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Post by kito75 on Mar 17, 2023 17:37:12 GMT -5
Has anyone gone down the rabbit hole of experimenting with different materials for thin picks? and by thin I mean .46mm or thinner
I am using a Cordoba nylon stringed Requinto and Mini II guitars to compare sounds produced by various picks; test goal is to obtain a bright and articulate sound. Steel stringed and better build quality guitars are less obviously affected by the pick and I'm not bothering to explore thin picks on electric guitars. Also, I am sticking with the standard Fender 351 shape, not playing with changing the tip geometry.
Using Tortex delrin picks as a test base, my ears says that anything thicker than .46mm starts to "muffle" the sound. An A/B test strum of .46mm vs 1.14mm picks sounds like the difference of clear ears vs ears stuffed with cotton balls.
Dunlop nylon .38mm picks give a bright sound but are on the soft, floppy side. At the moment, these are the best mass produced picks I have found that produce the desired sound. Second best are obsolete Fender California Clear thin picks (about .50mm thick) purchased off Ebay; maybe polycarbonate? can't find info on actual material used to make these.
I have some .38mm Clayton Ultem and Acetal picks on order. Also some supposedly even thinner .22mm carbon fiber picks in transit from Pick Heaven in Canada. will post how these sound when I get them.
As far as materials from the kitchen recycle bin, the best so far is laminated paper from an old medical insurance card at about .45mm thick (Blue Cross Blue Shield). These are as bright sounding as the .38mm nylon but with a slightly different sound and a less floppy feel. An issue with real use is de-lamination but that might be countered by using synthetic paper for the inside layer rather than plain paper. (I just re-glued it together with Elmers glue and it hasn't come apart again yet.) Second best is PET plastic from a clam-shell vacuum-formed container but needed to sand it thinner to brighten it up a little (currently at .41mm thick)
Anyone have any other materials they can recommend to try?
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Mar 17, 2023 23:29:18 GMT -5
You have all the bases covered. The thing about thinner picks is they tend to sound brighter because of the flex and the 'click' they make when they spring from one string and hit the next string on the strum. That added click makes the tone pop. But thinner picks don't drive the strings as hard as a thicker pic does, so you will lose volume. Some players love Blue Chip picks. They are thick and inflexible. They also cost north of $60 PER PICK because some famous goobers use them. I tend to think of these things as a bit of a scam.
There are different acetal polymers, but guitar picks are all made from the same formula as Delrin (DuPont brand name)...so for guitar picks, Delrin and acetal are the same stuff. The California Clears are made of cellulose acetate (Celluloid).
The one material you don't have that may brighten things up is real tortoise shell. Like ivory, it's illegal to import this stuff into the US (it's still legal in Japan and other places), but you can find old ones in vintage guitar shops, flea markets, etc. I have a few old ones and they do have a different feel compared to any plastic pick.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Mar 18, 2023 12:58:42 GMT -5
When doing A/B comparisons, especially with salvaged materials, be mindful of shape as well. Not just the 2-dimensional shape, but also whether it has a hard edge or rounded. Those things can make a difference, and might be more impactful than material. If you've cut up something like an old insurance card, there might be a bur on there that you need to knock off at least.
Once you start getting into salvaged materials, you get into the long chain polymers that don't get used for picks that often, though I'm not sure why. Maybe they're too flexible. ABS, polyethylene, polypropylene... If you have a household item, the recycling logo on the bottom will often tell you what the material is.
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Post by kito75 on Mar 18, 2023 14:49:24 GMT -5
Gentlemen - thanks for your responses. When the .38mm Ultem, acetal, and .22mm carbon fiber picks show up I will post how they sound.
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Post by hushnel on Mar 24, 2023 16:01:27 GMT -5
I went through a faze and made up a bunch. No good reason, I don’t use them except occasionally a thumb pick when finger picking a guitar. I made up a bunch out of expired credit cards and Tortoise shell, I gave the last one I had to Victor Wooten, along with a sterling silver, rawhide, rosewood and ebony, all fit into pick sheath I made out of gator hide.
I had a bunch made up with my logo, the photo used in my logo photo.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2023 18:03:21 GMT -5
I've tried several types of pick materials and I keep going back to JD Tortex. I use the red ones. (0.50mm)
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