After reading an article about the humble pick, the history, various materials used, shapes, etc, and the predicted affect on tone, I decided to use a piano key top I’d found on the ground near the site of a piano demolition many years ago, and give it a whirl. The piece in question was of course too narrow to make the most common shape, but lent itself to making two teardrop shaped picks on the theme of the fender 358. A bit of shaping, sanding and polishing later, one is done. Photographed next to a common fender pick for scale. Sounds pretty good, bringing out a bit of a sharp bite at the start of a note compared to plastic, it’s also more sensitive, requiring less effort than a fender medium, and far less than a fender thin. 

Anyone else made their own?

Views: 365

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Bruce, Thank you. Not to beat a dead horse, bur argh indeed. I know the smell well from bringing/burning bone, mostly from them people going my teeth. Ivory is Ivory. My sho just jumped to about 100 degrees, trying to work my way up there. Ta know, cutting any real dense wood is scary. it's all about the blade. i squared up a piece of ebony and had to have the blade raise 2.5 inchs. then cut two 1/4 inch fretboards. scary. especially on older table saws.

oops.....grinding, shop, you......i hate auto spelling.......

I have a pick cutter and have made a few of those. I've tried a couple different materials just for fun.  But recently I have been making picks out of Poly Resin. They give a brighter sound on my acoustic CBG. They tend to get a little flexible when using and get a slight bend where the thumb holds it. So far they hold up nice.

Love all the different approaches. 

Been making my own picks for awhile now out of Credit Card blanks that I get in the mail. I cut it out with scissors with a extra bit on top and bend it around a old marker so it will wrap around my thumb. Then I heat it with a hair dryer and let it cool down. Remove the marker and do final trimming.

Hi, in many parts of rural and remote Australia this sliced bread wrapper plastic clip is popular as a pick, I used to find them in guitar cases a lot back in the day.

Taff

And you can clip them onto one of the strings when you get done.

penny pick

Rawhide works well too. Gives a sound in-between finger picking and flat picking. Plus it gets sticky when your fingers sweat.

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

How to Get Your Own Music on Spotify

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies

CB Bass Guitar

Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies

Latest Activity

A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
Thumbnail

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

"Thank you Poorness ! for loving it ! appreciated!"
12 hours ago
Southern Ray replied to Timothy Hunter's discussion just came accross this pickup idea on youtube.
" Very interesting. Thank you Timothy!"
12 hours ago
Kent Thurston updated their profile
13 hours ago
Southern Ray posted a photo

Punch Project!

She now sports gold metal CBGitty knobs, speaker and an Artec 2.5 watt speaker. Finished this in…
14 hours ago
Southern Ray posted a photo

Project Punch!

Gonna finally get back on this long-delayed project that is more than half complete. (The matching…
14 hours ago
Poorness Studios liked A.D.EKER's video
16 hours ago
BrianQ. left a comment for Rob (Uker) Porras
"Hope this helps?"
16 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on Doug Thorsvik's photo
Thumbnail

Dueling Flatheads

"I appreciate the kind words Papa D! I have always loved the look of these cigar boxes. Glad to have…"
19 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
22 hours ago
A.D.EKER posted a video

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

The recorded History By Alan Lomax for the library of Congres of the Blues, from Mc Kinley Morganfield (Aka Muddy Waters) the in this take recorded Tribute ...
22 hours ago
Papa D commented on Doug Thorsvik's photo
Thumbnail

Dueling Flatheads

"Beautiful..Nice work Doug.."
yesterday
Papa D commented on Papa D's photo
Thumbnail

american1 Sun Glo

"Thanx AGP & Doug..  4 more coming soon"
yesterday

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->