Any guitarists here playing with metal pics?

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rockinrobby
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2011/01/24 00:48:01 (permalink)

Any guitarists here playing with metal pics?

I have some on the way, just curious. 

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#1

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    Chappel
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 01:25:09 (permalink)
    I use to play with a copper pick... years ago. Got a nice bite with it when going for artificial harmonics but gave them up because they weren't so good at strumming. I don't know if he still does it but Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) used to play with a nickel, I think it was.
    #2
    Bob Oister
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 01:27:53 (permalink)
    Hey, Robby!
     
    No, sorry, not me.  For years I've only used Jim Dunlop Tortex Standards 1.14mm, the Purple extra heavy ones.  I do remember trying some metal, and natural stone picks a gazillion years ago when I first started playing.  And, I even tried those weird "triplet" picks with the very thin multi-layered edge, that supposedly simulated multiple pick strikes.  Those were really strange feeling to use.
     
    Have a good one, buddy!
    Bob
    #3
    rockinrobby
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 04:28:27 (permalink)
    :-) He (Billy)plays one like this :-) It's made from a peso...

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280586780421#vi-content






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    #4
    Bristol_Jonesey
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 05:44:50 (permalink)
    I've played with metal picks in the past, but not anymore.

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    Jumbicat
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 05:58:24 (permalink)
    Why in the world would you use metal picks? The rosin core picks provide the same attack as a violin bow. (Sort of) Once the pick has been "rubbed' vigorously over the string, you can hear the bow effect.  To answer you question, I do not.

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    #6
    skullsession
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 06:51:22 (permalink)
    I can't stand using a metal pick....but I do have a friend who has been using copper picks for a couple of decades now.

    Wondering why you ask?

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    #7
    The Maillard Reaction
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 08:12:27 (permalink)
    I use my knuckles.


    #8
    Guitarhacker
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 08:32:17 (permalink)
    I tried some metal picks, even started using a quarter from time to time after reading that Billy Gibbons used them in a Guitar Player Magazine interview.

    I didn't really like the feel of the metal picks and they seemed to cause more broken strings. They also had a harsher sound to them.

    I  settled on the Fender Mediums decades ago. They provided the right feel. Just the right amount of stiffness and bend-ability that I like.  And the feel will vary depending on the material used..... the dark brown Fender mediums have a slightly different feel than the white Fender mediums.

    I used to buy the White Fender Mediums by the gross. The white picks were easier to see on a dark stage if I dropped them.

    Now days, it's cheaper to use a quarter as a pick. Last time I looked at picks in the music store they were 3 for a dollar if I recall correctly. I have so many laying around I don't have to buy them. Some are quite worn, others are collectors items to me, having been played by famous (in my opinion) musicians and songwriters.

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    #9
    The Maillard Reaction
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 08:47:31 (permalink)
    I have a faux tortoise shell Brian Setzer pick that he handed to me.

    I have a Rick Nielsen pick that I grabbed off the floor while competing with all the other rabid fans in the pit!

    I still use my knuckles. :-)


    #10
    Psalmist35
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 11:00:24 (permalink)
    Our band was playing a coffee house on Ft Bragg a few years ago and one of the Chaplins gave me a copper guitar pick.  I personally like how it sounds on Acoustic guitar but NOT on electric.  I've been using a Dunlop Tortex 0.88mm pick on my electric.  To be honest I haven't experimented too much with picks on electric guitar.
     
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    skullsession
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 12:02:22 (permalink)
    About 10 years ago, before I moved to Houston, I was playing the final gig with my band at the time.  Sometime during the last song, I dropped my pick.  I was closer to my other guitarists mic stand than mine, so I grabbed one of his copper picks to finish out the song.

    And with it being the last song - of the last gig - we were a little over the top perhaps.  When we started packing up that night, I realized that I had scraped that copper pick the full the full width of my dang guitar several times while obviously wildly strumming.  This particular guitar doesn't have a pick guard.  Not that it would have helped...the scrapes were from top to bottom....crazy...

    UGLY!  Luckily, it was only in the clearcoat and it buffed out.  My stomach still turns a little when I think about it.  I was certain I had ruined that beautiful finish!

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    #12
    The Maillard Reaction
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 12:06:41 (permalink)
    I have heard from a reliable source that groupies dig players with green fingers.

    Or did I


    #13
    Guitarhacker
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 12:26:21 (permalink)
    Some music stores won't let you test play a new guitar with a pick.... afraid of the Pete Townsend wannabes..... I guess.

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    Slugbaby
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/24 14:08:26 (permalink)
    I found that metal picks made the sound more tinnier and abrasive.  It had uses on acoustic guitars, but since my electric go-to guitars are Telecasters it was just too much.

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    Kev999
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/25 01:37:04 (permalink)
    Brian May uses a coin with a serrated edge.

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    RogerS
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/25 03:00:32 (permalink)
    I recently was given a glass pick which was made in Hawaii. I tried it on an acoustic and the effect was opposite from what I expected. It actually produces a very warm sound because the attack is muted. 

      To answer the OP's question, I'm currently experimenting with Dava picks, which includes a plastic pick with a nickel-silver edge. 

    Mainly, I still use Fender Mediums. I bought 2 gross when I worked at Fender in the 80's, and I still haven't opened the 2nd bag. 

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    #17
    batsbrew
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/01/25 13:25:37 (permalink)
    Brian May uses a coin with a serrated edge.



    it's a six pence.



    i have some metal picks, use them now and then.

    the thing that got me into metal picks, was seeing punky meadows play with ANGEL, back in 1977 or so..


    he was playing a white strat, thru a couple of stacks of AMPEG V4's, and it sounded almost god-like.
    he was using banjo fingerpicks, and the sound of those on the metallic strings, with the metallic sound of the amp, and the whole thing, was a real eye opener.


    i made my custom metal picks from pieces of a broken Paiste soundedge Hi-Hat my drummer let me have


    cut them out in the shape of a pick-sized heart, so it was easy to determine the top and bottom in the dark...

    and the rounded edges of the upper part of the heart, along with the point, effectively gave me 3 edges to pick with.

    the sound:


    WOW.


    the strings........... dead after one night.
    LOL

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    #18
    JamieC
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/02/01 17:40:17 (permalink)
    I occasionally dig out a copper pick to use on acoustic as I like the sharp attack that becomes possible.  My standard picks for electric and acoustic are Jim Dunlop Jazz, (see avatar!) but I quite often get the tone I want with fingers. 
    #19
    Middleman
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    Re:Any guitarists here playing with metal pics? 2011/02/01 20:09:50 (permalink)
    I used metal finger picks for acoustic guitar playing for years trying to sound like James Taylor. Then I found out he uses fiberglass and resin to build up artificial nails on top of his real nails. Nice sound.

    Never used metal flatpicks.

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    #20
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