Let's Talk: Strings and Picks, with Jeff McErlain 

Just for fun, I made a pick out of 2mm thick medium stiff leather. It produces a mellow sound when playing softly, kind of like when you finger pick. It was a fun experiment.

I'm just learning, going on a couple years. I took my guitar to a well respected lutheir when I recently moved to Chicago. He convinced me to put 9-42 strings on my Strat. I really like the way it sounds and plays. Always learning is the most important thing. I really appreciate the program! Thanks for all the help!

On my Yamaha FS-TA, on or off, I play with Jim Dunlop .38 nylon. I tune whole step down DGCFAD or Standard. I like a ringing warm base using that pick on Elixir Phos.Bronze nanoweb 13/56. I lowered the action to electric height... Low low. With a heavier pick, it thuds. With the .38 Dunlop, I can dig hard with no string buzz. Chording with these large strings is a light touch and I have medium hands so, I adjusted the guitar to me. String screech is eliminated with the nanowebs because I don't bend a string, I slide into notes. I don't like torn up finger tips. I use medium to 1500 sand paper to sand smooth my picks to the shape I like... even to repair dents in the pick. Great show as always, the knowledge gained on your site has helped immeasurably. Listening to guitarist my age is refreshing out here in the boondocks in Lake George. Michigan. Folks up here only play jukeboxes and drink beer by the gallon. Haha ! Thanks ,bro !

I’m 63 now and for a few years I have burning a hole thru my Dunlop medium teardrop picks with a soldering iron. That with a product I found called pickers grip negates the arthritis I have. Love the nerds only videos 😉

Chicken Picks Badass 3, 2.0mm are fantastic. So are the red JHS 1.5mm picks with the rough edge. Big recommendation for both. Lately I switched between the .88 Dunlop Tortex, the .88 Dunlop Nylon (played stevie-style upside down with the grip for great texture) and the new Fender Dura Tones (the ones in fiesta red); all different, all great. For strings: Nyxl 11-49s, standard tuning for ages now. Guitar: 70s hardtail strat

I used a Dunlop jazzIII for years, then I tried a similar size/shape Gravity pick…..wow, who knew a Pick could make such a difference! 2mm. Mostly it’s the material, whatever it is, clear, hard …that made the difference I liked. The gravity has 2 problems however, 1) expensive, 2)the hard sharp bevel edge wears out rather quickly, but I had bought a small selection of them, the teardrop was pointy’er with no sharp bevel edge and even brighter but I couldn’t keep my grip, then one day I tried the 2mm with a hole, and a more rounded Dunlop jazz 1 sort of tip Instant leap in technique as big or bigger than the switch from the Dunlop III My issue is back and forth has been really hard for me, I mostly down pick and pull/hammer with my left hand, 5 6 notes to do a legato run, starting with a single down pick on the G, B & E being hammer only. The hole gives me the grip and stability I was missing, I don’t practice scales, never have, I don’t stay in a box either, for me the idea has been lateral movement nut to bridge but now I’m making progress on back and forth traditional style picking. I’ll never be good at it, (I’m 66) or fast, but it’s a texture in my playing I’ve been missing, in terms of the types of run’s I play. I mostly work on solo skills, playing along with Pandora jazz, but with this pick chords and strumming are also easier better. Subtle changes can make huge impacts is what I’ve learned, and I can play longer with less fatigue in my right hand, lighter touch as well. So don’t discount what a change of pick can do for your technique 😳

I've found that I really like the old Giant Fender Triangle picks. I can hold them without dropping them & they have that great triangle pick ends, sort of like the shark tips. I can use medium or heavier & they really work great.

For the longest time I had two picks that came with Lollar pickups years back. They were the best picks I've ever used I I wore them down to nothing. I know you could buy them directly from Lollar but you have buy a larger quantity, and consider the exchange rate, shipping charges and customs sending them to Canada, I decided to try to find an alternative. I settled on Gators for years - thinking if Billy Gibbons uses a peso - I need the stiffest pick that felt good. Only recently I discovered Tusq picks - I'm hooked - I've bought bunches of two different thicknesses & I don't see myself moving away from them any time soon. I brought them over to my parents house. Dropped one on the wood table from about 12" up. My dad said "what do you have there son? Those picks sound different. What are they?" Needless to say my dad is hooked on them now too

I switched to 9's from 11 strings. And man, is it a lot of fun. Bends for days with vibrato. Easy bar chords. And my go to pick has been the Dunlop nylon standards with the max grip.

After trying all kinds of picks, expensive and inexpensive, I settled on .73mm Dunlop Jazz III tortex picks. So versatile, whether it be acoustic or shred or funk or jazz fusion.

I like the Clayton Ultem .80 picks (Made in Oregon) and EB Slinky 9s.

Plectrums - Yellow pointy ones with a tortoise printed on 'em... bought a bag of hundred about 25 years back and still working through 'em. At home, when noodling, I often just use my fingernail. I did buy a pack of Snark faux tortoise shell picks after getting a free one on the front of a mag. a while back, but I don't get hung up on picks. I actually had a real tortoiseshell pick back when I started, back before they were banned. Strings - 'D'ads'. Played Roto yellows for years, then some time back in the '90s got a set that were going rusty in the pack (bad storage), so took 'em back to shop and played hell. Switched to D'addarios, just because they were the only ones back then that came in a sealed bag. Have Elixirs on a couple of guitars, as I find them great for recording - they sound 'played in' straight out of the pack, so you can get a consistent sound even if you change strings in the middle of a session.

Adding this comment after the broadcast, but wanted to respond to Jeff hanging out in Williamsburg. My son and daughter in law, who now live in LA previously sublet an apartment in 60 Broadway in Williamsburg which is now beautiful upscale duplex apartments, but which used to be the Gretch guitar factory. I always got a kick out of visiting there because of the connection.

Great episode. I’ve used V-Picks for years and recently switched to the US Blues black buffalo horn. Sometimes hard to get but awesome and not the kind of money of Blue Chip which I cannot bring myself to spend on a pick. As for strings I heartily recommend coated strings from Curt Mangan. I use 10-50s on acoustics and 9.5-44s on electric. Thanks for all you do

Dunlop jazz III for me, since 1978, I use the McLaughlin trick of razor blade cuts for grip, it works, been too long to change.

I made some picks out of tempered glass for a customer who wanted a smooth sound when he did pick slides. He tried out the first one and ordered 8 more.

I got turned onto Wegen picks a few years ago - pretty much all I play now. Jack Pearson swears by them too. I dig the large (holes drilled in middle), and mandolin sized triangle picks. Michel Wegen makes these himself in The Netherlands - always top quality.

What a beautiful guitar!

Dunlop Flow 73 mm or 88 mm NYXL or Ernie Ball hybrid slinky 9-46 and 8-38 my strings last a long time too. I don’t change them very often but when I do, lol… 😂 You guys are the coolest tubers out there thanks for being as geeky about guitar stuff as I am, very much appreciated.

After fracturing my wrist, I found the V-Picks Farley really helped me build up my hand and finger strength as I recovered. But, as Keith mentioned, I could never get over the chippieness. Using Dunlop Flow 1.0 or 1.14 now.

Dava picks,,,,,fell in love at first try For a guy that dropped picks like there made of bearing grease,,it was game changer

I can't believe you mentioned Winnipeg... it's still cold here... cheers!

Methany used flats on his old ES-175 before it got too rickety to play. On everything since, mostly his Ibanez signature models, he's used XL 11-49 and 12-52 roundwounds.

I play guitar for 50th year and I'm strated on 0.09-0.42 and a Gibson 1956 gold top whit p90s. As kid. My father was a working giutar player for years..... So I just use his gear as young. And 1984 I was playing Ddario 0.08-0.38 custom set. And I meet Stevie Ray Vaughn and got to try his number one! Go from 0.08 to 13s oh heck 🤣 But he show me in person how to bend those and today I'm on 11s and if I go below that I'm over do things.... I play fat neck telecaster and stratocaster because I do have big hand and a thin neck give me cramps.... Today Josh Smith is the new Stevie he plays 13s big hands strong arms... Most importantly is the key or tune you string at that set what gauge to use. Acoustic guitar I'm on 12s. On a Gibson les Paul I think 10-46 is just the best set.... Then you get bottom and easy bend and low action as well... Bigger strings need higher action to not buzz. I play fairly high action of 2,5mm on high E and 2,8mm on low E. If not they don't sustain as I'm require them to. I like GHS Nickel Rocker and Ddario XL and power slinky... Som guitars like som strings more then another... My 1955 stratocaster natural ash like Ddario XL and my 1956 adler body likes slinky best. They resonate different as natural and require different strings to play out as best. Pickups are different as well alnico 3 on the 1955. And alnico 5 on the 1956. Thanks fun watching the show from Sweden 🇸🇪 Best regards to both of you guys 👌

Black Ice picks are made by Daddario NOT Dunlop (If you go searching)

Great episode! Thank you! One more thing I have observed being a Tony Iommi fan.. he uses a hybrid string set (thicker on the low and thiner on the high strings). I get the hybrid from Ernie ball and it helps when playing his music.

Pure Nickel strings, a Fender Heavy pick-- or the V-Picks "Freakishly Large Round Pearly Gates" are my favorites. V-picks use different material depending on the pick; some do sound chirpy, while others like the Pearly Gates sound more like playing with fingers (to me anyway). No matter what pick I'm using, I usually strike the string with a fair amount of my thumb as well. Always fun to try new things :)

I've been all about the Chicken Picks Badass 3 2.5mm's for 6 years now! They are kinda expensive but have 3 different sides and one lasts me forever!

I am listening to 5 WW from the Delrin manufacturing facility in WV!

The heaviest pic I own was given to me by my youngest son after he took a trip to Alaska. It's a piece of petrified walrus tusk. However, I have been using Dunlap Torex Jazz III pics since 1990. I am going to try a different pic on the acoustic. As for strings. 10s on the Les Paul and Strat (heavy Bottoms). 11s on the acoustic. I love the Aluminum Bronze acoustic strings.

An antibiotic made me pop a tendon that controls my index finger, so I changed to the rounded triangle. Then I bought 5 TAD Blue Chips in various sizes for electric and acoustic in 2010. Super easy to hold and they are so fast off the strings! I will probably not buy picks again in my life lol. I like GHS Boomers as they have a round core and are still consistent. I prefer Martin strings on my Martins, but I sometimes use the D'Addario medium set as it sits between Light and Medium Martin strings and if I haven't played acoustic in awhile Ill use Martin 12s, move to D'Addario mediums and finally to Martin mediums.

Interesting and awesome video! I personally use two picks as my main picks, both are .46mm only one is the white fender nylon and the other is the dunlop pink delrin. I of course use more, but that'll be to much to type lol so we'll leave it at that. As for strings, GHS Progressives in 9-46 and Ernie Ball Magnum Slinkys in 12-56 are my favorites. Depending on the tuning of course I will use sets in between those two sets adjusting accordingly.

Keith, you must have a very flat strum (flat being the pick being extremely parallel to the strings) in order to use such a rounded pick. I use more of a slant/edge picking technique, so my pick is downward by 30 degrees ish. I wont even make a sound with a round pick, it would just slide past the strings. But Jazz and pointy edge picks really come alive for me. There's a guy on RU-vid called Troy Grady who does a super indepth analysis of picking technique vs pick style. I played a ton of Jazz III until I switched mostly to acoustic and was initially draw into the bright sound of a Jazz III XL Primetone for a while, but ultimately have ended up with the Blue Chip STP40 (small triangle, 1mm) and it's just perfect for me. Thin enough to be crisp, but stiff and fast with a little roundness.

Finally finished the episode (can't always watch in one go) and I wondered if you'd touch on the manufacturer's recommended guage for their guitars. I bought my Collings SoCo LC a few years ago - and mentioned to the sales guy at Artisan Guitars that I'd be trading out the 11's that Collings recommends to 10's I was using with other electrics. He suggested that because the guitar was Plek'd and set up for 11's, the tone & feel could change. He was right. The SoCo lost some sustain and tone. I've used NYXL 11 - 49's for years now and (like Jeff & Keith) don't have to change strings too often. Great conversation!

Electric: good ol’ Fender Medium picks. Acoustic: Blue Chip TP 48 (about 1.22 mm).

I played 9 to 46 all my life. Then developed hand issues, now on 8 to 42 on all my electrics. On acoustic 11 to 50. My fav pics are Stoneworks and the 2.5 x 2.5 cm, 4mm thick with sharpened corners handcrafted by myself from perspex. On acoustic I prefer nails on fingers 😂

As the world's most boring person, the picks and strings I use are because that is what I have always used, and the entire reason I started using them because that is what the local shop had. Half-jokes aside, when I started in the mid 90s, the local shop mostly carried Jim Dunlop picks. The salesman saw me looking at every pick in the display. He told me to do myself a favor, and just use the Jazz III. So, I did, and have for 30 years. Over the past decade, I did experiment with Gravity and with Dragon's Heart. I always went back to Jim Dunlop Jazz III. Earlier this year, the shop got Kirk Hammett Signature Jazz III, and I was hooked. That is all I use now. As for the collection box of random picks we have tried over the decades, I call that my "box of failure." As for strings, the local shop carried both Ernie Ball and D'Addario. As a touring guitarist, I discovered Ernie Ball strings rust under my sweat, but D'Addario don't, so I have stuck with D'Addario. Better yet, as a Fender guy, D'Addario is who makes Fender strings, so you might as well just buy the D'Addario.

One of your watchers said that nickel is not magnetic, and was wondering about the amount of iron in guitar strings. He is incorrect. Nickel is one of four elements that are ferromagnetic at room temperature. The others are iron, cobalt, and a rare earth called gadolinium. So you don’t need iron in strings.

I think over close to 40 years I’ve tried just about every brand and most types … these days D’Addario NYXL and or XSs work for me and I’ve gotten a few sets of Stringjoys which I like quite a lot. No flat wounds - tried them once and they were just way too dark.

I believe the first year for Fender Japan was 1982. Domestic (Japan only) models were first produced in April/May 1982. These had the large Fender logo (no Squire). Export models with the Squire logo were produced a few months later and on through the 80’s

I use Dunlop Flow Std. picks, Heavy. They pretty much work on everything for the electric but for acoustic I keep a bunch of the good old Fender mediums. As for strings, due to an injury that affects my hand strength, I’ve been buying custom sets for Stringjoy that run from 8.5 to 42. But, I found that at the end of the day, the guitar picks it’s strings. For example, my Les Paul feels and sounds great with 9’s, and they feel the same as the 8.5’s on my other guitars.

BHL picks handmade by Brock in Hong Kong. Have a look … incredible craftsmanship, beautiful to play. Can’t recommend them enough

The Lemmy Dunlops. A really sturdy 1.0 nylon with grippies on both sides. Plus they say Lemmy on them and even when you go through all the picks, the cool tin is worth keeping around. I dig the NYXLs. I play hard and the same three guitars. After four months they still "feel new".

I much like Jeff have used the 1.5 black ice for the last several years. It’s closer to Dunlop’s tortex than ultex. I am not a big fan of acrylic or plastic picks. The tortex type material bites the string a little more and does sound warmer

⚓️ Thanks Jeff Keith 🌈 I’m fascinated by the physics of electric guitar… strings vibrating through a magnetic field & generating a signal 😎 how much magnetic material is in a guitar string??? Though iron has the highest permeability other elements are magnetic & add strength to strings. ??? What is the composition of different strings??? Does higher iron content affect the tone??? This question is fun because string selection always a huge topic… stir the pot ⚓️

I find when I change string gauge or material (flats, reg, or pure nickel) the pick I prefer changes as well For Rockabilly Lead I prefer Dunlop Jazz III or Jazz III XL in Nylon or Ultex with 9.5 strings. For 50s Rock n Roll Rhythm I prefer Dunlop Nylon or Tortex .71 or .88 with 10s with wound third strings. Just got an acoustic this week, now to figure out picks and strings for that.

Adamas graphite 2mm. Both Acoustic and electric. Dunlop makes them these days. Ernie ball slinky 10s is really the tone of most classic rock. But D'Addario XS are nice especially for hot summer outdoor shows. And for strummy acoustic a thin pick sounds nice sometimes.

I’ve been rotating my pick for a long time, I mostly like the rounded edge or the back; however my latest favorites are the large triangle 1.4 (Dunlop flow or Primetone). It just feels really comfortable - for now 😐.

Rick Parfitt used really thick strings basically a B string on the high E, all down to his playing style where he was whacking the guitar

Yellow Dunlop tortex, I believe they’re .73? Used to use purple but too thick, yellow seems just right. For thumb picks? I’m using those new black mountain picks? I’m going back and forth on gauges at the moment.

I like Dunlop Flow, Ultex 1mm and the Gravity Classic 1.5 -2 mm...and before you ask I use Ernie Ball Slinkys or Hybrids ....

Informative video, thanks! I use 1.20 celluloid, cheap chinese brand called Alice, I shave the top of them to be the size of the large Jazz iii, I think that is the same size as the Black Ice. Strings 9-42 D'addario

I like Fender medium and heavy. I tried everything and I think the old school guys had it right. Plus, I play both acoustic and electric and don't want to have to have two different picks or spend a lot of money for a "special" pick.

Fingers do get that certain warm tone that you can't duplicate with a pick. If you are trying to emulate Jeff Beck you can't get close using a pick. Well you can't get close no matter what but the closest you can get is playing with your fingers. Flesh has that over plastic. It is a more round sound than the sharpness you get with a pick. We all know this just thought I would echo the fact.

This is easy. Heavy Fender picks and DaD 9's or 10s depending on the guitar (G or F). Only wild card would be The Sq JagMaster my wife gave for Christmas nearly 15 years ago. My RF jam axe. 24" scale so an 11 set with a 10 high E. Works.

Having a variety of picks in a Jack Daniels box may make you look edgy and cool...but suck it up and buy a Senior Citizen weekly pill organizer !!!. I have found it to be a great way to organize my guitar picks. I start with my lightest picks on the left (Sunday)...and my heaviest picks on the far right (Saturday). Even if you only use 1 size of pick...it makes a great way to store and stash them in your gig bag...and still be able to stuff your hand in that gig bag...(in the dark)...and find your "pick box" !.

I have hundreds of picks from 70s on having been in retail and as a consumer. i have prototypes so crazy you wouldn't believe. Glass, stainless, aluminum, carbon fiber, hologram, all the now gone LA guitar stores; yukky Nylon Dunloppy Tortexxy junk of all sizes..gonna dump 'em all soon why? Because I found over the decades the taxi yellow Fender mediums are my holy grail. Not white, not red, not tortoise - different dyes made the plastic different densities, HAS to be the now unobtanium cab yellow ones from 80s I think? In fact I would give up a LOAD of my collectible picks for a few old yellow Fender mediums. I wear down the pick edge to a trace I did 30 years ago..do a few pick scrapes to rough the edges for "schwa" sounds if needed 25º angle pick strikes. Love this minutiae chit chat. 👀

i've made the slow progression to increasingly lighter gauge strings, and at the same time, increasingly thick gauge picks. I use 8s on any 25.5 scale and 9s on and 24.75. Strings have always been Ernie Ball Slinky. Picks i started the move to thicker gauge with 3.2mm picks and now use 5mm handmade picks by a company called Jaketto Picks. Check them out.

Keith and Jeff: I just bought a bag of the Black Ice picks (1.1mm) and love the sound! Thanks! They have the warmth I've been looking for without being muddy, and without the "clicks" I get with the Jazz picks. But the picks are a bit small for me, so I'm ordering the Duralin Blue picks (1mm) in the standard teardrop size. Hopefully the change in thickness won't change the sound too much. But I noticed the description on D'Addario's own page says that "Duralin is known for it's bright, clicky sound..." ! Did I get a "warm" batch, or what? LOL Keith, did you say you use the Standard version I'm ordering?

I got a Bluechip and I find it hard to use anything else now.

On my Strat tuned to Eb Standard, I use D'Addario EXL 10-46, but replace the 10 with a 9, as this makes bends feel more balanced across the treble strings.

Best thumbpicks I ever tried were made by Fred Kelly. I have enough to last me a lifetime. BUT they also make a small jazz flat pick called the PeeWee. Textured surface for easy grip. As far as flat picks go, the Fred Kelly is also the best I've found, at least for me.

When i was younger I stared using .73mm Dunlop nylon picks the dark grey ones, and if i can find them i get the Snarling Dog Brain picks of the same thickness. I played a lot of folky kind of a acoustic stuff and would break strings all the time if the pick was too thick, and would snap the picks if it was too thin. Eventually i tried nylons and never looked back. I prefer the softer pick attack and not hearing the snapping of the pick when i play rhythm. I also rarely break strings anymore.

I’ve gotta have some grippy texture on my guitar pick. I sometimes hold the pick so lightly that smooth picks just fall right out of my hand. And I need a good point for playing electric. The nubby ones go to the acoustic pile.

As a professional player for over 50 years I have tried (almost) every pick on the market, but I keep coming back to the Black Ice 1.5 pick for electric. I wish D'Addario would come up with a 2mm Black Ice since I like thicker picks, like the Wegen picks, Chicken Picks or the Hawk Picks. I also like the feel of the D'Andrea Plec 1.5mm pick that I filed down to the size of the Black Ice. For acoustic I use lighter, larger picks like the Graphtech TUSQ 68mm or the Rombo Classic 45mm for strumming. As for strings, I am surprised that no one in the comments mentioned the GHS Nickel Rockers, Eric Johnson's and SRV faves, which are wrapped with a round, pure nickel cover that is slightly flattened. Other than that, I've been using Stringjoy's Balanced sets for the last couple of years and I see no reason to change. Like the Nickel Rockers they feel good, sound good and last a long time. As for acoustic strings, I recently discovered Newtone Heritage strings, made in the UK by a small family business. They are quite similar to the Martin Flexcore strings that Keith mentioned at 57:10. But in the end it all comes down to what works for you; if it works, that's fine, if it doesn't...just point to the drummer, as Leland Sklar said in his interview with Rick Beato. 😉 Cheers from Western Australia.

Man I just use fender celluloid medium picks. I have never done well with thicker picks.

I use Dava pics. They are nice cause depending on where you hold it. It will act like a thin or thick pick. They are also made in the USA.

Silver quarters work good for pinch harmonics😊

Question: Does Jeff shine the Black Ice picks? To me they sound a bit scratchy. After polishing I like the sound & feel. Previously, my favorite was the D'Addario 205.

Celluloid Fender 351 Thins and Dunlop Little Stubbies 3.0 mm (not the thinner version). Ernie Ball Paradigm 9s for electric, Phosphor Bronze Elixer 10s for acoustic. I've never liked any of the Jazz 2 or 3s for some reason.

Metheny switched from flatwounds to roundwounds on his archtops probably 5 years ago

D'Andrea picks .96 and Daddario 10-46 XL

The Blue chip looks like a large Jazz II. I use Jazz IIIs and pure nickel wound strings. Ive been repairing guitars for 20 years. People will drop $500+ on pickups hoping to achieve the tone of "fill in the blank," but almost NEVER put any consideration into their strings. Pure nickel have better tuning stability and for some reason they produce less fret buzz if you're at the point where you need a leveling. I've been repairing guitars for 20 years and the fret buzz thing was something I discovered early on. I don't know why, maybe a metallurgist could explain. As for Jazz IIIs, I use the red and Ultex. I always hear people say that they Ultex will give you a brighter tone than the classic red ones. For the life of me I don't know how they come to this conclusion. I use the Ultex specifically for my Strat specifically because they have a warmer sound than the red ones. Tip if you're having trouble holding picks: next time you change your strings, take one of the strings you removed, run it over a flame to get it hot and press it against the pick for a second so it melts a line into it. Use pliers to hold the string of course unless you want to burn yourself.

About strings. I used to play heavy music that was downtuned, but since coming to my senses, I have played 10s usually pure nickel. I did this because like Jeff I wanted one string for both Gibson and Fender scale. However, I recently acquired a MIJ tele. My first tele. It had D'addario 9s on it. Well, that's that I'm switching to 9s on my strat. I don't even have a Gibson style guitar anymore anyway.

you'll just pick on me, but I use Fenders or Dunlops

Tom Petty was a big advocate of how much pick choice made on a song in all aspects. I always found playing with light picks, especially on acoustics, had a kind of compression effect. The way players pick is a lot harder (as in force, not difficulty) when standing. I see a lot of players (including myself) using thinner picks when sitting. Pick choice when you're broke is vastly different than when you're making "I can afford to lose a pick that costs several dollars" money. It's funny how you can come back to picks you passed over when you were younger when your opinions were less flexible and your fingers and wrist were.

Iommi tunes down (to C# or lower), & plays .07s (with.07 for the e & b strings)

I use Curt Mangan 9-42 flat wounds on a Les Paul Special. Like Jeff said... Find what works for you.

I generally don't use picks, doing lots of finger picking. When I want a sharper strum, the back of my fingernails get used. Except, I end up playing a mandolin... pick required. Keeping the pick in my fingers is the hardest part As for strings... What I thought was my guitar seems to be my technique. My finger pressure is too high so that open chords tend to throw things out of tune. I went to the guitar store and realized very quickly buying another guitar was not going to help... I sounded worse. So I am learning to play with less pressure in my left hand. I may try 11s too (using 10s now). I expect my extra pressure comes from playing fretless bass some of the time.

I still swear by Hercos. Gold for acoustic. Silver for electric. I do have a collection of others. I keep 'em in a metal clove cigarette box.

Aloha my friends! Love these hang-outs. Is it abnormal to have different strings on almost all guitars you play? I have anywhere from 8’s on my Reverend Sensei, 9’s on my Strat to 10’s on a Les Paul.

Is they would stop making dark picks. I drop mine a lot or lose them around the house. Any form of neon os the correct color for picks. Also nice for guitarists to throw into the crowd.

been using dunlop yellow or orange picks. maybe i should try a new pick. Using the wrong pick is probably the reason i cannot play like Al DiMeola. Har har har!

Got sick of loosing picks so I got used to playing without, I find it better for dynamics but not so good for funk. I use Ernie Ball 10 to 52 on everything Gibson, Strat, acoustic which allows for a really low action. I would like 10 to 50 but not a standard pack.

I like 11's on my 59 junior so I can DIG in!

What a fantastic video have a good weekend also what is your favorite year from the 2010s Keith 😊

It’s so funny how some players are like “Whatevs. I just play with whatever pick I have laying around.” And then there’s me. Lol Blue Dunlop Flow .73. I can’t use anything else ever again. 😂

I use stainless steel picks and boomers 13’s on my strats and 11 on anything else.

I like Jeff because he's not a stonehead, he's open minded, that's what I like...

Curt Mangan 10-46 round core nickel wound

I like 11's on acoustic because I don't like booming acoustic tones. Jazz iii xl carbon fiber

Darn, wanted to ask Jeff if for the pick trick the carpet type mattered. 🤔 Or does he just have guitar case carpeted inside & out? 😂

Been only playing two yrs. Never thought about the pick, other than where is it

Got so frustrated with picks i threw what i had away and just been using my fingers for about the last four yrs .

Clayton 80.

Jazz 3 the old ones.

I dont like the way D'addrio packages their strings. Unwinding 2 strings from a loose bag is a mess.

Oh. and nickel allergy, so I have to use stainless steel

Flat wounds don’t last as long

Anyone that would give $35 for a Pick should have their Head Examined..