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anyone here use picks made from very hard material, like metal or stone etc?

i started using 'chicken picks' which are very stiff and made from hard wearing plastic and are meant to last for ages without wearing out.
i like the thickness and immediacy of them and they definitely bring more zing out of duller older strings, but they also increase the click and squeak on the attack.
at high gain single notes it can sometimes be really squeaky on every note, i havent recorded anything yet so i can listen back objectively, but maybe its too much.

i dont know whether its something that will lessen after a few weeks as the pick wears down a little tiny bit, or whether i can tone it down by learning to adjust the pick angle slightly.
i dont want to change any eq settings on amps/pedals as they sound fine apart from the attack squeak.

i'd play with my metal pick more, but it leaves visible marks on the strings and i'm afraid they'll last significantly less any experience?

Try the Dunlop Ultex, they're excellent! The material is perfect, never wears, doesn't warm up and slip outta your hands, and sound of the pick attack is perfect. One tip, go up a size as they're tapered and meassured in the middle but they thin out near the tip. Thus, a 1.14 size is actually around 1.00 in the standard Dunlop Tortex.

Oh, and I prefer the "sharps" now days.

I have a pick I made out of an old DOD back plate. It's thick as hell, I gotta sand it a bit more but it brings the clank for sure! When I was playing a lot of noise rock it was awesome but I haven't really used it since then

Holy Schnikes wrote:Try the Dunlop Ultex, they're excellent! The material is perfect, never wears, doesn't warm up and slip outta your hands, and sound of the pick attack is perfect. One tip, go up a size as they're tapered and meassured in the middle but they thin out near the tip. Thus, a 1.14 size is actually around 1.00 in the standard Dunlop Tortex.

Oh, and I prefer the "sharps" now days.

yeah, that's actually what i'm currently doing they DO wear, but compared to Tortexes, it's a whole different story

Holy Schnikes wrote:Try the Dunlop Ultex, they're excellent! The material is perfect, never wears, doesn't warm up and slip outta your hands, and sound of the pick attack is perfect. One tip, go up a size as they're tapered and meassured in the middle but they thin out near the tip. Thus, a 1.14 size is actually around 1.00 in the standard Dunlop Tortex.

Oh, and I prefer the "sharps" now days.

hmmm, never tried those.
up till last month i was using the white 1.5mm tortex sharp, i'll check out the ultex 2mm

yeah, sharp is where its at

heh, one for sale on at amazon £0.34 + £13.36 postage
or even better £23.87 + £8.69 postage

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002 ... er=&sr=8-1

When playing fast stuff, I user super thin picks, because my technique is shite. When playing slow sludgy stuff, I use a coin. Usually a 10p. Very harmonic-heavy. Palm mutes sound like being punched in the face.

i used to work at a steel factory back when. one day i took some green dunlops in, measured them, and started making picks. i made about 3-400 of them. they were the shit. yes it wore out strings faster, but honestly it just gave me an excuse for freshy strings. the major plus was the sound. holy fuck. i dont know how to describe it, but it just added so much to my tone. made it more clear, and ringed out better. and fuck it loved gain. kind of gives you your own sound. i tried other metals, but imo stainless steel added so much awesomeness to my tone. also i picked up some new interesting picking techniques with it, and pick fret taps sound a billion times better. i used the steel pics exclusivly untill i lost them all, my last one lasted tll about 2 years ago. they never ever wore out, but you know how pics are; like lighters. i ended up giving out 100 of the ones i made to friends, and i know they are still being used nightly in some cities

Holy Schnikes wrote:Try the Dunlop Ultex, they're excellent! The material is perfect, never wears, doesn't warm up and slip outta your hands, and sound of the pick attack is perfect. One tip, go up a size as they're tapered and meassured in the middle but they thin out near the tip. Thus, a 1.14 size is actually around 1.00 in the standard Dunlop Tortex.

Oh, and I prefer the "sharps" now days.

The 1.14 Ultex Sharps are awesome. I randomly picked up a bag at GC, and they're now my favorite picks. I'd be interested in trying the 1.4 and 2.0 sizes as well, but my local store never seems to have them in stock.

I ordered the 1.4 Ultex Sharps for my Bass VI and had to use Amazon for that size. They're great tho.

And I should clarify, they def do wear but it's a long slow process in my experience.

I also use the Ultex, and they wear out noticeably slower than anything else I've used, but I still get a bit more noise than I'd like, especially when using delay.
I normally just use .90s though.

Or the Big Stubby's...



Anyone tried these fins???

sonidero wrote:

BEST PICK
'cept mine are in classy purple...

Yeah, if I had one complaint about the Ultex it would be color, hard to find when I drop or just randomly lay 'em around. The fact that every size uses that same material keeps 'em really consistent sounding size to size tho unless you're using a super thin/flappy size.

Something I noticed initially when comparing heavier Tortex picks to my old green 0.88s is that every color sounded very different and it wasn't just size contributing. That's true for the pitch black versions too as the black 0.88 sounded noticeably brighter than the green, something to do with the color/material formulation varying slightly from one another. Main reason I switched was slippage tho, just hard to hold onto when they'd warm up and/or if sweat became involved.

Yeah but aren't the Ultex clicky by nature??? I was suggesting a different material or if you're Man Enough you could play FELT...