It’s all about feel really. At least for me.
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Yeah I agree that it is mainly about feel. I just meant that a thin/thick pick can effect your dynamics and attack. A 0.73 doesn’t give me the volume and attack I want. While a really thick pick 2.0-3.0 dries out my tone too quick. I don’t hear any tonal difference when using my 0.88 or 1.0, that size just feels and sounds best to me.
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Yes
Me too.
Not only jumping strings, to me it is just easier over all. Bass strings, as opposed to guitar strings, have more resistant to the pick, therefore it takes more pressure to pick thru the string. To me, this requires more precision and accuracy, and it is harder to recover from.
I am not a huge gun person, just because I have not grown up with them around, although I do enjoy shooting, and appreciate the engineering behind guns (and I have worked for companies making suppressors and pistols, and did all the planning, tooling and programming).
That said, I would equate a thick pick to a gun with a huge kick back, in the fact that after you pick thru a string, it is harder to recover and pick each subsequent note played, even when alternating up / down / up / down.
With a thinner pick, my hand motion is not altered, the force of the collision is transferred into the pick, so its like a gun with little to no kick back, and it doesn’t take much to recover from the initial pluck, and you can just keep a steady hand / finger motion with little to no interference.
to some extent, this will affect tone, due to the extra forces your arm / hand / fingers are putting towards striking the string with he pick, and the pick not taking all of the energy and putting it back into your finger tips and / or the string.
This may or may not be accurate for everybody, if anybody, but it is the way I think about it, and how it feels to me.
Yes, that range is about perfect for me too. I can keep control of my picking motion and not have to worry about missing a beat, or scratching across the strings, or just having inconsistent tone from differing pick force between the initial pick and the following ones.
That said, if I go too thin, then the pick can’t stand up to the bass string (especially the E and A, B. if on a 5) and you are almost moving back up (alternate up / down picking) by the time the pick has returned to form (after bending thru the pick).
I think the .88 is probably ideal, and if you go under, .03" would be the minimum (.88 is .035") and 1.2 would be max (.047").
If you play alot of power chords, like Lemmy, and pluck more than one string with the same down stroke, then a thicker pick helps, 1.5mm or .059" to 2.0mm or .079 " are the range I work with, although I do have some Lemmy picks that are .09" I believe. They are ok, but too thick for me overall. my tone is inconsistent and I get alot of scratch sound with the pick.
I have tried to change the angle I am holding it and the angle of my attack, but I don’t find anything that I would consider “comfortable”.
I can get thru some songs, and I can see how picking a riff or song works, as opposed to finger plucking, but I would not play with it otherwise.
It also takes time and practice to sound good picking two or more strings in the same stroke.
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yeah. One thing I learned from guitar is that strumming is one of those places a thinner pick pays off big time; if I were doing a lot of chords I would want 0.88 tops.
For picking individual strings I prefer 1.0-1.2 but 0.88 is fine with Ultex.
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yes, same for me. there is a combination between the pick stiffness and the string tension that brings a more or less suitable resistance under the fingers during the attack. that’s where the personnal preference is, I believe : when you’ve found the resistance that you like, you’ve found the right pick thickness.
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I thought Felt picks are generally for ukulele and classical guitars. They are gentler on the nylon strings.
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I’m not sure what they are designed for, but I certainly don’t like playing bass with one.
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I know Lobster uses a felt pick. He is not a pick player, and only does it to demonstrate sound of basses for people to hear, if they want to know what it sounds like with a pick.
I think it might have been the more comfortable ones for him to use, because at one point I think he had a thick nylon one, and did not like it very much, and his playing showed.
He picks better with a felt pick, so it goes to show, it is all about preference.
Also, JHS did a demo with like 50 different picks. He just sat there and grabbed a pick, said what it was plucked a few strings to al quick little three string chord up and down a few times, articulating each string.
It went like
Wooden pick
Play
Nylon Dunlop 2mm
play
felt pick
play
this pick
play
that pick
play
bone pick
play
tooth pick
play
each pick was about 5 seconds and he just kept doing it over and over.
Prior to picking he was reading the description of each pick and the tone it was supposed to get and what sound this pick is capable of.
He just did it to show that every pick he played, no matter shape, material, size, they all sounded the same.
I am sure they felt different to play, but he went thru them and played them all the same and they all sounded the same.
The right pick is the one you like.
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I lolled 
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Yeah, he didn’t actually use a tooth pick.
But
He also reviewed a sustainer (one of those electronic boxes you place on the strings and they ring the tone and you can fret the string forever just holding the box on the string or strings)
And
He did pick it up as a joke in the end of running thru all the picks, and picked with it. It was kind of funny.
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My new favorite pick… Tortex 1.14 Flow. I’ve been practicing with them, and really like 'em, so much that I ordered 3 dozen of them LOL…
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@PamPurrs, are these smooth or more of a matte ‘grip’ texture?
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The finish is matte (as opposed to shiny), but there aren’t any embossed areas for gripping as some of my other picks have. However, there’s something about Tortex that gives them sort of a “non-slip” effect (at least it seems so to me).
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What does the Flow stand for? Is it the shape. They seem really nice!
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I’m really not sure, perhaps just a trade name? (shrug). I have another similar Tortex pick called “Sharp” that’s very pointy, but I don’t like that point. The Flow seems to have a nice curve to it.
There’s some information here on the Dunlop Site.
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Yeah, those look like great picks, in a good thickness.
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Yeah, I like Tortex too. Got a bunch and that size range is my choice too - I like 1.0-1.2mm for Tortex.
Try Ultex next 
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What’s the difference between Ultex and Tortex?
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Just like everything with picks - feel
Ultex are more rigid and durable. Different finish too (not matte).
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Okay, as soon as I finish tossing these 3 dozen Tortex picks around the house I’ll give those a try.
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