How does the thickness of a guitar pick affect the sound produced?

By ORPHEUS

Many of our customers ask this question. We decided to give him a detailed answer. You will understand why we chose a thickness of 0.96 mm.

One way pick thickness affects sound is the amount of energy from the down or up stroke that is absorbed by the pick vs. amount transmitted to the strings. With the same material, thin picks bend easily and thick picks don’t. The bending absorbs the energy from your hand more and you get a little softer sound. As thickness increase, the energy from the hand is transferred more efficiently, the so-call sharper attack, and sound is louder. Too thick and the stiffness can feel too rigid for comfortable playing. I think harmonics increase with the sharper attack of a thick pick, something most people notice when comparing fingerpicking vs. flatpicking.

A second effect, most noticeable for acoustic guitar, is a slapping sound from the thin pick as it flies off a string and the bended pick straightens.

All this is very subjective between players. So the thickness you prefer is a compromise between too thin/too flexible and too thick/too stiff for you.