OldManMusic
Well-known member
As a former "pick only" rock bass player, I converted about 5 years ago to a traditional index and middle finger player and rarely use a pick these days. The fingers sounded better when I started playing with a folk-styled 3 piece band. But I still like to get my rock on and have a few friends that I jam with that still play fast and hard - too hard for me to stick with just my fingers, so its back to the old pick.
I saw Maddog Tom mention Wedgies a few weeks ago and thought I'd try a few to see how they compared to traditional plastic picks. In my pick-only days, I used a heavy gauged pick to play in punk bands for the heavy staccato 16th notes. I still love that picked sound on my MM SR4 just slightly muting the strings with the heel of my picking hand. Some nights I'd use medium gauge picks, but if it was fast, I needed that firm heavy edge.
I got a couple of thicknesses of Wedgies (they were only $1.50 for a 3 pack at MF online). The 5.0mm picks were just too thick to be comfortable but the 3.1mm felt much better. I liked the medium gauge 3.1mm the best for plunking around. They didn't have the clicky sound of a regular pick. It doesn't sound like fingers thumping but it also didn't sound like a traditional plastic pick. It lands somewhere in the middle. I liked the sound the best on my SR5 with flatwounds. It sounded ok on my Bongo 5 that's strung with roundwounds, but I'd imagine the roundwounds will eat the rubber pretty quick.
The rubber grabs the string more than a plastic pick, which makes it tough for high speed ripping, but for medium to slow paced tunes, it was fine.
I saw Maddog Tom mention Wedgies a few weeks ago and thought I'd try a few to see how they compared to traditional plastic picks. In my pick-only days, I used a heavy gauged pick to play in punk bands for the heavy staccato 16th notes. I still love that picked sound on my MM SR4 just slightly muting the strings with the heel of my picking hand. Some nights I'd use medium gauge picks, but if it was fast, I needed that firm heavy edge.
I got a couple of thicknesses of Wedgies (they were only $1.50 for a 3 pack at MF online). The 5.0mm picks were just too thick to be comfortable but the 3.1mm felt much better. I liked the medium gauge 3.1mm the best for plunking around. They didn't have the clicky sound of a regular pick. It doesn't sound like fingers thumping but it also didn't sound like a traditional plastic pick. It lands somewhere in the middle. I liked the sound the best on my SR5 with flatwounds. It sounded ok on my Bongo 5 that's strung with roundwounds, but I'd imagine the roundwounds will eat the rubber pretty quick.
The rubber grabs the string more than a plastic pick, which makes it tough for high speed ripping, but for medium to slow paced tunes, it was fine.
