When I first started playing years ago, I grabbed the thin no name pick I found in the bottom of the box housing my Father's acoustic and had at it. It was an afterthought. If I hadn't seen people playing guitars with picks before, I probably wouldn't have even known what it was.

After I moved to electric and got a few years under my belt, I began to wonder more about the pick. I mean, its the primary point of contact between my right hand and the strings. Certainly, it had some importance and deserved more thought concerning the right choice of pick other than using whatever I found lying around the local music store. That thought process led me to four distinct periods of my stylistic and personal development which I associate with the pick I choose during each period.

Choosing the right pick can a very personal experience in which multiple factors come into play, some of which might have less to do with actually playing the guitar than you realize. Also, while these choices indicate my primary pick, I've always kept a variety available just in case. You never know when a real thin pick or even a thumb pick will come in handy. 

Dunlop Nylon Standard 1.0mm- In middle school I was playing mostly thrash and metal with a Floyd equiped Charvette (the student level Carvel). Though I've never been a super picker, I certainly tried during this period. I wanted to get more serious in my playing and began looking more carefully at my choices in gear. I found a slightly heavier pick gave me more control over my attack which resulted in more note separation during faster runs. Also, the grip was much improved over standard picks which ensured it didn't slip out of hand during performance. I immediately fell in love with them, and they were the only pick I'd play for the majority of my most formative years. As such, I had become very loyal to Dunlap picks.

Dunlop Delrin 2.0MM - I was a jazz performance major at the University of North Texas (my freshman year) when I began to wonder if an even thicker pick would give me even more control. I searched out the heaviest pick I could find which led me to the Dunlap Delrin 2mm pick. Also during this period I developed a sort of dual personality from a technical perspective. While the traditional jazz discipline required a great deal on sensitivity, I was concurrently developing a heavy handed rock/blues style in which I really enjoyed hitting the strings hard as I could. The 2mm Delrin wasn't a pick guitarist's typically use, in fact I believe it was marketed as a bass player's pick back then. The choice of a non-conventional pick was equally a reflection of what was going on emotionally in my life as it was a reflection of my stylistic dichotomy. I was also in a period of change. What kind of adult did I want to be? Did I even want to be an adult at all?  

Dunlop Gator Grip 1.5mm - As I got older and more experienced, I found that there was no reason to keep my dual technical personalities separate and worked to merge the sensitivity and control with reckless aggression into a unified dynamic style. In addition to the 2mm picks becoming harder to find, they seemed to wear too quickly. Also, I missed the enhanced grip of the Nylon 1mm picks I had previously used which lead me to a happy medium in the Gator Grip 1.5mm. Oddly this time in my personal life was also a compromise in many ways and that whole theme was reflected in my pick.

Dunlop Jazz III - Again I find myself in a time of change with the birth of my second child, my Trio being on indefinite hiatus, and joining a new band...and again I find myself evaluating my choice in picks. Though this time around my choice was perhaps driven by curiosity as much as anything else. I had always heard praise for Dunlap's Jazz III and decided to give them an audition. I must say, the hype is real. The closest I can come to descibing the difference between the Jazz III and my previous pick is trying to run in a pair of boots versus a pair of nice running shoes. Really, the difference is that pronounced. The reduced size and sharper tip almost give the impression that I'm not holding a pick at all. I'm actually still adjusting as its such a different experience, but the enhanced control and forced attention to right hand technique are well worth it so far.