Picks, Strings & Straps

Picks

It doesn't happen as often nowadays, but I used to raid the pick assortment boxes at music stores like they were going out of style. The reason I don't do it as often is that I have basically collected them all by now. It's not just the compulsive collector in me, although something must be said for how surprisingly effectively a few picks can satisfy the urges of a general GAS attack.

The actual truth is that I'm always on the lookout for the next thing. I discovered the Dunlop Jazztone 204 picks quite by accident, I'll never know if there is something even better out there unless I try everything, and picks are comparatively cheap. I wouldn't even dream of trying to recommend which picks to use for which style of playing. What I can do is advise everyone who'll listen to try it all and see what works.

For 30+ years, I've preferred a thicker pick for a chunkier tone, stability and a predictable string release. During the majority of that time, I played Dunlop's regular Delrin 500, later the Gator Grip non-slip versions. I always knew that something felt slightly off, but assumed that I had to grind a pick down somewhat before it was perfect. In actual fact, what I really wanted was a much blunter tip, to minimize the friction between the pick and the string. The Jazztone 204 is thick, has a nice, rounded cross-section (instead of the usual Dunlop 30° bevel), but most importantly lacks any kind of point. I can play with just about any pick, but in order to maximize my speed, accuracy and stamina, I need this pick in order to suspend the local laws of physics and take the friction out of the equation.

The only thing the 204s don't really work for are acoustic strumming and flatpicking, unless of course I'm after a very specific, focused tone. In those applications I have found the Dunlop Ultex picks to be extremely suitable. They have a warm, organic tone that is worlds apart from that with a thicker Delrin pick. It means I don't get to shred on the acoustic, but that is only a good thing.

Strings

I have a natural tendency towards heavier strings. It's not a macho thing. Early on in my playing career, I developed a rather violent right-hand technique. Even after taming my picking hand, it's been hard to get accustomed to the feel of thinner strings, even though it's been proven beyond all doubt that thicker strings do not mean a thicker amplified tone. It's more of a feel thing for me nowadays. I find that the increased tension is a better match to my pick of choice (see above).

Not that long ago, I used to be adamant about standardizing on a single gauge for all my electrics. When I did so, I used the standard 10–46 set. It was a good compromise. In previous incarnations of this article, I remember writing that 10–46 was perfect on the Gibsons, but that I had to keep my chops up in order to be able to play the same gauges on the Fenders. Something must have happened since then, because now I find that 10–46 are just about perfect on the Fenders (as well as 10–59 on the 26.5-inch scale PRS seven-string), and slightly loose on the Gibsons. The shorter scale length seems to beg for thicker gauges. 10–52 feels kind of weird on the bass strings—for the life of me I cannot understand how I played those for so long. 11–49 seems to be the new gold standard for my 24.75-inch scale guitars.

What complicates things is that with my acidic body chemistry, I will kill an uncoated set of strings inside of two hours. The only remedy seems to be Elixir strings, which sound like new even after two months of rehearsals and practice sessions. Elixir don't (yet?) have the same variety of gauges as Ernie Ball or D'Addario. Above all, I don't like their baritone set. 12-gauge strings work surprisingly well with the tension, but that unwound third is just plain weird. Picking the bottom six from an Elixir 10–59 set works on the baritone, but I very much prefer the 14–68 set it came with.

Straps

The first thing I do when I get a new electric guitar is install the end clips for DiMarzio Cliplock straps. I have used them for more than 30 years, and swear by them. I have never had a strap come off on stage, to the point where I just don't worry about it anymore. The last time I did a gig using an Ernie Ball Polypro strap, the twisty plastic straplock thingy popped right off in the middle of a set, and the last time I put a Polypro on a guitar period, the front end came right off and the guitar took a nose dive onto my pedalboard. I don't really like the floppy bits of the Cliplock straps permanently dangling off my guitars, and they're a cast-iron bitch to assemble (unhardened screws!), but I prefer that to the alternative.