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Thread: Question, tell me...

  1. #1
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    Question, tell me...

    ...in your home or where you have your guitars, how many picks do you have there total?
    Different kinds doesn't matter, count them all together, but don't actually count them, just take a guess and put down a number.

    Thank you and I'll talk about why I'm asking a little later.

    The why:

    So why ask how many picks someone has? Well, I was hitting the guitar forum circuit the other night and I ran across a question from someone about picks. The person didn’t have many posts on the site, and he asked several questions within the one post about picks. Questions about thickness; your favorite kind; what you have tried; why you use what you do and so on. I use different picks a lot and found that different materials give different me results on different guitars, different genres of music, and when plugging in direct to my interface to record or using a mic or both and mixing it.

    I like things neat, orderly, and consolidated to a space. So, I posted pictures of my two boxes of picks that show how I keep track of them. I pull picks from the boxes and put them in an ashtray that sits on my desk. V-Picks I switch back and forth because they don’t wear out. Regular picks I replace as I wear them out or they break. I didn’t think the number was obnoxious or strange. I didn’t type saying you must use this brand and/or thickness to get this or that.

    The next day one of the administrators for the forum posted how my obscene the number of picks I had was. He said hearing a difference in the sound of what was being played was not affected by someone’s choice of picks. How if he can’t get something to sound right it’s him and not the pick causing the problem. Perhaps I am nuts but, when I play/record something and it all sounds right with the exception of this ticking piece of plastic against the strings and I can remove it by changing a pick material, I do it. There are times I want to hear the pick attack and there are times I do not. I don’t blame the pick, I just try a different material. I can get additional/different sounds by changing from a .38 mm plastic pick to a 4 mm acrylic pick. Not to mention other materials. I find it interesting and fun.

    The majority of picks I have acquired over my playing lifetime. I just thought that was a normal thing.

    So, it made me curious about how many picks other players have laying around. I did count all the picks I had in the photos and it came to 305.

    That’s it. That’s why I was curious about how picks people have. I appreciate everyone’s input and comments. Thank you.
    Last edited by mikesr1963; 07-18-2020 at 04:57 PM.

  2. #2
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    Eight. More or less. I rarely use a pick when I play.
    Striving to be ordinary

    Proud to be a TFF Dumbass!

  3. #3
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    Maybe a couple hundred. Most I didn't "buy". they were given to me with purchases or freinds who got them and gave them to me or my kids giving them to me, etc.

  4. #4
    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    approx 150
    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

  5. #5
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    I have about 100 picks, most of them in little containers according to thickness--bass the heaviest 88mm, e guitar 77mm, acoustic, 50mm

    I keep most of them in my music room. I also keep about 10 assorted ones in my living room.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  6. #6
    Forum Member jrgtr42's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    GOd, I have no idea how many picks I have. Easily a few hundred.
    I had a couple gross bags of different sizes, many have vanished over time, but easily a hundred combined.
    Lately (past couple years) I've been getting into different sizes and materials, so I've been accumulating bunches of those.
    As much as I keep checking my pockets, they keep showing up in the laundry.
    PLus my kiddo likes to mess with them, so they end up in the most unlikely places.
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    "It is if you don't drop it."
    - Trent Lane, Daria, Episode 1-2.

  7. #7
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    Hundreds. I buy them in a package of 76 (which lasts me for years). Several years ago I switched from 351 shape to 358 shape and gathered all the 351s and put them in a baggie in a drawer so I'm counting them as well. Still, there are times when I go to play and a pick isn't nearby.

  8. #8
    Forum Member blackonblack's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    Probably a hundred +. I
    bought 2 bags of 100 customized picks back in 2008.
    Mark

  9. #9
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    probably at least 100, yet my favorite ones that aren't made anymore seem to be evaporating. I won't even take them outside the house anymore. I probably have less than 8 of them left out of the pack of 24 (?) purchased some time in the '80s.

    I have exactly one pick available to use right now, a red Guitar Center pick. All the rest are packed away.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

  10. #10
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    The why:
    So why ask how many picks someone has? Well, I was hitting the guitar forum circuit the other night and I ran across a question from someone about picks. The person didn’t have many posts on the site, and he asked several questions within the one post about picks. Questions about thickness; your favorite kind; what you have tried; why you use what you do and so on. I use different picks a lot and found that different materials give different me results on different guitars, different genres of music, and when plugging in direct to my interface to record or using a mic or both and mixing it.

    I like things neat, orderly, and consolidated to a space. So, I posted pictures of my two boxes of picks that show how I keep track of them. I pull picks from the boxes and put them in an ashtray that sits on my desk. V-Picks I switch back and forth because they don’t wear out. Regular picks I replace as I wear them out or they break. I didn’t think the number was obnoxious or strange. I didn’t type saying you must use this brand and/or thickness to get this or that.

    The next day one of the administrators for the forum posted how my obscene the number of picks I had was. He said hearing a difference in the sound of what was being played was not affected by someone’s choice of picks. How if he can’t get something to sound right it’s him and not the pick causing the problem. Perhaps I am nuts but, when I play/record something and it all sounds right with the exception of this ticking piece of plastic against the strings and I can remove it by changing a pick material, I do it. There are times I want to hear the pick attack and there are times I do not. I don’t blame the pick, I just try a different material. I can get additional/different sounds by changing from a .38 mm plastic pick to a 4 mm acrylic pick. Not to mention other materials. I find it interesting and fun.

    The majority of picks I have acquired over my playing lifetime. I just thought that was a normal thing.

    So, it made me curious about how many picks other players have laying around. I did count all the picks I had in the photos and it came to 305.

    That’s it. That’s why I was curious about how picks people have. I appreciate everyone’s input and comments. Thank you.

  11. #11
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    i have a lot of different picks because they are not the same, the picks I said were my favorite are unlike any others I've tried. I don't know how much difference the sound actually is but the feel definitely changes. And to me, how something feels affects how I play and that in turn affects how I sound. So I guess in a round about way the type size construction of the pick makes a difference in sound.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

  12. #12
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    Different picks definitely do impart a different sound. I choose extra heavy pics not only for the quick response, but the warm sound. I use medium or heavy with my acoustic to give the sound a little more sparkle.

    I don't like the way thin picks "slap" the strings and have had some cheap pics that made clacking noises on the strings. I also don't like the super thick pics that have been popular in the past several years. I received a sample of Gravity picks and passed them on to someone else to try.

  13. #13
    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    I have between 100 and 1000 picks more than I can find at any one time.

  14. #14
    Forum Member jrgtr42's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    Quote Originally Posted by mikesr1963 View Post
    The why:
    So why ask how many picks someone has? Well, I was hitting the guitar forum circuit the other night and I ran across a question from someone about picks. ...
    The next day one of the administrators for the forum posted how my obscene the number of picks I had was. He said hearing a difference in the sound of what was being played was not affected by someone’s choice of picks. How if he can’t get something to sound right it’s him and not the pick causing the problem. Perhaps I am nuts but, when I play/record something and it all sounds right with the exception of this ticking piece of plastic against the strings and I can remove it by changing a pick material, I do it. There are times I want to hear the pick attack and there are times I do not. I don’t blame the pick, I just try a different material. I can get additional/different sounds by changing from a .38 mm plastic pick to a 4 mm acrylic pick. Not to mention other materials. I find it interesting and fun.
    I agree with different picks being interesting - not just thickness, but also materials.
    Like I said above, I have tons of picks in different sizes, materials and stiffness. I do find that I hear the biggest difference when playing acoustic. Less difference in playing clean electric.
    I don't find much sound difference among materials when playing distorted electric - it's more the stiffness. So my 3.0MM Dunlop Stubby, Stoneman agate and glass from Harpley Slides sounds pretty similar - there's a big difference in feel in my fingers and slight difference in picking resistance.
    ********************************
    "Do you call sleeping with a guitar in your hands practicing?"
    "It is if you don't drop it."
    - Trent Lane, Daria, Episode 1-2.

  15. #15
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    I long ago stopped caring what other peoples' opinion of me is.
    Striving to be ordinary

    Proud to be a TFF Dumbass!

  16. #16
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    I use Dunlop grip picks, the kind with ridges where you hold them. I use no other picks because I can't keep smooth ones in my fingers. For years, I dropped more picks than not and always had to do that quick reach to the pick holder on my mic stand.

    I'm happy with the sound I get from those picks. The only other picks I have are special picks--like ones from this or that Clapton tour and some Beatles picks. I never use them and couldn't because they're slick.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  17. #17
    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    At least a hundred, probably more.

    Material, shape and thickness definitely has an impact on tone.
    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

  18. #18
    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    When I was in college I bought a gross of Gibson Thin Picks. I still actually have a few left. My favorite pick for many occasions. I wish they still made them - I'd love a few backups.

    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

  19. #19
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    deleted
    Last edited by MGW-AB; 02-17-2021 at 09:45 AM.

  20. #20
    Forum Member VibroCount's Avatar
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    Re: Question, tell me...

    Probably a thousand or so.

    The first five years of playing I tried many picks. 351s, mostly, various thicknesses... there were few manufacturers, and far fewer materials available. I found thick picks got in my way, medium picks okay, and thin picks delightful. Less about tone, more about how it felt. When I took up bass, flatwound strings were the choice... and for a while when I did not fingerpick, I used a fairly heavy large triangle pick Fender made. When one point cracked, I had two more to use. Gradually I would use my fingers more and more.

    For years, I had one bass, one electric guitar, and an acoustic 12 string. Into each case, I had picks. A small package of Fender thin 351s with the 12 string, a gross of the same with the Gibson SG Special, and I found felt or rubber 351 shaped picks I kept with the bass.

    When I began playing more surf music, I added a Jazzmaster, and I found I liked 358s. So I added a gross of thin ones to its case. Each guitar or bass I've added I put a gross package of whichever I prefer with that instrument in each case. Strat, Epi 339, J Bass, various 6 string acoustics (Yamaha, Epi, etc.)

    So there's about 100 picks in each case, plus various extra packages on shelves or tables in at least three or four rooms at home, plus loose ones randomly everywhere (van, car, living room in four places, kitchen, dining room, bedroom) because that's where I drop them.

    I like the rubbery picks on bass because I play so hard two three hours each gig my fingers and thumb tear up, and the rubber (even more than the felt) sound closer to my fingers than any other material.

    When I play, I have the pick I'm using, plus one or two under the bottom edge of the pickguard on a solid body, and two or three either on my amp or other easy to rach surface. When a pick fails (thin ones do...) I toss the one and grab another and use it until it fails.

    So buying by the gross and making certain I have 100 or so in each case before a gig works for me.
    Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't. -- Pete Seeger

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