Perry’s cobalt plated finger picks also prevent the scratchy sound that I would get after playing a while. Rubbing them in my denim jeans would help, but it’s not necessary with the cobalt picks. I love ‘em.
I've been using National NP2 picks for 50 years.They have served me well.I've really never tried any others because these suit me just fine.I use a plastic thumb pick,however.
Slightly different in tone, I don't play banjo but I could see it making a big difference live on a Mic, great detail that can help somebody's tone style, I didn't know any better when I 1st started playing guitar using a pick I cut out from a milk jug, then a real pick, sure makes a difference, good information
Perhaps I'm missing something here, but as the string does not start to vibrate (and create a note) until it has left the pick, how can pick material alter the tone?
The friction via both the string and the plectrum is what affects the tone. You can get a chripy high frequency sound or a warmer or darker tone with other material.
This is what it means to me. No one but the banjo player hears any difference. Certainly not anyone from the audience will hear any difference. If loud is your thing, go for what you feel works the best, but there's a happy medium for everyone. I'm not into buying a banjo or a guitar or mandolin and then trying to make more volume and chase the sound. I have to be satisfied with my puechase. I find much more differeces with flatpicks than with metal picks. The only this is friction from the metal picks on the strings and if you polish you metal picks..you can cut down on that also.
I find that the Stainless Steel picks have less friction/resistance and are better for my style of playing, however, they hurt my fingers so I cannot use them for extended periods!
