SIGNAL CHAIN
DEAN FARLEY
Picky, Picky, Picky
This month, I’ve decided to take a look
at something many players often take for
granted: the type of pick to use and why to
use it. As you might imagine, I’ve used just
about every conceivable type of pick. Shapes,
materials, sizes—you name it, I’ve used it.
When I was coming up, there weren’t that
many brands of picks available. Basically,
it was Fender and Gibson. Around that
particular time (the late ’60s), the Herco
brand of picks was also just starting to make
its debut in the marketplace.
In the beginning, there was the Fender
“medium” 351 pick made from faux
tortoiseshell celluloid. I found out after trying
several different variations of Fender’s 351
that the different colors had different sound
and attack characteristics. For example,
the white versions of the 351 were richer
sounding than the tortoiseshell pick of the
same gauge! The standard tortoiseshell
version sounded brighter to my ear. Although
I’ve long been asking why these differences
should be so noticeable, the fact that they
are is great in and of itself, because it gives
us another controllable choice in our personal
tone production.
When the gold and gray Herco Flex 50 and
75 pick gauges first appeared, they also
gave us another texture to use. The Heroes
had a rough surface at the top of the pick
to decrease the likelihood of dropping them
while you were playing. Many players also
found that the sound produced by picking
the strings with the rough side of the Herco
pick was very unique and useful. In fact, the
late Tommy Bolin used the top section of the
Herco pick to great advantage—after first
chewing on his until they were well worn in.
It constantly amazes me what some players use
for picks. Brian May famously used a British
sixpence coin, while across the Atlantic Billy
Gibbons used a flattened Mexican peso. We all
know that both guitarists have vastly different
tones. The gauge of string used by May and
Gibbons were also miles apart in the mid to
late ’70s. May used extremely light strings,
whereas Billy Gibbons used gauges somewhere
in the neighborhood of .011–.050 on his famed
Pearly Gates Les Paul—and the tones produced
by both players are no less than legendary! I’ve
heard that John McLaughlin
fashions his own picks from
plastic pie plate containers.
Hey, it sure works for him!
There were also picks coming
out that were made from
different materials, like agate.
I was one of the sales reps for
the original stone Min’d pick,
which completely changed
the way picks were viewed.
The concept was to let the
pick do all the work for you.
These huge agate picks didn’t
flex at all, and players found
out very quickly that their
technique usually changed for
the better due to the massive
torque from the sheer weight
of the picks. Later on, in the
’80s and ’90s, a Japanese company named
Pick Boy introduced a 351-shaped pick
with tiny holes punched into it to eliminate
pick slippage. Much earlier on there had
been picks made by Kay with a single hole
punched in the center. Personally, I didn’t
like the feel of my skin coming through the
pick and touching more skin on the other
side—it was weird and uncomfortable. Of
course, what’s wrong for one player could be
the best thing for someone else. There was
another pick called the Kradl Pick, which had
“stepped-ledges” of plastic molded around
the top edge to make it easier to hold on to
for longer periods of time.
Since the use of nitrocellulose has subsided
considerably (due to the fact that it’s very
flammable), there have been many more
recent evolutions in the guitar pick as we
know it. At the 2008 Summer NAMM show in
Nashville, I heard of a revolutionary new pick.
A friend of mine happened to get a sample,
and when I saw the size and thickness of the
V-Pick, I knew exactly what it was going to do
for my own technique. There were, however,
other surprises in store for me, as I later
found. V-Picks are available in an array of
different shapes and thicknesses, so it is really
easy to find what you’re looking for. In my
opinion, the V-Pick defies the laws of physics!
Years ago, when I played a Rickenbacker
12-string, I discovered that using a thin pick
gave me more of that jangle factor without
the aid of a compressor. Since some of the
V-Picks have a sharp beveled edge that
produces a strong tone on the initial attack,
I’ve found it can preserve that jangle, despite
being many times thicker than the plastic pick
I used before. This got me very intrigued.
The V-Pick is now my most favored and most
often used type of pick. For players who
have picking-hand or wrist injuries, the V-Pick
makes a line of picks many have found to
be therapeutic for such injuries. I’ve seen
what these 8.75mm thick monsters can do,
and they have become critical equipment
for some injured players to be able to play
effectively again. This is a truly wonderful
thing, and I applaud people with such a
vision. The tone of the V-Picks is huge and full
of authority, and there’s also a side benefit
to these as well. When the pick has been in
your hand for a few minutes, you’ll feel it get
warm and actually stick to your fingers, so it’s
virtually impossible to drop! These have done
wonders for me and for my technique. Have
fun, and we’ll see you next month.
Dean Farley
is the chief designer of "Snake Oil Brand Strings"
( sobstrings.net) and has had a profound influence
on the trends in the strings of today.
