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I have been looking for something really light for some time. After talking to a couple of the PRS owners on here, and talking with a few on other forums, I had decided that a PRS Hollowbody I or II was the guitar. I was already a huge believer in PRS guitars. I had looked at a couple on Reverb, at Chicago Music Exchange and elsewhere and made a couple offers but never ending up owning one. Last week my wife and I were in a local guitar shop and this one was hanging on the wall. Way up high where the nice ones are! The owner had to get it down! He handed it to me and my wife immediately said, "That is really pretty!" I played it and fell in love both with the way it played and the tone. My wife actually told me to make on offer on it but I didn't. I don't know why! I told her wanted to think on it. It has driven me crazy all week and I went back and brought it home tonight! It is feather light and has this gorgeous hollowbody tone. It has McCarty Humbucker Pickups. There is just no doubt at this point that this is going to be my "go to" guitar.

I like Jim Dunlop Nylon picks. I use .38 or .46 mm for strumming and .73 mm for picking. Great picks last forever and have a nice grip. They aren't pretty. The lighter the color the lighter the pick. The black picks are the thickest and white is thinnest.

I have tried (and unfortunately, have purchased hundreds of picks). Here are the ones I use the most (from left to right) - for electric: V-Picks Euro II, V-Picks Tradition UL; for acoustic: Blue Chip TD50, National thumb pick, and a custom Blue Chip thumb pick. The V-Picks and Blue Chip all have a slight 'tackiness' that helps them cling to your fingers.

Your guitars have a website?!? Mine don't even know how to use the internet!

There are so many types and styles of guitar picks out there that I'm curious to hear what people prefer. Personally I like Cool Picks. They have a rubber, somewhat grippy area to hold and have a nice sound on the strings. For me, the grip is very important. I need something that won't slip out of my hand. They make a couple I prefer. One is the CoolCell pick. This one has raised rubber nubs for gripping. And the other is the Cool Stealth pick. This pick has a very fine rubber texture to the grip (unlike the one above which has the raised rubber nubs). What brands/types of picks do you like? What features are important for the style of playing you do? Do you use different picks depending upon the style you play, or do you gravitate to one particular type of pick?

Let me add a slower shuffle or the slow blues and the straight rock ’n’ roll blues.

These, in .88mm size.

UncleHammy, a great quote and Will McFarland did say this. As I understand his entire quote was, "I'm not a neurosurgeon. If I make a mistake playing guitar, nobody dies." What bothers me (or did) is this came just before my 2nd neurosurgery

I haven't settled on a favourite pick just yet. Right now my go to pick is a Dunlop Ultex .73.

I have some Jim Dunlop picks myself and I prefer them. I have left thumb metal thumb picks and plastic thumb picks from Dunlop as well as the Stubbies. But my favourite guitar picks, my fingers.

That's a stunning guitar for sure. Definitely a keeper (your wife I mean )

I've been using Wegen picks of late. I bought the TF triangular ones and the Bluegrass ones (pictured). I started with the 100 mm thickness. Otherwise, I reach for my Dunlop nylon pick for strumming (60-70 range).

I am not sure how how you classify him (I would guess Chicago Blues) but I like Robert Cray. He is from Tacoma, WA so maybe it is Washington Blues. His bio says this "If you define 'blues' by the rigid categories of structure rather than the flexible language of feeling allusion, Robert Cray... Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and James Armstrong are a new and uncategorizable breed, their music blues-like rather than blues, each of them blending ideas and devices from a variety of sources – soul, rock, jazz, gospel – with a sophistication beyond the reach of their forerunners"

I have quite an assortment of picks... These are the ones I tend to use most often. I really like the V-picks, but with a glass-top desk, it can get tricky finding it if you put it down... The blue chip picks are really nice and give you a really nice grip, but they are pricy... if you tend to lose picks that would be an issue...

Hi Uncle Hammy, I use the same picks but only the .38. I find it does every thing I need . and real easy to pick 16 th notes. when I was young before grade school I had a guitar and we cut picks out of milk jugs to use. any thing bigger fells like it's ripping the string off the guitar

Someone over at our previous home, in a similar thread, turned me on to V Picks. I never thought I would like a thick pick. Now I can't use anything but a V Picks Screamer.

Yesterday I ordered a CD of Louis Jordan, His blues was defined as Jump Blues, a combination of blues and some brass from a big band. Among his best known songs is CHoo Choo Ch'Boogie:

So in the new forum I can't display a list of my guitars (too long for the signature) so I created a website for my guitars. You can click on the My Guitars link below in my signature. It is a work in progress and I'm missing quite a few pictures. It was a fun little project to work on. I showed my wife last night and she was impressed that she was mentioned so many times. She even sent a link to one of her co-workers. Is that license to get another one? Let me know if you see any errors. Ben

“If it sounds good and if it feels good, then it IS good.” - Duke Ellington

Here Cap. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/449P.88

"If I make a mistake playing guitar, nobody dies." - Will McFarland at the 2015 Guitar Gathering.

This book has been helpful. There are some fun rhythms and a CD to play along with. Still slaving away with this skill! The CD is somewhat helping with changing chords in time but I'm still way off.

rkl312, thanks for posting this. I'm sure some wiil find it helpful. I started this book when I was " Still slaving away with this skill!". I spent a lot of time in sessions 7&8. In hindsight, maybe I could have spent a little less time had I supplemented my studies by using this more. I wish that I would have worked some of the songs. I think the only one I did was "All Along the Watchtower".

Cindy - Ron is correct - the Blue Chip sizes (35, 45, etc.) are consistent across the pick styles. I have tried thinner and thicker ones and prefer the 50.

I use the Jim Dunlop Nylon picks in .48 for strumming. For picking I like the Snarling Dogs Brain Picks in .88. I like the raised grips on these the best.

Cindy, the 50 in Bluechip terminology is probably consistent between styles of Bluechip picks. If you go to their webpage for their 55 picks that number represents 55/100 inch. Unfortunately, it is inconsistent with most other manufacturers. I thought, like Plantsman that it represented something in metric. Most pick makers describe their picks in mm thickness. I think most do anyway. V Picks does. Most of the posts above are describing picks in mm.

I think of the number as an expression of "mm" thickness, but I have no experience with Bluechip. I have the impression the how the material "feels" while playing is the "artistic" measure, with tortoise shell picks setting the bar (at least from comments read over the years). I believe the material is similar but shape and size differ. Looking at Wegen, there is a very large array of picks manufactured to meet differing tastes and demands.

Hi Cindy: This fact was driven home to me in spades yesterday. Go to Sweetwater.com and search on Left handed acoustic guitars. There are 1 or 2 Taylors. There are pages of Martins. Most are so new that they don't have pictures yet. Availability or even a chance to order a model is a big selling point to a lefty. Cheers

Cindy, You can order online here: http://www.bluechippick.net OBTW: when Julian Lage and Chris Thile (among others) endorse them, you might be able to overlook the cost. I chose Wegen for cost and Jack Pearson recommended them last summer at GG. A four pack of bluegrass ran $15 while the TF100 ran $15 each at Elderly in Michigan. Offered in white or black as shown in earlier picture.

Ice, you don't know how appropriate your comment is! We've been married 51 years today!

Cindy - the Blue Chip pick is made out of some very cool material. I have heard that it is the same stuff they use to coat circuit boards - but don't know whether that is true or not. It looks soft, but doesn't wear out. I have had that pick for years (lost it once for a year - and then miraculously found it - long story) and other than some very light surface scratches, it shows no wear at all. I like it because it is very quiet when used to either pick or strum and it has that tackiness factor that keeps it from either rotating or falling out of my hand. Blue Chip's are expensive ($35 for a pick?) and are probably not ideal for those who frequently misplace their picks. I had heard a lot about them, so I thought I would try one out. I am glad I did. My guitar sounds totally different with it.

I choose picks based on the particular instrument being used. Electric guitars I use Fender Heavy celluloid, acoustic guitars I use Fender Medium celluloid, Resonator guitars I use a medium weight with gripping surface or pick with grip hole (no favorite brand yet).

Never could get the hang of Dunlop Jazz picks I like Dava Jazz Control www.davapick.com/picks/jazz_grip I use it from strumming to picking. My 2nd type is Dunlop Cat's Tongue picks

I like the tone from celluloid picks the best of any I've tried. I use Planet Waves extra heavy, 1.25 mm and Fender heavy. Fender doesn't say how thick they are, but I've read they're around .9 mm, which is probably about right based on how they feel compared to the PW extra-heavy.

Grog, great observation on my German. Beautiful music in any language. Fretless, I got the three songs from internet; L&M Bonus Resources. I never had a CD. Cindy, Thanks for the link. I listened to the song on the internet to learn the phrasing, while I did learn the song I think it was a long process.

That page must be incomplete. Where are all the non-Gibsons?

I had started the Major Scales workouts a few months back. I got up to the Intermediate level of the Major Scales 2 lesson. Well, I got sidetracked (not really a surprise, lol!).... So two weeks ago I started them again. Quickly reviewed the first lesson, then moved back into MS2. Took me a few days to get back thru the first workout, which I think I was not doing as well as I thought the first go thru... The intermediate is challenging!!! I have been at it for about a week, and for the first time tonite, I was able to keep up on almost all of the exercises!!! Persistence really pays off!! One or two days I had hardly any time to practice, so this was the only stuff I did as I could get it done in a half hour. I will definitely spend a few days or longer really getting this before moving on to the last one...

Way to go, Barb. I haven't started Scale Mastery but, like Randy, have them all. I started the Speed and Agility and, like you, got to the intermediate level. I can't remember what speed. 80? 84? Then, like you, got sidetracked. I keep saying I'm going to get back to it and need to. It was definitely helping the speed of my playing. Got to get bacck to it! Good for you getting back to it.

So, Blue Dog I guess I should answer your question. What kind of Blues do I like? I love Chicago. I love Blues. So it follows my favorite Blues should be the Chicago variety, correct? I do really like Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Mike Bloomfield, etc. But my blues taste run towards the Texas variety.

Gotta go with classic Delta Blues on this one. Not only for the music itself, but also because if forms that basis for most Classic Rock like Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and countless others.

The blues shuffle is one example.

Good for you. I have all the workouts. They are actually fun as they slowly push you to do more. They really help you learn those scales too.

Nice K9 , Way to go. Keep at it. Good luck.

Ron, congratulations on the guitar and your anniversary to a great lady. I am also a Santana guy and I have been casually looking for a PRS hollow body to go with my PRS Santana. I would love to read your review of this fine instrument. Oh and keep it stock for a while, the guys on the PRS Forum would have you stripping it immediately. Henk