Pick Worries

[Robin, Wales]

It has taken me a long time and a LOT of picks to find what I like. I have pretty much settled for the past 18 months or so on the Wegen M100 as my favourite pick for the guitars I gig with and play at sessions etc. It is certainly not the pick that will suit many players - so unless you like rounded but stiff picks then don't even go there! It is the middle pick in the photo - shown next to two Fender picks to give some scale.

My nagging worry is that Michel Wegen is a one man band. At any time he could stop making these picks. And, so far, he has kept the material he uses under wraps, so no one else could pick up the slack (My hunch is that they are an industrial nylon - the material you machine bearings from). So I'm gradually stock piling in case the worst happens! Wegen picks really don't wear out - or at least I've not worn one out yet. But I need enough for 15 to 20 years of playing (hopefully!).

Has anyone else stockpiled their favourite pick?

[Slothead56]

1-800-HELPME

Too Many Picks Anonymous

[Buc-a-Roo]

Different picks are the cheapest, most effective way of altering the tone of an acoustic guitar..........not news to most. Like yourself, I have come to prefer the tone of relatively heavy picks with rounded tips.......a fat, warm tone with lots of dynamic options. In the absence of real tortoise I've found casein to be a very close second. It's organic and has a natural tackiness to it......works for me.

Recently discovered Apollo Picks and the tortoiseshell casein model has become an instant favorite. Several different materials available with shape and thickness as options as well. Good stuff.

[jmhill]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Has anyone else stockpiled their favourite pick?

I used to just grab whatever I could get my hands and and strum and pluck away.

Ended up trying a bunch over the Covid years and now, I seem to gravitate to mostly the Dunlop 207 or a Primetone Semi Round plectrum.
I don't go out of my way to stockpile, but if I see them in a store I will pick up a few.

I don't think the Primetone line will go anywhere anytime soon, but I worry the Semi Round pick will eventually get discontinued. It seems most people gravitate towards a more "traditional" triangle or tear drop shape.

[Joseph Hanna]

Whenever there's some extra cash built up in the guitar/photo/fun saving account I pick up a Charmed Life or two. I've got 4 or 5 now. I could get by without, but that'd be a drag.

[airborne1]

Like many others on this forum, I have bags, boxes, and tins of assorted picks!

I have several boutique picks along with many other shapes sizes, thicknesses and materials!

My “go to” pick choice is as varied as the weather!

One week is this choice, the next week is another totally different choice. It could change between certain songs, or certain guitars!

It’s nice having variety and choices!

[davidd]

You have a Dunlop 207 in the mix. Best $1 pick out there IMO.

[PineMarten]

I like my Wegens, the TF100 and 140 depending on the instrument and the part I'm playing. But I don't know if I'd bother stockpiling, I'm pretty sure I could adapt if I couldn't get them any more. Simple celluloid 346 shapes in the right thickness aren't that far off for me, the rest beyond that is quite subtle refinement.

[Pickcity]

I probably have a hundred Dunlop Primetone picks, small and large triangles, sculpted and rounded…1.3mm-1.5mm. I don’t know if that’s a stockpile, but I can’t wear them out and doubt if I will ever go through all of them.

I have a lot of picks. Most of them are different models of Dunlop or Fender, but I don’t use any of them these days. It’s either Primetone, Blue Chip or Wegen for me.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by davidd

You have a Dunlop 207 in the mix. Best $1 pick out there IMO.

I like the 207 a lot. But it is not as loud as the Wegen M100 for my playing style and I get a little more pick noise from it (it is probably my natural grip that is the cause).

[Mike Buchman]

I own a spill of picks much like your photo. What I like best changes, but often is a rounded Prime Tone, a Bog Street (yeah they look odd, but...) or a a Blue Chip TDR-40. I have a real tortoise that I don't really like (too thick) and too many more to remember. But mostly I use my fingers and nails, whether I am fingerpicking or taking a strummier approach, even when it involves some flatpicking. The more I play and the older I get the lighter I play, so fingers and nails work well. And I don't, um, fret over the nails like I once did. It they rip they rip and I cut them off and start over.

[jazzereh]

When I use a pick, not very often, I grab one that sits on my music stand. I have no idea what it is but I've had it for probably 15 years, maybe more. A pick is not something I worry about. There are more important things in life. Like should I change my strings or not 'cause they are several months old.

Seriously, there are other things to worry about.

But, obviously, makes for another forum topic.

[Dave Hicks]

I haven't really done this for guitar picks, but I have conceived an inordinate fondness for Dunlop clown barf picks for the mandolin. Among their other endearing qualities, they're harder to lose than most. Nothing comes between me and my clownies!

D.H.

[LAPlayer]

Like many, my favorite pick depends on the instrument I'm playing and the tone I want to coax from that instrument. For me, some require a softer pick while for others I want a heavier pick. I have settled on 3-4 that give me that desired sound but that is subject to change as well.

[Mobilemike]

I have a very similar story to yours, Robin. I’ve been through a ton of picks and my favorite is Wegens as well. I definitely have a stockpile. Fortunately it takes a long time to wear out a Wegen.

-Mike