Did Ed pick hard?

[FL6]

Talking about back in the club days and the first few records. Did he pick harder than most or was it just insane accuracy? I know this forum mentions pick attack a lot, not sure if that's exactly the same. I suppose the same could be asked about his hammer ons and pull offs. Then again this forum is about amps and cranking them so with that perhaps you need a light touch because the amp is doing some work.

You have to admit playing guitar in this fashion requires a fair amount of strength, not to mention the bends he does. I suppose the best example would be the interview he did where he's just playing a unplugged strat and it still sounds insanely good.

The main reason I'm asking is for practicing. I practice a lot and I"m trying to think of the most important things to apply and focus on with your technique to get a clean crisp runs and tones. Like if you were to practice really slow, what the heck do you focus on?

[fivecoyote]

Ed did and does completely manhandle the guitar. He beats on it. His right hand (and left) is incredibly strong. People who have shaken hands with him have also said this. But a lot of finesse of course. Hitting light strings hard without going out of pitch is harder than it sounds for many folks.

[FL6]

Ed did and does completely manhandle the guitar. He beats on it. His right hand (and left) is incredibly strong. People who have shaken hands with him have also said this. But a lot of finesse of course. Hitting light strings hard without going out of pitch is harder than it sounds for many folks.

I agree. Do you think there's much slap of the strings? I've wondered if heavier strings would be better suited to a heavy hand approach but he always used to lights or extra lights.

It's weird but just after posting this I notice a glaring flaw in my playing (This always happens, I post something then immediately the answer comes to mind ). My pull offs from pinky to any finger should be stronger. The pull off note should be as loud as the initial picked note. It should be a hard pluck not a "let go". I've always plucked but it's not nearly as strong as it should be. I know that isn't about picking but it's the same idea.

[EJSLPlexi]

If you listen to the steve rosen interview you can hear how hard eddie plays.
he has a heavy handed style with a strangle the neck left hand and a hard attack with his picking hand.
He is the polar opposite of guys like romeo and malmsteen who play with a very light touch in comparison.

[FL6]

If you listen to the steve rosen interview you can hear how hard eddie plays.
he has a heavy handed style with a strangle the neck left hand and a hard attack with his picking hand.
He is the polar opposite of guys like romeo and malmsteen who play with a very light touch in comparison.

Right. He must use a stiff pick then eh? I can't see playing that way and at those speeds with a floppy pick.
Who else plays in this style?

[Santino]

He's a heavy hitter for sure. As am I. Wish I wasn't. But when I'm having fun I start banging away.

Early '80s he said he used Fender medium picks. And also said he used a metal pick. In the early '90s he or maybe his tech told the brand and thickness he was using. I bought some of course. They were like a Fender medium, but had a bit more give to them. D'addiaro I think they were. They wore out fast so I stopped using them. I just recently found a couple I had left. I started using nylon picks. Then went to Ernie Ball mediums. I got them for free by the handfuls so why not? Then I went back to nylon. Then I get an EVH pick tin for a gift around 2008. What's in it? Nylon picks. Same thickness I was using. .88. I still use them.

[FL6]

He's a heavy hitter for sure. As am I. Wish I wasn't. But when I'm having fun I start banging away.

Early '80s he said he used Fender medium picks. And also said he used a metal pick. In the early '90s he or maybe his tech told the brand and thickness he was using. I bought some of course. They were like a Fender medium, but had a bit more give to them. D'addiaro I think they were. They wore out fast so I stopped using them. I just recently found a couple I had left. I started using nylon picks. Then went to Ernie Ball mediums. I got them for free by the handfuls so why not? Then I went back to nylon. Then I get an EVH pick tin for a gift around 2008. What's in it? Nylon picks. Same thickness I was using. .88. I still use them.

I've had much better results with the Jazz III's. Took a little bit to get used to, like a day, but I love them now. Going back to the old pick is like grabbing this huge fat thing, like how did this thing fit in between the strings?

[JimiJames]

"Did Ed pick hard?"
Are you effin kidding me...
He kiled those .008's with thin to medium picks


For the past decade he's using picks not made of plastic, but .6mm Nylon mainly because they’re easy to hold on to and don’t break...They do wear out, but they don’t break. He used to use even thinner ones back in the ‘80s. He also use very thick picks that were made out of brass and copper, whatever felt right at the time.

[Roe]

how hard can you really hit a .040 string tuned to Eb before it goes sharp by a semitone or so?!

[EJSLPlexi]

I've had much better results with the Jazz III's. Took a little bit to get used to, like a day, but I love them now. Going back to the old pick is like grabbing this huge fat thing, like how did this thing fit in between the strings?

Same here! I cant get used to a fender heavy now? I played the jazz III's for a few years now if i try a regular fender or any regular shaped pick i cant pick as accurately?
Guess i am stick with the Jazz III

[fivecoyote]

My 2c is he could not use heavy picks because if he did the notes would be out of pitch when he hit them (hard). Could not use jazz picks because his hands/fingers are too big.

Hitting strings hard and keeping them in tune is possible, but in my experience it means not tuning with a tuner but tuning by ear. Only then can you (I) account for the "out of pitchness" when hitting them hard -- mostly the bottom couple of strings.

[garbeaj]

Not sure where jimijames got that Ed ever used an .008 gauged E string (?!)

But as near as I can tell, regardless of what complete horseshit Ed said about using a metal pick causing his tongue cancer, Eddie used a standard Fender Medium celluloid pick until the 5150 tour when he switched to Fender Thin picks. I don't care what he used on any recordings after 0U812 because I don't care for anything beyond that point.

When you listen to the Rosen interview, he does use Rosen's guitar at some point, but I'm guessing that probably had a vanilla set of .009 gauged strings just as Eddie has always used. Fender 150 XL until he started using the Ernie Ball strings in 1986 when they made his 5150 branded strings, but the gauge remained the same. There is a perceived heavy right hand attack, but it really isn't a heavy attack to my ears. It's just this floppy "thwack!" that happens when you use a Fender Medium pick against light gauge strings. Mark (Rockstah) knew this and when playing Ed licks, he would always use a Fender Medium pick and .009 gauged sets. There is a certain "playing card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel" sound that you clearly hear in the Rosen interview that comes when you play those licks with authority and with the exact same picking directions on all those licks. I wouldn't say it is an extra hard right hand attack, it seems more like a confident and flowing right hand attack that comes from playing Eric Clapton's live Cream licks all his playing life and then using the same licks in his own solos (see the many posts wjamflan and I have made about the ending cadenza to the live version of "Sitting On Top Of The World" from Cream's Goodbye album). It's just a confident attack, not a "hard" or "heavy" right hand attack.

I used to play with a really hard and stiff right hand attack with the heaviest picks and the heaviest strings I could find for decades, but I only realized that doesn't work for Ed's playing late in life. When Mark turned me on to .009 gauged string sets and the Fender Medium pick that Ed used for the entire Roth era, I had a massive "Ah-ha!" moment.

[EJSLPlexi]

Not sure where jimijames got that Ed ever used an .008 gauged E string (?!)

But as near as I can tell, regardless of what complete horseshit Ed said about using a metal pick causing his tongue cancer, Eddie used a standard Fender Medium celluloid pick until the 5150 tour when he switched to Fender Thin picks. I don't care what he used on any recordings after 0U812 because I don't care for anything beyond that point.

When you listen to the Rosen interview, he does use Rosen's guitar at some point, but I'm guessing that probably had a vanilla set of .009 gauged strings just as Eddie has always used. Fender 150 XL until he started using the Ernie Ball strings in 1986 when they made his 5150 branded strings, but the gauge remained the same. There is a perceived heavy right hand attack, but it really isn't a heavy attack to my ears. It's just this floppy "thwack!" that happens when you use a Fender Medium pick against light gauge strings. Mark (Rockstah) knew this and when playing Ed licks, he would always use a Fender Medium pick and .009 gauged sets. There is a certain "playing card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel" sound that you clearly hear in the Rosen interview that comes when you play those licks with authority and with the exact same picking directions on all those licks. I wouldn't say it is an extra hard right hand attack, it seems more like a confident and flowing right hand attack that comes from playing Eric Clapton's live Cream licks all his playing life and then using the same licks in his own solos (see the many posts wjamflan and I have made about the ending cadenza to the live version of "Sitting On Top Of The World" from Cream's Goodbye album). It's just a confident attack, not a "hard" or "heavy" right hand attack.

I used to play with a really hard and stiff right hand attack with the heaviest picks and the heaviest strings I could find for decades, but I only realized that doesn't work for Ed's playing late in life. When Mark turned me on to .009 gauged string sets and the Fender Medium pick that Ed used for the entire Roth era, I had a massive "Ah-ha!" moment.

From all the credible info out there the above statement is dead on.
Eddie never used .008's(that was billy gibbons and YJM that did use those)
in every jas interview eddie stated Fender rock and rock XL-150's(which michael schenker also used) and a standard Fender medium pick.
Very basic set up.
I think that is the real magic to eddie's playing, people think he used something other than what he really did.
Still do say he did not have what is considered a "light touch" though.
His old style was way too aggressive to be played light.

[garbeaj]

I don't think he ever had what could be called a "light" touch with the right hand, but I also don't think he was generally playing very hard with the right hand either...for leads especially. I would characterize it as a firm but not overly hard attack on the fast parts of his leads. If you listen to the really fast stuff, you will hear a confident, but not overly heavy attack...for example, listen to the fast parts of the solos to "Panama", "Hot For Teacher" and "When It's Love" and the ending cadenza to "You Really Got Me" where he is playing the fast Eric Clapton "Sitting On Top Of The World" licks...not light, but not "hard" attack. An even, "light medium" attack if you will on those very fast parts. I go back to the "playing card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel" feeling.

The thing about using Fender Medium celluloid picks and light gauged strings is that it forces you into a "light medium" attack. There is definitely a point of diminishing returns when you strike a string really hard with your right hand. The pick just flops against the string and past it. When you are using a heavy pick, you can really hit the strings hard and the attack stays stiff and you can really dig in. Almost like a "silver dollar in the spokes of a bicycle wheel"...If what I'm saying makes any sense?

The clearest example of this sound are the demonstrations of the "You Really Got Me" cadenza/Eric Clapton licks in the Steven Rosen interview audio clip.

[Tone Slinger]

I totally agree with Garbeaj