Burlap and Blues, The Blues Blog

Part 1 of the review . . .

To start a review on a guitar pick, one must first understand what a guitar pick does. A pick is what we use to strike a string. Physics would tell you that there will be a different tone based on what type of material you are using to strike the string. Finger picking will result in a softer tone, while striking a string with a chunk of metal will produce a harsh tone. Energy is transferred to the string through the pick. A flexible pick will bend, altering the tone and volume based on the relative flexibility of the pick and the thickness of the material. A very stiff material that is thin will give a very different tone than a thick pick that is floppy.

Additionally, during this review I have learned that if the pick is easily worn down, the consistency of the tone will be altered throughout the life of the pick. I had been practicing a heavier song the night before and decided to pull out the close-up photography equipment to see what kind of wear this pick had. This pick was new and has about 2 hours of playing time.

Note over time the shape of the pick changed. Although the tone was not audibly changed, subtly over time, there will be a potential for changes in the physical shape of the pick.

Now, let’s talk about innovation. Stone is not pliable, it is not flexible, it will not wear down. I could do a 100 hour test and never see a wear pattern on a stone pick. I played one of the sample picks on a tune for about an hour and was unable to see any alteration in the pick at all. This pick is perfectly smooth, the indentations you see are colorations in the actual StoneWorks stone pick. Under high power view any regular pliable pick will have wear.

I was ordering picks in bulk (200 or 300 at a shot), so changing picks was not a problem to maintain consistency in tone. But that is not necessary with a stone pick. Yesterday I mentioned several problems with other stone picks that I have owned. Tomorrow I will discuss how this pick plays and feels.

Remember StoneWorks picks can be found on the internet here http://www.stoneworkspicks.com/.

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