Jeff Loomis Explains How Guitar Picks Affect Tone 

The biggest factor of great tone is Jeff himself

good to see Jeff on a 7-string again. Hopefully this means more new music coming from him.

Such a simple but crucial element. Makes a massive difference on bass as well.

I am a simple man, I see Jeff Loomis, I click as fast as his picking

great content. cant wait for the rest of the series.

Wow, didn't know that there would be such a significant difference! Thank you for this vid

Pure Awesomeness!!! Thanks for following up on this series Miami!! By a stroke of luck, recently tried a Dunlop tortex Sharp but 2.0, and loved the precise picking you can get from it so I’ll have to try the 1.5 now!! Another pro pick is the Dunlop Ultex Sharp 1.0 (or up) but this one Id recommend more for riffs than for precise picking! ( I love 2.0 for aggressive metal triplets). IMO jazz 3 always felt like my fingers were cramping up and I could get the picking action and attack only in very limited circumstances (must depend on hand length and size since Petrucci does seem to get a ton of mileage from them).

I love using jazz 3’s and the grip really helps out. I find my tone and attack are good. They’re definitely my favourite. I have not tried Jeff’s picks so I cannot comment nor compare them. Thanks for the video!

I'm more interested in talking about what seems to be a new Loomis signature...

I've used jazz iii's for years but I have to admit the Jeff Loomis ones sound great.

Man, that's a really big difference 😯 Dunlop 1mm sounded really balanced.

Got free picks from Jeff's website, tried them and never went back to other picks. The attack and clarity is insane with those picks.

I was literally just thinking about picks and the differences. What a coincidence

Loomis looks more and more like Hanneman every time I see him. Jeff reincarnated as Jeff

Great comparison demo.

Picks make a massive difference to tone, as does where along the string you choose to pick.

I use Dunlop Tortex 1.14 mm purple picks. They seem to have a tone somewhere between chirpy and midrange-y, which I guess works great for most styles of music.

I using too Jeff loomis pick..attack is amazing..Awesome video again! Thank for that💥🤘

Beautiful guitar

Picks definitely give different tones hands down and ya it’s 100% true !! Jeff is the man

All hail Loomis! Possibly the first commentary I've ever noticed on this particular issue but something I've thought about. A bit of counterpoint, with a thin pick (.5 or .6 mm) and a bright sounding electric in standard tuning like a PRS McCarty that has decent string tension (or Telecaster, Les Paul, etc.) and the pick will flex a bit when picking through notes snapping some if you dig in and I feel like that can add some cool springy-ness, volume, and bright accents to the tone.

for another (kinda similar) perspective on this, check out the 'failure to fracture' video about picks - it references a bunch of stuff about sharp picks and picking hand setup from robert fripp's "guitar craft" seminars paul gilbert also has a lot of stuff talking about pick hand setup / angle for affecting attack

Great video!!! Some of the BEST-underrated HD powered speakers by Beringer 😎👌

great video and that's one siiiiick jackson guitar

This was great. I started using the Loomis picks several months ago & haven't used anything else. They hold up well & really emphasis the attack. I pick rather hard & I like how these don't give under fast runs. Very consistent.

Ha! Great Video. Jeff's Picks really take some getting used to. It really digs into the string. I do like the Big Stubby picks 2mm 3mm and the new Dunlop Flow Gloss 3mm is my new Fav Pick to use right now. Fred Durem flat grip picks are Great as well.

Playing a Les Paul style upside down?! Immediately you're one of my faves... CHEERS!

Cool vid man

I never thought picks really mattered that much for sound. Until i started recording my guitar more seriously and discovered how incredible important it is to use different picks for different parts of playing and the way it affects your tone. I switch types of picks even when tracking my different guitar parts. Leads definitely need very different picks than rhythm playing. Very good video that really snows the tremendous difference in sound when using different picks.

I didn't realize the pick influenced tone so significantly. Cool 😎

I've settled on the Dunlop Big Stubby 3.0mm Nylon for the last few years.

I ordered those picks from the U.K. called Dans guitar picks, absolutely love them!

There was a similar comparison made by Andrew Wade in his Guitar Production series.

Yeah man I like them sharps . I've been using the ernie ball prodigy sharps lately but those tortex and Jeff's ultex sharps are awesome too.

I like the Andy James Flow picks A LOT and also another kind that I won't mention here because they are already difficult to get.

I’ve been partial towards anything that has a sharp tip and a hole of some kind for grip. As much as I love Jeff’s picks, I don’t feel comfortable with drilling a hole through one of his signature picks just to get something I like. I’ve settled on the Bog Street Mini Beasts and a custom Gravity Sunrise 2mm with circle grip (which has been updated to a triangle shaped hole), and I haven’t had any problems since with any of them.

What a great dude...

Very cool!

Jazz 3 M2 green ! Amazing !

For acoustic guitar I've discovered that what pic I use makes a big difference in the amount of pick noise I pick up in the mic

I bougth some of his sharpy picks, now i cant imagine myself not playing without it...

I like the Dunlop 427P2.0 Ultex Jazz III, 2.0mm picks. They work great for me on both guitar and bass.

I started using the Dunlop ultex sharps years ago, and it’s borderline impossible for me to use anything else now. They don’t sound like anything else

Im not totally sure if I've seen the sharpy Dunlap pick. But i can say for certain that i know what a Dunlap Jazz 3 pick looks and feels like. I now gravitate towards the XL series jazz3 but will use a original sized jazz 3. Been using them since 87. Heavy thick pick with a tip. They do allow the "chirpiness" as well the balm mute is part of the game as well.

Me and jeff have the same idea on picks. I use the ernie ball prodigy 1.5 picks which is basically the same thing as his. I just love the attack of a sharp stiff pick. And the prodigy picks have beveled edges as well which is why I love it

I recently stumbled onto Chicken Picks Shredder 3’s and really love the attack and tone from them 🤘🏻

I started off using the standard tortex .88 but over time it would slip so I switched to the tortex flow .88 I liked it but noticed it would bend over time. I just switched to the Dunlop flow grip 1.5 and found what I was looking for, it’s giving me the sharp warm pick attack I like and still has that heavy sound for downpicking

Finally someone adressed that!

Ive always liked using Dunlop Nylons, usually 1mm. They are easy to hang on to and seem to last forever lol Might have to check out the Sharps now though as I really like the tone it helps create.

I switched to V-picks. They don't slip,( something with the plastic). I use the pointed medium lite. 1.5mm and it doesn't bend. Plus when they get rounded, I re-shape them with 600 grit sandpaper.

I use the same pick!

I'm still trying to find a substitute for the Tortex T3 1mm, just works best for me. A balance between the Sharp and Standard dunlop picks, with attack, precision and flow all bundled up. Unlike the Sharp, it allows room for error by never "grabbing" the strings. Its material gives a crunchy tone, while the 1mm size doesn't mud the ultimate sound, plus it has almost no flex. This shape is so balanced you can sweep, gallop, tremolo, alternate across strings etc effortlesly. Thrash, death, fusion, whatever genre, no problem. Downside is: it wears down pretty quickly! I sharpen them with 200 grit when they're beveled, and finish the sharping with cheap scissors

I used to use ultex Dunlop... Then since I'm a fan of Loomis as a player and a person... I just started using his signature black picks....I'll never look back...it's sharp attack is what I was looking for in my shred playing for metal... And in my blues projects i still actually use it...didn't plan it but to me this just perfect..i bought me 3 packs so far..... I can't play without them!!!

love the upside down fiddle strung lefty. Right on bro that's how I started playing..

The loom... I use a dunlop tortex M3! It's shaped like the jazz 3 but it's .8 i beleive. Its excellent for shredding and if you want more traditional pick dynamics just turn it on its side. Boom.

Jeff's pick is the best!

I was playing with Dunlop Sharps 1.5 and 1.14 for 15 years. Its the pick with the best attack by FAR, but it always troubled me in the bass strings as I couldn't relax my hand enough and I was getting fatigued.And I tried, but its just my style I guess.... I moved to Jazz 1.14 and 1.5 which worked better for riffing but the attack was definitely less on soloing. I recently moved to JP Trinity and its just as cool as a Jazz and has better attack, closer to the Sharps, but it glides far better. Now after a few years, when I pick up a Sharp it feels really difficult..lol..Amazing I was playing 15 years with them :)

I also play with dunlop 1.5's , I use the Big Stubby

I love using thicker guitar picks, i've been using the dragons heart picks for years now. I keep a bunch and give them away to strangers i meet that say they play guitar because i love them so much and i want others to experience them

I like the Dunlop Jazz III Tortex 1.14 and my style is progressive death metal. It has enough point to it for a sharp attack but not as big as the V pick where there's extra residual material.

I prefer the Jazz III, because all you need is the tip. Also, for me, personally, a pick has more to do with attack and feel than tone. It's because of this that I lean more towards hardness that thickness where it comes to plectrum choice. When I realized that I could get the same attack with a thinner, harder pick rhat I get with one that is of a thicker, softer material. I also realized that my string life vastly improved as I wasn't having to apply as much force to get the same punch. There is no true one-size-fits-all solution here as the players picking technique also is a determining factor. For Jeff, his technique favors the thick and pointy. For John Petrucci, it's the Jazz III. (Which does come in a super pointy version too.)

I love to know what interface he uses to get low enough latency to play the way jeff dose?

ill never tell anyone what pick to use, but after many years of playing on dunlop .73mm that's the best for me. it has flex and strength for the tuning i play in. best to say try what picks work for your style and feels comfortable. try anything you can to see if it helps but do not look at this as a end all solution.

Nolly once explained in how to achieve his bass tone that he mainly use thinner picks because it acts like a compressor. It can be cool to use thinner picks on some passages for guitar but for intricate leadwork a thicker pick (to an extent) is really necessary so one doesn't lose pick attack on alternate pick runs, that kind of thing.

Interesting. I've been experimenting with different picks, after years of Yngwie inspired Dunlop 1.5mm. I tried a Dunlop sharpie, but them a chore to play with. So I tried a max grip jazz III. I dig the size but they're too thin & I don't like the tone. So now I'm using a Dunlop tortex 1.5mm jazz III. It's the best pick I've tried so far.

I love using the 2.00 ultex sharpie

When i first started on guitar i was using fender picks and they would slip very easily in my fingers but when i discovered the dunlop max grip picks i got hooked it stays in place the tone is crisp and it help with the fact then im trying to get faster

Not only does the thickness & shape make a big difference in tone but after recording for years now only using hard Dunlop jazz 3’s I found a company that made picks out of different materials... I found that for metal and recording in general that picks made out of cow horn or bone gave it such a significant difference in attack but also the overall “warmth” of the tone. Highly recommend giving them a try especially if you record or are in the studio often!

For your little demo part it wouldve been helpful if you'd play some fast alternate picking licks (instead of downpicking and pull offs) , since the attack on for up and down stroke might sound different especially between the different picks

yes

The pick material is also a factor. I use dunlop primetone jazz 3 picks and they are a very hard pick and give me a different pick attack than a softer compound.

Though I've been playing Dunlop Tortex picks forever, I've notice that chirpiness is noticeably more present with picks made of Ultex. I'll switch to Ultex when I'm looking for that chirp. I've found picks made of nylon sound the best on acoustic, but they wear down quickly. The pick material and thickness affect tone quite a bit.

Picks make a huge difference. I'm Using Zenfire Phat Jazz picks. They have really good grips, the feel is crazy good and they have a tone that is unmatched by anything made from plastic.

I change guitar picks more than my underwear to get different tones and different sounds and effects. But here I am watching the video! LOL My two "go to picks" are the Herdim Blue Heavy, and I think it's a Dunlop Primetone 1.44 mm. My holy grail is the Dunlop, the full sized one on not the Jazz size, so I can easily palm it when using fingers. The down side of the Dunlop is the brown color makes it disappear if you drop it.

For real I wasn't sure if this was actually a question but it is. Some alone "chirp" and that's a good or a bad thing for some players

Yes

I just recently bought a pack of John Petrucci's signature Dunlop Flow's and I have been loving them. Also, damn that Jeff's Jackson is pretty!

Personally like the Ultex Jazz 3 - XL Series, very thick and heavy-duty with sharp tip.

I am pretty new to it. But even I have figured out that pick's material and thickness and string's material and thickness will make different tones.

I play bass with a 1.5 mm Max Grip, but I turn the pick sideways and pluck with the corner.

I like using a Dunlop Ultex 88 mm because it gives my strings that extra bite especially on bass

I switched to the Andy James flow pick a couple of years ago. 2mm thick. Don't think I could go back to another pick now.

Yeah, I didnt realized picks could affect that much the tone, till I started using Ancestry Picks (best Mexican picks brand imo), and now I can use "regular" picks like the stubby jazz 2 & mm, or the triangle one, jim dunlop, etc.

I use a Dragon's Heart GT pick it's 2.5mm love the tone from it

I'm a big fan of tortex .73mm sharps!

I have 2 main picks, a regular jazz III and an ernie ball prodigy 2MM standard they just have a great attack when it comes to chugging and playing leads, and now when I use the pick I used to use it just feels weird

Yes. Everything matters.

Jeff's guitar looks pretty nice but what is yours good sir? One of the nicest looking electrics I've seen

Jeff is back with schecter!

Hey Joey how are you finding using right handed guitars as a lefty?

The sharp 1,5mm is a white pick and the 1,35mm is a black pick (Loomis has a black pick in the video). Maybe he got it confused or using a signature pick? Karl from Nile uses the 1,35mm sharp

Interesting that note attack makes sense I just try to have the least amount of pick sound possible. Kind of Eric Johnson style where the tone of the guitar is what is coming through most, not the pick hitting string.

that Jackson is gorgeous

My pick of destiny is the V-pick Pachelli 4.0 mm . It’s fast as a shark 🤘

I've been sharpening and sanding my picks for string attack and better grip for years. Especially right before a gig. Any sidewalk will do. 🤘💀🤘

As soon as I started playing with the Max grip Dunlop There isn't no going back

Thick picks are the best. I love my purple plectrums 💜

4:24 always love to see Left Handed Player's like me!!

huh. i have a sharp pick, but it is kinda thing, i outta try a thicker one. that's why i like the chicken picks, they have a definite chirp to them as well. Also, this was bugging the hell outta me, I knew I seen this dude before. You did a killer job on the River Dragon cover.

Aloha from Hawaii 🏝️ ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ Yes, picks do make a difference... Currently I'm using Blucoil audio thin.