Up until about 15 years ago, I had never been a big pick user. I played mostly with my fingers. Decided that I needed to try using picks, so I went to a local guitar shop and picked up about $10 worth of picks. I came home with probably a 12 or 15 of them.
I tried them all and settled on Dunlop Gator Grips. 1.5 was the gauge that seemed to be what I liked. I played those for probably 10 years and shifted over to the 0.96 gauge. That’s what I’ve been playing for the last 5 or so years. With my acoustics, I would generally shift down to 0.71, but, since I primarily grab the electrics, it’s the 96s.
It’s weird, I seem to like the stiffer pick for the slinkier strings and the slinkier pick for the stiffer strings. Depending on the acoustic, I play either 12s or 13s. For the electrics, I play 10s across the board.
Last Black Friday, I bought a JHS pedal. It had a Gravity pick in it. I’d never seen one before. I initially set it aside because it reminded me of the V-picks. I had picked up one of those like 10 years ago. I really tried to like it, but it just did nothing for me. Then I bought the Not-A-Dumble. It had one of the Gravity picks in it too. As I pulled it out of the box and set it on the back of the desk with the other one, I thought maybe I’d strum a chord or two with it. I’d never done that with the one I got last year.
Turns out I really like it. It’s the one that I’ve been using the last couple of months. It doesn’t feel or sound like the Gator Grips, but I like it.
According to the website, it’s a 1.5, but it feels thicker than the 1.5 Gators. I feel like I can hear it on the string where the Gators don’t have that same “plink” when it hits the string. To my ear, it also makes the guitar sound a little brighter. Definitely different, but I kind of like the differences. Where it’s the same (but different) is that I like the Gator Grips because I don’t feel them slipping between my fingers when I play. The Gravity picks seem to stay in place too.
Will I keep using them? I have no idea. Over the last however many years, it seems the only thing that stays the same is that I eventually change. But right now I’m really digging the Gravity picks. They’re like $6 a piece! That’s crazy to me. But even at that, I think I might pick another couple up just to be sure I have them. After all, I occasionally lose picks, and JHS has said that, in a cost cutting measure, they’re not going to be including them anymore. So get a couple while I can I guess.