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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → What kind of pick do you use?
Hahah ken does it make you play like John Petrucci, Mick Thompson, Alexi Laiho, and Mark Tremonti too? Because apparently they all use them...
I can only master one guitar hero at a time. I'll lock myself in a room, and probably about 25 years later, I'll come out sounding a little like Joe.
Just recently switched from Fender Mediums to Dunlop Nylon .88. They're a little more flexible to me but still firm enough. Thicker picks to me are harder to use, even though I have a fairly aggressive picking style.
Also, you guys should try using the fat end like SRV. I've tried both ways, and I just think using the fat end is just better
You will probably find that the Nylons don't wear as fast as the Fender Mediums. I like their texture too.
I've used a peso as a pick before...in particular it was for the final in my guitar class (took it last year, it was an easy A), where I played La Grange. I thought the peso made it sound more authentic. Never tried using the round end of a pick though, it sounds clumsy.
You're using one edge of the fat end. You're not using the whole fat end of the pick, just one of the rounded edges. It's kinda hard to describe.
Deezer wrote:Just recently switched from Fender Mediums to Dunlop Nylon .88. They're a little more flexible to me but still firm enough. Thicker picks to me are harder to use, even though I have a fairly aggressive picking style.
Also, you guys should try using the fat end like SRV. I've tried both ways, and I just think using the fat end is just better
You will probably find that the Nylons don't wear as fast as the Fender Mediums. I like their texture too.
I've definitely noticed that. I really like them. And I feel like I can play just a little bit quicker. I tried those green Tortex ones, didn't care for them at all. Chris Duarte uses them, or at least used to. That guy must kill the strings on some of those runs he does.
I picked up the 1.14 mm Tortex' because of Slash, he was my original guitar hero.
Dunlop Jazz III's for me. Better control and easy to tuck into your index finger when the use of your thumb and fingers is required.
millhouse 
:D:D:D
Used to be anything Tortex over 1mm. Lately I tend to play without a pick. I like the sound of the strings with the thumb and fingers.....seems more kind of organic sounding....if that makes sense?
How about an amen for traditional Fender heavys. They wear fairly quickly, but they just feel good to me.
Larry6
these pick are "out of this world" and they only cost $135 each!
http://starmediagroup.web.aplus.net/www … m/id1.html
if you can't afford those then go with the Herdim picks The Edge uses....they only cost $15 for a 1 inch piece of plastic....or enough to feed 20 starving African children for a day. 
PT Barnum is smiling somewhere
I use picks made by In Tune GP - the small Jazz picks they make (1.5mm)... they're a bit smaller than Jazz III and heavier - perfect for me...
Like most of players posting on this topic, I've been playing with those Dunlop Jazz 3's for almost 10 years. I favor the red ones, but I'll play the black ones from time to time as well. Maybe I'm just overthinking it, but there seems to be a glossy quality to the red ones that the black ones don't have, and it is just a tad warmer and smoother.
I also like to get red ones worn in and a bit dulled, as well, so that the tip is rounding out a bit. The black ones seemed to take more work to round out. I think this is a bit of an alternative to using the fat end of a pick, SRV style, because you retain the control you have of having the fat end within your grasp.
I started playing these picks long before I had ever heard of Joe, and long before I found out that Eric Johnson favors them. I just stumbled onto them and I was in search of picks that were thicker to warm up and smoothen out my tone and attack. Nobody I knew was playing with such small, thick picks. Once I found out that they were popular with some of my guitar heroes, I felt pretty validated!
I vary between Dunlop Tortex and red/black Jazz III's. I like to switch every so often so I'm forced to be more accurate.
Me too. I favour the GAtor Grip 0.96 and 1.14. I wtich around quite a bit. The heavier ones for faster down-picked metal, and the lighter ones for strumming.
I tried the Jazz III after the Guitar World article featuring Joe, Satch et al and I really like them too. I can feel a differnece between the red and black, but it is very subtle, and I can't really describe it.
I've been favouring the red lately, cos I'm on a Joe kick.
They are a fast pick regradless, and perfect for fast accurate lead playing, and they don't wear out very quickly. I find them a little hard to hold for really fast down-picked metal, so I switch back to the larger Gator Grips for that.
Sometimes I use the 0.88 Tortex as well. I have one that Mike McCready flicked to me, so I use it for playing Pearl Jam. They are a nice pick, good for funk style strumming, or Another Brick in the Wall where I want a softer sound with a less agressive attack.
If you want a softer sound and less aggressive attack why don't you just pick lighter?
I've jumped around over last few years, jazz threes are great, but I keep going back to those thin fenders; probably because I have so many of them here and there; habit.
If you want a softer sound and less aggressive attack why don't you just pick lighter?
It's to do with the speed. I can just pick lighter, but like adjusting the volume knob, adjusting the pick produces a different tone.
To get teh right feel for ABITW, a softer pick just works better.
Hi,
I've tried them all......for me the Dunlop tortex 1.0mm is the best allround ...you can't beat it.....it kinda has the right weight to it.....whatever style....I used to use the big Gibson frisbees...which were very muddy....but these seem to work very well with a marshall type crunch and les paul......
Cheers
Martin
I use Fender mediums (pearloid). And I use my middle finger when playing with a slide.
I didn't know about picks for a long time. Actually, if somebody told me that picks affect the sound, I would laugh at him. Back then we discussed guitars, amps and effects when talking about tone, but PICKS? For a long time I used big triangle picks that had three tips in different gauges. Sounds clever, but those were the most awful picks I ever played.
When I got into my SRV phase (strat, light top/heavy bottom strings, tube screamer and all) I played the largest and heaviest picks I could find, because I thought that's the way to big sound. Also I tried to pick real hard and I felt that I could hold the large picks better.
After that I had a few private lessons and my teacher made me use red Dunlop Jazz III's. That was hard at first because they were so small compared to what I used before. But exactly that taught me a lot about precision, timing and control. It forced me to lighten up my touch a bit, which gave me wider range of dynamics. Now I can't play anything else, no matter how hard I try. (Excepetion: Every once in a while, I'll use a very thin grey Dunlop Nylon pick when I strum an acoustic in the studio).
The material, the size, the gauge and the shape of the tip are just perfect to give me a fat, yet dry attack and I can really control my tone from ultralight to really digging into it. Even the black Jaz III's sound a little different to me, cause they are made from a different material. And if you lose one of the red ones, chances are you'll find it back on a dark & dirty stage or rehearsal room floor ;-)
But actually, I try to play with my bare fingers more and more, because THAT'S actually the best sound you can get ...
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → What kind of pick do you use?
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