Flexible guitar picks vs thick guitar picks
Should a guitar pick be flexible or not? In this blog we will make that clear.
The thickness (or gauge) of guitar picks, controls the overall tone creation and of course, the flexibility of the picks.
With the material in mind, thinner picks are more flimsy, while thicker picks provide more rigidity. So, should a guitar pick be flexible or not?
In terms of playing, people mostly choose (in general) thin guitar picks for strumming. Thicker ones are popular for playing solos.
It all depends on your playing style and personal preference. Any guitar pick shape will work, so try to find your favorite model.
Why not to use a flexible guitar pick
Flexible guitar picks create a delay between hitting the string and the moment the pick runs off of the string.
When using the same material and thickness for certain picks, the smaller the pick, the more rigid it tends to feel. So if you don’t like thick guitar picks, try thinner but smaller picks.
Especially while playing guitar solos, you don’t want any delay caused by a guitar pick that bends. For that reason lead guitar players will use rigid picks.
Another issue with flexible picks is that you have to grip to it more firmly. This causes more tension to your forearm muscles. Which over time may lead to hand fatigue.
More tension to your forearm also reduces the ability of playing faster single note runs.
Thinner picks create more higher frequency tones, while heavier picks with more mass create more mid- and bottom-end tones. Higher frequency tones are more adaptive to pick noise, so please be aware of the tone thinner picks create.
When you need a little bit of flexibility in a guitar pick
Although ChickenPicks guitar picks aren’t flexible themselves, you will be able to improve your playing style. You will be able to create some sort of pick flexibility in a short amount of time.
The level of flexibility could be managed by the amount of gripping force between your fingers. In fact, you control the flexibility of it.
Precise and accurate
Gripping the pick firmly, you will be able to pick your strings precise and accurately. But gripping any pick too tightly may cause “hand fatigue”, so be careful.
When gripping less tightly, you will be able to strum your guitar like you would do on an acoustic. Beveled edges will also help glide on- and off the strings more easy than with standard flat pick.
How to hold a guitar pick
Place the guitar pick on top of your index finger with a little less than let’s say 6mm sticking out past the fingertip.
The pick is sandwiched between the thumb and the side of the index finger.
Your index finger should be behind read more…
Fables about heavy guitar picks
Some people say that you can’t strum an acoustic guitar with a heavy guitar pick and that’s definitely not true.
Whether you like or don’t like the sound of boutique guitar picks, that’s totally up to you.
Boutique guitar picks in general
All of our picks classify for boutique guitar picks, which is a term for picks with a certain shape and made out of special materials.
We wrote an interesting article about boutique guitar picks in general. Read more here.
Best guitar picks for acoustic guitar
Although acoustic guitars are different to electric guitar at some point, there is no specific guitar pick for acoustic guitars.
Finding out what the best guitar picks for acoustic are for you, means that you have to check out different models, thicknesses and materials.
In another Guitar Essentials we wrote some useful guidelines for choosing the best picks for acoustic.
Bass guitar picks
For bass guitar, thicker picks have several benefits in relation to flexible picks. Thick guitar picks create more tone because they have more mass. With a heavier pick the bass guitar string will ring out better than with thin picks.
History of guitar picks
The guitar picks shape of the most popular picks nowadays was invented by Luigi D’Andrea around 1920. Read more about the history of guitar picks.
What others say about ChickenPicks guitar picks
Musikhaus Thomann
Chicago Music Exchange
Guitarpickreviews.com
There is always a thick guitar pick that suits you
In short; heavier picks allow you to play more precise and accurately. The sound on thicker guitar picks, in most cases, is better than with thinner picks.
Check our picks out here:
- LIGHT 2.2 mm (standard 351-model)
- REGULAR 2.6 mm (standard 351-model)
- SHREDDER 2.4 mm (jazz model rounded tip)
- SHREDDER 3.5 mm (jazz model rounded tip)
- BADAZZ III 2.0 mm (jazz model sharp tip)
- BADAZZ III 2.5 mm (jazz model sharp tip)
- BADAZZ III 3.2 mm (jazz model sharp tip)
- BERMUDA III 2.1 mm (triangle shaped)
- BERMUDA III 2.7 mm (triangle shaped)
- BERMUDA III-P 2.1 mm (triangle shaped with pointy tips)
- BERMUDA III-P 2.7 mm (triangle shaped with pointy tips)
- BERMUDA III-XL 2.1 mm (larger triangular pick)