Do picks ever wear out?

cosine · #1 10-30-2006, 05:08 PM

When do you stop using a particular pick and dispose of it?

I usually use Dunlop Ultex or Tortex pick. I usually dispose of them after I wear the ink off of them or after the finish gets polished and shiny. I feel like I lose grip if I continue to try and play with a pick like that.

Does anyone actually play enough to wear the tip down off of a pick?

Bob Womack · #2 10-30-2006, 05:20 PM

I wear down my light pink Tortex .71mms all the time. They loose just the tiniest bit of point and become rounded just a little bit, and it becomes hard to play lead worth a darn. Same with the Fender Mediums and lights. Out they go!

Bob

MissouriPicker · #3 10-30-2006, 05:21 PM

I typically lose picks long before I wear them out.

GTomcan · #4 10-30-2006, 05:29 PM

Oh God I have so many picks , but a few favorite, anThe yellow and orange one's , Ive seemed the prefer the yellow and use then till you can tell which end is up , meaning i wear them out till they have no pointy end.

COWriter · #5 10-30-2006, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissouriPicker

I typically lose picks long before I wear them out.

Same here.

reags · #6 10-30-2006, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTomcan

Oh God I have so many picks , but a few favorite, anThe yellow and orange one's , Ive seemed the prefer the yellow and use then till you can tell which end is up , meaning i wear them out till they have no pointy end.

Same here, love the yellow ones and have been for a few years now

I have to stick to mediums as I found out one night during a church event when I forgot my pick and borrowed a friend's heavy pick, only to break it within 2hrs.

oldgeezer · #7 10-30-2006, 05:38 PM

I have some Dunlop nylons that are at least three years old, and I'm still playing with them. Regular celuloid wears down quickly, but I usually break them before that happens.
Mike

Chicago Sandy · #8 10-30-2006, 05:40 PM

I tend to break Fender Mediums in tortoise or marbled celluloid, especially on hard strumming on medium strings, before they wear out. (Either the tip snaps clean off or the pick cracks). Never worn out or broken a nylon, Tortex or delrin pick.

J.D. · #9 10-30-2006, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago Sandy

I tend to break Fender Mediums in tortoise or marbled celluloid, especially on hard strumming on medium strings, before they wear out. (Either the tip snaps clean off or the pick cracks). Never worn out or broken a nylon, Tortex or delrin pick.

Same here but I use the lighter ones. I used to use Gibson picks but they'd last about three weeks before they broke so now I use Fender or G&L but maybe one day I'll switch to nylon.

bagelsgirl · #10 10-30-2006, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I wear down my light pink Tortex .71mms all the time. They loose just the tiniest bit of point and become rounded just a little bit, and it becomes hard to play lead worth a darn. Same with the Fender Mediums and lights. Out they go!

Bob

Funny. I use those same pink tortex picks. Why do they have to be pink? But those are the ones I like. And yeah, I gotta toss 'em once the points get worn down...

phuufme · #11 10-30-2006, 08:55 PM

I use the faux tortoise mediums. I usually wear them down after a few gigs and practices.

Patrick Curley · #12 10-30-2006, 09:59 PM

I've never worn one out but I got up on a stage after a Stevie Ray Vaughan gig and souvenired one of his. A Fender medium and he'd just about smashed it to pieces.

tpp · #13 10-30-2006, 10:36 PM

I use the yellow and blue tortex picks and those last a long, long time. I used to use dunlop picks up to 1 mm thick but I found that I was actually able to sharpen the edges as a result playing. This would happen to such a degree that I would worry about cutting into a string.

stratokatsu · #14 10-31-2006, 06:55 AM

I'm a pretty aggressive strummer and use the big Dorito shaped Fender thin picks. They eventually break at the tip, but as big as they are, you can still use them because they have 3 sides. Since they are sometimes hard to find, it's a good thing.

I have a regular shaped Fender pick I was using to play a solo line in a song a bunch of friends were working on. It broke on the last note and somehow provided me with this cool harmonic instead of just the note I was playing. It sounded so good we kept the line the way it was. Since the pick was obviously more talented than me, I still have it on my bulletin board.

woodruff · #15 10-31-2006, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosine

When do you stop using a particular pick and dispose of it?

I usually use Dunlop Ultex or Tortex pick. I usually dispose of them after I wear the ink off of them or after the finish gets polished and shiny. I feel like I lose grip if I continue to try and play with a pick like that.

Does anyone actually play enough to wear the tip down off of a pick?

I use those as well, and I play them till they wear down to the size of a nickel, then dispose. When they get down to a dime size, the nail of my index finger starts to warp and get down the the "quick". I change picks before I start to bleed.....