Red Sharkfins - Things can get worse!

Chabenda

Well, the much maligned Red Sharkfin isn't as bad as it gets - have a look at it's feebler cousin - The Green Sharkfin!!

Now You see it -

Now you don't -

A bit like an ad for a condom - So light it's like nothing at all.

Chocklit_Thunda

I've got on of those ? they're terrible!

DaFiz

Used one years ago when I used to bang away on a 12 string... Waste of time as there's nothing in it.

inflames

DaFiz wrote: Used one years ago when I used to bang away on a 12 string... Waste of time as there's nothing in it.

HaHa!

singemonkey

That thing is just so wrong.

CDee

Damn... I have to get me one of those to try. ?

Can you fax me one ?

BluJu

CDee wrote: Can you fax me one ?

:roflmao: :roflmao:

DonRoos

CDee wrote: Damn... I have to get me one of those to try. ?

Can you fax me one ?

Too thin to FAX, they will jam up the machine. Rather scan it and print it onto very thin paper and cut it out. I think I also have one stashed away in my 12-string pick holder. They only work if you bend it to give it a bit of rigidity. Great for NOT breaking the octave G string though.

Chabenda

.......As used by Justin Beiber......

domhatch

Chabenda wrote: .......As used by Justin Beiber......

as a condom?

ThomasN

domhatch wrote:
Chabenda wrote: .......As used by Justin Beiber......
as a condom?

Nuh uh... Maxipad :yup:

domhatch

ThomasN wrote: Nuh uh... Maxipad :yup:

:? ?

Highway-Chile

To an extent, I agree with the colored Sharkfin's having limited uses.

However, the clear/white ones are killer, especially if you use light strings. I personally run .011's and use a 1.2mm pick and a 3.0mm Wegen pick on my Gypsy jazz SelMac clone. So I hardly use a Sharkfin anymore, except in the studio.

The Sharkfin is actually a brilliant design and definitely has it's uses. I had a guy make some out of fossilized dinosaur bone.....I have to contact him and buy some. I had a falling out at the forum he advertised on due to a troll who kept causing shite and they did not ban him....so I left and never followed up with the pick maker.

The pick:

The longer point tip is wonderful for fast funky strumming and lazy acoustic strumming......getting that super percussive "click" off the strings.

The shorter more rounded side is good for single note lead work and you can bend the pick to control stiffness/attack.

The serrated side is awesome for a super scratchy lead attack a la Blackmore or Gibbons and again you can manipulate/control the stiffness by bending the pick.

And............ ? ..........they slide easily under the scratch plate on a Strat, for a backup pick array. ?

I agree the other Sharkfins are not that effective, The black one's have a JazzIII feel to them but still don't cut it. In the studio, the lighter one's have uses.......mostly for strumming. But personal preference aside......if you are down on a regular Sharkfin, you don't know how to use it perhaps. Beyond your regular pick.....all these things are just tools. You might want a very thin sounding rhythmic strum part that sits back in the mix without being too omnipresent.......maybe a light Sharkfin is just what you need if your 1mm+ is too heavy for the part. Maybe a scratchy lead motif using the serrated edge will get the part to cut through the mix without having to raise the level too much. Or just as an aggressive effect.

But yes.........pretty much useless for speed metal or the like, anything requiring fast and clean picking.....jazz etc.

They are impossible to find in music stores here. I had my boet send me a selection from England. The best Blackmore/Hendrixy tone I ever got out my '64 Strat was when I was a teenager........ using a 60's Vox AC30, a Colorsound fuzz-wah, .008 Picato strings's and the clear Sharkfin. I could of course never use .008's again.....my finger pressure alone would cause terrible out-of-tune issues.

geemobee

those pictures are out of focus.. ?

Slayer

Used the red ones once upon a time. Way too soft.

Use the 3mm stubbies these days. Much better for me anyway.

Good luck...

Charlie4

I'm also using the 3mm stubbies, probably won't change back to anything thinner.
For even more thickness I make picks out of buttons, have tons lying around and it's cheap.

Chabenda

geemobee wrote: those pictures are out of focus.. ?

☹ You have to have something to focus on .........

You're right though ?

Black Sharkfins are my favourite.

domhatch

Chabenda wrote: ☹ You have to have something to focus on .........

:? ?

i must say, i don't really have one particular favourite pick. i use one for strumming acoustic (a fender jobby, a guess it's a little less than 1mm thick), it's ideal because you can strum and pick out the odd fill. i have others for different applications - i'm sure this must be the same for other folk.

i've heard lots of chaps and chapesses enjoying the stubbies, and they were my mainstay, go-to pick for a long time. just got a bit much attack for my liking nowadays. really enjoy the jazz ii and jazz iiis these days. loving jim dunlop overall tho. (still have a bunch of super-size stubbies from my time picking away at bass strings.)

i have one pick i bought ages ago, and have just about never used. it's just way cool. tortoise shell (only in coloration, i hope). about 713mm thick. no give at all. sticks to the fingers like glue. can't remember the name. you could probably pick a quadruple bass with it and still break a few strings...

ah, guitarists. the things we find to compare...
dh|

chris77

Aaaaah, the little green Sharkfin. The Paris Hilton of picks - too skinny and good for pretty much nothing ?

But.... I do have 2 of them in my 12 string's pickholder. Works for when you just want to strum a few chords without being too loud.

PJH

I played for most of my playing career with picks that I made from 6mm perspex. It was a tedious job and was always made more difficult when I kept losing them.

The string breaking was also a massive problem.

I have always believed that you play your best when picking lightly but accurately so I went out and bought about 50 red sharkfins. That was about ten years ago and I forced myself to "learn" how to use these soft picks. I now cannot play with anything else. I have to pick lightly and my playing and tone improved as well. If it's good enough for Trevor Rabin I reckon it's good enough for me.

They last forever and in fact get better with age. I also never break strings anymore.

So yes, I do get a lot of players asking me how the heck I manage with them but I have also "converted" a few of them when they've been to one of our shows.

To each his own I guess...

Cheers,

Peter.