Grinding pick

If I grind only one side of my pick after playing few songs does that say something worng about my picking technique?

I wear a bevel on the edges of my picks. I lead with the 'bridge' side of the pick on the downstroke, and the 'neck' side of the pick on the upstroke. This tends to reduce 'ghost' notes produced by the impact of the face of the pick hitting the string squarely before the string is released past the tip of the pick.

After playing a bit, my picks end up a semi-circle, rounded around my index finger. I use Dunlop .88 .. they're indestructable and pretty rigid. The only pick I can use, and has a decent grip on it.

[Edited by daveasdf on 11-21-2003 at 09:17 AM]

I sometimes produce a fine dust of plastic powder after playing a while. I have wondered if this is the meaning of the term "shredder" but then my playing's pretty violent and takes no prisoners.

:) I was using a black pick on my white pickup and I got all of those scenarios mentioned above. I grinded my pick, colored the top part of the white pickup with black streaks, black powder on the pickguard.

All this after downpicking whilst playing Metallica stuff.

Nothing's wrong with spoiling picks more frequently , a couple of scrapes can cause serious wearing to the pick , depending on the material of the pick.

You should change your pick more often to avoid getting used to worn picks !

I found this Jim Dunlop Pick, I haven't been able to find another like it, but I've been playing on it for a good 3 months, and it shows NO WEAR!!!

It's made of like a thick ass plastic, almost resembles fiberglass. But anyways it's like a clear pick, with a yellow/greenish shade.

On the front it says:

Jim Dunlop
...USA...
X-H

Very durable. If I could find more, I would definitely buy some more incase something ever happened to this one.

I have no idea how anybody can keep track of a single pick for three months. My picks come alive at night and scurry away to the pick disco heaven and never come back.

After I'm done playing, I put it in the same place everytime so I'll know where it's at. :)

i found a pick that i like, so i bought a 5 of them, and now they are scatered all over the house, 2 on my amp, one in my case, one in my room and one in my wallet (just in case).

I can be extremely particular about which products I use. I've been using the same pick for at least 10 years now. It's hard to find. I get them by the gross & it's rare to see them 'in stock' at a music store.

It's similar to the Dunlop Jazz 3's (a lot of you cats use those, right?) but I found it to be a bit more stiff, less bendable. The material maintains it's "grip" surface when it's worn-in; in other words, it doesn't get slippery.

482R1.14 TORTEX BLACK GOLD JAZZ


On the bottom, you'll see 3 in their natural state before they're filed down.
The TOP 3 show how they look after I file them w/a special grinding wheel. I've been using the same exact method of filing to this special "razor-point" ever since I've first used these picks.
The one on the upper-left has been to a recording session a' la' Shred-du-Soleil.
I have a few made from quarters that are exactly like these, but the metal provides some great pick-attack & I use the side of it against the string for some most unusual effects.

I NEVER play with anything else & I never use them until they're filed. They look wAcKy, but MANY of my students, clients/customers, have switched to this pick after trying it. They even have me file these tips on them.

Once the tip is worn-down they're of no use to me, so I go through a LOT of 'em. I usually play quite strong w/my fretting hand, and I pick very heavy most of the time. It kind-of goes against the norm' because I use nothing but .008's and all of my necks are scalloped.
(Get this: I've even done recordings where we could hear the sound of my pick coming over the mic's!)

Has anyone else here ever used this "Black-Gold" pick??

Did I think ANYONE would even give 2-sh*ts about this information I've just shared??


~JSV

Originally posted by SLY
You should change your pick more often to avoid getting used to worn picks !

So that's why newer picks feel awkward.

And the black-gold ones look similiar to Jazz 3's. Non-slip eh? I gotta try them cos pick tends to slip when I downpicking quickly.

i´ve been using Jim Dunlop BIG STUBBY picks for almost 4 years now and i swear there is no better pick on that planet. every ( E V E R Y ) guitarrist i know who has tried them threw away the old ones and switched to the stubbies. i tried virtually every pick available untill i finally found them. they are transparent dark purple, are 3mm thick but have a very smooth tip. they do not slip from the fingers since they have "dents" on both sides where the fingers fit in easily. they do not wear off at all - they just get lost as every other pick does *LOL*.
basically: the stiffer the pick, the better you can controll it - especially when it comes to speed.

Originally posted by andy82
So that's why newer picks feel awkward.

And the black-gold ones look similiar to Jazz 3's. Non-slip eh? I gotta try them cos pick tends to slip when I downpicking quickly.

Yep dude , few years ago I used to have the problem of getting used to a fresh picks ... Since I've realised that , I started changing picks before they get deeply worn.

Now I play with Dunlop's "Gator Grip" 2mm ... They're very non-slip , and they doesn't wear as quick as all other picks I've tried (I've tried many) , plus their very stiff and hard , gives me the "attack" tone I want.
Before that I played with D'andrea's Celluloids , then Dunlop's Tortex ... But both are slippy and wear easily , specialy the celluloids (but they've got very sweet tone for leads, similar to Big Stubby , but better).

Originally posted by Azrael
i´ve been using Jim Dunlop BIG STUBBY picks for almost 4 years now and i swear there is no better pick on that planet.

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