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One of the most valuable skills when it comes to guitar playing is versatility.
Versatility allows you to adapt to different environments and enriches your playing, making a difference in the final result.
Music is about staying dynamic and monotony kills dynamic. Therefore, the most logical step for you as a guitarist is to expand your repertoire of guitar skills to keep that vital, engaging sound that makes music so joyful.
If you have decided to use a guitar pick for playing guitar, there are seven techniques that are a must.
They will take time to learn and master, but believe me, they make the difference.
If you have listened to the music of the last 70 years, you can probably recognize this guitar technique in most rock classic hits.
Tremolo is an Italian word which means “to shake” or “to tremble”.
In the context of guitar, it involves striking one (sometimes more than one) guitar string very fast with alternating strokes. Therefore, this technique is a form of alternate picking. Tremolo picking is very easy to learn but it requires strong discipline and practice to master.
Tremolo picking is essentially useful for any style of music and obviously a big part of the surf guitar sound (I’m a big fan of it!).
In guitar literature, sometimes the words tremolo and vibrato are reversed. This technique has nothing to do with a “tremolo bar” or a "tremolo effects box".
WHY IS TREMOLO PICKING IMPORTANT?
If one of your long-term goals in your guitar learning process is to increase speed, tremolo picking is a good place to start.
It is not only very fun but also can add new textures and some dynamics to your compositions. You would be surprised how well this technique fits even in metal or hardcore music.
A FAMOUS SONG WITH TREMOLO PICKING:
The surf rock version of the song “Misirlou”, from Dick Dale, is probably the greatest example of tremolo picking. The original one is a traditional song from the Eastern Mediterranean area dating back to 1927!
The version of Dick Dale got very popular after appearing in the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction in 1994.
BEST PICK FOR TREMOLO PICKING:
The most influential factors when choosing the best guitar pick for tremolo picking are thickness, material, and grip.
It’s important to have a snappy, responsive guitar pick. For this, medium picks with a medium/pointy tip are my recommendation.
However, there is no consensus in the guitar world for this. Many players have reported preferring thick, rigid picks.
In my case, I have found the best stability and speed using Rombo Origami. This pick can be described as: Flexible but still rigid enough for note control. Right amount of flexibility for a snappy fluid attack that's bright and crisp. The concave surface on the hold area ensures an ergonomic and comfortable hold.
Everyone’s hand is a little different in how they hold the pick and move. The best way to find out is to test different shapes and thicknesses, and then try them out
Good luck!
One very extended technique often performed in the rock, metal, and punk genres is pick slides or pick scrapes.
By holding the edge of the guitar pick against the guitar strings and moving it along the edge, the pick catches the strings’ windings, causing the strings to vibrate and produce a very pleasant textured noise.
Usually, guitar pick slides start near the bridge and end over the higher frets. However, there are countless variations of pick slides depending on the direction, the angle of the pick relative to the strings, and other variables.
Unfortunately, performing pick slides completely ruins the edges of the guitar pick, especially on thinner ones. This won’t directly affect the tone or control of the plectrum, but the damaged sides will develop some dents.
What makes a guitar pick durable? Find our here.
WHY ARE PICK SLIDES IMPORTANT?
Guitar pick slides are not the most relevant aspect of your playing. Nevertheless, a correctly performed slide in the right place will add so much to the moment.
The noisy textures produced by this technique are the perfect weapon of choice for songs using high distortion levels.
A FAMOUS SONG WITH PICK SLIDES:
The first use of the pick slide is attributed to Bo Diddley and can be heard in the opening of his song "Road Runner" from the 60s.
Today, some guitarists have taken this technique to a new level and have created signature variations. A shining example of pick slides from the last years is the metal band Gojira with their famous signature “Gojira-Scrape” that was created by accident and combines several guitar pick techniques
BEST PICK FOR PICK SLIDES:
If you are going to do pick slides frequently, then you need to consider two things:
Otherwise, your guitar picks will be inoperative after a couple of sessions. The dilemma is that most players get better noisy sounds with a medium guitar pick.
I have found a solution that works for me: medium-heavy picks that are large enough to scrape with higher areas of the pick that won’t touch the strings. From our picks, I prefer Rombo Horizon the most for pick slides. Also, the curvy edge creates different pressure on different strings and that’s nice.
Do you know any guitar player who does not like pinch harmonics? I do not either.
Pinch harmonics are created by the picking hand. Playing this technique produces high-pitched tones. This phenomenon occurs when you stop a part of the string vibrations in the right position and create a "node".
There is a simple way to test this; pick a note and apply a small pressure anywhere on the string such that the vibration doesn’t stop completely.
WHY ARE PINCH HARMONICS IMPORTANT?
Pinch harmonics are often related to high gain tones and metal music but they are a powerful tool to add dynamics and textures to any genre of music or type of guitar; electric or acoustic.
It is considered one of the most abstruse techniques for intermediate players. Common problems are pinch harmonics that aren't loud enough or additional noises that make the harmonics not sound clean enough.
Root causes of this problem can be:
the guitar player does not know the right places on the strings to play pinch harmonics
there is unwanted noise coming from unmuted strings
the pinch harmonic is produced isolated, without combining it with other techniques like vibrato.
Most guitar players (including me) played their first pinch harmonic accidentally.
A FAMOUS SONG WITH PINCH HARMONICS:
Guitarist Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top is considered the father of pinch harmonics. Not because he invented them, but because he brought them to the mainstream. Although he is a well-rounded guitarist with a focused skillset based on blues, he is best known for his pinch harmonics.
BEST PICK FOR PINCH HARMONICS:
There is no special pick to do pinch harmonics. The pinch harmonic is technically produced by the thumb of your picking hand.
However, this technique is widely used in lead guitar in combination with other advanced techniques that work especially well with thick, small guitar picks.
Therefore, although you can learn pinch harmonics using thin picks, I recommend using thick picks.
#If you want to learn more about the differences between thin and thick guitar picks read our article "Thick guitar picks vs thin guitar picks".
Palm mute is a very regular technique used by most guitarists. By placing the side of the picking hand on the strings close to the bridge and dampening the guitar strings (when necessary), the strings produce muted sounds.
You can control the dampening effect by moving your hand to a different position further from the bridge.
Although this technique isn't seen as a very difficult one, these are common mistakes that prevent players from learning it properly:
WHY IS PALM MUTE IMPORTANT?
As a guitarist or bassist, you are always on the lookout to make your music sound natural, creative, and exciting.
Palm-muting is a great skill for dynamic control exercises. This means you will automatically learn how to shape your sound using fluctuations in volume and intensity.
With this skill in your repertoire, your music will sound more vocal and dynamic.
A FAMOUS SONG WITH PALM MUTE:
This technique is very old. As old as the invention of the electric guitar (1936). Most classical players have been using it for centuries with all kinds of instruments.
Today, palm muting is widely used in heavy metal, thrash, speed, and death metal. It is often found in music that features distortion effects.
Is there any good song to practice palm muting for getting better at it? “Master of Puppets” from Metallica—it’s a masterclass in palm muting and down picking.
BEST PICK FOR PALM MUTE:
I recommend using a thick guitar pick for this. They provide high volume, a broader dynamic range, and more control over single notes (in case you use palm mute arpeggios). In addition, palm muting is a demanding technique that causes a lot of guitar pick wear. As you might know, thick guitar picks are more durable.
My favorite choice for this technique is Rombo Diamond.
Guitar pick strumming is a way of playing guitar. A strum is a sweeping action where a pick (or finger!) brushes over the guitar strings and generates sounds.
For most guitar players, this is the first technique they learned and the technique that caused most headaches as a beginner.
Learning how to strum correctly takes time and practice. Most beginners lack the necessary muscle memory it takes to play while remaining relaxed or having a good posture.
WHY IS PICK STRUMMING IMPORTANT?
In many ways, understanding this skill is essential for understanding guitar. Great strumming skills mean being a great rhythm guitarist. Therefore, this should be your number one goal as a beginner.
Learning chords is important, but they are just static shapes. The diversity of the hundreds (if not thousands) of strumming patterns available will inject musicality and rhythm into your playing.
A FAMOUS SONG WITH PICK STRUMMING:
“Bad moon rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, is a good place to start. It combines easy chords (D, A, G) with a very simple progression and a very catchy, bluesy melody.
BEST PICK FOR STRUMMING:
My best advice for beginners is to start with a very thin guitar pick. It can help to practice with something below 0.6 that’s nice and bendy. As you improve your skills, you can try with thicker picks, as they will add more bass to your tone.
For all the beginners out there, my best choice would be Rombo Classic.
However, if you are in the very beginning of your guitar journey, please read this article where I explain, why starting with medium guitar picks can be a better choice for you. "Medium Gauge Guitar Picks".
Downpicking or down-stroke picking is a very beloved guitar technique in which the player moves the guitar pick only in a downward motion. The tip of the pick does not brush the strings as the hand moves back to the original position for the next down-stroke.
It is one of the most underrated skills on guitar and although performing this technique might seem easy, the required endurance for long passages with fast tempo is very often a problem even for advanced guitarists.
WHY IS DOWNPICKING IMPORTANT?
But first, why would you want to remove the upstrokes (alternate picking) and then increase the necessary effort for the same number of strokes? Why would you torture your wrist muscles in this way?
This technique is widely used in metal and punk guitar and the main reason is that when mastered, downpicking can make the guitar’s sound very powerful and rhythmic.
A FAMOUS SONG WITH DOWNPICKING:
Famous punk guitarist Johnny Ramone used this technique in the mid-70s in combination with fast tempo (180 to 200 bpm). The technique was very innovative at that time and influenced many current guitarists like James Hetfield who has been regarded as “the King of Downpicking”.
Many beginner guitarists start with songs from Ramones because of their simplicity in terms of chords and lack of tempo variations.
BEST PICK FOR DOWNPICKING:
For downpicking, there is a basic rule: the more mass the guitar pick has, the thicker and more aggressive the sound.
Therefore, a thick, large guitar pick with a pointy tip will be the loudest and most rhythmic one.
I recommend Rombo Diamond.
The interesting thing about hybrid picking is the fact that the player uses a plectrum as well as one or more fingers. This can be done alternately or simultaneously.
Typical styles for this technique are rockabilly guitar, country and bluegrass, and more classical passages with acoustic or classical guitar.
Hybrid picking can be very hard if you are a beginner. Before you think of learning this technique, you will have to learn how to play with your fingers and with a guitar pick. This is a requirement you cannot avoid.
WHY IS HYBRID PICKING IMPORTANT:
Three major arguments should convince you to learn hybrid picking:
Tone diversity:
The pick is generally used to play bass notes with a longer duration and very noticeable timbral differences caused by variations in the vibration of the strings. Therefore, your playing will sound more interesting combining pick and fingers.
Timing:
Hybrid picking allows you to pick two to four strings simultaneously. This makes it very different from strumming and gives an approach much more similar to piano techniques.
Flexibility:
Managing this technique, you will be able to change between fingerstyle playing and guitar pick playing within the same song or passage.
A FAMOUS SONG WITH HYBRID PICKING:
Hybrid picking was popularized by guitarists like Steve Howe some decades ago. Most players that learn this technique today start with a more classical approach.
A great song to start with this technique is “Amy” by Tommy Emmanuel. However, the complexity of the chords makes this song only possible to play for intermediate and advanced players.
BEST PICK FOR HYBRID PICKING:
There is no such thing as a “good” or “bad” pick for hybrid picking. You can use the pick you think fits the best for the song you are playing.
Because this technique is widely used by rhythm guitarists, there is a consensus that picks around 1 mm will perform well. However, it is up to you to try and decide which one is best for every passage.
Discover more about guitar pick thickness here.
For some reason, sweep picking is the trend. Every guitar forum gets new threads with this topic week after week. Perhaps it’s due to the high speed and visually nice arpeggios that make the guitar produce cyclical sound patterns and put us in a status of trance.
This technique describes the action of playing single notes on consecutive strings using the same motion, either all down-strokes or all upstrokes.
Sweep picking has been recognized as a difficult technique. It is more for advanced players and it can take years to master it.
WHY IS SWEEP PICKING IMPORTANT?
Sweep picking is used by guitarists to play arpeggios at high speed. The phrasing sounds produced by this technique sounds typical of other instruments like the piano.
Although sweep picking is a very important technique for building speed and fluency on string instruments, my advice would be to not learn this technique unless you have mastered other techniques that can give you more versatility.
Sure, it is ok to use sweep picking occasionally but that is not what you are going to play most of the time. In my opinion, a lot of bands overuse this technique. Therefore, you should reflect if the time needed to correctly learn sweep picking could be used for other more relevant skills.
A FAMOUS SONG WITH SWEEP PICKING:
Although often regarded as a “modern guitar technique”, pick sweeping has been around since the 50s. The technique was first used and developed by jazz guitarists.
Today, it is commonly used in metal but many students start with the song “Give Me the Night” by George Benson. Practicing sweep picking with clean tones can help you develop a more accurate technique.
BEST PICK FOR SWEEP PICKING:
What qualities are you looking for in a pick to perform sweep picking? Small and easy to handle, good maneuverability and stability, and good string separation. This means: Thick, pointy guitar picks like Jade or Horizon.
However, I have a bonus for you: We have received some E-Mails from professional guitarists using Rombo Prisma for their sweeping techniques, a pick that wasn’t developed for this. However, its sharp tip, combined with a very large, beveled edge, and the total “mass” of the pick (variable thickness), makes this pick a great candidate for bright tonal sweep picking solos.
Guitar picks can be found in all shapes, colors, and materials. These small items used for specific guitar techniques can offer different tones, dynamic ranges, and ergonomics, and therefore create a totally different playing experience depending on the pick you use.
The aim of this series of articles is to inform you in detail in a way that you wouldn’t find anywhere else. We want you to understand why we do what we do. So relax, hold your tea, and enjoy our first deep analysis on the guitar pick Rombo Diamond.
Exceptional picking control and accuracy. Favorite amongst advanced guitarists. The hole in the middle provides extra control and grip rate. Sharp tip for high attack, and clean bright tones.
With its 28,4 x 25,5 mm, Rombo diamond can be considered a small-medium sized guitar pick.
Small guitar picks have several advantages: They perform exceptionally when practicing speed and are perfect for shred techniques.
With small-sized plectrums, your fingers are closer to the strings and you get more feedback from your guitar playing.
The downside of these picks is that they can be dropped easily. This is the reason we decided to increase the size of Rombo Diamond a little bit and make it small-medium. The first prototype was only 25 mm high.
Furthermore, we decided to increase the width to match the regular size of a thumb.
The shape of a guitar pick is often overlooked. However, in the case of Rombo Diamond, thanks to its form and the pointy guitar pick tip, the attack and the control are substantially increased.
The pointy guitar pick tip, with only 3 mm in diameter, was designed to provide maximum note control.
The angle of the tip is wide enough to let your guitar strings slide longer.
Rombo Diamond has a slight bevel edge, mainly used to increase the guitar playing speed.
With a rounded bevel like this, the attack of the guitar pick gets smoother, a feature that changes the feedback you receive when you use specific techniques.
This is only possible for guitar picks with enough thickness, and it is very popular because of the feeling of easiness it provides while playing guitar.
The guitar pick thickness mainly defines how flexible a guitar pick is. However, other aspects like tone and ergonomics are mostly influenced by the thickness of the pick.
Rombo Diamond has guitar pick variable thickness along its body. This means that this guitar pick has different thicknesses for the hold area and for the tip area.
The thickness of the tip is 1,35 mm, providing enough space for the bevel edge mentioned before. This can be considered as a heavy/thick guitar pick.
The thickness of the hold area varies due to the diamond design. At the highest point, right in the middle where all the vertices create the diamond design, it is 2,65 mm thick.
The variable thickness on Rombo Diamond has been implemented primarily for two reasons:
It increases the feeling of control because the pick is easier to hold
It increases the bass tones, creating a much thicker tone
Both dimensions create a very rigid guitar pick.
The thickness of a guitar pick is also an essential factor in terms of durability. The shape and bevel combined with the polished tip and its thickness make this pick very durable.
The material of a guitar pick is strictly connected to its flexibility and tone.
Rombo Diamond is offered in the Rombo polymer and the EcoBlack polymer, which offer the same characteristics.
The polymer we use is an improved variation of nylon designed to increase the durability and cause some tone changes. It is manufactured in Italy.
Since we use the same material for all our guitar picks, this part of the analysis will be skipped. We have already created an extended article regarding the materials that can be found here.
The Guitar Pick design is obviously inspired by a diamond shaped geometry. Rombo Diamond was meant to be hard, durable and rigid, therefore this design matches its mechanical attributes very well.
The functional surfaces were distributed in a way to enhance the diamond form. The grip area in the middle makes the diamond visible, while the polished areas give the shape and tip more optical clarity.
As we will see in the next chapter, the 3D surfaces were designed as functional surfaces to improve the grip. However, with the first prototypes, we realized that this was a very nice way to explore more design nuances.
For the grip of Rombo Diamond, there are three aspects to consider:
The material
The micronodules texture is the texture we developed to create a comfortable grip. Usually, this texture wouldn’t be enough for a good grip and for this reason, we incremented the grip using the right material and 3D surfaces.
The 3D surfaces with the shape of a diamond have different thicknesses and tilted angles that fold the surface in different directions. This increases the grip substantially and avoids the rotation of the pick while playing.
For the people who like to hold the pick on the back side, we created a tunnel to compensate for the thickness reduction this area has.
We consider Rombo Diamond to be a pick with medium grip.
Currently Rombo Diamond is offered in the following colors.
Rombo Diamond is manufactured using an engineering technology called injection molding, in which melted polymers are forced to fill a mold and get a specific shape.
After that, there is a small mark called “the gate” in the back of the pick, which is where the melted material flows through to enter the mould. After the production, this manufacturing mark is treated by hand to make it smaller and less visible.
The borders of the pick have a parting line which is also removed post-production to increase the quality of the borders of the guitar pick.
Rombo Diamond is manufactured by automatic processes. However, a post treatment by hand is necessary to achieve the quality Rombo pursues.
So far, we have defined Rombo Diamond as a very thick, small-medium guitar pick, with a sharp tip. These are the typical characteristics of a pick that produces very bright tones.
However, due to the variable thickness mentioned before, we incremented the dynamic range of the guitar pick, allowing the player to enjoy some bass dark tones as well.
Usually, guitar picks with a very heavy attack can reduce the sustain of your guitar tone. With these small thickness changes we solved this problem.
The polished guitar pick tip, combined with its shape, enhances the bright tones and allows you to play some of the harmonic techniques on an electric guitar more easily.
The bevel edge can create those beautiful thick and compressed tones that we all like for distortion and overdrive.
Rombo Diamond is a pick that produces bright and clear tones, but with slightly dark shades in the background, which makes the sound richer and more complete.
Because of the integrated bevel edge, the material toughness, the shape, the pointy polished tip, and the thickness, we consider Rombo Diamond to be a guitar pick that creates lower pick noise.
Rombo Diamond was designed for the advanced player who likes speed, volume, attack, and control, but still wants a sophisticated tone and more than just power.
It is mainly intended for electric guitars.
Arpeggios and shred techniques like sweep, alternate, and tremolo picking are good examples of techniques which can be improved using the right guitar picks.
For strumming and palm mute, using Rombo Diamond can give you a much thicker and complete sound creating a bigger atmosphere when playing guitar.
Rombo Diamond is currently offered only in guitar pick sets containing four guitar picks in different color combinations and a packaging card with extra information about the pick attributes.
This pick is also included in the Variety Pack from Rombo, with other guitar pick models.
Size: Small-Medium
Shape: Pointy tip, sharp attack angle
Thickness: Heavy with variable thickness. Hold area: 2,65 mm - Attack area: 1,35 mm
Materials: Rombo Polymer and EcoBlack
Durability: Very high
Design: Diamond Design with two different surface types.
Grip: Medium, micro-nodules combined with 3D Surfaces
Colors available: Graphite Black, Water Blue, Strawberry Red, Honey Yellow, EcoBlack
Manufacturing technique: Injection moulding and hand processing of the borders.
Tone: Bright, clear tones with a bass nuance on the background caused by the geometry.
Pick noise: Low
Techniques: Mostly electric guitar. Lead guitar techniques and high volume distortion.
Pricing: Guitar Pick Set Rombo Diamond
You can visit online guitar pick websites and compare products. This will make you a more educated customer that can take decisions based on facts. It will make you reflect on your guitar playing style and which necessities your guitar pick should cover.
It is as easy as sending an e-mail or a PM on Instagram, and you will be talking directly to us, the founders.
In the social media era, small start-ups manage their own profiles by themselves. I have had great conversations with customers from all over the world about guitar picks! We receive lots of questions every week and try to answer every private message. So far, I think we have answered 100% of the messages, or at least I have tried!
Regarding this point: not only the customer profits from this, but also the guitar pick maker, who gets to know the customer in a more detailed way and becomes aware of the problems to solve.
A few months ago, I talked to a customer who had purchased his guitar pick Rombo Diamond back in July 2019, directly from our first campaign on Kickstarter. After a year of playing daily, he made a new order and sent us a picture of the new pick vs. the old one.
That was amazing! It was a great feeling to know that somebody had spent so much time with a product we have developed and that it still worked! Also, I wonder how he could keep the pick for so many months without losing it!
Depending on how old you are, you probably remember the time when purchasing goods on the internet was a surprise: you wouldn't know if the product was of good quality until it arrived.
It is very easy to find guitar pick reviews online, sometimes even on Youtube. These reviews can help you a lot. Especially if the product page of the guitar picks is missing some important information, like in the following this example, a review “Jan” left on Rombo Origami:
Now, let’s suppose you want to purchase Rombo Diamond for your bass because of its guitar pick thickness. Maybe after reading this review you change your opinion!
This point is connected to the previous one.
Considering that the founders read the reviews, and they can have direct influence on the product, the best idea you can have is to tell them what points you like/don’t like.
We have a very good example here in a review from Matt Samuel on the Guitar Pick Holder:
We received this review on the Guitar Pick Holder some weeks ago. After a couple of small workshops together, we have now designed a packaging, which we hope to implement in a couple of months.
A simple action like this can have a big impact on the product you will get! Thanks for that, Matt Samuel!
In our big survey from June 2020, 1552 guitarists were able to choose the names of our new guitar picks. We had some ideas for their names, but two users offered a new fresh source of inspiration when they decided to give their input and suggest new names.
Rombo Horizon and Rombo Jade were suggested at the beginning of the survey by random users and the votes kept rolling in for those names. Two days later, these names were the winners and more customers kept voting for them until the survey finished. We will be using these names as soon as the guitar picks are launched in 2021. These two unknown participants are heros for us!
Some weeks ago we received an e-mail from a customer that said: “Hey guys, you should create a special edition of your guitar pick Rombo Origami in the color white, like paper origami”.
How cool is that? Of course we will do that sometime in the future, it is such a great idea! I can already visualize the packaging with different white tones and the white guitar picks on it and I just feel extremely happy to have such a great guitar community around Rombo picks.
You can visit the stores anytime from your couch or while you commute in the metro. That’s quite practical!
Guitar picks are very small pieces of gear and they fit in a small envelope. This means, you don’t even need to be at home to get them delivered because they fit in your mailing box.
One of the best advantages of such small products is that they are very adequate for surprising your friends. Imagine you come home after a long day, you open the mailbox and find a strange letter on it containing a couple of cool guitar picks. That probably feels very good! This is one of the reasons we created the gift boxes.
Let’s admit it, sometimes we - guitarists - just want to shop a little bit and have a couple of new experiences trying new gear.
If you feel like this and don’t feel like spending much money, guitar picks are a very good option. Guitar picks are the loudest amplifier in our hands and will have a direct influence on the tone our guitars produce! Therefore, why not try lots of them and use them for different purposes?
In our article Guitar Picks for Beginners we talked about the importance of having at least 3 favorite guitar picks. Let’s go find them!
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