Guitar Tone - Who would have ever imagined?

[wta]

Being a rock musician and music producer I'm always looking for ways to up my game to get the very best quality tracks out of the gear I've got and the musicians I track. In the last few months I was challenged to think beyond the typical usual framework that most guitarist are used to and venture into the beyond... Plastic picks? Who am I? Where Do I Come From? What were they thinking? Tone starts as you strike the metal string and I had to think was plastic REALLY the best thing to be starting my tone chain with? Would I strike a bell with a plastic mallet? I've recently tried agate/rock picks and loved them, great density and BLEW plastic away tonally and then I uped my game one more time and got a 1/2 dollar silver coin pick and I can't BELIEVE the results!!! Huge wide alive tone can truly be had and if I'd of just followed the pack I'd never have imagined to try this out. It took a little getting used to but now after a few weeks strumming and picking are totally natural. For fun I recorded some picking with my coin pick and a 1mm plastic pick and if you A/B them I think you'll be quite amazed...

http://www.soulsolarium.com/plastic.wma http://www.soulsolarium.com/silver_coin.wma

I spent hundreds on pickups, guitars, strings, amps and mere CENTS on my picks... Mmmmmmm... Not anymore, I now make my own!!!


William

[t4mh]

William

Its always fun to discover new things! Someplace around here I have a book on picks and the historical development. Interesting reading. I'll see if I can find it and post something about how to get a copy if anyone is interested. The silver dollar thing isn't a new. Billy Gibbons has done this for a long time if one can believe all the things that are heard. I tried it years ago and even put mine on a grinding wheel. Machined it down to the size of Fender 731. Don't report me to the treasury dept. Same thing with agate picks which you are right, sound great. I explored all this a long time ago and came full circle back to plastic Fender thins. Mainly, I changed how I held the pick, between thumb and middle finger, which resulted in my sort of mashing a pick badly and needing it to be pliable.

Good Luck!
Keith

[wta]

Funny Keith, sometimes I can't see the forest through the trees... I love "bite" when picking and a nice treblie tone to my rhythm electric tracks and I was always just out or arms reach for what I was hearing in my head but when I'd try and dial the tone in it aways seemed like too much or not enough! I"m loving this pick adventure and for now am sold on my siver coin picks but for tomorrow who only know...

[Len911]

William as I read your post I was thinking what about ivory guitar picks,I don't know why, I'm not a guitar player, so I have a habit of googling things and lo and behold, there are ivory picks,lol! I found an entertaining forum that discusses this, one guy's guitar instructor has wooly mammoth tusk picks, which curiously have been extinct so long I'm sure the tusks would be fossilized rock by now. Enjoy!
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/ar ... 52345.html

[thokus]

Never thought much about pics except that i only use nylon .48mm from Dunlop... Ive tried a million different ones and ended up that being my favorite .. No big deal I guess.
Tom

[feaker66]

Will

I play electric guitar as well and have never got the tone I want. (modeling amps suck)

I was playing my acoustic yesterday and was having trouble getting clean notes without my thumnail banging into the G string and creating a buzz.

I then tried using a pick and was able to nail all the notes, but it was way too harsh. I googled the subject and found a pick called a "wedgie". It is made of rubber specially designed for a softer sound. I haven't purchased one yet, but it sounds like what I need.

I also considered the old matchbook cover. Ha ha

Keep your options open I say.

paul

[t4mh]

Heres a link to the book I was talking about, if anyone is interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Picks-Book-Will-H ... 882&sr=1-1

Keith

[wta]

Guys... First off amp simulators are just that, like flight sims they aren't real, just a shadow of what the real thing is.
Picks have a long history for sure, tortoise shell was the big rave years ago but are endangered so not longer legal but that book looks really cool!!! Its really comes down application and for the tone I've been hunting for my new silver coin picks have been the icing on the cake...

[cardell]

Brian May from Queen uses a coin too...I spoke to him about it once.

Guys... First off amp simulators are just that, like flight sims they aren't real, just a shadow of what the real thing is.

I know what you mean, but have you check out Studio Devil?:

http://www.studiodevil.com/home/

Stuart

[t4mh]

[quote="wta"]Guys... First off amp simulators are just that, like flight sims they aren't real, just a shadow of what the real thing is.
quote]

I'd agree with you on most of em but careful work with some and I'd challenge you to the real or memorex test. And, you still have to put a mic in front of that amp, or DI. Probably most important is having a suitable room for the amp. Thats where the simulator gets ahead along with having all the amps.

Keith