56 GUITAR ONE guitaronemag.com APRIL 2007

John Petrucci takes a break from mixing the new Dream Theater record (due out this summer) to show us his pick of choice.

BY MICHAEL MUELLER

For over 20 years, and without fanfare, the Dunlop Jazz III has become the pick of choice for many of todays most demanding and technically proficient guitarists. But a feature story on a guitar pick, you ask? Well, the Dunlop Jazz III isnt just any guitar pick. Indeed,

according to our esteemed panel of players players, the Jazz III may as well be some sort of super-pick, capable of improving not only your articulation but also your tone.

Take, for example, Eric Johnson, one of the Jazz IIIs longtime endorsers. While discussing our mutual fondness for the Jazz III, he revealed that he prefers the original version of the pick, one red one on which JIM DUNLOP appears in upper-case type on the pick, to the current version, which has Jim Dunlop in script. At first, this sounded like another spectacular dying battery myth brewing, but in fact, Johnson gave me one of his picks to

compare (pictured at right), and sure enough, the originals have a lower density and a bit more flex-ibility, which affects the attack, and thus, the tone. And when it comes to tone, face it, you really cant get one past ol EJ. According to Dunlop, Johnson re-cently sent one of his picks to the company, which then performed a laser scan of the pick, so that they could begin manufacturing them again specially for him.

Despite Eric Johnsons testimonial, its still fair to ask: Can a guitar pick really improve your tone? The answer is: it de-pends a lot on you. But theres no denying that it plays an im-portant role in your tone chain. Whether its right for you or not can only be decided with a thorough trial. But be warned: once you try the Jazz IIIbe it the red one, the black one, or Dunlops brand-new Ultex versionyou might never touch another pick again.

TALKING POINTS

Dunlop Jazz III: The Players Pick

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JOHN PETRUCCIRed or Black: Blackthey match your clothes better! Seriously, theyre stiff-er than the red ones; theres some sort of extra ingredient. That stiffness al-lows for a direct transfer of energy from your hand to the stringtheres no lag time.

How I Discovered It I was watching a Mi-chael Angelo instructional video, and he was using one, so I thought Id try it.

Why Its My Pick Because it has a point on it, if you angle the pick a certain way, not parallel to the string, but at an angle to it, theres very little resistance. And I like the tone of it, the way the strings sound when the pick comes in contact. Theres a certain fatness, or sweetness, and the high end

comes through great. It seems funny that a pick can do that, but if you experiment with other materials, gauges, and shapes, you can hear it for yourself.

Why Its the Players Pick Its for every-thing I stated above. Its very conducive to playing fast; that is, it doesnt give way, or antagonize what youre doing. The point just glides on the strings, and it sounds very precise with lots of clarity.

64 GUITAR ONE guitaronemag.com APRIL 2007

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JOE BONAMASSARed or Black: I prefer the red one. To me, it sounds better. Its a lit-tle shinier, has a warmer sound, and feels better in my hand.

How I Discovered It I used a Fender medium pick when I was a kid. Then Danny Gatton turned me on to Fender jazz picks, but they werent as easy to hold. So I went to a gui-tar store and bought some other small Fender picks, Dun-lop Tortex picks, and Jazz I, II, and IIIs. The Jazz I was too round; the Jazz II was better, but the Jazz III gave me this sense of accuracy and articulation, and I found that it gave me this big amount of attack with only a small amount of picking. I was also able to do my half-assed Al Di Meo-la picking impersonation with it, which I liked. Then I read that Eric Johnson and these other great players were using it, and I was hooked. I cant use a normal pick anymore. Once you go to the Jazz III, you cant use any other pick.

Why Its My Pick I play rhythm guitar a lot with my hands, fingerstyle, and the Jazz III is so easy to tuck away be-tween your index finger and thumb. And it also seems to pop right back into place when I need it for picking. I tried the bigger version of it (Dunlop Jazz III XL), but it just wasnt the same feel. The only problem I have with the Jazz III pick is that I tried to get Dunlop to spell out B-O-N-A-M-A-S-S-A across the pick, but it just wont fit!

Why Its the Players Pick I think its good for the faster guys, as it suits that style. Its a dynamic pick that allows you to play soft or hard. They dont wear out, which is nice. I dont go through a bucket of picks at each gig. And theyre great for accuracybut be warned: they do bring out the mistakes if youre sloppy. Its a tradeoff, but it forces you to be a cleaner player.

MARK TREMONTIRed or Black: I use both, but pri-marily the black ones.

How I Discovered It Rusty Cool-ey loaned me a pick that was kind of in-between a normal one and a Jazz III. From there I decided to get to the bottom of this whole pick thing, so I went to a guitar store, bought about 15 different picks, and started reading guitar forums on the Internet. And the

Jazz III was pretty popular. So I de-cided to play with only that pick for a couple of days, and after that my 1-mm nylon pick felt like a paddle. Now I cant go back.

Why Its My Pick I think its an articulate pick, its precise, and it offers an inherent economy of motion. Its great for tech-nique playing, especially alter-nate picking and three-notes-per-string stuff. Im not so sure blues guys would dig it, but who knows? After all, Joe Bonamas-sas on this list!

Why Its the Players Pick Look at the guys on this listtheyre all fast pickers. The Jazz III is so precise, and with its size and mass it just makes sense that a smaller pick with a point will get to next note quicker. But its not just for that. I was jamming with John Connelly from Sevendust and told him to try it for a few days. Sure enough, hes using it. And hes not a technique guy; hes more of a percussive rhythm player, so it works great for that, too.

MICK THOMSONRed or Black: The black onesStiffo!

How I Discovered It I picked one up at a guitar shop when I was 13.

Why Its My Pick Ive spent 20 years playing with nothing but the black Jazz III sharp. Every aspect of my ap-proach is based around it. I have to change the way I pick when I try us-ing a standard, Fender-style pick.

Why Its the Players Pick Its small and precise, and theres no wasted energy. Simply said, it goes where you put it.

ALEXI LAIHORed or Black: Black, because its stiffer and the red ones tended to slip from my hand.

How I Discovered It I was using silver picks, but they were like $3.00 apiece and they stopped making them. I was at a music store and saw the Dunlop Jazz III, so I decided to try it.

Why Its My Pick Its the sharp tip. To me, it thickens the sound and pro-duces a great high end. I also like the size of the pick. I tried the Jazz III XL, but I prefer the smaller, original one.

Why Its the Players Pick I think its because it sounds better with alter-nate picking.

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WE TEST ITIn the interest of full disclosure, Ive been using the red Jazz III pick since 1991, when a music-school friend who saw me filing the tip of a Dunlop Tortex Heavy to a point, held up a Jazz III in his hand, and suggested I give it a try. So we asked several G1 staff members (who are also professional guitarists) to try it out. Heres what they had to say.

Tom KolbAssociate EditorMy Pick: Fender Medium

I tried the red Jazz III pick and found it quite useful for tremolo picking (mandolin lines, reggae rattles, and hard-rock single-string passages). I dont like it for funky strumming because I often hold the pick with my thumb, first, and second fingers, and the pick is too small to facilitate that particular grip. I like a big-ger pick, in general, because its easier for me to ob-tain a wider variety of dynamic textures, which is a major aspect of my playing style.

Michael ButzenContributing WriterMy Pick: Dunlop Jazz III

I really like feeling and hearing the pick hit the strings. Theres something about the physicality of it makes me play better. The Jazz III offers enough resistance to do the trick but is flexible enough that it doesnt feel like Im playing with a piece of granite. Also, the surface area is perfect for me. To me, the common-size pick feels too big and cumbersome. The Jazz IIIs sharp point is perfect for accurate shredding. I pre-fer the red ones, though I cant pinpoint why. My only complaint is that they feel a bit slippery, and as a member of the sweaty hands society, thats a prob-lem. So I burned the top edge for extra grip.

Dale TurnerWest Coast EditorMy Pick: DAddario purple .043 (discontinued)

I actually dislike picks with any sharp point on them (like the Jazz III), as the lack of a slightly rounded edge, in my hands, produces a thinner tone than that of tra-ditionally sized picks. I find its most noticeable when playing single notes on a clean-toned electric or on a full-bodied acoustic. I also dislike small picks, in gener-al. If you use a closed-fist picking grip, as I do, a tradi-tional pick has a greater amount of surface area in con-tact with your hand, which I feel results in a warmer tone and a more powerful and projecting sound.

Chris GillTech/Senior EditorMy Pick: Whatever is within reach

For me, my choice of pick depends on what style Im playingIve used everything from a flexible stan-dard-size stainless-steel pick to emphasize artificial harmonics to a heavy Fender jazz for hybrid picking. For years I preferred a green or yellow Dunlop Tortex Sharp, but lately Im leaning more towards a black Jazz III because it has the best attributes of all the picks I likea nice sharp point for precise picking and snappy attack; a small, comfortable size thats perfect for hybrid picking; and a stiff feel. Plus you dont have to choke up on the pick to get squealing, edge-of-the-finger pinch harmonics.

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MATT HEAFYRed or Black: Usu-ally black, but ev-ery once in a while if weve run out, Ill use the red ones.

How I Discovered It I think I picked the Jazz III because I heard of some shred-dy-ass guitar play-ers who used those picks. Back in the day I was only an OK

soloist, so I want-ed to find anything that could help me play like my heroes. I picked up a Jazz III and have been using them ever since.

Why Its My Pick I play way more accu-rately with this pick than any other. Ive tried standard picks, but I always seem to play rather sloppy with them. The Jazz III plays and sounds just like it looks

lean, accurate, sharp, and to the point.

Why Its the Play-ers Pick Id have to say its due to the fact that the Jazz III doesnt compensate for you. Its all about accuracy and exact-ly what you need to play to make the note happen. That is, I think the pick of-fers just enough of what you need in a pick to make the notes happen.

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