone, then the first one is the one you use. Dunlop even made a variety pack of his signature picks.

1 Like

I know this isn’t the newest thread, but JP was on the Player’s Pick podcast -basically an hour long pod where he talks about all things picks:

2 Likes

Thank you, that’s answered my question for the most part. Seems he’s mostly using the Trinity for now.

4 Likes

Thanks for saving me an hour :slight_smile: I’ve been curious. I really like that pick so I can understand his preference.

EDIT: in fact, this thread inspired me to try it out (along with another thread on here that I forgot about, this one reminded me). Nice addition to the ever growing pick collection lol!

3 Likes

I like the Trinity too, it’s a very nice pick. I’d absolutely recommend people try them.

1 Like

Nice one! I’m gonna put in an order for some. Tried ultex jazz III and Jazz III XL recently, but my usual carbon fibre max grip Jazz III wins that one for me!

I’ve tried the max grip Jazz IIIs. I actually find them much more difficult to grip than the standard versions.

1 Like

I actually just buy it for the sound, I don’t really need the grip as such but I don’t think they do a carbon fibre one without the grip

1 Like

They definitely have a distinctive tone for sure.

1 Like

I’ve found the Trinity to really be comfortable for working on crosspicking relative to the smaller/more narrow JP signatures or jazz 3/jazz 3 primetones.

After having tried them out; I also really like the Jazz 3 XLs. I think I most prefer the .8 Mm Flex Jazz 3 XLs, but the matte surface of the 1mm blue XLs has a better grip. Considering trying the XL primetones for the grip as well. The spiral grip pattern on the primetones is one of the few short of the sandpaper grip cool picks that don’t seem to slip at all for me if I happen to sweat.

Overall though, the wider, more equilateral picks feel more balanced and stable, and a slight degree of flexibility/spring in the pick gives a bit more bio-feedback when picking vs the thicker options and makes it that much more noticeable when I slip into economy rather than strict alternate picking.

I picked these up on your suggestion, I need to try them plugged into an amp, but here is what I found so far:

  • More of a softer attack than my usual Dava jazz gels
  • very comfortable to hold
  • glides through the g/b/e strings
  • no awkward feel changing from usual pick
  • more scratchy on the wound strings

I’m not sure how I feel on the last point - is this going to be a deal breaker??? (I suppose plugging onto an amp will give me the answer)
Did you find the same?

No, but my picking techniques produce very little scratching generally.

The scratch is caused by the relative movement of the edge of the pick along the length of the string. This sawing of the string against the pick is also a mechanism of pick wear.

My movements are very much through the string, with very little movement along the the string. So I get almost no scratch and my picks only get slightly blunted at the tips.

Edit: The Trinity picks have quite a sharp edge. If you have a picking movement where some of the movement is along the length of the pick, it’s reasonable to expect that the sharper edge would dig into the windings more and emphasise the scratch.