What Thickness Guitar Pick Should I Use? Guitar pick manufacturers abide by their standard measurements. The thickness of a pick makes a massive difference when it comes to the tone and your playability. Even a tiny difference in thickness can produce a wide variety of changes in the tone. You might have used a pick that is not suited for your playing style and this will hinder your capabilities to explore all variety of picks.

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Just always remember, the thicker the pick, the stiffer it becomes. While thick nylon picks will still be quite flexible,  thick Delrin picks have almost no flex at all. Here are some variations of pick thickness and their impact on your performance so you can figure out what is right for you.

Thin Picks

These particular picks have less than around .60 mm and are considered to be thin. Thin picks are incredibly flexible especially nylon and produce a much lighter tone with less bass or midrange in their playability. Think of a gently strummed acoustic guitar and you get the idea of what thin pick sounds like. The way the pick flap against the strings plays a huge part in the mellow tone it produced. Many music fanatics use this kind of pick because it reminds them of the vintage times.

Thin picks are typically better for producing brighter stones as it accentuates frequencies and gives a tighter dynamic range because of their flexibility limiting the volume which works properly for studio recording.

Medium Picks

This type of thickness ranges from 0.60mm to 0.80 mm. Normally with this thickness, picks start to become stiffer and the extra stiffness changes the way the pick landed on strings. Bass and midrange are incredibly higher here and notes have more volume.

Medium picks are often associated with rhythm guitarists as the consistency of a stiffer pick makes it easier to play riffs and rhythm parts.

Thick Picks

These picks come with a thickness of over 0.80mm. They are incredibly stiff which is good for bass and midrange tones. When playing with a guitar, you will notice that they produce a loud and boomy sound. These types of picks are popular with musicians that are in the heavy or aggressive genre. This is mainly because the stiff pick gives a solid attack on the strings and that comes across in your tone. Thick picks are typically better for electric lead guitar as they allow more speed and accuracy during performances and it produces mellower tones as the weight and rounded edges emphasize more bass and less treble. Thick picks are perfect for lead guitarists for their solos because it provides them the versatility to showcase their individualism and skill for alternate picking.

Conclusion

While certain guitar picks are generally used for certain situations and instrument type, the thickness will impact both sound of your playing and your playing style. Be adventurous with your choice when it comes to guitar picks, it may be a small instrument but it will make such a huge difference while playing guitar and showing off your skills.