No love for non Jazz III small picks?

[1010011010]

I've done a lot of research (including almost all the pick threads in this forum) and tried a lot of picks so I was wondering why the Jazz III's are getting all the attention.

Now, I've tried and like all the Jazz III's: red/black/carbon/ultex/tortex (regular and pitch black) but I also like the Stubbys (3mm has a nice velvet tone), 205 JazzTones (clean tones), 358 small teardrops (Clayton Acetal/Ultem, Fender/Peavey celluloid) and the Jackson Sick Skull 451 (standard shape but Jazz III size).

Some I don't like are Dava Jazz's and the Planet Waves Black Ice.

There's a few I've yet to try: D'Andrea small teardrops, Pickboy Jazz and Edge and the smaller Ibanez ones which may be discontinued.

And a few I don't think I'll be using like the (expensive) V-Picks/Red Bear/Wegan, etc.

So how many people are non-conformists and like the other ones?

[Hating-pyramids]

I love the Ultex Jazz III 2.0
That pick do it for me, accuracy, durability, inmediat attack... Make your playing improve a lot with the guitar.

[1010011010]

Thanks HP for reminding me that I should grab a pack of those 2.0's to try out. Here's my current bullpen:

• Dunlop Ultex Jazz III
• Fender old stock 358 - Danny Gatton's choice in pick and it has a nice snap release
• Jackson 451
• Dunlop Ultex Sharp - cut down to size and nestles perfectly at my finger crease

[ironfistx]

I have a few varieties of this one (different shapes/thicknesses). It looks huge in this pic but is small like a jazz pick IRL.

[D.M.RG7620]

^^^ I'm using a Fender pick in that shape. I wish it was thicker though.

I think I like the Jazz styled picks more though. A bit more to grab on to but still awesome for tremolo picking, with great attack and tone.

[1010011010]

^ I have the new stock Fender teardrops in extra heavy and they measure .92mm. They have a darker tone than any the Jazz III variants. Nice for mellow, ballad stuff.

I went and got a pack of the Ultex Jazz III 2.0 to try. They seem highly engineered with a pebbled texture and square edge (unlike the round edge of the regular Ultex Jazz III's). Out of the bag they sounded absolutely wretched: all upper harmonics and staccato tone. I can see people trying these out and just chucking them after a few riffs.

But, I used the nail buffer my wife gave me after I told her the trick I learned on the web of running your pick through the carpet to revive roughed out picks. After buffing out the pebble texture on the tip and edge, it sounded much better, just a tad brighter than the regular Ultex Jazz III.

Here's a pic of the picks on the pick shaped buffer

[GuitarBizarre]

I love the Jazz III's to bits, but even before I used them, I hated the way picks would flop around and were stupid difficult to get positioned right. I used to heat up a paperclip with a lighter and melt "grip holes" into the plastic to get better purchase, and even then it wasn't perfect.

Then I found the Max Grip Jazz 3's and haven't looked back since. They come in 3 kinds (no ultex, but really, there's no need. The only difference I can tell is the ultex version is actually impossible to bend, where the other 3 are nearly impossible to bend)


From left to right, the Jazz III Max Grip Carbon Fiber, Jazz III Max Grip Nylon and Jazz III Max Grip Stiffo.

The Carbon Fiber is the most flexible, by which I mean "If you force it, it flexes". Realistically unless you're after playing with a house brick, its stiff enough for anyone. The Stiffo version and the Nylon version seem to be as strong as each other, so very slightly less stiff than the Ultex Jazz IIIs. I think thats something of an illusion though, since the Ultex is so hard that it feels like it "clunks" on the strings rather than just picking them.

So far I can't decide if I like any better than the others, apart from I don't like the Ultex, since the Ultex ones aren't available in Max Grip, and slip around.

The only downside I can find after months of using these as my regular picks is that you have to order them online, and the grip after a few weeks gets skin and oil in it, so you periodically end up taking a nailbrush to them to get the grip performing at its max capacity again. But even that is really minor to be honest. The grip works even when dirty, just not quite as magically well.

[1010011010]

^ I find the carbon fiber Jazz III to be "neutral" in tone, and are what I use for testing things like adjusting pole pieces on humbuckers. It wears smoothly, kinda like a pencil lead while the nylon ones, especially the black Stiffo, tends to get scratchy. The ultex ones wear smoothly and livens up the tone; they compensate for the low treble on my Air Norton and Tone Zone pups. And the Tortex ones have this nasal quality that I'm not sure I like.

And yeah, the Max-Grips are tough to find locally; the carbon fiber ones were available for a while but they seem to be disappearing. I guess people were not dropping them as much and buying more so stores stopped carrying them. I think its the same reason why white picks are so hard to find in stores: they're easier to find on the floor

[ironfistx]

I got some Jazz IIIs the other day in black. They also had these red nylon Jazz IIIs that were Eric Johnson signature models or something and they were the same price but you got fewer of them. What's the deal with nylon picks? How are they different? I've never used a nylon pick before.

[GuitarBizarre]

Originally Posted by ironfistx

I got some Jazz IIIs the other day in black. They also had these red nylon Jazz IIIs that were Eric Johnson signature models or something and they were the same price but you got fewer of them. What's the deal with nylon picks? How are they different? I've never used a nylon pick before.

The Black ones are made of a material called Stiffo. Its what it says on the tin, stiff.

The red nylon ones are the same price, shape, feel, and to my ears, they're the same tonally. They're SLIGHTLY harder to grip, because they're smoother in terms of the material used, but its such a minimal difference that if you're dropping picks, using Stiffo won't help for jack ****, and if you aren't dropping picks, the red ones will be just as good as black.

The Eric johnson Jazz III picks are the same as the normal Red Jazz IIIs, but they've had the bevel on them computer modelled after Eric johnson's "Favourite pick", so basically, the EJ Jazz IIIs are a "relic'd" plectrum. Not worth jack **** unless for some reason you want a pick where it simulates the wear pattern on one of EJ's old ones.

As I said though, get rid of the whole bunch. The Max Grip Jazz IIIs are so very much better than the normal ones that you'd be mad not to switch.

[lynchfan6]

Originally Posted by 1010011010

Thanks HP for reminding me that I should grab a pack of those 2.0's to try out. Here's my current bullpen:

• Dunlop Ultex Jazz III
• Fender old stock 358 - Danny Gatton's choice in pick and it has a nice snap release
• Jackson 451
• Dunlop Ultex Sharp - cut down to size and nestles perfectly at my finger crease

That first pick on the left, the Ultex Jazz III - I can use no other pick, and haven't for maybe 3 years now. Actually, maybe four years. I have a few of the black ones floating around, but nothing compares to the ultex Jazz III. Has really improved my technique and picking ability. I even use it for all and any clean passages and strumming.

[ironfistx]

Originally Posted by GuitarBizarre

The Black ones are made of a material called Stiffo. Its what it says on the tin, stiff.

The red nylon ones are the same price, shape, feel, and to my ears, they're the same tonally. They're SLIGHTLY harder to grip, because they're smoother in terms of the material used, but its such a minimal difference that if you're dropping picks, using Stiffo won't help for jack ****, and if you aren't dropping picks, the red ones will be just as good as black.

The Eric johnson Jazz III picks are the same as the normal Red Jazz IIIs, but they've had the bevel on them computer modelled after Eric johnson's "Favourite pick", so basically, the EJ Jazz IIIs are a "relic'd" plectrum. Not worth jack **** unless for some reason you want a pick where it simulates the wear pattern on one of EJ's old ones.

As I said though, get rid of the whole bunch. The Max Grip Jazz IIIs are so very much better than the normal ones that you'd be mad not to switch.

Holy cow glad I didn't buy those red ones.

I asked if they had Jazz IIIs and he gave me a pack of the red ones. I looked at what else was available and found the black ones which were closer to the Tortex ones I already used, so I got those instead. I like them. I'll check out those Max Grip ones next time.