Dweezil Zappa

To the best of my knowledge, the Fender pick material hasn’t changed. There was a brief period around 1955 when real tortoise shell was used to make the brown tortoise colored picks, but I believe it’s just the same old......Read more

Apologies for not keeping up but I was trying to go back to an old comment about Ed's picks --the old Fenders. Allen G.: do you know if the plastic formulation has changed since the late 70s/early 80s? .. and the thickness......Read more

With a thin pick, how do you pick fast or is that just something you acquire with practice? Seems like by the time you get to the next note your pic is catching up to you if it’s thin. Also, are we talking 1970s era classic......Read more

Definitely thinner than any medium pick. The lighter you hit, the less flex and resistance, so speed comes from a lighter touch with the thinner picks. Heavy picks are great for a lot of things but not so much for Van Halen......Read more

Hi Dweezil - Thanks for the reply! It's such a simple idea, but I find it to be so profound. You mentioned being able to play chords more in tune (like Steve Vai mentioned in Ep. 1). One of the things that is so inspiring......Read more

I really enjoyed the discussion about thin picks and ed's attack on the strings, especially with his rhythm playing. One thing I've noticed is how much his thumb bends back when he plays. It naturally gives him a consistent......Read more