Guitar Pick Test
I have been playing around with different guitar picks and decided to make a comparison test of a few different picks. I played a series of arpeggios and then some strums, trying to repeat the same thing using 6 different picks. Different picks have a different feel and sound when I am playing, so this was an attempt to make a more rigorous test of how these picks sound.
Technical Details
I recorded two simultaneous tracks for each pick, one track is from the guitar pickup, the other is a microphone. The gain for both tracks was recorded at about the same level. In mixing the tracks, the microphone track seems to be most effected by the different picks, so the mix has the mic track at about +3dB and the pickup track at about -9dB. The pickup track is panned about 70 degrees left and the mic track is about 15 degrees right. This panning gives keeps the left/right balance fairly even.
No added reverb or other effects. Some light compression. Noise reduction using Izotope Rx10 Spectral DeNoise. Added a low cut filter at 81 Hz to remove any very low end noise.
Gear and Setup
- Guitar – Yamaha LS6
- Strings – D’Addario EXP26, Custom Light Phosphor Bronze
- Microphone – Lauten LA220 Large Diaphram Condenser
- Mic Position – About 18 inches away from guitar, pointed at 14th fret
- Audio Interface – Yamaha AG03
- DAW Software – Cubase 12 Pro from Steinberg
- Picks
- Dunlop Ultex .60 – Thin, slightly flexible, a soft feel
- Dunlop Ultex 1.14 – Thick, fairly rigid, soft feel
- Rosewood – Actual rosewood pick, thick, hard, stiff
- Adamas Graphite 2mm – Thick, stiff with smooth feel
- Dunlop Prime Tone .88 – Thin, stiff, hard plastic
- Dunlop Prime Tone 2.0 – Thick, stiff, hard plastic
Results
Here are the picks used and the audio file for each.
Zanganeh Garden 