Loose pick-grip cosmetics

[BJG145]

OK, not cosmetics exactly; but anyway. My pick grip has improved a bit, and I'm sticking to the same one these days (Jazz III Ultex, sounds like a prophylactic but it's a decent plectrum), but with dry hands it's still not easy to hold the thing securely.

A while back I tried something called Pick Honey but that was ridiculous; you might as well use superglue. So...gotta be something sensible for this; just regular hand cream perhaps? Maybe I just answered my own question, but I'll leave it here for you to debate your favourite hand-care products...

[Sam Spoons]

Gorilla Snot https://www.gear4music.com/Drums-and-Percussion/Gorilla-Snot-Pick-and-Stick-Grip/1WQ9?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr72Dyary5wIVibTtCh1xqwQmEAAYAyAAEgLJQvD_BwE

If that's too sticky (and it is pretty sticky) how about Mr Zog's Sex Wax https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Zogs-Original-Sexwax-Temperature/dp/B07BVCC6H3

[ManFromGlass]

I know this is a serious issue but - (and I’ve done my fair share of dropping drumsticks)
Big bloody chuckle of the day!

[John Egan]

OK, not cosmetics exactly; but anyway. My pick grip has improved a bit, and I'm sticking to the same one these days (Jazz III Ultex, sounds like a prophylactic but it's a decent plectrum), but with dry hands it's still not easy to hold the thing securely.

A while back I tried something called Pick Honey but that was ridiculous; you might as well use superglue. So...gotta be something sensible for this; just regular hand cream perhaps? Maybe I just answered my own question, but I'll leave it here for you to debate your favourite hand-care products...

These days, I have a real problem holding on to a plectrum. It's an age thing, dry slippery fingers.
These things have made a big difference.

https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Grips-Ul ... B00JER27MO

Hope they help..
Regards, John

[Stratman57]

I use a thumb pick, inspired in the 70s by seeing Nils Lofgren on the Old Grey Whistle Test. Very difficult to drop, and you can hold it as if it's a standard plectrum, but as a thumb pick it lets you use the rest of your fingers to pluck the strings, or play harmonics like Nils.

Regards, Simon.

[Sam Spoons]

I've tried that but, for it to work me, it will involve a big change of technique to something resembling the 'Bluegrass Grip' which I'm trying to do for other reasons but finding it very hard after 55 years.......

I'm still waiting for somebody to come up with a pic that works like my Wegen Gypsy Jazz Pick but with a thumb grip like the Bumblebee pick



A great idea spoiled by a basically crap pick.....

[Stratman57]

Wouldn't these work for you?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jim-Dunlop-9002P-Medium-Player/dp/B0009R3I8A/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=plastic+thumb+picks&qid=1582880283&sprefix=plastic+thumb+&sr=8-5#

Regards, Simon.

[Sam Spoons]

Those are the kind of thumb pick I have tried in the past and they don't work for me for several reasons.

The problem is complex, when strumming/pomping* with a very thick pick you need to allow some movement, the pick doesn't bend or give at all, a thumb pick doesn't allow that movement. Also I hold the pick with the pad of my thumb and the tip of my index (and sometimes index and second) finger so it is not aligned with my lower thumb joint as a thumb pick would be. Wegen picks are bevelled at the tip to take this into account (so you need to order in left or right handed as appropriate).

*Gypsy Jazz rhythm playing

[IvanSC]

This is a regularly recurring theme, isn't it?
I got the suggestion om monster grips last time around & for a while they worked fine for me.
Nowadays I have been glueing really rough sandpaper (80grit or 60 grit) to either side in an attempt to keep hold of picks. Mostly it works.

As the arthritis in my wrists and thumbs has gotten worse over the years, I now find that if I strum either with just my fingers or even with a pick I wear notches in the nail of my middle finger right hand till it cuts into the flesh & I bleed. Same is starting to happen now with my index finger. Havent figured this one out but have started trying that white "Michael Jackson" surgical tape but it wears down to the nail a gain in one 46 minute set.

Left wrist is even worse.... I have started playing chords Keith Richards style... haven't been able to do proper bar chords in years & am seriously considering going over to just lap steel.

[Sam Spoons]

That's bad news Ivan but out of adversity etc. In the words of Mr Zimmerman "The only thing I knew how to do, Was to keep on keeping on". Have you come across Tom Doughty?

http://www.tomdoughty.com/biography/

[BJG145]

This is a regularly recurring theme, isn't it? I got the suggestion on monster grips last time around & for a while they worked fine for me.

(You're right...I was just leafing through that last post from five years ago. They worked for a while for me too, but I gave up on them in the end for various reasons...I seem to remember the stickiness gradually wore off, or the grip peeled off, and I didn't really want that bump in the middle of the pick. Think I'll just stick to Jazz IIIs and hand cream now.)

[Sam Spoons]

Just one final thought, a little more expensive than pick honey or WHY but I rarely drop my Wegen Gypsy Jazz Picks. https://www.wegenpicks.com/#order

I use Wegen Gypsy Jazz Picks (3.5mm) for nearly everything but also have and use 3.5mm Twins (a smaller version) and Bluegrass Pick (very similar to a standard Tortex shape but 1.4mm which and much harder than a Tortex) These have holes in for grip but are not as good as the GJ and Twins for grip. I use them because they are a little brighter (and they are considerable cheaper).

I think the Twins are closest in size to your preferred JazzIII picks so if you want to give one a try PM your address and I'll send you one, just bung it back in the post when you have decided one way or the other.

[Stratman57]

Bloody hell, what gauge strings do you have on your gypsy jazz guitar?

Regards, Simon.

[zenguitar]

Irn-Bru, they're made in Scotland from girders.

Andy

[Chilly Canuck]

I prefer the no-name 2mm picks. I use a sharp blade to create a crosshatch pattern on each side. They work really well until they break at the most inopportune moment...

[Forum Admin]

(Jazz III Ultex, sounds like a prophylactic but it's a decent plectrum)

Well there's a world of difference between a pluck and a f**k!! But occasionally both involve a G-string.

[I'll get my coat...]

[Forum Admin]

Hmm, if they were peppermint-flavoured...

[Forum Admin]

Apols for hi-jacking this thread with my silliness. In a weird mood.

[Wonks]

Thread hijacking is mandatory.

But obviously, like the other people here, you're loosing your grip.

[Forum Admin]

I use a sharp blade to create a crosshatch pattern on each side. They work really well until they break at the most inopportune moment...

When I used to gig, I did a similar cross-hatching trick on my picks using a fine-tipped soldering iron - which was much more effective than heating up a sewing needle on the gas stove whilst wearing oven gloves!

[Sam Spoons]

The World is a better place for a little bit of silliness.....

Bloody hell, what gauge strings do you have on your gypsy jazz guitar?

Regards, Simon.

10-45 Argentines but it does have a 26 ½" scale length. It's how you get the distinctive 'crunchy' sound.

I do use the same picks on electric though.

[Drew Stephenson]

You could go for The Edge's technique of using picks with those raised cross-hatched grips, but hold them back to front so that you use the cross-hatching as a kind of multi-pluck.

[shufflebeat]

Dunlop Maxi Grips have solved the problem for me:

https://www.jimdunlop.com/products/guitar-picks/max-grip/

[Funkyflash5]

Haven't really thought about it before, but I might try dipping part of a few picks in plastidip and see how that works

[Sam Spoons]

Irn-Bru, they're made in Scotland from girders.

Andy

Actually they're made in Holland from false teeth.......