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Hey there fellow forumites!
I read with interest the thread on boutique picks by bluewaterpig and like you all I'm always looking for new shapes and materials to try out. After many years I have settled on Dunlop big Stubbys, with a re-profiled tip like my Wegen.
I trawl the charity/thrift shops for older materials like plastics and maybe a piece of tortoise shell to make my own.
Well whaddya know, look at what 'ole jazzbow done gone and did.....(with pictures of course!).
Here's me using a Japanese saw using a Stubby as a guide.
Stuck together with double sided tape.
Shaping with files and 240-600 grit wet and dry sand paper.
After polishing, nice.
Doner tortoise shell tray, Japanese in origin. There is a mark on the back which is a Japanese character for 'hand made'. The picture in relief has been polished out and this would have been destined for the rubbish bin but the shop manager knew I would make a donation for this.
So with a bit of detective work and patience we could all have our own boutique picks!
Show your home made picks....
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03-18-2014 05:17 PM
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Very cool.
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Old pic below.
Block of Ultem ("Ultex"), split to ~6mm, then made into a few "ergo" pics last year. They seem to last forever, so the three I have are all I made.
I sent a split block to Spook yesterday - enough for maybe a dozen picks, even thick ones. We'll see what he comes up with.
Chris
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Nice one chaps! Great pictures, let's keep it coming. Let's inspire some people to fashion their picks.
Operation Pick Project here we go!!!!!
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Which is quite a generous thing to do. Really looking forward to this project.. but as my crafting is hardly in a league with others in this thread, don't be looking for pic's anytime soon.
Originally Posted by PTChristopher2
More my speed: stacked, glued, shaped.
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I have a huge box of faux tortoise scraps for sale: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261427870307
I dont need to make money on them just rather see someone use it than throw it all away
You could make dozens of fat jazz / gypsy style picks from these scraps and I'll sell em starting at 1 pound & ship anywhere
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Hi,
This thread is a great idea, thanks jazzbow!
Here is mine (351 shape):
It's made from coconut. There's a natural hollow for the thumb.
But it is not my prefered one, too many clicks. I think I should rework the tip.Last edited by balthazar; 03-25-2014 at 02:38 PM.
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I have tried making wood picks.
the best sounding ones are the maple, because they are less stiff.
ebony feels smooth and looks neat, but a bit clicky.
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Nice work, guys!
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That's it?
There are not a lot of handymen or handywomen on the forum!
Take your tools and don't forget the camera!
Protect your fingers: always wear gloves when using cutting tools.
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One or two years ago, I made a pick about the size and thickness of a Wegen Twin from a few 1.2 mm big triangle Clayton Ultem picks that I superglued together with cyanoacrylate.
It's the one in the middle of the top row -- made with picks like the one in the middle of the bottom row. It looks better in person than in this pic.
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The Ultem blocks arrived.. thank you Chris. Even given a purely pragmatic view of the world, generous acts to semi-strangers are positive karma points and tend to be rewarded. At least that's been my experience.
So.. what happens when there is no dependence on the marketplace to provide pick designs. They are constrained by what they can efficiently manufacture and what a broad number of guitar players will buy. With material and tools in hand, a pick is now as small, large, symmetrical, asymmetrical, flat, round, rough or polished as I wish. There will be iterations and success will be fleeting. We shall see.
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I'm well on the "+" end of what I'll just call good luck/results all in all. Not much into karma, meridians, homeopathy, or ass-hat stuff about guitars that someone makes up.
So I'm not after karma points, rather I'm happy to see small opportunities for general give-back. Looking forward to your pick pics.
Chris
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Update on my recent home made torty pick;
Snappier tone and smoother off the string compared to my 3mm stubby (that's a weird sentence), where as the stubby sounds woollier to me.
I guess there is no real science to this statement but the Torty is smoother off the string.
I like the idea of sticking two picks together, can someone suggest a good glue for this? Epoxy??
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I finally gave up on gluing picks together. Seems like the seam always made itself known after a short bit of playing. I'm more hopeful that blocks of ultem will yield a good result.
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Where are you all purchasing Ultem from and which grade/variety do you find yields the best results for a pick?
steve
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I used cyanoacrylate. Originally Posted by jazzbow
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Noone into my acetate sheet material ? Still no bids. I think this is the absolute classical material to make picks from, and 1 pound doesnt seem too much....
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Hey fws6, I'll gladly take it off your hands. I'll PM you
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Give Polycarbonate a try.................
You might even like it....................
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Is Lexan a type of polycarbonate?
If so I think I probably have some out in my shop. It's a great material for making clear templates.
Although being clear, I'm sure I'd lose them twice as fast as any other pick!
What thickness polycarbonate are you using? Does it's stiffness/thickness match well with more traditional picks?
Does the tone lean more towards the dark or the bright side?
steve
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Steve, Originally Posted by scook
Yes, you're correct, I use Lexan Polycarbonate, I've used various thicknesses 3mm-5mm, but I prefer thicker picks.
This is the tone on a Tele copy using a beveled edge 5mm Polycarbonate:
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Yes, Lexan is a polycarbonate. Dunlop Stubby are manufactured from Lexan. Originally Posted by scook
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Thanks, that's interesting, I didn't know that, I used the thickest Dunlop Stubbies for years, so it's no surprise that I like Polycarbonate picks. Originally Posted by balthazar
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