i bought a plectrum today,and thought about this.
what makes a good plectrum?
personally,i don't know how to choose one.
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There are lots of things to consider when buying a pick.

First of all it depends what type of guitar you have and it depends what type of music you play.

For me I like using a thin or medium pick for strumming since they move across the strings much better than say a thicker heavy pick.

For picking on my electric guitar, I like using heavy picks because they give a crisp tone and fatter sound compared with thinner picks.

There are many different brands of picks but the two main ones I know of are Fender and Dunlop. Fender picks are mostly made of celluloid which is strong and flexible.

Dunlop have heaps of variety with their picks such as nylon and tortex. Each different material for the pick has a different feel and a different tone so I recommend going out and buying one of each type and trying them out to see which pick suits you best.

I personally like using Fender ceulloid picks

You would probably like to check the texture of them as well and what feels nice while you hold them. I use the dunlop green tortex picks, they're pretty strong, and they have this weird texture to them that makes them very easy to grip, and they don't get slippery if your hand is sweaty. I get super sweaty hands so its a major problem for me :cry

The width of the plectrum/pick also has some bearing...

I used to use fairly narrow ones like the Fender picks shown in speedphantom picture.
However, I've since come to prefer using broader/fatter picks, like the Dunlop Turtle ones (can't really remember the name!).
For strumming, I prefer thin ones... For lead guitar/soloing, thicker ones (roughly medium gauge). I don't like the feel of thick picks... XD

Picks are a personal preference... You tend to stick with a certain type once you've found the right one. Of course, don't be afraid of trying new and different picks (e.g. Thumb/Finger picks)... You might be surprised at how useful/better suited they are!

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JK

wow.
thanks for the info guys.
i get that part about picks being a personal preference.
the only problem is,i don't know where i can find a place that has a variety of picks.
i've always been going to yamaha stores,and well.
yeah.
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any suggestions anyone?
i live in singapore.
duh.
haha.

There are many SG members on this forum. I'm pretty sure there's plenty guitar stores in SG. I've seen some of the members snaps pics of guitar stores in SG in their outing threads.

I like thin picks as well, but I usually end up losing them... lol. Lately, I've been using my fingernails as 'picks' instead. If you're starting out, just try out a bunch of picks.

I use Dunlop Tortex (red / orange) and Dunlop Standard Nylon picks (.38 and .46)

Peninsular Plaza at City hall,

Parklane Mall at Dhoby Ghaut

Swee Lee at Bras Brasah or Sims Drive.

Any of these places have lots of picks for you to choose from.

oooh.
thanks for the info guys.
appreciate it.
now i can go pick hunting!
:clap :good

Are the picks with sand grips useful? Like the ones Ibanez makes. I have one and I don't really notice anything different, plus the sand gets removed quite quickly with regular use.

Wow those are interesting haha. It'd be useful if you have sweaty fingers and have the picks slip out a lot I suppose and if you like the tone you get I don't see why not =P.

Judging by the texture they look similar to the Dunlop gator grip picks but those are really pathetic in terms of "gripping" since they have this powdering substance which comes off just by rubbing your fingers over it so they're not good in that sense haha.

don't they have this "riing" pick? i don't really like it tho LOL

I currently use Dunlop Ultex picks. They last a long time and they don't have that slippery sort of feel, so you won't have them flying out of your hands. Before then I used to use the Fender celluloids, but I found that I was breaking them rather frequently. The colored celluloid picks also flaked quite a bit for me after using them for strumming, and thus I was seeing pick "dust" on my guitars, which was more evident on opaque tops.

Okay this might be a bit offtopic, but since we are talking about picks, I want to ask my question here. (don't wanna start a whole new thread).

So the thing is, I don't like to use picks for strumming. Somehow strumming with a pick doesn't work well with me. I can do it, but I strum 10 times better WITHOUT pick. It just feels more natural to strum with my hands/fingers.

Ofcourse the sound with the pick is more "brighter". But still I prefer to use just my own hands.

So are there more people like me? Or what do you pro's think about this?

(When Picking/Solo I use picks though...)
(but then again, to switch from picking to strumming would be a bit hard, well unless I throw my pick away...)
:mellow:

PS:Sorry Palhan for asking a question in your thread :sry

flamenco guitarists use their fingers to strum - they're real good at it too.

well throwing your pick away in front of an audience looks cool. that's why guitarists keep so many spare picks under their mics LOL.

I'm the opposite really, i can't fingerpick for nuts (unless its a real no brainer of a slow song)

anyway back on topic, i wanna ask another question too: how to know when to change a pick? I've got a couple of blunt ones and a cracked one, but they still work fine (at least, it sounds ok)

call me a cheapskate/lazy bum XD

most folk guitarists let the nails of their picking hand grow long enough, so that they can be used like picks (much cheaper IMO and much better for finger picking cos you have many picks at once )