The Guitar Thread • Page 94

I have been playing (almost) exclusively with Jazz III size picks since like 2021 or so, standard size picks feel so weird to me at this point unless I am doing very strummy acoustic stuff.

 

I'm on the Jazz III train as well. Tried loads of different variants of it. I can barely play with the classic sized picks these days.

Some would argue that I can barely play regardless.

 

Fender medium picks are the only thing that feel right to me

 

I moved from the green and yellow tortex to the jazz iii tortex and those rule. They work well for everything.

 

Jazz 3 green for guitar and purple for bass

 

I like the big triangles because then I get three points per pick (that will wear down) AND if I’m switching between fingerpicking and the pick it’s easier to get the point correctly oriented

 

I hate tiny picks they fall outta my hand too easy

0.77 mm Tortex / Donner picks are my favorite but I can play with any thickness, I simply pick lighter with a heavier pick or I use the side of a thinner pick to get more leverage. I don’t like to get too picky about strings or picks because playing with different tension builds your chops and helps you develop better touch / dynamics

 

Play with flatwound guitar strings that feel like phone cables. Build character.

 

Shit I practice my electric songs acoustic, lead guitars and all, so that the shit feels easy when I get on stage with an electric and do it lol

 

I really like the green tortex Jazz III for acoustic, but can't make that work on electric for me at all. I like the bevelled edges for doing pinches and I like the pick having a little more grip for playing electric.

 

I like Jazz III for electric, but standard green Tortex (or the free picks that came with Sheet Happens orders) for acoustic and bass. I haven't got comfortable with strumming full chords with Jazz III.

 

Dunlop Max Grip .73 picks have been my go-to for the last 13 years or so. What strings do you all use?
I’ve been playing Ernie Ball Cobalt 46 or 48 gauge Slinkies for 12 years now, and I’ve never looked back. They’re the best. I have a set of D’Addario half-round strings on my Jazz Bass that i’m not sure I’m crazy about anymore. Unless you’re John Paul Jones, Jazz Basses just sound better with rounds imo

 

I never really play guitar with a pick anymore. I suck at playing bass without one though.

 

The 2 basslines that made me want to learn how to play bass were “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “The Great Disappointment”. I had been playing guitar for 6 years at that point and my ears started really honing in on the bass, and I was listening to a lot of Queen and AFI at the time.
I made a Spotify playlist a couple years ago of a bunch of other really good/fun basslines I enjoy. Many of them aren’t that complicated but they do give the songs that extra something

 

I wanna work on going full-Knofler with my right hand technique but i’m not quite there yet. And I also wanna learn how to do chicken-pickin’ too

 

Maybe it's because I'm left-handed playing right, but playing without a pick feels easier for me.

 

I prefer fingers for bass but it’s a lot harder to record bass that way if you’re not like a dedicated bassist who plays all the time. Rhythm & volume all over the place otherwise in a way you don’t notice as much live / in context as you do by itself thru a mic / trying to balance levels and make all the layers sound digitally tight

 

A bunch of different gauges from the D'Addario XT line. Go to at the moment is the 09-46 set, but I've used all the electric gauges aside of the super light ones at some point. My brother put me on to a more local company who do balanced custom sets, which I may use some more of. I quite like having the slightly lighter top strings, but I would prefer to have the bottom strings be slightly chunkier.

 

NeuralDSP birthday sale is going on for the next week. 50% off plugins (except the John Mayer one, it’s 30% off).

 

I absolutely hate the Jazz III lol

 

I basically only use Dunlop tortex .60, especially now they come in black

 

Anyone have any experience with either bad cat or orange amps? Maybe @Randall Mentzos ?

 

Orange yes Bad Cat no

why what are you trying to figure out about them

 

They’re pretty specific tones you don’t really get from other amps (specifically the rockerverb and ad30) so I wanted to know if anyone has experience with them and if they’re maybe a bit more well rounded overall than what the internet would lead you to believe

 

definitely very well rounded if you get one of the nicer ones. It’s a very midrangy tone though, gotta love that British snarl. But I find they do tight crunch / semi cleans really well alongside the thicker distortion that feels more like a growl than a roar. I don’t think they’re as transparent with pedals as a Fender or Vox though, they definitely color the sound