🎵 Picks

Believe me when I say even the picks can help shape the tone! Sure, you can argue that picks contribute the least in the hunt for tone. To me, picks are one of the few things I'm very picky with (pun unintended). Some are for my daily usage, others are for showing off, yet still some of the others I keep for memories.

The ones I use for daily usage, they come in varying thickness. I only use the celluloid picks when practising and when on stage; the other picks are mostly "for show" only. For my acoustic guitar, I would play with minimum thickness picks to achieve the fluidity when strumming. I always make sure the sound of the guitar is louder than the pick hitting the strings.

Well, for my electric guitar, I use the other end of this plectrum spectrum (pun unintended too). The heavier the pick gauge, the better. It doesn't matter if the contact sound is loud, for the amp will not pick that up. It is also easier for me to solo with a heavy pick. Fluidity is useless to me here. All I need is the speed and the ability to bounce between strings fast.

Of course, everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE, I would store a few picks. From my pencil case to my wallet to EVERY guitar bag, and even on my pedalboard, there's always a few picks. This way, I will never "not find" any picks if the occasion arises. Below are a few descriptions of the picks I own:

These are my most favourite picks! I cut them out from the Grace Retreat 2012 name tag! These are the picks I might pass on to a disciple in the future!

Every guitarist needs a few celluloid picks. Here's mine of varying thicknesses!

Brand picks! Believe me when I say the other 2 picks are Yamaha picks! Sadly the Yamaha logos faded away due to constant use!

These are picks cut out from the room key card of a few other Grace Retreats (namely 2014, 2015 & 2016 respectively)

My arcade picks, just because these picks are cool. Right?

Guess which cards I cut these 2 picks out from.

And lastly, my go-to pick at guitar shops. I keep this in my wallet for ease of use. Naturally, it will never get lost in any guitar shop because I got my name on it!!!

And there you have it, each and every pick I own up till this point in life. Strange that 80% of the picks don't actually get playtime. Those are picks that are cut out by myself which have slightly rougher edges that might spoil my strings. Otherwise, those picks are "for show" only. Factory-made picks are more reliable as they are professionally crafted.

Ok, maybe except that last pick. I honestly don't want my pick to get lost in the guitar shop while testing any guitar. And maybe due to the fact that the pick's rough edges are not rubbing against my own guitar strings, but the shop's!

Edwin Ang
27th June 2017