D’Andrea Picks

[Silence Dogood]

I love picks and am always messing around and experimenting with new ones.  It's a super cheap and fun way to change your tone and technique, and I'm often amazed at the changes a different pick can make. 

Somewhat recently I got hold of some D'Andrea picks and really like them.  I've been playing heavier picks for a while and seem to really get along well with their material. Their "Pro Grip Brites" have a nice powdery coating that allows me to really forget about the pick entirely since it sticks to my skin.

Here is a cool history about how they got started for anyone interested:

https://dandreausa.com/our-story/

As an aside, I also love old picks and am curious about the ones players used back in the day.  I found a guy on eBay selling tons of old D'Andrea picks.  When I sent him a message with some honest and innocent questions about the picks, the guy absolutely went off on me and stopped just short of cussing me out.
🥳

It was a crazy and over-the-top response but the world is full of nut jobs.  So if you see his picks online, and he has a lot of them, just don't ask him any questions and you should be fine. 
😂

What kind of picks do you like?

[teh]

Interesting information and they have an interesting and extensive catalog although it looks like they have limited distribution channels. I did like some of their straps too. Sorry to hear you ran into someone who was having a bad hair day.

On the thumb pick side, I like the Fred Kelly speed picks followed by their slick picks and have had the best success with them. I also like Dunlop picks and I have some Dunlop finger picks but I usually play with bare fingers and a thumb pick.

For flat picks, I generally prefer thinner picks (under 50mm) because I like the percussive sound they produce when strumming especially on my LV-03MT 12 string. I generally use Dunlops but I picked up an 8-pack of triangular shaped picks last September when I was at the Martin factory. Maybe someday, I'll learn to flatpick.

[StringPicker6]

I recently got some Herco Flex 50 picks that apparently are the picks that Neil Young plays with since the 60s. They are made by dunlop.  A bit thinner and flimsier than I am used to, but nice grip on them.  Very much a flexible nylon pick in a cool gold color.

[Queequeg]

I like D'Andrea thumb picks quite a bit but
I don't use flat picks.
About 40 years ago, my local Music store went out of business, and I bought the last three tortoise shell picks he had in an old jar.
Tortoise shell had already been banned for a long time even by then. I never used them. I just bought them as kind of a curiosity. I gave one to a friend of mine from New Orleans.
I have moved too many times since then and have no idea what became of the two that I kept.

[Silence Dogood]

I had a real tortoise pick once and found the material to be overrated. Maybe it was just the one I had, but it was very brittle and was like using a flint rock arrowhead as a pick.  I also think Bluechip, Wegen, et al, are also overrated.  I don't care about the price but just don't believe they can do anything a great plastic pick cannot do. I love the D'Andrea material, as well as the older stuff Fender picks used to be made of (D'Andrea probably made those too).  All personal preference, of course.

[StringPicker6]

I once got a sample of three different thickness tusq picks made by graphtech. I still have them and they are pretty nice!

[Silence Dogood]

I ordered some more D'Andrea picks for my stash this week.  I really love some of the classic swirly colors they use that remind me of the 1940s/50s designs.  These picks will hold up for a long time too.  Very well made.  The "Pro-Grip Brites" are probably my favorite picks right now.  They are very easy to hold on to and produce a great tone.  But the Ultras are much prettier!

The fact that some of you guys don't use picks kind of blows my mind.  When I started playing guitar, holding on to a pick and using it seemed as natural as breathing.  But fingerstyle has never come natural to me.  I can play a kind of fingerstyle, but it's really nothing special, and I generally only use a couple fingers. 

[StringPicker6]

I still use picks a lot, but I try to keep the volume down and picks make a guitar so much louder.  My only playing time is in the morning before my wife and 4 year old wake up, so low volume is required...

[Silence Dogood]

I still use picks a lot, but I try to keep the volume down and picks make a guitar so much louder.  My only playing time is in the morning before my wife and 4 year old wake up, so low volume is required...

Man, I've been there! But it will get easier. Your 4-year-old will be 24 before you know it.  I say cherish these years.  The guitar will be there when all the dust settles. 
 

[StringPicker6]

That's extremely good advice. Thank you for reminding me of how precious this time is.

[Silence Dogood]

That's extremely good advice. Thank you for reminding me of how precious this time is.

Precious indeed!  I was thinking about when I got my Larrivee, my oldest boy was 2 and now he's 24.  I wasn't great at guitar then and I'm still not, but I still have the same guitar.  Being a dad ate into my guitar playing a lot, but so what?  Enjoy your kids being young!

[Sandstorm]

I read an article recently about Al Dimeola and I believe he uses D'Andrea picks.

Personally, myself I have used a variety on my acoustic guitars and with my Larrivee if I am strumming, I'll prefer something like a .73mm dunlop that sounds bright and crisp and still firm enough for some single note stuff.  On my hummingbird I tend to like a thicker pick that contributes to that deep, warm and thick hummingbird honey glazed tone.

For electrics I've used all kinds and I've adjusted my pick technique and grip and pick so many times that it matters less what I am using because I'm mediocre with all of them lol.