Rudi's Blog

Hi Rudi , 

 

I was interested to read , that for you , using different PICKS give a different sound , would that be a " general thing "  amongst musicians ? or a personal thing ? 

 

Why do you use hand tools , e.g. a file , ?

 

I bought a nephew one of those PICK MAKING MACHINES , it is a box , that when you push down on the lid , it cuts out a pick from a plastic sheet , he started trying out all different types of plastics and whatever else it would cut , 

Sorry teek, I never noticed this question until now!

 

Ok, for decades I used Gibson triangular picks. Cheap bendy black things with three playing edges. I still essentially like this design.

 

I am unusual in the regard that I use different picks. It comes from the ongoing quest for improvement (mine). I have collected a lot of very different picks in a 2 year period.

 

I now only use 3 basic types.

 

1/ The triangular old Gibson ones. Heavy or Medium (depending on string tension) for rhythm playing. The 'give' is helpful.

2/ Thicker (1.8mm or more) triangular pick with 'sharp points'. These are plastic (perspex etc) and used for soloing. My favourite is V-Picks 'Freakishly Large'. They are solid.

3/ For jazz I use stone. And that is mainly on my big box Archtop with heavier roundwound strings. Either triangles again or the regular 'jazz picks' which are much smaller. Jazz picks have the advantage of being pointier by design. The stone sound is warmer and a bit quieter. For regular playing they have an unfortunate high 'chirp' when they touch the strings, but if you use a neck pickup and a bass biased EQ, this copes pretty well with the chirps. The advantage of stone is that it doesnt wear out.

 

Yes its me that unusual. Most players dont pay much attention to the picks they use. They would rather spent $4,000 on a boutique amp to improve their tone .

 

The pick making punch is great for regular picks. I would use these for rhythm playing.

I could imagine a STONE pick would take hours to make , probably on a sandstone wheel ?   Therefore  be EXPENSIVE ?