Rotating Picks

[Alisa]

That’s great! So what exactly helped? One pick in particular from the pictures, or all of them?

[Sands]

I’ve tried all of them and a few thicker ones not shown including a couple Dunlop Max Grips with thicknesses over 1.0 mm.

The Fender Mojogrip shown in the package is by far the most secure in my hand. The thick piece is soft with gripable textures, and it’s just very easy to hold securely and play confidently. It doesn’t seem to get in the way.

That thicker piece is key, but the material of that thicker portion is also well designed it is a pleasure to hold and use. The thick material is not as dense as the pick itself so I am able to grip the “handle” part much more firmly without it translating into the string. It’s almost like an absorber of the grip I employ, allowing a much larger range of firmness in handling.

So whereas I may have been able to employ a grip firmness range of 0-3 (unscientific guesstimate) with a normal 351 medium pick, with that extra grip material, I am able to employ a grip range of 0-6 with the approximate same effect on the string at 3 (without the mojogrip handle) and 6 (with mojogrip handle). Again, this is an approximation.

Point is, essentially I can probably use up to double the firmness (pick squeeze) without overpowering the strings being picked, and that doubling increases the range of squeeze. This doubling allows for more subtle variations across that larger range. In other words it is easier to play softly to firmly…. the transition from playing softly to firmly (expressively) has seemed almost effortless except I get a sense that I’ve only scratched the surface of what this pick will let me do or what I can do with it.

I picked up 6 for about $8.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by  Sands. Reason: Clarity

[Marty73]

👍

[johnny67]

Nice Earl, glad you found something that works, one I like is the eclipse from V-Picks.com they stay put after a few seconds of warming from your fingers, they are kinda pricey and I loose picks a lot so I put my change in ajar for picks that way it doesn’t hurt so much

[Sands]

Thanks for the tip!

[Loraine]

Earl, great find for a confounding problem. I just recently had this start to happen to me, and I think I have too loose of a grip on the pick, which causes it to turn in my fingers. I’m slowly working through it and trying out different picks to see what works best.

[JohnV]

Try sanding the pick to give your fingers something to grab on too.

[andy_e]

I heard Andy Powers of Taylor Guitars answer the question of how to stop picks from slipping. One of the techniques he described was using some adhesive sand paper with a fine grain – apply a little piece to each side of the pick. I tried it and slipping was greatly reduced. I was a little nervous of the pick brushing against the guitar and impacting the finish but that has not happened yet.

[Sands]

I am going to try that!

[andy_e]

PS Thanks for the tip about the Fender Mojogrip – I will check it out. Congrats!

[Sands]

One of the monogrip picks has failed. Some kind of oily substance seems to have been introduced to it, and I have been unable to return it to it’s previous glory, so I think I will toss that one. (Cleaning it just made it softer and not as gripable.)

Otherwise, I have had some general trouble with them here and there, but still find them remarkably stable. I got sucked into one of the new Martin Luxe pics ($20!), but not very keen on it. Too firm for me, although the little textured feature is pretty good stuff. I will be trying the super glued sandpaper idea on some of my old favorite Dunlops in the near future. I may try sanding them down to offer added grip, but I don’t think that will be enough for me given the texturized options have been a bit less than satisfactory.

Thanks for all the feedback!

[That_Guy]

I bought a product i learned about from a Tony review video called pickersgrip.com

I think it was about $8 for a little bar of tacky wax that you put on the pick. Worth trying.