After trying the small pointed 2.75 mm model at the Freedom Bar gig last night with Akasha, and playing guitar all morning & all afternoon, I must own up: I'm now a V-Pick convert!
The past 15 years, no pick has ever tempted me to even consider switching from the trusty Dunlop (red) Jazz III. No other pick has come close to the Jazz III's tone, responsiveness & articulation... 'til now.
With V-pick in hand, tonal mass/weight is multiplied exponentially. Simple physics: more mass = more weight = increase in both tone & volume. Same principle as that behind Pat Martino's use of super thick pebbles as plectrums. Sumo-class tonal mass/weght.
Responsiveness is out of this world. Playing at speed, it feels like the V-pick has merely to brush the string to get the note(s) to leap out instantly. More flexible picks tend to have a slight micromillisecond's worth of latency between when the pick hits the string & when the note sounds. Not with the V-pick. Response is immediate.
Thanks to both its added girth, mass, weight and its acrylic material and its bevelled edges, the pick slides off the strings as smooth as butter and notes leap out instantly like overcaffeinated Energizer bunnies!
At both the gig last night & during practise today, it was like being on steroids. Quantum leap in facility with the V-Pick in hand. Steroid pick! Incredible piece of gear!
It combines the best features of both the extra hefty picks like the Wegens, Stubbies and Gypsy Jazz style plectrums and the sharp edges and sharply pointed tips of Jazz III-tye picks. Added tonal mass/weight plus instant responsiveness and amazing articulation.
Using the V-pick is like driving an 18 wheeler truck that performs like a Ferrari. Like a heavyweight sumo wrestler with Bruce Lee's speed. Truly amazing pick.
I haven't felt so facile on the instrument in a long time. And the V-pick makes it almost effortless. Extreme shredding -- both furious alternate picking fusillades & and insane bursts of sweep picking become almost criminally easy wih the V-pick.
I'm sold.
It's a potentially life-changing piece of gear.
