Picking a Winner: The Search For The Perfect Pick

All of us guitarists have found ourselves in a common dilemma. There are so many options, so many tools which all yield different sounds and voices, different feels that excel at different applications. Sometimes, you want to stick with old faithful. Other times, you’re craving something new and exciting.

Did you think I was talking about guitars? No, silly! I’m talking about picks!!

Picks are often an overlooked part of the equation. After all, they are the last thing that touches the string, acting as a true extension of the player. It can be tough to figure out which pick is perfect for you when there are so many variables. And all too often, we stick with one pick for too long and don’t realize that there’s something better out there! So I’d like to take some time to detail my own journey through the world of picks and address some of the big factors to hopefully lead you to your own perfect pick!

When I first started playing guitar, I was taking lessons at my local Mom & Pop store in New Jersey called Old Towne Music. Since I didn’t know any better, I opted to use the simple plastic store brand picks. I can still remember them vividly: White ones were thin, Red ones were medium, and Blue ones were heavy. I tried them all over and over, struggling to decide which one I preferred. Like many other players, I found myself in a Goldilocks situation. The thins were too floppy. The heavies were too thick. But the mediums? The mediums were just right.

Those picks served me well for a while and they were certainly cost effective, probably 25 cents each. But I ran into the same problem repeatedly. They kept breaking! Around the same time, I was totally locked in with the internet and found myself learning more about this instrument that had taken over my world. My favorite band at the time was Linkin Park (2003 Chris was a very different youngster) and they listed all of the gear that they used on their website. On guitarist Brad Delson’s page, it listed Dunlop .73 Tortex Picks. So the very next time I went to Old Towne, I got myself a 12-pack of that all-too-familiar yellow pick with the smiley turtle on it. I also bought some other thicknesses to try them all out, but the Yellows felt like home. They had the perfect blend of stiffness and give, plus I grew to love the matte grip of that Delrin material. I used those picks for many years, even eventually buying some custom ones for my high school band, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Band (complete with Microsoft Paint designed logo). I still have some at home for the rainy days when I want to reminisce about the good times playing pop punk music in backyards with my Flying V, wearing tube socks and camo shorts…

As I developed as a player, my musical tastes obviously grew, too. Towards the end of high school, my favorite band was Incubus, an alternative rock band with a very unique guitarist by the name of Mike Einziger. I still rank Einziger as one of my all-time favorite and most influential guitarists. I noticed that he was using a wildly different pick which caught my eye and curiosity. It was substantially smaller with a pointy grip. Though it was still a “Tortex” model, it barely shared any resemblance with my beloved Yellow Turtles. I discovered that these were Jazz III picks, a pick that was favored by many serious players in the jazz and metal world, two genres that I had been flirting with. So I ordered some online and it didn’t take long for my Yellow Turtles to be replaced by smaller Green ones.

This was the first time that I had messed around with picks of a different shape, which is one of the three big factors to look at in picks. I found that the smaller shape allowed me to play more precisely and I soon found that I was unable to go back to the larger “351” shaped picks that most players use. Additionally, the sharper tip promoted a sharper attack to notes and a swiftness that allowed me to play faster lines cleaner. I highly recommend for guitarists to experiment with different shaped picks. Some players will prefer ones that are larger or smaller and you’ll certainly get different results from duller or sharper tips. 

After becoming a convert to the Jazz III shape, they were all that I used. But unfortunately my newfound Green Turtles were tough to find in stores. So I found myself an alternative, the classic red nylon Jazz III. These are the picks that are synonymous with the Jazz III shape and with good reason. They offered me something different in the second of the three “pick factors” that a player should look for: thickness. Until these picks, I had always used mediums. Even the Green Turtles would be considered maybe “Medium-heavy.” The red nylon Jazz III picks are absolutely Heavy. I found Heavy picks to be preferable as I could always lighten my attack to soften the volume and timbre of the notes I played but, unlike thin picks, there was no give when I dug in harder. This gave me a newfound dynamic range to play with, limited only by how hard I could hit the strings. Thickness is something that players should explore as it not only has an effect on how the pick reacts to the strings but can make a tonal difference as well, with thicker picks often having a warmer tone. 

The red nylon Jazz III was go-to for a while but I found myself in a surprising position after using them for a few years. Their added warmth was something that I loved about them initially and I now found them to be too warm! So my pick journey came to the third “pick factor” and I ordered Jazz III picks in a number of different materials. I bought thicker Tortex ones (Purple Turtles , this time!), some similar sized “Jazztone 205” picks, and Ultex, the latest from Dunlop. Each of them offered something unique. They all sounded different, felt different, and even wore out differently! And that’s when I realized something that was extremely important…  There can be more than one perfect pick!! The grip and overall inexpensive nature of the Tortex picks made them a perfect fit for playing live. The tone and slow wear of Ultex became my favorite to use at home where I could appreciate the nuance in sound. Not to mention, I even loved how they performed after the sharpened tip had grown quite dull, worn out to reflect my pick attack as if I’d had them custom beveled. And when I wanted some added warmth, those red nylon Jazz IIIs were there in abundance.

The pick search never truly ends. Even in the short time that I’ve worked at Maple Street, I’ve explored several new options. When my band, In The Presence Of Wolves, went on our month-long tour, I found that the Jazz III shape was so small that I was tearing up my fingers on a nightly basis and made the switch over to the Jazz III XL shape for a slightly larger pick that still shared all of the same strengths. I tried some Cool Picks that came to the store in that similar XL shape but with unique grips and materials that, again, all yielded different and exciting results. John Cable even got me convinced that I needed to try a Blue Chip so I shelled out the $35 to get one in my new favorite Jazz III XL shape at the thickness I was used to. Some folks question whether or not a $35 is worth it. I think it absolutely can be! Especially if you’re a player like me that doesn’t lose picks on a regular basis! 

So I guess that brings me to the final question. What is my perfect pick? The answer is simple. It depends on the day…Chris Capitanio, 2020