Dunlop used to be the gold standard
Dunlop used to be the gold standard for guitar accessories, especially guitar picks, with many innovative shapes such as Jazz III, Tortex, and their Sharp forms. Sadly, having become the industry leader has taken a toll on the company.
The biggest disappointment is their current approach to quality control, or the lack of it. 10-20 years ago, you could blindly buy their guitar picks and receive top quality with good longevity. Nowadays? I have been an avid user of their Jazz III shapes since the introduction of their Ultex variant of the Jazz III, and bought them exclusively. Before that, I bought the Tortex series for years.
Now, I have just sent back my 4th 24-pack of the Uktex JIII 2.0, as well as 2 24-packages of the Tortex JIII 1.5 White, and 1 24-package of Ultex JIII John Peteucci 1.5. Even our local guitar store employee checked them to make sure that I do not simply want refunds, and he was shocked as well. Every second pick had uneven/deformed tips, with many of the 2.0 mm JIII not being properly glued/moulded together, which resulted in one side sticking over the other. This in return resulted in both sides sounding different; One had the expected Ultex sound, while the other sounded tinny and thin, and this across multiple 24-packs, while the Tortex had dents or parts missing on every other pick's tip, and I think that I have had enough.
I have the feeling that Dunlop uses the big packs to dispose of lesser picks to still be able to make profit of the flawed units. I never had this issue with their smaller 6-packs, but I am currently too discouraged to buy more products and I am currently looking for alternatives, even if they are more costly, sadly.
Dunlop was the guitar company of my childhood, but times and leaderships change. Hope to welcome the old quality back in the future.
