StevenStanleyBayes

How do I determine the relative slickness ( friction ) and speed of each pick material? Is there some kind of measurement I perform on each pick ( objective ) or is it down to feel ( subjective )? I would like to answer this first, so, people are not mislead : No, I do NOT have any machines and instruments to test the picks objectively. However, I do know such machines exist. They are general machines ( instruments ) and can be applied for anything and, therefore, for guitar picks slickness ( friction ). These instruments are not for commercial use, as far as I know, and are, therefore, expensive and not easily available. The correct way, the ONLY way is to use such machines and instruments. Some would call them robots, I call them computer controlled machines. The machine can " hold " the pick and move the pick over strings with various thicknesses and designs and measure mechanical resistance. In case anyone has access to such a machine, they are the people who can really tell. How do I test the picks? I would call this an objective and subjective approach. The objectivity comes from simple logic. The subjectivity is because I decide on a pick by what I have performed, although I try to reduce the error statistically by playing for a long while and with different hand positions, angles of attack, etcetera. Yet, I agree, this is subjective. I hate this approach as well as I hate the trials and errors approach, yet, I do not have a choice. I have mentioned the simple logic effect ( which gets improved with practice because thing which I have not considered may come with practice ). Mistakes with simple logic are 100% possible and I DO make a lot of them. The simple logic I use is : the material must be scientifically proven to be slick and non abrasive and not brittle even at low thicknesses ( <= 1mm ). The closer the better. Metals, Carbon Fibre, Nylon, Some Ceramics ( I do not have access to such ), gemstones, artificial gemstones have been proven to have such qualities and the results have been published elsewhere. One of the sources is the Mohs' scale. There are other scales of hardness too. The problems with these is they usually generate zing, not all to the same level. Metals do. I have even made a childish rhyme : " When metal hits metal well, they make a sound like a bell! " Another simple logic ( SUBJECTIVELY proven in practice ) is the logic of the pick shape ( 3D geometry ). The shape may reduce zing and improve performance significantly as well as the way of playing ( style ). Here is what I have found out ( again subjectively, without any instrumentation ) : thick picks may be shaped in such a way so they can help achieve very fast speeds ( in some cases, even, ultra fast ). However, the thicker the pick, the larger the contact area between the pick and the strings ( can be reduced in some shapes, still ), the bigger the friction and the louder the zing. I have made a 6mm Nickel pick. Nickel has a very low friction. However, the thick pick did have a lot of zing. May be OK for high amplitude tremolo around the strings ( as in mandolin, tambourine, etcetera ). I decided not to use this pick too much because Nickel is slightly ( very slightly, still ) ferrous. I am superstitiously afraid I may demagnetise the coils. Again, this may prove to be practically impossible. I have, therefore, decided to use a different shape : I use thin, yet, strong material and I sharpen the pick horizontally to be sharp, yet, may not be very pointed : 90 to 120 degrees of horizontal angle may be OK : the more pointed the better to a point where the pointed picks may drag the string when not twisted a lot to play with the sides. The walls of the so sharpened pick must be at 90 degrees. This means the file must be at 90 degrees towards the pick surface when horizontally shaped. I also sharpen the very tip vertically. This may not be possible, nor, necessary with extremely thin picks. I pay attention ( or reshape ) to ensure the walls remain at 90 degrees after the tip is sharpened vertically. Thus, when the hand is slightly twisted down, the pick glides the 90 degrees edge of the walls on the string and the sharp very tip engages the string without too much mechanical energy. ( Obviously, when loud volume is necessary, the engagement must be stronger ). I have, SUBJECTICALLY, proven this by playing with the tip before and after every stage of modification as well as after the full reshape. Because the thin picks are very difficult to take a picture of, one can easily see the shape of the thick picks in the document. Similar is the shape of the thin picks. I have applied this shape to most any pick I got hold of and I am able to play faster with a reshaped pick than with the original shape. I am not sure whether the others would, because, the way the pick is used may be related to the shape. I, personally, can only think ( and thinking may be wrong ) everyone would profit from this shape. I play with ( modified ) : Dunlop Carbon Fibre Max Grip, 1.6mm Brain, 1mm, 2mm, 3mm Dunlop Nylon Big Stubby, Fender Delrin Touring 1mm ( I have ordered 1.14mm too ). I have also ordered Fender Tru Shell 346 Triangular, Extra Heavy ( Pink ). This pick is made of proteins and has self oiling. The pick may arrive at around November, 15, 2018. The only picks which are almost unmodified ( only extremely, very slightly sharpened ) are Dunlop Nylon Big Stubby 1mm and 3mm. I use Dunlop Nylon Big Stubby 1mm for acoustic 12 52 wound strings which I am supposed to change but I do not, so I can practice on what I call bad strings to be faster then on the good ones ). In summary : the logic of the material is : hardness, non abrasiveness, non brittleness at low thicknesses to avoid string hooking, catching and, therefore, dragging. The logic of the shape is : reduce the contact between string and pick as much as possible. Hope I am right because I may be wrong! How do I determine the relative slickness ( friction ) and speed of each pick material? Is there some kind of measurement I perform on each pick ( objective ) or is it down to feel ( subjective )? I would like to answer this first, so, people are not mislead : No, I do NOT have any machines and instruments to test the picks objectively. However, I do know such machines exist. They are general machines ( instruments ) and can be applied for anything and, therefore, for guitar picks slickness ( friction ). These instruments are not for commercial use, as far as I know, and are, therefore, expensive and not easily available. The correct way, the ONLY way is to use such machines and instruments. Some would call them robots, I call them computer controlled machines. The machine can " hold " the pick and move the pick over strings with various thicknesses and designs and measure mechanical resistance. In case anyone has access to such a machine, they are the people who can really tell. How do I test the picks? I would call this an objective and subjective approach. The objectivity comes from simple logic. The subjectivity is because I decide on a pick by what I have performed, although I try to reduce the error statistically by playing for a long while and with different hand positions, angles of attack, etcetera. Yet, I agree, this is subjective. I hate this approach as well as I hate the trials and errors approach, yet, I do not have a choice. I have mentioned the simple logic effect ( which gets improved with practice because thing which I have not considered may come with practice ). Mistakes with simple logic are 100% possible and I DO make a lot of them. The simple logic I use is : the material must be scientifically proven to be slick and non abrasive and not brittle even at low thicknesses ( <= 1mm ). The closer the better. Metals, Carbon Fibre, Nylon, Some Ceramics ( I do not have access to such ), gemstones, artificial gemstones have been proven to have such qualities and the results have been published elsewhere. One of the sources is the Mohs' scale. There are other scales of hardness too. The problems with these is they usually generate zing, not all to the same level. Metals do. I have even made a childish rhyme : " When metal hits metal well, they make a sound like a bell! " Another simple logic ( SUBJECTIVELY proven in practice ) is the logic of the pick shape ( 3D geometry ). The shape may reduce zing and improve performance significantly as well as the way of playing ( style ). Here is what I have found out ( again subjectively, without any instrumentation ) : thick picks may be shaped in such a way so they can help achieve very fast speeds ( in some cases, even, ultra fast ). However, the thicker the pick, the larger the contact area between the pick and the strings ( can be reduced in some shapes, still ), the bigger the friction and the louder the zing. I have made a 6mm Nickel pick. Nickel has a very low friction. However, the thick pick did have a lot of zing. May be OK for high amplitude tremolo around the strings ( as in mandolin, tambourine, etcetera ). I decided not to use this pick too much because Nickel is slightly ( very slightly, still ) ferrous. I am superstitiously afraid I may demagnetise the coils. Again, this may prove to be practically impossible. I have, therefore, decided to use a different shape : I use thin, yet, strong material and I sharpen the pick horizontally to be sharp, yet, may not be very pointed : 90 to 120 degrees of horizontal angle may be OK : the more pointed the better to a point where the pointed picks may drag the string when not twisted a lot to play with the sides. The walls of the so sharpened pick must be at 90 degrees. This means the file must be at 90 degrees towards the pick surface when horizontally shaped. I also sharpen the very tip vertically. This may not be possible, nor, necessary with extremely thin picks. I pay attention ( or reshape ) to ensure the walls remain at 90 degrees after the tip is sharpened vertically. Thus, when the hand is slightly twisted down, the pick glides the 90 degrees edge of the walls on the string and the sharp very tip engages the string without too much mechanical energy. ( Obviously, when loud volume is necessary, the engagement must be stronger ). I have, SUBJECTICALLY, proven this by playing with the tip before and after every stage of modification as well as after the full reshape. Because the thin picks are very difficult to take a picture of, one can easily see the shape of the thick picks in the document. Similar is the shape of the thin picks. I have applied this shape to most any pick I got hold of and I am able to play faster with a reshaped pick than with the original shape. I am not sure whether the others would, because, the way the pick is used may be related to the shape. I, personally, can only think ( and thinking may be wrong ) everyone would profit from this shape. I play with ( modified ) : Dunlop Carbon Fibre Max Grip, 1.6mm Brain, 1mm, 2mm, 3mm Dunlop Nylon Big Stubby, Fender Delrin Touring 1mm ( I have ordered 1.14mm too ). I have also ordered Fender Tru Shell 346 Triangular, Extra Heavy ( Pink ). This pick is made of proteins and has self oiling. The pick may arrive at around November, 15, 2018. The only picks which are almost unmodified ( only extremely, very slightly sharpened ) are Dunlop Nylon Big Stubby 1mm and 3mm. I use Dunlop Nylon Big Stubby 1mm for acoustic 12 52 wound strings which I am supposed to change but I do not, so I can practice on what I call bad strings to be faster then on the good ones ). In summary : the logic of the material is : hardness, non abrasiveness, non brittleness at low thicknesses to avoid string hooking, catching and, therefore, dragging. The logic of the shape is : reduce the contact between string and pick as much as possible. Hope I am right because I may be wrong!

A List of New Ideas : 1. Acrylic Picks : Gravity Picks Acrylics : https://www.gravitypicks.com/product/acrylic-picks/ and V Picks : https://v-picks.com/ 2. Stone picks : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tooyful-3-Pieces-Guitar-Finger-Picks-Pendant-Plectrums-Malachite-Stone-2mm-for-Guitar-Bass-Banjo-Ukulele/32841803542.html ( There are other stone picks at AliExpress and elsewhere. ) Please, note : Stone and bone picks may not be faster than metal and may generate just as much ( or more ) noise, thus, to test stone picks may be just for entertainment purposes. Please, note : there are Agate picks at AliExpress.com 3. Winspear Picks : https://www.winspearinstrumental.com/collections/plectrums 4. Teflon Picks 5. Dunlop Gator Picks 6. Cubic Zirconia Picks ( may not be available ).

Please, note : I have just had an idea for guitar picks made of Cubic Zirconia. Cubic Zirconia ( artificial diamond ) has hardness of 8 to 8.5 on Mohs' scale ( diamond is 10 ) and is harder than most of the artificial and real gems and stones. Cubic Zirconia is inexpensive because the Cubic Zirconia used for guitar picks does not need to have the clarity of this used for jewellery. However, most likely, Cubic Zirconia would bring the same problems as with metals : zing. Thin picks in a pointed shape with 90 degrees side walls of the tip and the very tip vertically sharpened may have a lower zing, yet, most likely, there would be some. I tried to search for Cubic Zirconia guitar picks and I only found guitar picks made of Cubic Zirconia into jewellery : https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/344525440219283520/ There are some picks made of Agate at AliExpress.com In regards to the picks I have been recently evaluating, Fred Kelly's nylon is OK as most Nylons. However, Fred Kelly's Polycarbonate picks, a. k. a. Poly, are fast ( modified and with original shape ). Fred Kelly's Polies are very similar to Alice clear plastics and the one I have made of a picture frame clear plastics ( and polished well to make work ).

Thank you very much for your wonderful reply. Pick 3D geometry is immensely important. This is why I modify the picks I purchase ( 99% of the cases ). I just wanted to have a separate publication, called Guitar Pick Mechanics, dedicated only to the pick geometry. However, because the two topics are very close to each other ( material does not play without some kind of a shape and shape does not play without some kind of a material ) and also because shape is important for evaluation as shape and material may depend on each other in some cases, yes, by all means, comments on pick shape and 3D geometry ( stereometry ) are very welcome. Just, please, try to keep the main topic as guitar pick materials and pick mechanics and shape as a secondary topic. In regards to emails, I do not want to receive them. I have disallowed them. Theoretically, I can reallow them but I do not want to have the inbox full of something which I can get when I check the topic. In regards to the point you make, you are the only person in the world who have, so far, demonstrated an unbelievable amount of scientific knowledge on the topic. I will try to address each of the questions in separate replies. Thank you very much. Please, do continue with your ideas and concerns!

Please, be informed : There is an alternative, commercial article on the topic : https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-10-best-guitar-picks-our-pick-of-the-best-plectrums Please, note : This reply is to convey a piece of information. I do NOT necessarily agree with the context piece of information.

A List of New Ideas : 1. Acrylic Picks : Gravity Picks Acrylics : https://www.gravitypicks.com/product/acrylic-picks/ and V Picks : https://v-picks.com/ 2. Stone picks : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tooyful-3-Pieces-Guitar-Finger-Picks-Pendant-Plectrums-Malachite-Stone-2mm-for-Guitar-Bass-Banjo-Ukulele/32841803542.html ( There are other stone picks at AliExpress and elsewhere. ) Please, note : Stone and bone picks may not be faster than metal and may generate just as much ( or more ) noise, thus, to test stone picks may be just for entertainment purposes. 3. Winspear Picks : https://www.winspearinstrumental.com/collections/plectrums 4. Teflon Picks 5. Dunlop Gator Picks

Please, also note : I will NOT reply to comments which are NOT extremely directly on the topic. I may reply to comments on the topic but this may take a very long while as I may not be available. I also do NOT receive emails when a comment is posted.

I acquired new picks ( and some old picks ignored in the research by mistake ) yesterday : 1. Fred Kelly Fat Flat Large Delrin 085 Blue : http://fredkellypicks.com/product/delrin-fat-flat-large/ 2. Fred Kelly Nylon Flat Heavy White : http://fredkellypicks.com/product/nylon-flat/ 3. Fred Kelly Polycarbonate Flat Heavy Red : http://fredkellypicks.com/product/poly-flat/ 4. Janicek Picks Jazz A, D Grip, A 1.18mm, Blue, Original : Made in Czech Republic : http://www.janicekpicks.com/en/produkty 5. Dunlop Jazz III XL Series Black ( Most Likely Nylon ) 6. Dunlop Ultex Sharp 1.40mm : https://www.jimdunlop.com/product/433p-7-10137-04254-4.do I have been able to evaluate them for a few minutes only and here are the first impression. 1. Unmodified : Even unmodified, all of them perform well except the Jazz A. Dunlop Ultex Sharp 1.40mm performs the same as every Dunlop Ultex. 2. Slightly Modified : Jazz A performs excellently, yet, not as good as Janicek Nylon Brain picks. Needs more modifications to be able to say. Fred Kelly's perform excellently. The Blue one has never been modified and still performs excellently. Additionally, Jaz A is extremely sturdy for the thickness of 1.18mm and does not flex. Dunlop Jazz III XL has not been modified yet and performs better than the rest and even better than the tiny Jazz III Nylon Stiffo. I have definitely made a mistake to ignore this pick.

PLEASE, NOTE : THIS TOPIC IS VERY COMPLEX. PLEASE, MAKE COMMENTS ON THE TOPIC ONLY AND NOT ON OTHER THINGS BECAUSE THE TOPIC IS COMPLICATED ENOUGH AND CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD VERY WELL WHEN OTHER THINGS ARE CONCERNED TOO. AGAIN : ONLY FAST GUITAR PICK MATERIALS, PLEASE!

Please, note : I will repost the post " A List of New Ideas " when there are changes.

A List of New Ideas : 1. Acrylic Picks : Gravity Picks Acrylics : https://www.gravitypicks.com/product/acrylic-picks/ and V Picks : https://v-picks.com/ 2. Stone picks : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tooyful-3-Pieces-Guitar-Finger-Picks-Pendant-Plectrums-Malachite-Stone-2mm-for-Guitar-Bass-Banjo-Ukulele/32841803542.html ( There are other stone picks at AliExpress and elsewhere. ) 3. Winspear Picks : https://www.winspearinstrumental.com/collections/plectrums 4. Teflon Picks

A List of New Ideas : 1. Gravity Picks Acrylics : https://www.gravitypicks.com/product/acrylic-picks/ 2. Stone picks : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tooyful-3-Pieces-Guitar-Finger-Picks-Pendant-Plectrums-Malachite-Stone-2mm-for-Guitar-Bass-Banjo-Ukulele/32841803542.html ( There are other stone picks at AliExpress and elsewhere. ) 3. Winspear Picks : https://www.winspearinstrumental.com/collections/plectrums 4. Teflon Picks

I have been trying to find the fastest guitar pick materials ( not design ) of picks made of other than metal material. I have spent more than a half of an year for this research. The guitar pick material must be able to perform excellently when ultra fast tremolo is played with the picking hand ( right hand for right handed players ). I have decided to publish the research here. The research can easily be updated with new discoveries as well as can easily be corrected in case of any mistakes. An excellent idea would be for everyone who has some information on ultra fast guitar pick materials to write a comment with some information on the picks such as the name of the picks, a link to the manufacturer's page of the pick, availability, legality, price, etcetera. PLEASE, NOTE : THIS TOPIC IS : GUITAR PICK MATERIALS. ONLY COMMENTS ON FAST GUITAR PICK MATERIALS WILL BE ACCEPTED! Thanks! Here is a link to the research document Guitar Pick Materials : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FLh7XfbG9ONqgK5OdC7ps5NLUN5kIibD?usp=sharing

Important : Read this first : Super fast 3mm Aluminium guitar picks ( plectrums ) have been developed for all styles of playing, mainly : tremolo, synchronised tremolo, shredding, fast soloing. Pictures and information available at : http://www.steven-stanley-bayes.com/Picks.html Various types of these picks are available in these Toronto stores : Ring Music : 416 924 3571 ; www.ringmusic.com Remnyi House of Music : 416 961 3111 ; www.remenyi.com Elite Music : 416 406 5355 ; www.elitemusic.ca Scarboro Music : 416 699 8333 ; www.scarboromusic.com Best call first. You can test drive the picks in these locations. The manufacturer manufactures four type of picks at present : Non Standard ( Own Design ) Sharp, Non Standard ( Own Design ) Round, Standard ( Vertically Rounded Edges ), Jazzie 3. Please, see the pictures. You can also purchase these directly from the manufacturer when you reply to this adv. : Price per Pick : $1. Postage : For 8 picks or less : Canada : $1 USA : $1.35 International : $2.85 See : http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/productsservices/send/postagestamps.jsf All prices include tax. Suggestion for a good try : Assorted Four Picks ( one of each type ) with Postage : You pay $5 for 4 picks. Please, note : Handcrafting does not yield 100% the same product but, in this case, the manufacturing tolerances are not so significant and the picks are 100% the same as far as playing is concerned. Pick Specifications of the NON STANDARD Picks : Do NOT Forget : Give the picks a week to get used to before you decide. Please note : I am able to easily make a 1mm or 0.88mm Aluminum pick. This will be even easier BUT this defies the purpose : There is no way to make a wide vertical angle on the blades of a thin pick and the pick will not be as slick and will catch or drag the strings as all thin picks do. The only advantage may be the pick may bend as the thinnest picks do and this may give a possibility for playing some styles. Dangerous, however, may be to use a thin pick on some strings because the thin pick may cut the strings. Aluminum is soft and should be OK on standard wounds, although I am not much too sure. Thin pick, even Aluminum, may damage flat wound and nylon strings. Thin steel does this for sure as well as damages standard wounds. The problem is there is no way to make the picks dull because they are very thin. Plastic picks have the same problems. A good possibility for a safe plastic pick for nylon strings would be a soft rubber like, almost jelly like plastic. This does not provide slickness, though, hence lack of speed for some styles. For Those Concerned with Strings Safety : Aluminum is a very soft metal. The picks have been tested with heavy abuse on nylon strings, flat wound strings and wound strings. No problem at all! Those who cannot trust can take a simple yet unnecessary step for even safer pick on any strings : with a simple kitchen knife or any knife, start to “ peel “ the pick edges off in the same way like potatoes are peeled off : towards the thumb. Make sure you do not cut yourselves. This way, you will make the pick edges duller. You can dull them as much as you want. You can also dull them with a metal file or, even, with a nail file. The blades of the pick may become rough after you dull with a file. Thus, you are advised to smoothen them up either with a knife as described or with sand paper gradually from as low grid number as you wish to 600 or higher. Please, note : I have managed to cut a flat wound with a steel pick but never with an aluminum pick and I have been playing with these picks ever since I started to make them. Description : 3mm ( 1 / 8 “ ) Aluminum, Vertically Sharp ( from top to bottom ) Playing Edges at a Wide Angle. 1mm to 1.5mm also available upon request but 3mm are better. Dimensions : 1 “ ; 1” ; 1 /8 “ ( 2.5cm ; 2.5cm ; 3mm ) Weight : Less than 4g ( 4 grams ), less than 1 / 8 th of an ounce ( measured to be 3.3g). SUPER LIGHT. Horizontal Angle : 30 degrees Playing area : 0.1 to 0.75cm ( Depends on the version : Sharp picks work best with low playing area which gives a sharper vertical angle thus faster playing. ) Features : Provides a possibility for the vertical angle ( in some rounded versions ) ; vertically and horizontally flat ( except the vertical bump which is smoothened ), angled. Each pick is polished and passivated with the safe Sodium Bicarbonate NaHCO3 ( Baking Soda ). Performance : The large horizontal and vertical angles, combined with the slickness of Aluminum give a possibility for fast solo playing. Aluminum is a soft metal and will not cut even nylon strings. Picks perform well and safe on flat wounds. OK on wound strings. Grip : The pick has a good grip anyways and no other provisions have been made since most people prefer flat picks to avoid discomfort. Because Aluminum is soft, anyone who wants can make grip points just with the edge of a kitchen knife, drill, file, etcetera. The best way to make a grip a pick, however, is to use this sticky rubber which the banks use to stick the credit cards to the piece of paper. Rubber glue for bicycle tubes is best and permanent. Blue tack can be used. Safety and Environment : Aluminum is a safe element which is neutral and does not react with other elements, just as gold, silver, copper and platinum. Does not rust as well but gets covered with a passivated layer just as copper. The World Health Organisation ( WHO ) claim consumption of 50mg Aluminum per every 24 hours is safe. Re Shape Ability : Anyone who wants can re shape Aluminum with a file or, even, a knife. However, I think, this is the best shape in the class. Other : PURE, HOUSE USE APPROVED, POLISHED AND PASSIVATED ALUMINUM : no anodisation, no chemical, no electrolytics, no any treatment except passivation with the safe baking soda which is a strong base and passivates Aluminum at around 60 degrees Celsius. Two half holes for extra grip in some versions. Treatment with bicarbonate soda ( baking soda ) is added for passivation and grip but not recommended. Polished. Slick on the strings and soft. Light. Tone : more like plastic than steel yet as fast as steel and extremely loud. Picks “ adjust “ to the player : the more one plays the better they get : they get slightly polished with playing. No maintenance required. Simple sand paper sanding can be performed should the player desires and is not necessary. The same applies for custom filing : can be done with a simple, inexpensive metal file. Aluminum is very soft thus very easy to customise unlike steel. Polishing with 600 and 1500 sand paper would give best results. For heavily deformed ( impossible under normal use ), filing with a metal file and sanding with approximately : 100, 150, 220, 400, 600 and 1500 can give best results although so many grid increments are not necessary. Yet, sand paper is inexpensive and largely available. Steel wool and synthetic steel wool with a grid of 0000 can be used for fine polishing. Strong real wool would give the best results. Do NOT be afraid : none of this is necessary unless the purchaser so desires. Condition : Brand New : Hand crafted in Canada. Delivery : Shipping paid by the purchaser. Canada Post have the lowest price. Non registered mail is a risk of the purchaser. FEEDBACK : Note : The emails of the people who provided the feedbacks are available upon request to those interested. J. J., Ottawa : Hello, Thanks for the picks. I really like them. I like a thick pick, and I noticed a big difference in volume and tone. Much crisper. I really noticed this when I went back for a sound test with the plastic one I normally use. Thanks. Neil, Ottawa : I've tried them only on the nylon strings and I'm surprised that the thick aluminum has a similar effect as the 1 mm plastic one I had. More of a jazzy tone. All in all you did a good job of smoothing out the edges. Thanks Steven. You really know what you are doing. Neil Connor, Ottawa : Verbally : I have played these a lot as well as I have given some to friends and colleagues to try and we all like them. These are very fast picks and the tone is very loud. They are very good and a new product which will sell for sure in the future. Arthur, Ottawa : Verbally : These picks are excellent. The first versions were very big. Although there are big picks sold in North America and they are standard, most people in North America prefer the standard ones which are approximately 1 “ ; 1 “ and different width. I have played these picks and I have liked them. The tonal qualities are excellent. I have given these to guitar players and they have all come with an excellent feedback. I prefer oval picks and not sharp with a bit of a bump in the middle as well as some grip. The problem is : people do not know them hence you should give them for free first, so people can see their qualities. The market is very tough on all metal picks but Aluminum is the right material! Michael, Ottawa : Verbally : These are excellent picks. I am sure people would purchase them. Cassey and Jim, Ottawa : Via Text : These are excellent picks. Jim played them for three hours last night and was amazed by the loud and excellent quality tone. Nick, Ottawa : I like the picks. Crisp and bright. Jarek, Ottawa : Hi Steven, I haven't had much of a chance to play with them. I like the immediate response to changes in grip strength, and the tone is good : not much of a change from my jazz 3's for hybrid picking etc. There is much less noise from the pick when playing more funk / rhythmic styles, which may or may not be to the players taste. There was no appreciable drag on wound or plain strings, which I was not expecting! It really is effortless picking. I may end up re shaping the “ shoulders “ as I'm used to the Jazz 3's so these are a little bigger, but as you explained that should be no big deal. I'll send you a photo. Thanks for the trials! Antoine, Ottawa I tried the picks last night for a few minutes, both for strumming and for doing leads and I truly enjoyed the responsiveness of the pick and the ease at playing it provides. The material used is light and is malleable. I truly appreciate playing with this and recommend it highly. I have 3 friends who play guitar regularly and I`ve told one of them so far. They were interested in getting some and try them out. Scott, Ottawa Hi Steven, Just wanted to follow up with some feedback on your tre' good Guitar piks. My son loves them. Still getting accustomed to them but so far they are big hits. Over all, dexterity, speed, accuracy, response and attack control. The many angles available offer multiple interaction possibilities. The girth is substantial but still light and very comfortable. Also a real unique good factor. Engraving is possible and will offer some grip. Connor will recommend these to his students and the music circles he travels in. Thanks for your efforts. Carlos, Minnesota Yeah they work perfect, those picks are probably one of the best picks I’ve ever played. Stewart, Toronto Verbally : Thank you for these picks. They are great. I can even tune the guitar with a tuner much better. Gillian, Toronto Verbally : These picks are great. Thank you. Tom, Toronto I play with a thumb pick but these picks are excellent. John, Toronto Can I have an order for 25 3mm and 25 1.5mm Aluminum Picks in the shape and edge rounding of D’Andrea 2mm Ultra Plec? Brian, Toronto I sell all kind of picks by a famous French maker. I have even had mammoth micks. Never had Aluminum picks. Can I order some in the shape of a standard pick D’Andrea 2mm Ultra Plec? Barry, Toronto Verbally : These picks are very good. Mathew, Ottawa Hey Steven, thank you for being patient with me. I tried the picks and I loved them, thank you very much. Keep in touch. Love your YouTube videos too! Thanks again!