The other details...the small changes

Modern Saint

Starve your Fear, Feed your Dream!
As players we tend to concentrate on the type of guitar, the pickups, the strings, and other parts but sometimes the basics are over looked. I have seen discussions on picks and tuners so this thread that I am starting is my revelation and small changes.

Picks...

My pick of choice for the past 30 years have been the Dunlop Tortex 0.96mm or 1.14mm picks.



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At the last pedal show (about a year ago) I went to, they gave out with your entry - 1 free - Tradition V-Pick. I tried the pick and liked it. No revelation to change but I liked it. Sadly I lost that little bugger - may have been swallowed up by the mean washing machine....

Anyway I was back home for a routine visit and picked up 6 more 1.14mm picks and noticed that they carried the V-Pick. Decided to get one again and give it a roll. This time I did a little research on the pic and tried a few things with it. Damn, I really like this!!! More so than my tried and trued for years.

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I am sold!!! Now to try it on a gig. So this past Saturday I used on my monthly gig and dammit, this pick is the bomb. Easy to grip and very easy to control dynamics with it. I could do everything I do from funk to now steady tremolo picking with no slop. I could only do this with a metal pick before. At $4.00 a pop, it is expensive but for me, worth every penny.

So my other small change was to get another tuner. I have one broken Intellitouch PT10 and a couple of weeks ago last PT10 dropped off of the headstock when I was putting my guitar away. Took a step back and snap, gone was the clip. So I took the clip from the broken one with one that was working and it is good as gold now.

Sadly I share this tuner with all of the my instruments and always need a common place to hold it. With my increase in acoustic gigs and electric jams, I need to get another tuner to help the issue out. I have a Snark and it is okay but it is bulky. Love my Intellitouch but it doesn't fit the headstock of an Ovation well. Let me try the new TC Tuner as I have the floor ones for my pedals. I like it, little on the higher side but good for other items as well. A great replacement for my Intellitouch.

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Hmm, the Ovations....I want to keep a tuner with them instead. Let me try the D'addario Planet Waves model. I read the thread on tuners and remember a Weiner saying that it eats batteries. Sadly my OD's eat batteries that I use for jams. Anyway, bought a two pack to try and I am in love. The fit decently well and work well. Gonna get a few more for my other two Ovations.

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Funny how small types of things can help improve ones way of organizing things. As for floor tuners, please note that I do not always use a pedalboard.
 
I switched from Tortex a few years ago. Got a Wegen pick, then a Dunlop Primetone, and ended up with Ultex. I still use Tortex and Gator Grip on bass, as the Ultex has more high end.

I'm kinda excited for tomorrow's rehearsal. I'm playing the Ibanez Artist the entire time and the only effect I'm bringing is the Double Pickle Drive. I'll probably use a Snark instead of my Polytune.
 
I'm lame and boring. Fender thins and mediums for me. I used some kind of Tortex years ago but ended up going back to the Fenders.
 
I'm using .73mm Tortex picks for now. I have a Clayton variety 6 pack to try sometime.
 
I ended up buying the Kliq Ubertuner for a Snark replacement after seeing it had something like 848 reviews on amazon, and an average of almost 5 stars.

It's a decent tuner, reads the low E just fine, and much sturdier than the Snark. I think the Snarks are a bit more accurate though. With my electrics, the strings are still off by a smidge and I have to tune them up with each other doing a I-V intonation check after using the Kliq. Otherwise the guitars sound like crap, amplified. It works ok on the acoustic, since you don't hear the 'off-ness' of the strings acoustically.

I may end up ordering one of those clip-on Polytuners, or maybe splurge and get the Peterson.
 
I had always used Fender medium celluloid picks (I started with thins, but they just wore out too quickly). When I got my Taylor acoustic, I just wasn't happy with the sound -it seemed a little harsh with the celluloid picks. Since I had thought about finding a pick that had a better grip surface, I decided to try out the Dunlop Nylon Max Grip .73.
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They turned out to be perfect for the Taylor, but I didn't care for them on my electrics. I also tried out the Graph-Tech Tusq .88 picks, but I just didn't care for the sound I was getting, so it was back to the Fender medium celluloid for the electrics. I also figured out that my Epi Dreadnaught with mahagony back and sides, needs the celluloid picks to bring out it's treble tones. It's all a little weird, but I swear that I hear differences with different picks.

As to the tuner, I went with Snark tuners for those times I was playing acoustic in church and didn't want to deal with a pedal tuner. I tried out a Korg Rimpitch Soundhole tuner, but that was a flop for me, so I recently tried out a Korg Pitchhawk clip on while it was on the SDOTD. I actually like that tuner, and wouldn't mind having another.
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BTW, I saw the D'Addario tuner behind the counter at the music store on Monday, and I asked the owner about that tiny little tuner. I didn't realize what it was until he took it out of the pachaging for me. I really thought it would be too tiny to be of much use. MS, I'm glad to hear I was wrong.
 
I saw the D'Addario tuner behind the counter at the music store on Monday, and I asked the owner about that tiny little tuner. I didn't realize what it was until he took it out of the pachaging for me. I really thought it would be too tiny to be of much use. MS, I'm glad to hear I was wrong.

I have a few friends at the jams who have them. Never even took a second look until I broke my Intellitouch. Funny how losing one item makes you think about alternatives out there.

Two of my Ovations are now equipped. Funny part is my KOA model has a built in Tuner but it is tough to see compared to the DPW one. Need two more for my 12 and Mando.

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I've always had a thing for picks and variety. In the last month or so I've also started putting a jazz tip on my heavy picks using one of my wife's fingernail sandpaper file thingys. I love it and when it wears down, as long as it doesn't break I just file the tip back on. I got the idea from watching Steve Vai putting the tips back on his picks using his rug.

 
I've always had a thing for picks and variety. In the last month or so I've also started putting a jazz tip on my heavy picks using one of my wife's fingernail sandpaper file thingys. I love it and when it wears down, as long as it doesn't break I just file the tip back on. I got the idea from watching Steve Vai putting the tips back on his picks using his rug.


Damn, that's too OCD for me. I have a desk drawer and a plastic box and the tops of various amps where you'll find all that stuff randomly strewn.
 
I really those ones that look a bit like they're made from frozen pee. can't remember the name at the moment..
 
Damn, that's too OCD for me. I have a desk drawer and a plastic box and the tops of various amps where you'll find all that stuff randomly strewn.


I really like carved wooden boxes and owls, so I've acquired a few really cool ones over the years for holding picks.
 
For years I also only used the Dunlop .96s or 1.14s. Then I got a Pick Punch for Christmas one year and I'd make picks from old credit cards or gift cards. I use those and Fender mediums or whatever now. I just have fun experimenting with different picks. Amazing how much they can change the sound.
 
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