Can't find a thin pick. I made one from cardboard

Gear & Tools Talk 🎚 Other Gear & Accessories
1

I cant find a thin pick in the near music shops . My thinnest pick is 0.46 but NOT nylon . Can i really make one out of cardboard or are you just joking :sweat_smile: ???
I am asking seriously !

update:
Actually i just went and made one out of cardboard ! It works perfect ! I cant believe it !
Justin you have to see this ! It just BENDS .

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IMG_20220101_2302462000Ă—4000 1.37 MB

2

Surely you can buy them on the internet?

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3

I applaud your effort! I was not able to find anything thinner than .46 in my local stores either. As Gordon says, the internet is your friend!

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4

You don’t need a really thin pick. I never did when I started years ago. I always found it better pronounces the notes when you have a bit thicker pick. You should be holding pick at a slight angle upward when doing up strum, just like you would hold at downward angle when starting down stroke.

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5

0.45 nylon pics are very flexible and ideal to start with. A thick pick will give a different sound and is useful as you progress (although my favourite today is still a 0.6 followed by a 0.8) but the thicker pick will “dig in” which will make it harder for a starter.

I think of it much as I Justin taught it that your pick angle changes a bit like when you are painting a wall. So going down the strings of the guitar the pick would be angled down with the top of the pick furthest away from you and going up the strings (the upstrum) the pick would be angled up (with the top closest to you). Practice it slowly at first then speed up. The 0.46 picks will be noticeably “noisier” as they’ll click over the strings because they have lots of give.

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6

Have a look over here too.
What picks do you use?

Buy a pack of mixed picks online and do some experimenting.

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7

Don’t stifle his creativity Gordon. Blue Peter would be very proud. :smiley:

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8

When I started again I initially used a Leather Ukulele pick, they’re nice and flexible and not too thin; worked well for me!

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9

Very creative :smiley: A friend of mine told me that a few decades ago they used to make picks out of the plastic containers in which butter or sour cream was sold.

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10

With regards to the .38 picks, I have tried them but couldn’t stand the flappy sound.

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