Is it only with me, or do picks disappear very very quickly? If you're lucky they reappear in the most arbitrary of places like my bathroom or washing machine or sometimes they just lie around on the floor. Sometimes they just magically reappear right in front of me. So do you people also keep losing picks? How often do you go shopping for them? How many do you buy at a time? And what's the weirdest place you have found a pick of yours?

Wizard, let us model the rate of disappearance of picks. I have a slight feeling that I'll need to introduce THE CONSTANT K!!!!!

Lethe wrote: Is it only with me, or do picks disappear very very quickly? If you're lucky they reappear in the most arbitrary of places like my bathroom or washing machine or sometimes they just lie around on the floor. Sometimes they just magically reappear right in front of me. So do you people also keep losing picks? How often do you go shopping for them? How many do you buy at a time? And what's the weirdest place you have found a pick of yours?

Wizard, let us model the rate of disappearance of picks. I have a slight feeling that I'll need to introduce THE CONSTANT K!!!!!

The more interesting question is where they all end up. Where do all those picks go? Not just yours, not just mine, but Eric Clapton's, and Joe Satriani's, and Larry Carlton's.... is there some black hole that leads one into a parallel "plectroverse"? Are they breeding?

Everytime I walk into a muso shop, I buy one or two. I've found once I started doing that, I stopped losing them, don't know why. As a result, I've built up a little collection ?

Well, if you're Brian May, during the recession you're trying your damndest not to lose your picks... ?

I think I must have the slowest turnover rate in the world - I use the two rounded edges, not the sharp end, and I like 'em a little worn in, so I'm reluctant to throw away picks until they're really good and worn. And if they go straight back into the strings when my guitar's stored, I just don't lose any.

/pedantic

I think it is the pick gnomes!!! Bastards!
Nothing sucks like a sunday without a pick!

So I paid a visit to Bothners and bought 50 picks!

So I scattered them around my house.
1: in pillows.
2: in DVD cases.
3. In fridge
4: 1 in each drawer.

I will never be stuck without a pick again!

I buy strings in packs of ten sets from a seller on EBay who regularly includes freebies, most commonly 100 picks. As a result I now have at least 250 pics of different grades and colours. Most of them are in a jar on my desk, next to the guitars, but several end up all over my room. In spite of this, I often still spend time looking for a particular favourite...lots of picks simply means more for the pick gnomes to carry off...!

Nowadays I keep a few picks in my wallet also...they're certainly get used more often than the condom they replaced... ?)

I dropped my JazzIII in a dark theater once before a show.... That was the last time I saw that pick

But most of the time, if you go out shopping for new picks,

the following day all your old picks will magically re-appear!

Manfred convinced me to try out Jazz III picks, which I've come to really enjoy.
As compensation for the time I spend playing with toys in Bothners, I often buy 5 or 10 of them when I visit.
Under this current model the rate of vanishing seems approximately balanced by the rate of replenishing.

I buy jazz III's every time i see some in shop.

kind of what inflames is doing,I keep 2 plectrums in each of my jeans(got a collection of those as well), which one time came in handy when i played a gig walking onto the stage, a freak accident occured and my pick fell inbetween the stairs.
Lucky i had some spare in a jean.

P.S: i prefer the red picks they are a bit easier to find in the dark.

And something about the black hole mystery:
Once apon a time i opened the washing machine and descovered where the black hole leads to>>>>>The washing machine!!!!!
I has a bag that collects all stuff falling out of the pockets during washing, coins, knots and lots of picks.

I check it now and again to see if any new picks arived yet. ?

inflames wrote: I think it is the pick gnomes!!! Bastards!
Nothing sucks like a sunday without a pick!

So I paid a visit to Bothners and bought 50 picks!

So I scattered them around my house.
1: in pillows.
2: in DVD cases.
3. In fridge
4: 1 in each drawer.

I will never be stuck without a pick again!

LOL!

Wizard wrote: Manfred convinced me to try out Jazz III picks, which I've come to really enjoy.
As compensation for the time I spend playing with toys in Bothners, I often buy 5 or 10 of them when I visit.
Under this current model the rate of vanishing seems approximately balanced by the rate of replenishing.

AHA, but you have neglected THE FACTOR K!!! the theft factor!!! that's right. Buddies come over, use your pick and nick it!! just like lighters!

I actually prefer the Jazz II. They have a rounder point when compared to the jazz III's, which to me feel like you are playing with a toothpick.
I have a tin full of different picks. I try buy whenever I can.

Here is my advice:

Make a point of only keeping ONE pick easily accessible. Keep your favourite pick on your amp or between the strings. (I keep out two - one Jazz II for electric and one D'addario for acoustic) Keep all other picks safely tucked away deep inside a drawer or gig bag, preferably a place that is a pain in the arse to get to.

Since you basically only have access to one pick, you will teach yourself to always put it back where it belongs. Like the TV remote - if you had more than one you would lose quite a few every week...