Pick Gitar

Let’s talk pick. Before I begin, let me just say that I am not really recommending any pick. Your right guitar pick is highly dependant on how you play, so it’s a personal choice. This is simply my personal experience.

Sejak memula main gitar lagi, I guess I’ve always been in search for the ultimate guitar pick. Memacam rupa and brand pick aku penah try.

Dulu mase skola siap try pick besi lagi, konon ganas la. Well, I’d say don’t try metal picks, especially kalo main electric guitar. It’s so dirty. The pick dust would accumulate on your pickup magnets. I don’t know why you would want to ruin your guitar like that. Well, maybe these days there are better metallic picks yang tak mudah terhakis bile main, but I’m still gonna be skeptical.

And since zaman sekola, aku prefer Dunlop Gator Grip 2.0mm. Bertaun-taun aku pakai pick tu. I liked it because it’s very stiff. Stiff picks are generally good for speed, since it maintains its shape while you’re picking. Lagi satu aku suke Gator Grip ni sebab dia tak licin. Actually before that aku pakai Dunlop Delrin dulu, but licin so aku tuka. Same shape, different material.

Aku pakai pick tu until aku start main gitar balik a couple of years ago. As much as I liked that Gator Grip, aku rasa cam tebal sangat. It’s not comfortable, not because of the stiffness, but the thickness itself. So aku pon beli la 3 peket lagi, 1.5mm, 1.14mm, 0.96mm. After playing with all of them, I decided that I liked 1.5mm better. It’s stiff enough, but not too thick. Just right.

Lagi satu aku suke Gator Grip 1.5mm ni sebab somehow aku rasa senang sket nak buat pinch harmonics. Sometimes for expressive reasons I like to use a lot of harmonics, not necessarily full pinch harmonics, just semi harmonics.

But there’s one problem with that pick, it’s so tumpul, so it’s not precise enough. So aku pon try la Tortex Pitch Black, and Big Stubby tu. I like them, because they’re sharp, better for fast picking. But the problem with Tortex Pitch Black is that aku rasa cam grip dia tak best. But I really like Big Stubby tu. It has better grip, and the material makes it feel like it’s faster, due to lack of friction at the edge of the pick. I could really tell the difference in speed and precision ngan Big Stubby tu.

But there’s a problem with that one. Cuba tengok gamba ni. Big Stubby ni is not really flat, it has a dimple. The dimple is too high for my taste. The dimple tends to make my fingers grip the pick at that spot. Masalahnya, you should hold your pick as close as possible to the bottom. It’s more precise that way, and it’s easier to get good pinch harmonics. Dalam video Srikandi Cintaku tu, actually solo part tengah tu aku pakai Big Stubby, since aku prefer pakai pick ni for fast picking. But solo part ending tu actually aku pakai Gator Grip 1.5mm, since it’s more reliable to get the pinch harmonics.

And then tak puas hati, aku gi cari pick lagi. Aku try Tortex Sharp plak, since pick ni takde dimple. Bad idea, it’s way too sharp, it’s uncomfortable to me.

Cari lagi, aku jumpe Jazz III plak. I like it a lot. It has what I need. Pretty much the same shape as Tortex Pitch Black, but with better grip. So this is right now my primary pick. Sharp but not too sharp, stiff, good grip, flat, just how I like it. Video Another You part electric guitar tu first video yang aku pakai Jazz III. It helps keeping it clean and fast.

Gamba kat bawah ni pick yang aku ade skrg, not everything I’ve ever tried. That would be way too many.

 

Bile main acoustic guitar plak, aku try gak pakai thumb pick. Dua jenis aku beli. It didn’t take too long for me to be comfortable with it. But I don’t think I like the sound too much. It makes the bass too bright. Taylor guitar aku sounds bright enough as it is. Although dalam video Another You tu aku pakai gak for the 2nd guitar part. I didn’t use it for the bass though, just for the fast phrase. But for the songs yang aku suka main, generally I won’t use thumb pick. Nak tengok good example of thumb pick usage, see Maneli Jamal. That guy is freaking amazing!!

And lagi satu aku pakai Dunlop Nylon Standard 0.46mm for acoustic guitar, mostly for strumming chords. It’s really soft, I like to use a soft pick to strum chords. To me it makes the sound of each string blend together much better. Pick keras makes it, again, a little too bright.

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I’m pretty happy with the Jazz III (I bought cap Eric Johnson sebab color dia merah, since aku dah banyak pick hitam. The regular black Jazz III should perform the same way). But in the future maybe aku akan try Jazz III XL plak. XL ni yang size besar punya.

Well, kat Amerika Syarikat ni pick murah, so biasanya dia jual sepeket 10 or something like that, which is a good thing if you already know what you want. But not so much if you want to try many different picks. Seinggat aku kat Malaysia boleh beli pick satu-satu. So take advantage of that. Try as many as you can and to find the best one for your taste.

And aku still pakai pick-pick lain yang aku ade when I want the subtle tone quality that the pick offers. In fact for my next video, aku probably takkan pakai Jazz III. The solo is not fast, so not too demanding when it comes to precision. I’ll have the freedom to choose what I want to use for the tone and dynamic control.