I’ve been on a tone quest for the past two years. I don’t even want to tell you how many pedals, amps, and guitars have made their way through my studio. I think I’m finally getting there; my guitars are dialed in, my main amp and cabinet are firmly in place, and my pedalboard hasn’t changed in a month or two — well except for the wah that just arrived, but I haven’t yet figured out how to arrange things to fit that on the board.
All that gear is a blast to fool with, try out, and ultimately use for making music. And while we all know that gear is a huge percentage of our tonal quotient, a great deal of the sound comes from you – the player. With an acoustic guitar, this is obvious, but it’s also true for electric players. It’s your hands and fingers that shape the sound and affect how the output from the pickups and the guitar impacts your pedals and the front end of your amp.
It’s that impact that I want to talk about today. How you attack the guitar with your picking hand is an oft-overlooked aspect of playing. Occasionally, you’ll find someone such as Eric Johnson; years ago I remember reading an interview with him where he talked about how he very specifically controlled his pick attack in order to achieve his much-vaunted “violin” tone. And classical guitarists are extremely conscious of how their fingers/nails strike the string, where on the string the attack occurs, whether a free stroke or a rest stroke is used, and so on. With electric guitar, shredders and fusion players tend to be conscious of alternate picking, and punkers and hard rockers will focus on down strokes for chugging rhythms, but beyond that, it seems to be “grab a pick and move it back and forth across the string…”
In the past few weeks, I’ve found that there can be a lot more to it than that. What happened is that I came back from the NAMM show in Anaheim with a pocketful of picks that I gathered from the booths of a bunch of manufacturers. I ended up coming home with a nice random assortment of materials, sizes, shapes, and textures. Now, for many years I’ve been using these picks called “HIO Speedpicks” (manufactured by Dunlop). They’re standard-shaped picks, but with a twist – literally! The sharp end of the pick has a slight twist; the idea is that when you hold the pick and guitar in playing position, the pick contacts the string straight on – flat or parallel to the string, and not at an angle, as is the case with a regular pick. I used them because I liked the way they felt, the twist made it easy to hold the pick, and they were durable.
Then last fall, at the PRS Experience event, I got a bunch of PRS nylon picks. When I tried them at home, I realized there was a difference in the tone. They didn’t hit the string flat on (given how I held them and the guitar), and tone was rounder, with more low end. The Speedpicks, on the other hand, had a tight, “focused” sound. I also found I played slightly differently, based on the sound produced and on the way the string and pick interacted. My interest was sparked – thus my pickmania at NAMM.
Here’s the deal: it may seem like the smallest of things, but the pick you use really does affect your tone, and it can also affect how you play. Over the past few weeks, I’ve tried thin, medium, and thick picks, plastic, faux tortoiseshell, nylon, acrylic, metal, and even stone and wood picks – with shapes ranging from circular to triangular to teardrop, in tiny to huge sizes. Some have worked great for me, some less so. Some seem to be better for rhythm playing, others are uncomfortable for strumming but work great for leads.
So, here’s your assignment for the week: spend a couple bucks and get yourself the biggest pile of various picks you can find. Set up your rig for your normal sound, using your usual pick. Now, work your way through the pile. Give them each a real try, preferably playing the same licks and rhythms. What do you hear? How is the feel different?
If you’re like me, then you’ll narrow the selection down to three or four likely candidates. I predict that over the next few days or weeks, you’ll naturally gravitate toward the one that sounds best and feels right. I ended up with three picks: a “normal-” shaped nylon pick; the aforementioned Speedpicks, for when I want that sound; and, to my surprise, the EVH pick that Eddie Van Halen uses – surprising, because I haven’t enjoyed using light, flexible picks in the past. But for certain parts, it’s perfect.
Now, I’m not taking three picks with me to gigs and switching off. I’ll use the standard nylon one for that. But in the studio, you can bet I’ll reach for a particular one, for a special part or passage.
Are we talking about trivial minutiae here? Some probably think so; but, as a musician trying to push my art forward, for me these details are absolutely vital. The little things alone may not make a big difference, but add them all together, and suddenly you’re talking about a major change.