• From: birmingham uk
  • Registered: 2013-03-18
  • Posts: 113

Topic: pick advice

Hi everyone I am new to guitar playing and new to this forum so thought i would just say hi . I have been trying to learn guitar for about 8 months now and am quite pleased with the progress i have made, the one area i still find a struggle is what pick to use i have tried plastic and nylon ones thick and thin ones but they all seem to slide about in my fingers when playing , i seem to get on better with the thin ones but not too sure i like the sound i get , any tips would be appreciated.  Thanks

  • From: Fallon NV
  • Registered: 2012-08-18
  • Posts: 11

Re: pick advice

I had the same problem and am a fairly new player also.   I bought some snarling dog brain picks.  Weird name, great pick.  it has a raised crosshatch that keeps it from slipping.

John
  • Zurf
  • Zurf
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  • From: Virginia, USA
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 7,522

Re: pick advice

Fireman93514's advice is good. 

Picks are a matter of personal taste, but thin picks are usually appreciated most by beginner players.  I like Jim Dunlop nylon picks.  They have raised bumps to help you grip them.  Jim Dunlop has a line of picks called "Max Grip" that are really grippy bumps.  I like 0.88mm, but many strummers prefer thinner picks than that, such as .50mm.  I really wail on the strings sometimes and appreciate a thicker pick that I can abuse the bass strings with when doing a boom-chuck country song. 

Good luck and keep up the good work. 

Welcome to Chordie the both of you. 

- Zurf

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  • From: Probably Somewhere
  • Registered: 2010-12-09
  • Posts: 2,446

Re: pick advice

Tortex or Gator Grips solve that problem for me.

I have also started using these little fellas lately and love them:
http://www.amazon.com/Dava-6024-Grip-Ti … uitar+pick

If the pick is moving a lot you might be hitting the strings too hard.

  • From: massachusetts
  • Registered: 2010-10-18
  • Posts: 1,675

Re: pick advice

Herco flex 50. They last forever and work good for all my guitars.

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6 Reply by dino48 (edited by dino48 2013-03-19 00:54:27)

  • dino48
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  • From: los banos,california
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 6,801

Re: pick advice

I do not use picks my thumb and fingers work well enough for my kind of music.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman
  • zguitar
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  • From: Mentone, Ca
  • Registered: 2009-01-10
  • Posts: 1,367

Re: pick advice

I've been having the same problem for a long time. Tried diff things but no magic solution. Skateboard grip tape seems to work best so far for me.

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!
  • From: Bellevue, WA
  • Registered: 2006-06-15
  • Posts: 3,336

Re: pick advice

Pro-tip:  Don't drop 'em in the sound hole.   smile

Get ones with textured finishes.

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  • From: Chillicothe, Ohio
  • Registered: 2010-08-16
  • Posts: 1,013

Re: pick advice

I tend to prefer picks in the .50-.60 mm range. If a pick I like tends to turn/spin in my fingers, I usually heat the end of a nail or small screwdriver and burn/melt a few small holes in the grip end of the pick. Most of the time this tends to work pretty well.

DE

I want to read my own water, choose my own path, write my own songs
  • From: birmingham uk
  • Registered: 2013-03-18
  • Posts: 113

Re: pick advice

not dropped one in sound hole yet but have come close !! thanks everyone will have a look at some of the suggestions

11 Reply by Tenement Funster (edited by Tenement Funster 2013-03-19 21:31:54)

  • From: Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Registered: 2013-01-20
  • Posts: 4,083

Re: pick advice

I'll cast another vote for Dunlop Nylon picks with the bumps on the grip end. I tend to favor a thinner pick for the steel string acoustic, but use fingers on the classical and a heavier pick on the electric.

On the side, I recall a New Year's Eve get together many years ago, where I was constantly twanging picks into the sound hole. The problem turned out to be that my guitar had too much eggnog in it. tongue

  • From: NY
  • Registered: 2009-08-26
  • Posts: 4,320

Re: pick advice

When learning guitar, that along with sore fingers is one of the major issues.  Keep on with the weight that you like the best sound from, experiment with those textured picks, and eventually... you'll get to the point where you don't drop em (and you're fingers are nicely calloused).  It's a part of the process.  Some people will even punch holes in the picks to make their favorite easier to hold on to.

Art and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder.
What constitutes excellent music is in the ears of the listener.

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  • From: birmingham uk
  • Registered: 2013-03-18
  • Posts: 113

Re: pick advice

thanks again i shall keep perservering

  • From: birmingham uk
  • Registered: 2013-03-18
  • Posts: 113

Re: pick advice

just a quick update on this have put some holes through my jim dunlop picks and it seems to be working really well one problem solved onto the next one now !!!! thanks guys

  • Registered: 2012-11-23
  • Posts: 215

Re: pick advice

onenumber7 wrote:

just a quick update on this have put some holes through my jim dunlop picks and it seems to be working really well one problem solved onto the next one now !!!! thanks guys

I also punch holes in my picks and like you on to the next problem

Let no talents go unused
  • From: Scott County, Virginia, U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2008-03-19
  • Posts: 794

Re: pick advice

I use a piece of coarse sandpaper on slick picks, just enough to scuff up the glossy surface.

Live in the "now" - a contentment of the moment - the past is gone - the future doesn't exist - all we ever really have is now and it's always "now".
  • From: Georgia, USA
  • Registered: 2008-02-19
  • Posts: 57

Re: pick advice

I am also trying to figure out the pick thing.  I have tried a thump pick.  Doesn't move. Have to see if they have them in different thicknesses.

1991 Washburn D12CE/N
2006 Taylor 412ce

"What I want is songs that echo. The stuff we're doing now is like somebody's bedsheets; spread 'em out, soil 'em, ship 'em out to laundry, you know? But our songs...I want us to be able to fold ourselves up in them forever...understand?  Words and music."
  • From: Fenton, Michigan
  • Registered: 2011-04-23
  • Posts: 36

Re: pick advice

Get one of those "Pick Punches" and make your own, out of old credit cards or what have you. Play around with it and you will come up with something serviceable and will be recycling. The embossed numbers and letters on a credit card provide the grip. Have fun!!