Dunlop Max Grip Jazz III Carbon Fiber Guitar Pick

[Ted]

Dunlop Max Grip Jazz III Carbon Fiber Guitar Pick

Anyone on the board tried these yet? If so, what's your take on them?

I'd have given them a shot, but no one in town that I can find even stocks them yet.

[Average Joe]

I use Jazz III nylon picks and even there are more common, I buy it on eBay.

[N E Y]

Hello guys...


I recommend that you try and see.

Picks are for different uses depending on the pick and on the player.

Often we use several types of picks for different purposes as we play acoustic electric, steel, nylon, and various stiles of music and various types of strumming. So it all depends on what one is doing at the time.

Moreover, how one feels at the time is very important. Pat Martino, for example has stated that sometimes he loses the rapport with a certain pick shape and switches to the other shape he likes.

Generally you get more volume with stiffer picks and a fuller rounder tone with a round tip like a fender type shape or rounder. Pointed picks give you a thinner sound which can be great or shrill depending on all factors that are to be considered, like the guitar, the amp, steel, nylon, you, the type of music, clean, distorted....etc. A rounder tip may not allow for note creation if you pick lightly, but may be awesome if you pick powerfully.

Rounder tip picks allow less dynamic range sometimes as they work best with powerful ( loud ) picking. Generally speaking you have a thinner/shriller sound with pointed tips and a fuller sound with rounded tips, even with the treble down a pointed tip will sound thinner, but how thin depends on its thickness: The thicker the pick, the fuller it sounds.

Thinner sound from the pointed pick is not bad or good in an of itself. If one is playing a softer rounder type amp like a vox AC30 with a Les Paul for example, one might need to use a pointed pick for more clarity when playing distorted, if more clarity is needed.

BONUS TIP!

And remember! : If you want to cut through in a band or mix..TURN DOWN THE TREBLE! Inexperienced or mediocre players or players who don't care about tone, always jack up the treble or keep it flat when they play a solo in a group ....But that makes the guitar sound like trash cans or bad cymbals. Yes it cuts through, but what comes through is horribly disgusting filthy garbage, rubbish, basura, ordure! . Lower you treble below flat if you are playing loud and lower the bass a little as well because it will be out of proportion once you turn up. You then jump out naturally and powerfully.

Same thing applies if you are playing acoustic through a PA or smaller amp!



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[Ted]

Thanks for the great response, Ney. Valuable info.

These Max Grip III Carbon Fiber picks were not at all what I expected. The carbon fiber process used to create these particular picks is much different than the carbon fiber pick I am currently using. The Dunlop behaves more like plastic or celluloid and does in fact wear down and out and you have to go and buy another pick. The tone I get from this material is also quite flat and uninspiring.

On the other hand, the carbon/ceramic material I am now using, which may be more than fifteen times the price of one of the Dunlop picks, it is worth every penny in that it does not wear down when used. This pick, provided one doesn't lose or break it or give it away, will last potentially as long as the user lives.

The material is harder than steel or bronze-wound strings and therefore the pick wears out the guitar strings -- instead of the strings wearing out the guitar pick.

There is zero friction between the pick and the string when striking a note -- so when a note is struck with this pick, the tone is always rainbow bright and spotlessly clean, without being cheap and tinny. Those lovely pinched harmonics so many rock pickers love are bright and funky. YEAH, Baby! In fact, the pick against the string is so slick that it takes a little getting used to at first... as pressure is applied to the string before sounding off a note, the pick actually slides back and forth against the string before the pressure is released and the note sounded... and coincidentally, this is mighty good news for guitar pickers who like to go fast. No friction means no hang-ups, absolutely nothing to slow you down -- which now means that for the first time in your guitar playing life you can have a pick that can go like a bat-out-of-hell -- can you?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When using guitar picks, we must constantly adjust the pick as we play because the pick is literally wearing away as we go. My carbon pick does not have this problem since the pick simply does not wear out.

These are just a few notes I've slapped down on my latest (and favorite) guitar pick EVER!!!!!!!

I'm so glad Ney, a real pro, posted here on guitar picks. Most people never ever think about their guitar picks and what they are made of and how the different materials, shapes and sizes affect their guitar playing. NEWSFLASH! They do!!!!!!! BIG TIME!!!!!!!

Beginners certainly aren't going to think too much about guitar picks -- and they really don't need to, as they really don't know the differences and don't yet know exactly what they are looking for. But as they go and learn more and more and more, they will want more control over their practice, playing and tone -- and a correct pick selection will help them get where they want to go -- eventually. So, my best advice for beginners is to, as always, first and foremost, get a copy of The Principles and learn it through and through -- try every guitar pick you can get your hands on and keep in mind that the pick does in fact make a monster difference in how you are going to pick, play, practice, record and think about guitar.

Thanks again, Ney. Right on.

[N E Y]

That sounds great Ted!

What is the brand of the carbon ceramic pick and where can GP readers find out about them?


Ney

[Ted]

That sounds great Ted!

What is the brand of the carbon ceramic pick and where can GP readers find out about them?


Ney

Yikes, I meant to add the link to the carbon picks and I thought I did -- but it looks like I didn't. Thanks for the reminder, Ney. Here is the link for the carbon picks: http://zacharyguitars.com/Zpick.htm

You'll notice on that page there are two types of carbon picks. The first is the one I was talking about in my review above. The second is a wooden pick that is dipped into the carbon ceramic material. The differences between the two picks may be more obvious to some than to others...

The first pick is a soft carbon material that is coated with a hard carbon material. This is the one I am now using.

This pick has a sharp point and is shaped in the classic Fender style. The edges of the pick are dog-boned. This is not done on purpose, but is the way the pick must be shaped due to the manufacturing process. The truth about the dog-boned edge is that you don't even notice it. It literally makes no difference, save to perhaps add some strength to the pick's structure.

This pick is fragile! DO NOT attempt to bend the pick; you will break it. As far as durability while in normal use -- no problems there. I can do everything any other pick does and then some -- only better. For one thing, the tone is incredible. For another, the pick is very thin and gripping the pick is amazing; it does not slip in your fingers, but stays where you put it.

Moisture will not affect this pick in any way.

The second pick has a wooden handle and the wooden tip of this pick is dipped in the carbon-ceramic material. So, technically speaking, you have a wooden guitar pick with a carbon-ceramic striking surface.

The difference between the two picks is simple. It is as Ney was talking about in his review above on guitar picks that are made with duller and broader points. The first pick is very pointy, and the second is very dull and broad. I prefer the very pointed pick.

I don't see why they can't make a solid carbon pick with a dull, broad point and a pointed pick out of carbon-ceramic-dipped wood. But I am not involved in the research and development of this particular pick. I've researched and developed many picks made of many different materials, but not this one. Unfortunately, I don't know diddly about how these things are made, but it is my understanding that the carbon-ceramic material used in the manufacturing of these guitar picks is the same material used in the manufacturing of surgical instruments in the medical and dental professions. It is also my understanding that these picks are a real pain to manufacture and the material is incredibly expensive -- which is why of course they cost thirty buck$ each.

They are shipped to the buyer each in its own tough plastic case for proper storage and protection -- and, provided the user does not break or lose or give the pick away -- he may very well have it for the rest of his life. Lots of people balk at the thirty-dollar price tag on these picks, but the truth is, the thirty dollars is an incredible bargain. Add up what a consistent guitar picker spends on plastic and celluloid picks in a year alone and you will find that the thirty bucks is a drop in the bucket. Now, instead of tossing your pick on the floor or sticking it in your mouth or leaving it lie somewhere when you're done practicing -- you'll have to care for your pick as thoughtfully and carefully as you handle your guitars. You now have a real tool for guitar picking.

As I said before, I have been involved in researching and developing a lot of different kinds of guitar picks made of a lot of different kinds of materials over the years, but I haven't found anything that comes close to these carbon-ceramic guitar picks. I am always on the lookout for new and better materials to work with, and I do have some other ideas in the works -- but this is clearly the best I have found so far.