Beginner Acoustic Guitar

Custom Guitar Picks

If you want to learn to play the guitar or bass, you are going to need two things: a guitar and a pick. Most picks you see will be in the shape of an isosceles triangle with all three corners rounded. Need to know how to hold it? Usually on the shortest side of the triangular piece.

Back in the day picks were made by filing down things like metal, amber, stone, bone, shell, wood, cuttle bone, or even ivory. Today, picks are made from wood, metal, glass, rubber, felt, and tortoiseshell. But plastic is by for the most common pick you can find today thanks to D'Andrea Picks in 1922.

Your guitar pick can be like like your business card these days if you are a serious player. Here are some of the more uniqiue types you will find on the market today.

Custom
Really, it is hard to find an artist today that does not have there own custom picks. They use then to play and usually end up throwing them into the crowd. Plus, it is fun to design your own.

Steve Clayton
This company was one of the first to create multi-colored imprinting for guitar picks.

Ivory
I don't know about these. They seem to be all the rage on the Internet right now, but I wonder about a) the authenticity and b) the legality of these. They are pretty expensive too, so be careful.

Red Bear
A very cool company that has been making picks in Nevada since 2003.

Vintage
Exactly what it implies. Go to eBay and do a little search. You will find enough to keep you busy.

Beatles
Don't get too excited. We are talking about picks with Beatles logos and things of that nature, not the real deal. There are some really cool ones out there. (My favorites are the ones where the pick is the head of one of the Fabs!)

Dunlop
If you can't find one out of the 6500 they have, then I don't know what to tell you. You can also buy in bulk here.

How To Make Your Own
Not as hard as you might think. People used to do it all the time. Get your hands on some tortoise shell or seashells and start grinding.


Alright, I think you get the point. You can go old school and make your own personalized pick or buy bulk and get yourself 5000 plastic ones. The choice is yours. Learn to play well and it won't matter what pick you use.