red bear picks

I've been through the alternative pick madness before... V Picks, glass, steel, copper, wire, coins, brass, lots of different plastics, etc.... The tone is different with all of them, and in most cases the difference isn't very subtle. The V was my favorite until it started to wear out just like all my old Dunlops, which is what sent me to looking for other materials due to the price of the Vs.

Came back to the boring old Dunlops with the powder grippy stuff after a long time. The blue, green, and purple ones are my favorites (can use any of them but prefer some for certain things). I also really like the Ultex picks and need to pick up some more of them.

Never tried the Red Bears, they're just too expensive for me. I finally figured out that I could get the tones I wanted without using any of those particular picks if I tried a little harder. Besides most of my guitar heroes get jaw-dropping tones with really normal stuff, so I figured out that picks made of unobtanium weren't likely to give me the tones I was looking for as well or as easily as spending more time practicing and using what I already had.

At the time I was using them though, I thought they were the greatest thing ever. Glad I snapped out of it, because that was turning into an expensive AD.

D
 
Gorilla said:
$30 a pick? whoa... I wouldn't pay that much for a autographed pick from anyone.


Unless it came with a instant Vai / Loomis / Vaughan mojo to your hands :lol
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If Frank Zappa came back from the dead and signed one, I'd pay big!

Seriously: if it gives me some radical improvements on speed and/or comfort and/or accuracy, it's worth it.
 
hideous said:
dunlop jazz III - heard guthrie govan say he uses them all the time, so makes sense to copy that ever since (to no avail but we can but try)
found one in the fridge the other day next to a chicken curry.
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Guthrie only uses the red bear picks now (Heavy big jazzer) same w/ andy wood and dweezil zappa. (not sure what those two use) i prefer the little jazzer .
 
ahh! don't say that now :( :D
i guess if you consider what violin players spend on bows it doesn't make $30 look so bad -- still a lot more than a jazz III though. how long do the "bears" last? years without wearing down?.
 
I was using the Dunlap jazz.
I use the red Bear glued to a thumb pick kinda like Brent Mason. I had one of those expensive stone picks that were like glass when playing but had no sound on the three high strings. The Red bears have great tone. They glide off the strings easy. Keep in mind I am just a bedroom player. I would love to hear someone compare the Red Bears to the the new picks by Graph tech. Called Tusq! come on axers chime in.
 
yesfan said:
I was using the Dunlap jazz.
I use the red Bear glued to a thumb pick kinda like Brent Mason. I had one of those expensive stone picks that were like glass when playing but had no sound on the three high strings. The Red bears have great tone. They glide off the strings easy. Keep in mind I am just a bedroom player. I would love to hear someone compare the Red Bears to the the new picks by Graph tech. Called Tusq! come on axers chime in.
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I had a lot of agate picks and they sang on the highs! But I had to really dig in. Loved 'em then. Maybe I should try 'em again. I wonder if anyone still makes them.
 
I love mine, got it for Christmas, always use it at gigs ( 2 a week), I sem to have much more control, and less pick scrape noise on the strings. I did use Jazz iii's but the red bear is much better. I have jazz 3's as spares on my mic stand pick holder though.
 
funny_polymath said:
Seriously: if it gives me some radical improvements on speed and/or comfort and/or accuracy, it's worth it.
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If you consider one, those may be side benefits. In my case it took me a little bit to get use to the pick, it is a glass like feel (very slick) the way the string rolls off the pick, coming from jazz 3’s and max grips a bit different for sure. So at first I found it a little uncomfortable, but no problems now just different.

hideous said:
how long do the "bears" last? years without wearing down?.
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I can only talk about my experiences, I have been using them since Aug 2010 and I am on number 3. I do notice wear after a couple months, were if I was using jazz 3’s I would be chucking 1 a week or sooner. The difference is with the RB even when they wear they retain that polished bevel to them so the wear does not bother you as much, from a comfort feel. What will change is the tone since the tip is now not as sharp, in some cases this is not really a bad thing some people my desire the mellower attack. But in my case I like the attack, so I just reshape it a bit get the point back and also buff it up real good and get everything super smooth. These adjustments are very minor, and like I said every few months. My first RB I gave to somebody but I think it would have been dead by now, my second I still use and have been kind of experimenting with this one and adding my own speed bevels and have been very pleased. The third one I only broke out last month (when I started experimenting with the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP]). But mileage varies for everyone. And they do require a little maintenance. Three picks since Aug 2010 sounds pretty impressive but keep in mind I play others also, but the RB is my go-to pick.

dpeterson said:
seems like madness.
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I have a friend who use to tease me about it, and I put it this way to him. Why not just buy the cheapest guitar string 10 gauge is 10 gauge? He explained it’s a combination of the materials and process that make the string superior. My reply “ahh now you got it” BTW he still does not use RB. But he has stopped teasing me about it. Just another tool to get the end result.
 
It's pretty much either Ultex Sharp or Ultex Jazz for me. Nothing else is quite the same, and the picks are cheap and indestructible.
 
I haven't tried Red Bears, but I just returned from a trip with a stop in New York and bought some picks you can't find in my hometown, Honolulu: one V pick, a pack of Tusq and a pack of Deva jazz grips. I really like the Tusq picks. They have a very good feel and seem to make it easier to pick faster. They are about $.80 per and seem to wear like a normal pick. I put about 8 hours on one yesterday (I missed my guitar), which put an edge on it. No notches, just a nice honed edge that doesn't interfere in any way.

The Dava's are nice, too, but there's a "click" with the Torq's that just feels better to me. The V pick was unremarkable to me and didn't seem work $5 per.

Anybody looking for the agate picks, they sell those at Sam Ash (or maybe the guitar shop across the street on 48th street) in New York.
 
Well, got my Blue Chip CT-55 in the mail. Can definitely play faster, which I think is more due to the 'speed bevel' than the material. However, the tone is too 'glossy' - doesn't have the chunkiness of my Fender Heavies or Rhinos - just couldn't 'dig in' enough. Good for Jazz,perhaps, but rendered all of my percussive stuff too muted.

Anyone try Dunlap Rhinos? They are actually my all-time favorite picks (not sure how heavy mine is, but on the heavy side) and they're cheap.
 
I've been using them for almost 2 years now. Great for speed and articulation. Since the material is very stiff, you can go thinner without losing energy in flexing, and my first Red Bear was fairly thin. After that I went to (and now prefer) the heavy version, and I get a more extreme (than standard) speed bevel on it. I have three now, between the lighter, and the other two with slightly different bevels. The heavier pick seems to make a better tone and it's as thin on the edge that makes contact as lighter picks.
 
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