What’s funny is that when I played in a band I was almost always finger-picking.
But that didn’t stop me from “picking” up random picks in music stores, bars, from other guitarists…
One guitar shop had a bowl of them on the counter with their name on 'em. Perfectly targeted advertising. Hmm, maybe I should get my logo on picks instead of printing business cards…
I have probably 10 or 15 of them floating around. Also, I don’t play guitar. Over the years, I’ve attempted to teach myself to play a few times with little to no success. I haven’t touched a guitar in over 20 years, other than to move it from one corner of the closet to a different corner of the closet, but I still run across picks in random spots in my house from time to time.
I have two. One heavy jazz pick with my guitar and another one in my wallet, in case I’m with a guitarist who lost theirs. I wouldn’t mind having a couple more, but I don’t really need it.
I have three guitar picks. One from Buddy Guy, one from B.B. King, and one from my friend Smokin Joe. I have zero musical ability, they’re just keepsakes.
I used to like the extra-heavy 1mm-1.5mm picks, but eventually I stopped playing exclusively metal and I settled on 0.73mm “star picks.” I don’t have a ton of them, I think I got a bag of like 20 a decade ago and still have at least half of them.
I play guitar every day. I have about a dozen Fender mediums, a few in my wallet and a few in a bowl near my guitars.
Anyone into really fancy/pricey picks? Do you modify yours?
I’m entirely ignorant about such things (play upright and clawhammer), but some of the guys I’ve played w/ have discussed picks costing $30 or more, drilling holes in them, etc.
I received one of those punches for Xmas many years ago. I like the idea and I used it a few times in a pinch, but IME most things it works on make pretty crappy guitar picks.
To play with (Tortex Blues) a dozen+ (4 on-the-go with guitars plus replacements). Also many, many in various stages of worn out, kept as “spares” because I’m too mean to chuck them out.
And, the collection, I guess more than a hundred (I’m not about to count them). A long time ago I worked as a sound engineer at small time rock gigs, and for whatever reason I’ve held on to a selection of picks that guitarists left behind.
Jim Dunlop Nylons seem to be popular (or maybe they just get dropped a lot?) the thinner ones must be like playing with a bus ticket.
A surprising number of Sharkfin picks (from Sweden apparently), I don’t even know how you’re supposed to hold these, none of the “corners” seem suitable for plucking, one side is serrated (for chewing through your strings?)
There’s an Ernie Ball glow-in-the-dark medium (luminosity didn’t stop it being lost).
Some personalised ones (I don’t know who Cosmic Joe was, but he left his teeth marks on his pick). Others have phone numbers on them, I’m not sure who they expected to call?
The weirdest (to me) are a couple made of stainless steel. “Normal” pick size and shape (that is, not coin sized) and completely rigid. I’ll have to try one out later, but I can’t imagine it feeling or sounding good.
I’m going to wash my hands now, the steel picks seemed clean enough, but the Jim Dunlop nylons are grody.
I had a couple dozen till I picked up a cigar box full of them at an estate sale for $5. Haven’t counted them, there might be a couple hundred. I was more interested in the cigar box though, going to make a cigar box guitar out of it.
I have a medium sized jam jar full of them. I like heavy picks because I feel like I have more control with them and there is no slop.
There are 3 I like: the old 1.6mm Brain picks (before they restarted the business), 1.5mm Dunlop Max Grips (which oddly feel just like the thicker Brain picks) and recently I have been into the unnecessarily expensive 1.5mm Truetone picks. They really do sound a little brighter and clearer. They aren’t as thick but just as hard (I feel dirty saying that lol).
There are also a few oddball ones. I keep some thin ones for a different strumming sound.
When I was a beginner I would pick and strum too hard and wear down picks, so I searched for harder ones that would not wear down. As I got better, that was no longer a problem.
I sometimes wonder about the very expensive picks such as BlueChip, V-Picks and Wegen but I can’t bring myself to buy one.
It is probably smart to use Fender picks because they will always be around.
Oops, I meant Primetone picks not Truetone. =p
I have also tried brass, stone and coin picks. I did not like them and found them to be “clicky.”
I have probably a couple of hundred. I have about 75 of the type that I actually use. I have two picks in my pocket everywhere I go. I have another collection of ones that I’ve burned through trying to find the right gauge and material. Some are just for fun. My wife went to a Chicago concert with a girlfriend and came home with a Chicago-branded pick that they guitarist threw into the audience.
Your son has 5000? There is a fine line between compulsion and collecting. Maybe he’s just a collector.
My picks were $10 each when they were made and sold. I do modify them. The picks are made from brass cymbals (hence the name) and I engrave new ones so I have some ridges and grooves to grip with my fingers.
(When I started playing guitar, dropping the pick was a major problem for me. To counter it, I made a rule that if I dropped my pick I had to stop practicing/playing. This encouraged me to focus more on holding on to the pick, since I like making noise with a guitar more than almost anything else in existence. 30+ years later and this is still my rule: if I drop the pick, I turn the amp off and put the guitar down. I very, very rarely drop my pick anymore. Like, maybe once a year, at most.)
I used various steel and aluminum picks before I found the brass ones I use today. The aluminum ones were okay but wore down quickly. The steel ones were okay but lacked response and a good edge. The brass ones are extremely responsive, sound great and have a good edge that gets better with use.
I have zero, but my husband has several hundred.
I’ve had them since I got the guitar 28 years ago. I just started learning to play last month.
Many, haven’t been playing much lately but have guitar picks out the wazoo. There was a time when I would have predicted my most likely cause of death would be choking on a guitar pick. I tended to put them between my lips when doing the finger picked part and then forget it was there!
Thank God I gave up playing guitar! 
Seriously, hoping to get back to it.
Picks punched out from credit cards were perfect for strumming “cowboy chords” if I was standing in front of church leading out an impromptu song service. Every once in a while I would punch out a few dozen and then give them a decent sanding to take off the rough edges.
But my serious guitar playing was jazz, so I had many dozens of those fat stubby jazz picks all over the house.
Nowadays as a bassman, I try and try, but can’t get the feel for using a pick on the bass. The only way to get the tone I want is with two fingers. Even those felt picks don’t feel right and are too bright.
