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Thread: Guitar Players`Picks

  1. #1

    Guitar Players`Picks

    This Thread is inspired in another one called " Recording Guitar" found here on Progressiveears.org, ok

    And finally, the question was:
    How could I play guitar having less distortion?,
    This was my answer, which is on that thread too, of course....ok

    To me, when playing electric guitar, pick were my problem too,
    so it happened when by coincidence, talking with a mandolin player about it, that I had the answer to this same question, and it was that he had a very soft pick, ok...

    So, thinking about it I decided to make my own, and incredibly simple I just got it ...

    How come?, with Scotch Adhesive Band Tape, one inch wide.
    so, it was folding this band two or three times, that I could have it !!!,
    The pick is made,..ok !!!

    So,To answer your question.
    To have a very metallic and clear sound at the same time is necessary to caress the strings.
    With usual picks this is impossible... with usual picks is necessary to hit the string to play consistent sound, but this action does the distortion,
    When playing with picks made of Scotch Adhesive Band Tape, and because this pick is so flexible and plastic, it happens that you caress the strings.
    It is because this that, of course, the sound coming out is clear and powerful.
    This possibility allows you to play faster, much more long time without getting tired...
    Even nails cant arrive to do it, simply because not plastic and not flexible.

    My record playing electric guitar with this new pick is 17 hours in a day, .

    By then, one thing I have discover then after, and this was that the only thing exhausting the guitar player was the pick. It was the Pick and nothing else...

    Because this constant hitting of the strings has their consequences in several directions.
    The player is saturated by the constant distorted sound,
    Because the mechanical movement of the wrist when hitting the strings does their way too,
    Because the impossibility to go clearer when wanting to go faster, distortion appearing immediately , and so on,...ok

    Today in the market
    For professional guitar players, their is no a pick having this properties

    Nevertheless,
    Never impossible, this pick, to be professional must be made on titanium metal.
    Why?
    Because the consistent properties of this metal. This metal is very plastic, flexible and solid at the same time.

    So, having a very thin pick made of titanium flexible enough to caress the strings, the fact can be possible, we can all go on, ......ok

    To go Into the Big Jump once again....if possible,...lol


    ----------------------
    nous sommes du soleil

  2. #2
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Im a bass player: I dont play with picks

  3. #3
    Well the post made was for guitar players, nevertherless, thanks for your interest, ok
    Last edited by highaltitude; 01-12-2014 at 02:41 PM.

  4. #4
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by highaltitude View Post
    Well the post made was for guitar players, nevertherless, thanks for your interest, ok
    good one!

  5. #5
    Sorry to throw the conversation the opposite direction, but I would like some advice. I use Fender mediums. I use my wrist often except when I position my right hand further away from the strings.....which is not exactly using the forearm method....but more like your right hand pounding a snare drum with a stick. I use this right hand position for John McLaughlin style improvisation. In a 40 minute set...my pick is worn out and chipped after 3 songs. I carry more than a hundred picks to gigs. I can't use light picks or hard picks for soloing. What is a better long lasting choice pick available in a local music store?

  6. #6
    Man of repute progmatist's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by klothos View Post
    Im a bass player: I dont play with picks
    I actually USE a pick on bass for the sound it produces. I like that Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Jonas Reingold, Dave Meros percussive twang. Like Chris, Jonas, and Dave, I use my fingers when a softer sound is more appropriate.
    "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama

  7. #7
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Enid View Post
    Sorry to throw the conversation the opposite direction, but I would like some advice. I use Fender mediums. I use my wrist often except when I position my right hand further away from the strings.....which is not exactly using the forearm method....but more like your right hand pounding a snare drum with a stick. I use this right hand position for John McLaughlin style improvisation. In a 40 minute set...my pick is worn out and chipped after 3 songs. I carry more than a hundred picks to gigs. I can't use light picks or hard picks for soloing. What is a better long lasting choice pick available in a local music store?
    100 picks for a gig?!

    After over 3 decades of using Fender jazz (teardrop) mediums, I switched to these a couple of years ago. They do wear down, but not as quickly and I like the feel better.
    http://planetwaves.com/pwProductDeta...5&productid=51

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by No Pride View Post
    100 picks for a gig?!

    After over 3 decades of using Fender jazz (teardrop) mediums, I switched to these a couple of years ago. They do wear down, but not as quickly and I like the feel better.
    http://planetwaves.com/pwProductDeta...5&productid=51
    I use about 3 or 4 picks in a 40 minute set, but I always carry a bag of about a hundred because I'm constantly playing out. Sometimes a pick will be chipped and battered after one song...for example the solo in Journey's Stone In Love. If I don't grab a new pick for the next song....the pick will cut into my string during a solo. I stock up on strings, buying 10 spares of each plus full packs...because I get so burnt from gigs, I may not make it to the music store in time and then I'll be screwed for sure.

  9. #9
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by progmatist View Post
    I actually USE a pick on bass for the sound it produces. I like that Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Jonas Reingold, Dave Meros percussive twang. Like Chris, Jonas, and Dave, I use my fingers when a softer sound is more appropriate.
    A pick isnt necessary needed for that sound (or to get close to it)


    I get the full piano-string range also: Fresh strings are the key to that and I always keep my strings as fresh as possible (usually 60 hours/ once per week/ every 5 gigs per bass) --- I would change them more but I cant afford them so, If they start going dead, I boil them til duration ---- I can get a very punchy, round, tight, piano-wire sound when needed that lacks just the sharp actual attack of a pick (see below - ALSO: the type of bass, electronics, and pickup placement all combines with my actual fingerstyle-playing all contributes to this)

    so I have a very modern string bass tone (as well as other tones I use - I use many, including fake fretless. For the variety of my gigs, I cant just use one bass sound.......)

    However, I have perfected a technique (originally, to alleviate boredom from playing 5 nights per week in a houseband at a facility owned by NY Yankees George Steinbrenner in the 90s) of being able to add fingernail attack (consistently) with my fingers to mimic a pick-attack that I can do on command......I thought this was a technique that I developed and perfected but, then I found out later, that Chuck Rainey has this in his technique arsenal as well
    Last edited by klothos; 01-13-2014 at 11:11 PM.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by No Pride View Post
    100 picks for a gig?!

    After over 3 decades of using Fender jazz (teardrop) mediums, I switched to these a couple of years ago. They do wear down, but not as quickly and I like the feel better.
    http://planetwaves.com/pwProductDeta...5&productid=51


    You must be that great guitarist I crossed paths with on P.E. a year ago. If memory serves....you had a very original style of your own adding in some reflections of Alan Holdsworth. You sent me a cd of your band. Excellent guitar playing! You have intense phrasing and your band is outstanding.

  11. #11
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Enid View Post
    If memory serves....
    The first two things to go are memory and... I can't remember what the second one is.

    Yep, we had an online conversation a while back. Thanks for the accolades and like I told you then, you're quite a guitar player yourself!

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by klothos View Post
    A pick isnt necessary needed for that sound (or to get close to it)


    I get the full piano-string range also: Fresh strings are the key to that and I always keep my strings as fresh as possible (usually 60 hours/ once per week/ every 5 gigs per bass) --- I would change them more but I cant afford them so, If they start going dead, I boil them til duration ---- I can get a very punchy, round, tight, piano-wire sound when needed that lacks just the sharp actual attack of a pick (see below - ALSO: the type of bass, electronics, and pickup placement all combines with my actual fingerstyle-playing all contributes to this)

    so I have a very modern string bass tone (as well as other tones I use - I use many, including fake fretless. For the variety of my gigs, I cant just use one bass sound.......)

    However, I have perfected a technique (originally, to alleviate boredom from playing 5 nights per week in a houseband at a facility owned by NY Yankees George Steinbrenner in the 90s) of being able to add fingernail attack (consistently) with my fingers to mimic a pick-attack that I can do on command......I thought this was a technique that I developed and perfected but, then I found out later, that Chuck Rainey has this in his technique arsenal as well
    I know what you mean...I was classically trained on nylon string, but I am horrible at finger style on electric...unlike Jeff Beck who mastered Blues/Rock/Fusion electric lead playing with the fingers of his right hand. Perhaps an electric guitar with a high action would help me? The Chet Atkins Classical nylon ..semi electric had a surprisingly low action, but getting used to the sometimes higher action on acoustic guitars gives the right hand more leeway and a boost for accurate playing.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by No Pride View Post
    The first two things to go are memory and... I can't remember what the second one is.

    Yep, we had an online conversation a while back. Thanks for the accolades and like I told you then, you're quite a guitar player yourself!
    I'm sorry about my short term memory. I am so burnt out from playing every week that I need a week off. But ...you are great! I love your style. I have 2 female vocalists fronting the band and 1 night I asked the sound tech to play your cd over the sound system. The girls loved it! Our drummer....who has a Chester Thompson/Chad Wackerman style started playing along with it. He loves the cd too. Your band should be touring. It's a very worthwhile cd with timeless compositons.

  14. #14
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Enid View Post
    I am so burnt out from playing every week that I need a week off.
    Be glad that you're working! Over the past 10 years, I've seen some very talented musicians throw in the towel and get a day gig. I'm still managing to make a living at it, but I can't help but wonder how long my luck is going to hold out if things keep going the way they've been going.

    I'm glad you and your friends liked my playing and the Bad Dog U CD; thanks again! The band ended about 10 years ago. It just got to the point where the stress of finding gigs and getting all 4 of us to be available to commit to them and rehearse outweighed the fun. We never toured, but we were fairly active (at least for an original material instrumental band) in the Chicago area for about a decade. I'd be a liar if I said that I don't miss it, but I just feel like it ran it's course. I still play some fun creative stuff with other bands, just not as much as I used to. I find that I'm practicing more than usual these days; trying to keep my chops intact for the few occasions when I actually need them.

    Are you still writing soundtracks to short films? I liked the stuff you did very much!

  15. #15
    Man of repute progmatist's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by klothos View Post
    However, I have perfected a technique (originally, to alleviate boredom from playing 5 nights per week in a houseband at a facility owned by NY Yankees George Steinbrenner in the 90s) of being able to add fingernail attack (consistently) with my fingers to mimic a pick-attack that I can do on command......I thought this was a technique that I developed and perfected but, then I found out later, that Chuck Rainey has this in his technique arsenal as well
    My nails are way too fragile, so that's not an option for me. Incidentally, that's also the way Geddy Lee plays.
    "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama

  16. #16
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by progmatist View Post
    Incidentally, that's also the way Geddy Lee plays.
    this I did not know

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Enid View Post
    Sorry to throw the conversation the opposite direction, but I would like some advice. I use Fender mediums. I use my wrist often except when I position my right hand further away from the strings.....which is not exactly using the forearm method....but more like your right hand pounding a snare drum with a stick. I use this right hand position for John McLaughlin style improvisation. In a 40 minute set...my pick is worn out and chipped after 3 songs. I carry more than a hundred picks to gigs. I can't use light picks or hard picks for soloing. What is a better long lasting choice pick available in a local music store?
    Hello,

    Well, me I play an Ibanez guitar with a Korg distorter,
    a small and powerful engine allowing me to program any kind of sound.

    Using your wrist when playing, if the sound coming out is what you want, it is ok....
    ..and as you said, you need plenty of picks to play when gigs, this is because the plastic consistence cant stand intensive using, the heat or others, ...

    I think the pick you are asking for does not exist in the market still
    and I hope this is an invention of mine,....lol

    I think this pick idea I've posted here can be the only solution
    because plastic, flexible and hard, very hard pick
    and this is a titanium metal pick.

    Me I've discovered this, as a material, when visiting the ophthalmologist (the oculist)
    and when the guy show me the properties of titanium frames, so flexible and hard I was surprised.
    Then after, when doing my own picks, I've realised that this was the medium
    to do the ideal pick for a professional guitar players

    And it Is when the pick arrives to caress the string
    in order to do a clean, transparent, metallic and powerful vibration
    it must be a so flexible, plastic, strong and powerful at the same time
    and this can only be with titanium metal
    because this fulfilling all this properties needed.

    An an extremely thin titanium metallic pick
    let the guitar player to play tremendously fast and clear with none effort, ok

    Cheers....lol


    highaltitude

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by No Pride View Post
    Be glad that you're working! Over the past 10 years, I've seen some very talented musicians throw in the towel and get a day gig. I'm still managing to make a living at it, but I can't help but wonder how long my luck is going to hold out if things keep going the way they've been going.

    I'm glad you and your friends liked my playing and the Bad Dog U CD; thanks again! The band ended about 10 years ago. It just got to the point where the stress of finding gigs and getting all 4 of us to be available to commit to them and rehearse outweighed the fun. We never toured, but we were fairly active (at least for an original material instrumental band) in the Chicago area for about a decade. I'd be a liar if I said that I don't miss it, but I just feel like it ran it's course. I still play some fun creative stuff with other bands, just not as much as I used to. I find that I'm practicing more than usual these days; trying to keep my chops intact for the few occasions when I actually need them.

    Are you still writing soundtracks to short films? I liked the stuff you did very much!
    I haven't been recording except for occasional session work with other writers. I have been writing new pieces but unfortunately not recording them. Thanks for the interest though. Great to hear you're working and I hope it continues for you as your playing is outstanding and you deserve it.

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