Things they never told us about picks

Ideas worth sharing... Things they never told us about picks!

   Remember getting your first guitar? Though we could barely tune the guitar, let alone play it, we took great pride in tucking our very 1st guitar pick into the pocket of our jeans. We felt a sense of belonging.

   Through the early years we couldn’t resist collecting picks of all sizes and colors. Frequent visits to the local guitar shop to swoon over new gear, at minimum yielded a fresh selection of a new pick or two - an affordable option to commemorate our window shopping.

Plastic or nylon picks can make your guitar sound thin and quiet, or too bright.

   Cheap plastic picks are manufactured by the tens of thousands. As if the latest new “grip surface” or shape will make you a better player. Yet, in all the marketing effort to make us better players, seldom has there been much if any legitimate context or reference to tone.

   Some of the most impractical guitar picks I’ve seen are made of wood, stone, or metal. In my experience these create horrible tones and will likely never improve your playing skills.

But some new materials have been around for decades

   In more recent years, some small companies have provided solid research of different materials that actually affect the [acoustic] sound of the guitar and compliment different playing styles. These materials create different tones and string attack. We have entered the era of handmade high end guitar picks that sell for $10, $20, and $40.

   As an example of innovations in guitar picks, take the ever popular Blue Chip picks. They are made from a high grade polyimide, named DuPont Vespel. Known for its extremely high tolerance to wear, these picks will last a lifetime.

   Casein is a phospho-protein commonly found in milk, a major component in processing of cheese. Mixed with formaldehyde and baked, it produces a solid material, first patented in 1899. Casein became very popular for use in making buttons in the 1930’s.

   Vintage casein buttons were made in an array of colors, though many buttons for men's suits had a brown tortoiseshell like color.

   Hense Picks Happy Turtle picks from Germany are made from casein, which creates a remarkably warm tone and quiet pick attack. Have an acoustic guitar in your collection that is overtly bright sounding or thin on a bass element? 

   The Hense casein pick can improve the tone, turning harsh characteristics into a more balanced tone overall. With plump trebles and softer string noise, this hygroscopic material has no flexibility but can change how you think of guitar picks.

  We also like the Hense Cream Speedy and Hense Midnight Blue pick materials for a brighter sound and very clean tone.

   Available in traditional teardrop or triangle shapes. Improve your tone with a Hense pick, today!