Guitar picks for Picky Guitarists
Our say on what picks will play
I’ve been playing guitar since I was 15; so long that fortunately my phone has a calculator so I can do the math. Certainly the styles of music have changed, many of the standard guitar companies are still around, with new ones of real quality are emerging at least with their presence almost daily in my Facebook feed at least. There is one thing that has remained pretty constant over the years in guitar playing, and that is the “pick”.
After you’ve been playing guitar for a while, playing takes on the personality of “you” and you are made up of all the experiences you’ve had in your life up to today and you eventually “play” all of that in your music. If you like jazz for instance, you listen to Jazz and mimic the sounds you’ve heard by the masters of that genre. The same holds true with any style of music from Country, Blues, and Rock plus all the others. Since no one is exactly like anyone else, their playing can never be like anyone else; at least, exactly like anyone else. What gets you close to that same style and sound depends on the tools you use; the type of guitar and amplification, the way your fingers manipulate the strings and so much more beyond this short article.
If we would compare your guitar and amp to a canvas and your music being paint on that canvas, your paint brush would be your pick. As an artist and a guitar player, I know that just as there are so many styles of brushes to use to transfer the paint from “self” to “canvas” to create the desired finished work of art, the same holds true for the guitarist in choosing just the right pick for the style, sound and musical masterpiece!
As with anything we can get set in our ways with how we do anything and that includes playing guitar. I for one am listening to my own words here that with my personality type (I’ll blame it on that) I like to find something that works and stick with it. I’ve been playing with the same type and style of pick that I used in the seventies.
If you agree that a change of pace may be in order and that trying something new and learning something new is good, let’s both consider trying some new picks.
Celluloid is the material used by most picks with several other materials that that are utilized. Nylon, polyethylene, bone, glass, metal, wood, horn, stone and some people use coins. I remember some people used matchbook covers and I even cut my own out of plastic milk jugs. Fender offers a book about The History of the Pick and I’ve linked to it below.
Also, I’ve rated the most “popular” guitar picks below with my thoughts on each. Please share your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for your time and keep on pickin’!
Our first choice, especially for acoustic guitars is the Jim Dunlop Acoustic Variety Pack Guitar Picks. Jim Dunlop began the Dunlop Manufacturing organization in 1965 in Benicia, California, and followed his fantasy to give quality items to individual artists. En route he made the Dunlop Cry Baby, a creative wah-wah pedal for the electric guitar.
Next are Fender Premium Picks that offers a warm, round music tone. CHECK THE MOST CURRENT PRICING BELOW.
As I’ve mentioned, it is a good idea to try different types and gauges to see what you like and for what style and type of playing you choose and this pack that comes with Thin, Medium, and Heavy Gauges. Fender Premium Picks Sampler is worthy to bear the name of (Leo) Fender who started the company in 1946. CHECK THE MOST CURRENT PRICING BELOW.
All four recommendations really are very good when you consider these are the top choices of professionals everywhere. Number three for us is Donner’s 16 packs; kind of because of the “cool tin” they come in. You know these are quality from the pricing. But we think they are worth it because these are made for several instruments providing a natural feel and warm fat tone for comfortable playing on electric, acoustic, bass guitar, banjo, or ukulele; and they offer what size gauge they are so when you experiment with a pick, you know what you are actually playing with. This is a great way to match your desired tone and sound with the thicknesses of the picks.
Donner is a Chinese guitar organization who’s assembling and configuration is situated in China. While the materials they use are not awesome of value, for $100 to $200 guitars they play and sound incredible, at the end of the day, they give an extraordinary cost/quality proportion. We at BestEvalNow think the picks deserve attention too. CHECK THE MOST CURRENT PRICING BELOW.
There are literally a “ton” of picks out there (and that’s just under the sofa cushions of the world) and we could go on and on, but we’re stopping with our number four, most popular pick. Again it’s the well-established Fender name with their 351 Shape Premium Picks. They offer the traditional feel, with a smooth striking surface and a warm, round musical tone. CHECK THE MOST CURRENT PRICING BELOW.
Comments