fairly quiet and articulate attack (I got the TAD 60R)
picks are a weird wormhole for me considering i play fingerstyle the majority of the time on everything but mando

i like acetate for tone - i do like 'em thick, but at some point thick ones will start to chirp
love the feel of gravity picks but most of them are on the chirpier side
honestly, i thought the Dunlop Primetones were pretty comparable and not just because they're the same color (ya gotta wonder if Dunlop was doing that intentionally to cut into BlusChip's share of the premium market).
i did a deep dive into picks last spring because i didn't want to invest in any real gear not knowing what the pandemic would be....
definitely didn't find a price-quality correlation.
one strange hit for me? coconut shell - who knew?
i actually really enjoy both the hand feel and glide over the strings of V Picks but also found them on the chirpy side (which in general i don't like, but some times it works well with certain fuzzes for me)
found some good recs searching for "dark" picks on various forums
some others i like:
D'Andrea Pro Plecs
Dunlop Jazz Tone
Tusq (these are brighter and articulate but not too chirpy)
Dunlop Ultex and Delrin
non-branded "exotic" materials:
wood is just not durable enough for me, but some of them sound good - usually not chirpy (janka hardness is no guarantee of durability against abrasive wound strings)
horn is quite good - durable enough and articulate/bright but with good fundamental without chirpiness and very nice feel in the hands and against the strings
rubber is quite interesting on bass; i like it better than felt
most metals are pretty good and not as bright or chirpy as i would have thought - but the market in metal picks is coin- and Brian May/Billy Gibbons-obsessed so that's (really really) annoying
(favorite metal pick is an aluminum Moroccan coin so i'm guilty too lol)
most polished stones annoy me - bad string feel, bright, chirpy and usually redonk overpriced/made by people who don't have the first notion about the importance of taper or edge
really liked bamboo for tone and better durability than any other wood, but the set i picked up had the most annoying tip shape for me - it constantly trips me up, and the other edges are way too thick for my liking - i'll probably shop around for some other bamboo picks at some point
fuqq poachers warez like ivory and tortoise shell - i just wanna play - leave your scrimshaw in the nantucket whaling museum and rip leslie west (though i may have stepped in it myself by buying "horn" picks (which i think are "buffalo" as in water buffalo not bison)
Clayton seems to be an affordable brand for trying out exotics
honestly tho good old-fashioned environment-degrading petro-derivatives are cheaper and usually better
it's wise to be skeptical - the snake oil index is high in pick world
good luck intrepid voyager
