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New Rabbit hole….Wood Picks
I just received a new pick made of Snakewood burl from my buddy Spencer at Pickslayer. I am loving this thing beyond even my Blue Chip TD80. It has a distinct sound unlike anything else. It has a very loud and crystalline quality which ends up translating into greater dynamic range and even less tension while playing. I did put a speed bevel on it. Right off the bat it was 3.0mm and came to a rounded centerline point. Was no liking it so,… I got out my file and went to work and put a speed bevel on it and it is delightfully magnificent. Snakewood is super hard super dense. Almost twice as hard as rosewood. I got turned onto wood picks from Stacked and Staggered (TAC grown jam group) who were passing them out at the 2018 Acoustic Life Festival. Thanks S&S group. They were Thalia’s rosewood laminated picks. I have worn them out as rosewood is a little to soft for longevity. I have ordered a 2.0 out of Amboyna (Narra Burl) which is ever so slightly softer. I am such a guitar geek this is like finding candy in my stocking at Christmas. Amazing how little things can make such a big difference. Okay back to playing.
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25 Replies
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Hey that’s a great win jumpinjeff! I just got some wood picks the other day. They’re thin though. Made in Germany.
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What type of wood? I would love to know your experience with them. Are they thin enough to be flexible? The ones I have are not.
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I don’t remember the type of wood, but there are 3 or 4 different types of wood. Yes they’re flexible.
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Hey…..How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
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Okay @Bill_Brown I’ll bite….how much? (See what I did there?)
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Yes, hook, line and sinker 🤣
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🤣🤪
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caution: splinters could be a guitar geek altering moment (just sayin’)
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I will be careful. If no splinters after a week, I will return to playing with reckless abandon. : )
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Living on the edge is what we do!
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Thanks for posting your win @jumpinjeff Some months back I was gifted a Revo rosewood guitar strap and some rosewood picks. I haven’t tried them and had forgotten about them. Will have to give them a try.
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@jumpinjeff , I never heard of Snakewood burl, But I do know what Burl wood is and from what I heard, it’s extremely strong. I bet the cross section cut of the pick is very pretty too. Can you see all the swirls in the wood? I thought you made a mistake with the thickness, but yep, they are thick and then chamfered down. I just found them on the internet and they are pretty.
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Hi @Cadgirl , the burl does that cool look as you discovered. I am concentrating on the hardest of the woods for now. It does have a slick feel like my Blue Chip picks but with a louder snap. Blue Chips are cool in that you hear very little of the pick sound. It has taken me a few repetitions (few as in few thousand) to eliminate the pick sound with the SnakeWood pick, and filing on a speed bevel was key, but again the dynamic range I can extract from the guitar is greater…soft volume to loud and back again. It just offers more tricks to the bag for my playing. The downside is they are 8.00. more than Primetone, less than BlueChip. For the money my Ultex 2.0 bought in bulk is still my go to. At .25 each I never worry about losing them.
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“At .25 each I never worry about losing them.” LOL, @jumpinjeff , that’s the comment that got me. I wanted to say, that’s the way I look at things usually.
So, I never bought a Blue Chip pick, and I’ll never buy a pick that costs more than $1 simply because I’m too much of a tight wad to pay a lot for a pick to sit in the little pick bowl I have. I don’t use them except for a couple minutes every few months just to try them out… again.
I seem to be able to play with a pick just fine. And they are definitely different feel and different sound. I just don’t want to use anything but my fingers. Oh, and no long nails. That’s definitely out.
But I’m glad you’re having fun with your new picks. Way to go.
MG 😀
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@MikeGaurnier When is your Birthday? That is when the BlueChips seem to find their way to me. Birthdays and Christmas. Could be one coming your way. ps. P/M me your address. You may even have a nick name inscribed?
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OMG, @jumpinjeff , if someone bought me a pick that expensive I wouldn’t know what to do. I’d be terrified of losing it. And I’d have to start using a pick. .😮
MG 😀
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Comes A Time @MikeGaurnier .
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🤣😂😅😶🤔
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I been playing with the wood pick for a few days, and I really like wood picks. The picks I bought are called StickPick. I got 7 picks for around $10.00. Got them on Amazon. Have a great week! 🎼🎸😎
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@jumpinjeff …A woodchuck can chuck as much wood as a woodchuck should, if a woodchuck could chuck wood🤣
But seriously, do you think these wood picks are worth their while, or is it a passing fad🤔
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I just got my Amboyna pick in and it disappointed me a little. That may be because my expectation was set so high with the Snakewood burl. I would buy 10 more of the Snakewood but not another Amboyna. I have a feeling hardness is a big player in what I like about the Snake wood and while Amboyna is still hard it is noticeably softer than the Snakewood.
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I pickup a small tin can of wood picks made by thalia (the capo company) a few years ago. I think they are walnut. Haven’t really used them but will give them a try now that @jumpinjeff is all worked up about wood picks. LOL They are 0.09 mm
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My complaint with the Thalia picks is they were laminated and made changing the bevel an act of futility. I have not delved deeply into Thalia’s offerings perhaps there are some solid ones available? I am convinced so far the harder the wood the better. I would enjoy hearing your take @Marty69 . Having had a few hours in the saddle yourself, your take is particularly instructive for me.
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I’ll play with them and will give you some feed back. 😊🧙♂️😎
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8/2/22 update: I have concluded my study of wood picks. I tried many and only three passed muster. All of them were pretty much useless as they come from the Woodworker. Out of the box it is like coloring with those fat crayons after the tops have been rounded by overuse. I had to modify all of them with speed bevels and once done, I found them to be heavenly pickers aiding my precision and accuracy. They elevate the volume of the sound coming out of the guitar so that I can attack lightly and have adequate volume. Firm up ever so slightly and volume goes to 11. There is no flex whatsoever so having your strumming down where there is Zero Tension is a must. Tension translates into string noise. I went with the hardest woods I could find looking at the Janka Scale. I found hardness is not the only thing that makes a pick sound good. There were many that looked cool and were just dead. I did drop testing and confirmed my favorites also plinked/resonated similarly to my Ultex, Primetone and Blue Chips. My Three favorites……#3. African Blackwood, 2.5mm. #2 Pink Ivory Wood, 2.0mm. #1 Snakewood Burl, 3.0mm. I know 3.0 seems thick but there is a depression on both sides to accommodate thumb and Forefinger. This totally helps orientation. One of the cool things about these is as you sweat they get easier to hold grippier, if you will. When I start I will moisten my finger slightly to improve the grip. I am hooked. Shout out to the maker of the picks Spencer Pickslay, Pickslays Woodworking for taking the time to have the conversations regarding what I was looking for. And now, back to picking on my guitar.
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