Yngwie Malmsteen Guitar Pick?
What pick is the “Yngwie Malmsteen Guitar Pick?”
Well, the mystery has been solved. Check out this video clip where Yngwie reveals his secret:
Yngwie just says “1.5 mm Dunlop” so it is still a little confusing as to which type of dunlop pick.
(UPDATE 7/26/2018: Here’s a screen shot of Yngwie answering the question on his official instagram account:
There it is! He specifically states Jim Dunlop Delrin 1.5 mm.)
I’m not able to remember which video I watched where he clearly states that he uses Jim Dunlop Delrin guitar picks (I’ll include it here when and if I find it again). In the video he explains that they are the same as the purple 1.5 mm delrins but they are custom made white for him with his name.
If you look closely in the video above you can see that the pick has the same edge contours as the pick above.
He also mentions this way back in the day in the Yngwie Malmsteen REH Hot Licks instructional video.
Although the video takes a lot of jabs for being low quality and Yngwie playing too fast, it’s actually a great video if you are willing to spend the time studying it.
Here’s something to note. Yngwie doesn’t always pick every note. He inserts liberal amounts of legato playing too. Check out example 4 in the video:
Notice when he plays fast that he only picks the first note of the sequence the last few times. He also only picks the first two notes and does pull offs for the second two a couple times. When demonstrating slowly he picks every note.
Another thing to notice is how he uses the harmonic minor scale. In example 4 he plays the raised 7th (g♯) at the end of the phrase. At the beginning he uses the g♮of the natural minor scale.
