# Adding Grip To Slippery Picks



## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I use the Jazz III grip picks, but lately I tried some other picks that I am liking better. The problem is they are smooth and slippery. I searched the question of how to add grip to guitar picks and this video came up. I tried it and it works perfectly so I though I would share it with the forum.


----------



## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

can also drill a few small holes?


----------



## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

I use slippery picks but for some reason I don't have a problem with them slipping.


----------



## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Ben from Crimson has a video for that as well. He just scribed a hatch pattern on the pick with something sharp....


----------



## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Try the Bluechip pick. Sticks to your fingers. And they last forever. The ones I use are over 10 years old now. Still the same as the day I bought them.


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Chito said:


> Try the Bluechip pick. Sticks to your fingers. And they last forever. The ones I use are over 10 years old now. Still the same as the day I bought them.



I use bluechip picks and although they stick to my fingers better than cheap picks they still slip due to the fact I have very dry skin. I asked about this issue on the Martin guitar forum and one solution that came up was to use rosin. The stuff the fiddle players use on their bows. I haven't tried it yet. 
A couple weeks ago I was drinking a tea while playing in my music room. I squeezed the tea bag with my right hand as I took the bag out. The extra moisture on my fingers helped to hold on to the pick much better confirming that my dryness is the issue. One pro about dry fingers is that regular uncoated strings can last me about 5-6 weeks and sometimes longer.


----------



## Distortion (Sep 16, 2015)

point of a sharp knife and a bunch of cross hatch does the trick for me.


----------



## DavidP (Mar 7, 2006)

I've started to drill a series of small holes or a slightly larger centre one in my -- works for me for better grip!


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I have a pick that was Dave Grohl's. It has a thin "donut"-shaped piece of cork on one side. Perhaps some of Dave's DNA is embedded in it. Perhaps not. But it provides a little more grip when one is strumming as frantically as Dave is wont to do.


----------



## TVvoodoo (Feb 17, 2010)

I came Up within this a number of years ago, a variation / improvement on typical crosshatching

Take a pick and lay it on the side of a roll of gaffer tape so it is stable. Use a razor knife and slice in 3 lines about 3mm apart horizontally along the upper part of the pick. It's important that the slice be at a 45 degree angle with tip if the knife slicing towards the fat end of the pick. Do this to both sides, takes ten seconds or so. 

Once properly done you will find it very difficult to even pull that pick out of your fingers with your other hand. 

Deeper you slice the grabbier, but if you go too deep the pick may get weak and prone to breaking. 

It totally works.


----------



## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

I tried scruffing them up with sand paper and it worked but the extra grip kinda threw me off so gave up on it after a few minutes. I’m so used to playing with celluloid picks if that’s what they are that I don’t have a problem with them.

And another thing, the white fender picks sound different than the brown ones on an acoustic guitar; seems like the white ones are stiffer even if same thickness as the brown ones.


----------



## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

I use the Dunlop "Tortex" picks. Full size red .50mm (for strumming acoustic) and the green "Jazz I- Medium (about .88mm) for all electric. Fresh and new they are super grippy, but even after the factory roughness smooths, they still do not slip a whole lot. I have a pick strip on my mic stand filled with extras of both, I maybe need to pull off one or two in a gig or practice.


----------



## doblander (Dec 8, 2019)

Use contact cement or such to glue coarse sand paper to upper bout both sides of pick.


----------



## cbg1 (Mar 27, 2012)

SWLABR said:


> I use the Dunlop "Tortex" picks. Full size red .50mm (for strumming acoustic) and the green "Jazz I- Medium (about .88mm) for all electric. Fresh and new they are super grippy, but even after the factory roughness smooths, they still do not slip a whole lot. I have a pick strip on my mic stand filled with extras of both, I maybe need to pull off one or two in a gig or practice.


I use the dunlop jazz tortex green or purple... there is something in that tortex material that seems to make them stickier when your fingers get a bit damp


----------



## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

I hate grippy picks. I need to be able to move it around as needed. I don't pick frantically, as I'm a hybrid picker, so I don't really run the risk of dropping them.


----------



## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

I almost never use a pick. The one pick I keep handy I put moleskin (for foot blisters) on it and stick it to a piece of velcro on the heel of my guitar. The moleskin is nice to grip and the pick is nearby but not in the way.


----------



## cbg1 (Mar 27, 2012)

9


cboutilier said:


> I hate grippy picks. I need to be able to move it around as needed. I don't pick frantically, as I'm a hybrid picker, so I don't really run the risk of dropping them.


It is not a tactile thing with the tortex material ... they dont feel grippy... I also find I prefer the tone and feel of the tortex as there is less " click" .... but that's just me . I have tried most of the previous suggestions and have been using tortex for years


----------

