Various guitar picks. From top going clockwise: A standard Jim Dunlop nylon pick; An imitation tortoise-shell pick; A plastic pick with high friction coating (black areas); A stainless steel pick; A pick approximating a Reuleaux triangle; and a Jim Dunlop Tortex "shark's fin" pick

A guitar pick is a type of plectrum designed for use on a guitar. Over time people have made picks of various materials, including nylon, plastic, rubber, felt, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, and stone. They most often take the shape of an acute isosceles triangle with the two equal corners very rounded and the third corner rounded to a lesser extent. This shape is, however, merely one of many used by manufacturers. Guitar picks taken by user:KayEss From top going clockwise: Standard plastic pick Immitation turtoiseshell pick Plastic pick with high-friction coating Stainless stell pick Triangular plastic pick Sharks fin pick File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this... Guitar picks taken by user:KayEss From top going clockwise: Standard plastic pick Immitation turtoiseshell pick Plastic pick with high-friction coating Stainless stell pick Triangular plastic pick Sharks fin pick File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this... The Reuleaux triangle is a constant width curve based on an equilateral triangle. ... Various guitar picks A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... A selection of 4 different felt cloths. ... Tortoiseshell can refer to: a Tortoiseshell cat a pattern used in clothing and jewellery the Small Tortoiseshell, a butterfly the Hawksbill turtle This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Trunks A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a solid material derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily loses electrons to form positive ions (cations) and has metallic bonds between metal atoms. ... This balancing rock, Steamboat Rock stands in Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs, CO The rocky side of a mountain creek near Orosí, Costa Rica. ... For alternate meanings, such as the musical instrument, see triangle (disambiguation). ...

Styles

Pick shapes started with guitarists filing down bone, shell, wood, cuttlebone, metal, amber, stone or ivory to get the desired shape they want. Most of today's classic guitar pick shapes were created by the company that made the first plastic pick in 1922, D'Andrea Picks. The plastic pick was an idea that Luigi, and his young son Tony, Sr., had after purchasing a few sheets of the tortoise shell-like celluloid from a street vendor. It appeared very similar to the real tortoise shell picks the guitarists used in their Greenwich Village neighborhood. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... // The history of DAndrea is the history of that very essential guitar playing tool, the pick. ... Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents, generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic. ...

Most users of picks are familiar with the most popular shape, the 351. The rounded triangle is the 346 and the small jazz pick, the 358. All these numbers represent the numbers the Luigi & Tony D'Andrea assigned to each of their new "creations" at the request of the guitarists they serviced. Soon after, they requested their names be imprinted on them...."stamped"....and the rest is history. D'Andrea Picks was the first company to create custom pick imprinting. One of the first to make the player imprint popular was guitarist Nick Lucas in the 1930s. // The history of DAndrea is the history of that very essential guitar playing tool, the pick. ...

Many picks have some form of imprint on them from simple manufacturer logos to completely customized artist picks bearing the imprinted signature or bandlogo of the musician. Probably the most famous and easily recognizable name on a pick is the logo of Fender Guitars. One of the early "mass distributors" of customized guitar picks was Rick Nielsen of the rock band Cheap Trick. Rick was known to toss out hundreds of customized picks over the course of a single concert. These artist picks have become more popular over the last few decades to the point it's somewhat rare to find a famous artist who doesn't use a custom pick. As the technology for printing improved over the years, so did the variety and quality of the imprints. What began as simple block lettering has evolved into multi-color and highly-detailed graphics. Steve Clayton was the first pick manufacture to create multi-colored imprinting for guitar picks. Shortly thereafter, the Clayton facility started offering multi-colored picks over the Internet. With such a wide variety available, people began collecting guitar picks as a full-fledged hobby. There is even a global network for collectors to trade their picks called PickNET that sprang up in 1994. Custom picks are available at concerts as the musicians frequently toss used picks out to the audience. Some artists even sell their picks through their websites or fanclubs. Richard Nielsen (born December 22, 1946 in Rockford, Illinois) is the lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Steve Clayton is a rock drummer, poet,writer, and painter/artist, from Rochdale United Kingdom who co founded the band Tractor band also known as The Way We Live with guitarist Jim Milne in 1966. ...

Thickness

Extra heavy Jim Dunlop Stubby pick is exactly 2.0 mm thick, measured by vernier calipers

Guitar picks come in varying thicknesses to accommodate the different playing styles and kinds of strings. Thinner plectra are more flexible and tend to offer a wider range of sounds, from soft to loud, and produce a "click" that emphasizes the attack of the picking. However, some argue that heavier picks produce a brighter tone. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 385 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1572 × 2444 pixel, file size: 907 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Guitar pick Metadata This file contains... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 385 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1572 × 2444 pixel, file size: 907 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Guitar pick Metadata This file contains... Digital caliper A caliper (British spelling also calliper) is a device used to measure the distance between two symmetrically opposing sides. ...

In rock and heavy metal, while playing electric guitar with hi-gain amplification or distortion, it is generally assumed that thinner picks produce muddier, heavier, less controllable sound and thicker picks produce more delicate, more controlled and well-shaped tone. Thinner picks also tend to rip or tear more often if used too forcefully, whereas a thicker one is more likely to wear down over time. Thicker picks are generally used in more discrete genres, such as heavy metal or power metal. However, there are many exceptions to these stereotypes, especially as there is an element of guitarist preference involved in selecting pick thickness. Rock is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars, and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles, however saxophones have been omitted from newer subgenres of rock music since the 90s. ... Heavy metal (sometimes referred to simply as metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Left: Rosa Hurricane, a heavy metal-style solid body guitar. ... Heavy metal (sometimes referred to simply as metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Power metal is a style of heavy metal music typically with the aim of evoking an epic feel, combining characteristics of traditional metal with thrash metal or speed metal, often within symphonic context. ...

Many death metal musicians swear by picks thicker than 1.5mm, because it allows more control over heavy gauge strings. Thinner picks tend to give less attack and do not give as much control when doing fast tremolo picking. Also, they tend to wear much faster when used with heavier gauge strings. Death metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. ...

Jazz guitar players tend to use quite heavy picks, as they also tend to favor heavy gauge flat-wound strings. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Most manufacturers (D'Andrea Picks, Jim Dunlop, Steve Clayton, Alice, Teckpick, Dava Control) print down the thickness in mm or thousands of inch right on the pick. Some other brands (Gibson, Fender, Peavey, Ibanez) occasionally use a somewhat cryptic system of letters or text designations to mark the thickness. Approximate guidelines to thickness ranges are presented in the following table: // The history of DAndrea is the history of that very essential guitar playing tool, the pick. ... Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. ... Steve Clayton is a rock drummer, poet,writer, and painter/artist, from Rochdale United Kingdom who co founded the band Tractor band also known as The Way We Live with guitarist Jim Milne in 1966. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Fender Amplifier History be merged into this article or section. ... Peavey Electronics Corporation is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world, headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi in the United States. ... Ibanez ) (pronounced in English) is a well known guitar manufacturer based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. ...

Materials

Common

Most common picks are made out of various types of plastic. Most popular plastics include:

• Celluloid. Historically, this was the first plastic ever used to produce picks, and it is still of some use today, especially for guitarists that want to get some vintage feel. Occasionally, guitarists who smoke have accidentally discovered the extremely flammable nature of this material.

• Nylon. Popular material, has a smooth and slick surface, so most manufacturers add a high-friction coating to nylon picks to make them easier to grip. Nylon is flexible and can be produced in very thin sheets. Most thin and extra-thin picks are made out of nylon. However, nylon loses its flexibility after 1-2 months of extensive use, becomes fragile and breaks, so guitarists that use thin nylon picks should have several spare picks just in case.

• Tortex / Delrex. By Jim Dunlop and D'Andrea Picks respectively. Brand names for DuPont Delrin which is specially treated to have a matte, opaque surface, surprisingly easy to grip even with sweaty fingers.

• Acetal. Steve Clayton's version of Dupont Delrin.

• Ultem. This space age plastic has the highest stiffness of all plastic picks. Produces a brighter tone. Introduced by Steve Clayton, the material is additionally popular among mandolin players.

• Lexan. Glossy, glass-like, very hard surface, though it wears out relatively fast. Barely bends at all and it's commonly used only for thick and extra-thick picks (> 1 mm). Usually has a high-friction grip coating. Best known example of Lexan picks are Jim Dunlop Stubby series.

Modern plastics can be ranged this way from the easiest to bend to the hardest: Nylon, Acetal, Delrin (Tortex/Delrex), Lexan, Ultem. This means that the same medium (for example, 0.70–0.80 mm) pick would be fairly flexible if made out of nylon and very solid if made out of Ultem. Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents, generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic. ... Flammable or Flammability refers to the ease at which a substance will ignite, causing fire or combustion. ... Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont. ... Tortex is a modern plastic that was created by Jim Dunlop[citation needed] to replace tortoiseshell guitar picks after an international ban was placed on the trade of tortiseshell in the late 1970s. ... Delrex is a plastic that is used to replace tortoiseshell since the trade of tortoiseshell was banned in the late 1970s. ... Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. ... // The history of DAndrea is the history of that very essential guitar playing tool, the pick. ... Delrin is the brand name for an acetal resin engineering plastic invented and sold by DuPont. ... An acetal is a functional group or molecule containing the functional group of a carbon bonded to two -OR groups. ... Ultem is a family of polyimide thermoplastic resins, of type amorphous polyetherimide. ... Bottles made of Lexan LEXAN® is a registered trademark for General Electric Companys brand of highly-durable polycarbonate resin thermoplastic intended to replace glass where strength justifies its cost. ...

Picks made out of steel will produce a much brighter sound than plastic ones. They do however wear the strings quickly and can easily damage the finish on the guitar if used for strumming especially on acoustic guitars. Brian May of Queen uses picks which replicate his original choice — a silver sixpence coin. Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top uses a regular Mexican peso. Brian Harold May CBE (born July 19, 1947) is an English guitarist best known as the lead guitarist and backing (sometimes lead) vocalist for the English rock band Queen. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, with John Deacon joining the following year. ... Obverses of the 1787 and 1818 sixpence depicting George III. The sixpence, known colloquially as the tanner, was a British pre-decimal coin, worth, as the name indicates, six pence. ... Billy F. Gibbons (born December 16, 1949), nicknamed the Reverend Willie G, is best known as the guitarist for that Little Ol band from Texas, ZZ Top. ... ZZ Top is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. ... ISO 4217 Code MXN User(s) Mexico Inflation 3. ...

Exotic

• Agate. These gemstone guitar picks range in thickness from 1mm (very rare) up to 5mm, and they don't flex at all. Stone is a surprisingly versatile material because no mold or press is needed allowing a single pick to be crafted to the desired specifications. Though they take some getting used to they offer the player a pick that is harder than metal (guitar strings) and can therefore resonate the strings more completely. Stone picks are (usually) polished smooth and some even come with grip features.^[1]

• Lignum vitae is a rare hardwood with unique properties. It's very hard (4500 lbf[1], according to Janka Wood Hardness Rating) and its cellular structure is saturated with its own natural oil, giving a pick a unique feel and sound. Such picks are usually about 2-3 mm thick.

Agate is a type of quartz (silica), chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. ... Lignum vitae is the heartwood of species of the genus Guaiacum, the trees of which are usually called guayacan. ... The Janka test measures the force required to embed a 11. ...

Shapes

Some picks have small protrusions to make them easier to keep hold if the fingers start to sweat (very common on stage due to the hot lights). Some picks (as illustrated) will have a high-friction coating to help the player hold on to them. The small perforations in the stainless steel pick serve the same function. Many players will often have spare picks attached to a microphone stand or slotted in the guitar's pickguard. A microphone, sometimes referred to as a mike or mic (both IPA pronunciation: ), is an acoustic to electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. ...

The equilateral pick can be easier for beginners to hold and use since each corner is a playing edge.

The shark's fin pick can be used in two ways - normally employing the blunt end or the small perturbations can be raked across the strings producing a much fuller chord or used to employ a "pick scrape" down the strings producing a very harsh, scratching noise.

The sharp edged pick is used to create an easier motion of picking across the strings.

Bass players who use a pick normally use much heavier picks than guitar players. Some bass players find that coins make excellent picks, though some prefer slightly thinner picks to increase speed and endurance. The electric bass guitar (or electric bass) is a bass string instrument played with the fingers by plucking, slapping, or using a pick. ...

Technique

Picks are usually gripped with two fingers—thumb and index—and are played with pointed end facing the strings. However, it's a matter of personal preference and many notable musicians use different grips. For example, Eddie Van Halen holds the pick between his thumb and middle finger; James Hetfield and Steve Morse hold a pick using 3 fingers—thumb, middle and index; Pat Metheny also holds the pick with three fingers but plays using the rounded side of the plectrum. George Lynch also uses the rounded side of the pick. Stevie Ray Vaughan also played with the rounded edge of the pick, citing the fact that the edge allowed more string attack than the tip. His manic, aggressive picking style would wear through pickguards in short order, and wore a groove in his beloved Fender Stratocaster, Number One, over his years of playing. Jimmy Rogers and Freddie King had a special kind of technique utilizing two picks at once. // This digit is one of the five fingers (though the word finger can also refer exclusively to the non-thumb digits). ... The Index finger The index finger, pointer finger or forefinger is the second digit of a human hand, located between the thumb and the middle finger. ... Edward Van Halen (born Edward Lodewijk van Halen on January 26, 1955[1] in Nijmegen, Netherlands), is a guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer most famous for being leader and a co-founder of the hard rock band, Van Halen. ... This article is about the vulgar gesture. ... James Hetfield (born James Alan Hetfield, 3 August 1963, Downey, California[1]) is the main songwriter, lead vocalist, guitarist and a founding member of the American thrash/heavy metal band Metallica. ... Steve Morse Steven J. Morse is a rock guitarist and guitar virtuoso, best known for his position as guitarist in the Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple. ... Patrick Bruce Metheny (born August 12, 1954 in Lees Summit, Missouri) is an American jazz guitarist. ... George Lynch (b. ... Stephen Stevie Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990), born in Dallas, Texas, was an American blues guitarist. ... “Stratocaster” redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Freddie King (September 3, 1934 – December 28, 1976) was an influential American blues guitarist and singer, best known for his recordings Hide Away, Have You Ever Loved A Woman and Going Down. // King was born Frederick Christian in Gilmer, Texas on September 3, 1934. ...

The motion of the pick against the string is also a personal choice. George Benson and Dave Mustaine, for example, hold the pick very stiffly between the thumb and index finger, locking the thumb joint and striking with the surface of the pick nearly parallel to the string, for a very positive, articulate, consistent tone. Other guitarists have developed a technique known as circle picking, where the thumb joint is bent on the downstroke, and straightened on the upstroke, causing the tip of the pick to move in a circular pattern. Circle picking can allow greater speed and fluidity. The angle of the pick against the string is also very personal and has a broad range of effects on tone and articulation. Many rock guitarists will use a flourish (called a pick slide or pick scrape) that involves scraping the pick along the length of a round wound string (a round wound string is a string with a coil of round wire wrapped around the outside, used for the heaviest three or four strings on a guitar; this wrapping creates a rippled surface that produces quite a distinct sound when scraped with a pick). George Benson (b. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... A pick slide or pick scrape is a guitar technique most often performed in the rock or metal music genres. ...

The two chief approaches to picking are alternate picking and economy picking. Alternate picking is when the player strictly alternates each stroke between downstrokes and upstrokes, regardless of changing strings. In economy picking, the player will use the most economical stroke on each note. For example, if the first note is on the fifth string, and the next note is on the fourth string, the pick will use a downstroke on the fifth string, and continue in the same direction to execute a downstroke on the fourth string. The economy picking technique sounds as though it would require more conscious thought to execute it but many guitarists learn it intuitively and find it an effort to use alternate picking. Conversely, some guitarists maintain that the down-up "twitch" motion of alternate picking lends itself to momentum better, and hence trumps economy picking at high speeds. Alternate-picking is a technique that employs downward and upward picking strokes in a continuous run. ... Economy picking is a guitar-playing technique, for a guitarist who uses a pick. ...

Jazz guitarist Tuck Andress has written a comprehensive article on picking technique, often cited on the web. Tuck & Patti are an adult contemporary and Christian musical group, comprised of a husband (Tuck) and wife (Patti) team. ...

Picks wear out with use, and many guitarists prefer the playing "feel" of new picks.

In popular culture

Usually, a guitar pick is hidden within a player's hand, so a casual viewer may think that a guitarist plays with bare hands. Direct references to guitar picks are usually considered as a sign of somebody having close relation to playing an instrument.

• Dreamweb, a 1994 computer game, starts with main protagonist going to his friend, whose apartment's floor is covered with guitar picks spread randomly. This fact emphasizes that the friend is an avid guitarist.
• Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny features a mystical guitar pick with magical powers.
• Some fashion studios[2][3] offer jewelry made of guitar picks, such as guitar pick necklaces, earrings, pendants, chains, etc. Guitar pick jewelry complements merchandise line usually produced by an artist (i.e., t-shirts, bandannas and other memorable items).

Dreamweb is a DOS and Amiga parser-free cyberpunk top-down adventure game released in 1992 developed by Creative Reality and published by Empire Interactive Entertainment. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed. ... Jewelry (the American spelling; spelled jewellery in Commonwealth English) consists of ornamental devices worn by persons, typically made with gems and precious metals. ... A necklace is an article of clothing or jewelry; which is worn around the neck. ... An earring is a piece of jewelry that is worn on the ear. ... A pendant (from Old French) is a hanging object, generally attached to a necklace or an earring. ... T-Shirt A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a shirt with short or long sleeves, a round neck, put on over the head, without pockets. ... Categories: Stub ...

Reference

1. ^ Popoff, Martin (2006-01-20). "Pick Yer Poison — The Mysterious World Of Guitar Pick Collecting". Goldmine. 

• Hoover, Will (November 1995). Picks!: The Colorful Saga of Vintage Celluloid Guitar Plectrums. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0879303778. 

External links

• Accessory Fetish A Complete List of Guitar Pick Manufacturers
• D'Andrea Picks The History of the Plastic Pick
• Guitar pick choosing tips
• Guitar Plectrums An brief article discussing the various aspects of guitar plectrums.
• Picks - How To Choose The One For You by Britt Burch, an article that compares various pick gauges and materials.