Playing the guitar is more than just a hobby or a way to pass the time; it’s a powerful tool that can transform your life in myriad ways. From boosting your mental health to enhancing your social skills, playing the guitar offers a wide range of benefits that extend far beyond the music itself. Whether you’re a beginner picking up the guitar for the first time or an experienced player looking to deepen your understanding of its impact, this article will explore the many advantages of playing the guitar.

1. Learn to Focus for Long Periods of Time

In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven society, the ability to focus has become a rare and valuable skill. The constant barrage of notifications, emails, and social media updates can make it difficult to concentrate on a single task for an extended period. However, playing the guitar can help you develop the skill of deep focus, allowing you to shut out distractions and immerse yourself in the music.

When you focus on learning a piece of music, you engage in deep work—a state of heightened concentration where your brain is fully committed to the task at hand. This level of focus not only improves your guitar playing but also builds mental resilience. Over time, this ability to concentrate intensely will carry over into other areas of your life, making it easier to handle challenging tasks at work or during moments of high stress. With improved mental endurance, you’ll find that you’re less fatigued at the end of the day and able to learn new skills more quickly.

2. Guitar and Self-Discipline

Self-discipline is a crucial component of success in any endeavor, and playing the guitar is no exception. While natural talent can give you a head start, consistent practice and dedication are what truly allow you to excel. The process of learning to play the guitar teaches you the value of hard work and perseverance.

Developing self-discipline through guitar practice involves setting aside dedicated time each day to practice, turning off distractions like your phone, and pushing through challenges even when you’re tempted to give up. By committing to a regular practice routine, you’ll develop a strong work ethic that can be applied to other areas of your life, whether it’s your career, education, or personal goals. Some say that self-discipline is the key to happiness, and the guitar can be a powerful tool in helping you cultivate this essential life skill.

3. Enter the State of Flow More Easily

The “state of flow” is a psychological concept that refers to a mental state in which a person is fully immersed in an activity, losing all sense of time and self-awareness. This state is often described as the optimal experience, where creativity and productivity are at their peak. Playing the guitar is an excellent way to achieve this state of flow, especially as you become more proficient.

With enough practice, you’ll develop warm-up routines and techniques that help you enter the state of flow more easily. Whether you’re improvising a solo, writing a new song, or simply practicing scales, the guitar can transport you into a world where time seems to stand still, and your creativity flows effortlessly. This ability to enter the state of flow can be incredibly beneficial in other areas of your life, such as when you’re working on creative projects, solving complex problems, or engaging in any activity that requires deep focus.

4. Playing Guitar Gives You a Confidence Boost

Playing the guitar is inherently cool, and the sense of accomplishment that comes with mastering a challenging piece or performing in front of others can provide a significant confidence boost. The combination of overcoming obstacles, setting and achieving goals, and expressing yourself through music all contribute to a heightened sense of self-confidence.

This confidence isn’t just limited to your guitar playing—it can spill over into other areas of your life. Whether it’s giving a presentation at work, meeting new people, or taking on new challenges, the confidence you gain from playing the guitar can help you approach life with a more positive and self-assured attitude.

5. Improve Your Motor Skills

Playing the guitar requires the coordination of multiple motor skills, including hand-eye coordination, finger dexterity, and rhythmic timing. To play a piece of music correctly, you must coordinate your picking hand, fretting hand, and even your breathing and posture. If any one of these elements is out of sync, the quality of your performance will suffer.

Regular guitar practice helps improve your motor skills, making it easier to perform complex tasks that require fine motor control. These enhanced motor skills aren’t just beneficial for playing the guitar—they can also make it easier to learn other instruments or skills that require precise hand movements. For example, if you decide to pick up the bass, ukulele or mandolin after learning the guitar, you’ll likely find that you can master these instruments more quickly due to your improved motor skills.

6. Guitar Playing Keeps You Motivated

Motivation is a key factor in learning and personal growth, and playing the guitar can be a powerful motivator. The process of learning new songs, mastering challenging techniques, and setting and achieving goals keeps you engaged and motivated to continue improving.

One of the most rewarding aspects of playing the guitar is the sense of accomplishment you feel when you finally nail a difficult riff or play a song flawlessly from start to finish. This sense of achievement can keep you motivated to practice regularly and push through the challenges that come with learning any new skill. The motivation you gain from playing the guitar can also carry over into other areas of your life, helping you stay focused and committed to achieving your personal and professional goals.

7. Learn Multitasking

Playing the guitar requires you to multitask in several ways. You need to read sheet music or tablature, keep time with your foot or a metronome, control your breathing, and coordinate your fingers—all at the same time. This simultaneous engagement of multiple cognitive and physical tasks helps improve your multitasking abilities.

Improving your multitasking skills through guitar playing can have a positive impact on your daily life. Whether you’re juggling multiple projects at work, managing household tasks, or balancing your social life with personal responsibilities, the ability to multitask effectively is an invaluable skill that can help you stay organized and efficient.

8. Social Benefits: Meet Like-Minded People

Playing the guitar is not only a solitary pursuit but also a social activity that can connect you with like-minded individuals. Whether you join a band, participate in a jam session, or take part in online guitar communities, playing the guitar can help you build a network of fellow musicians and music enthusiasts.

These social connections can lead to valuable friendships, mentorship opportunities, and even professional collaborations. By surrounding yourself with others who share your passion for music, you’ll find inspiration, support, and encouragement to continue growing as a guitarist and musician.

9. Reduce Stress

In today’s hectic world, finding effective ways to reduce stress is more important than ever. Playing the guitar offers a healthy and enjoyable way to unwind and relieve stress. The act of playing music has been shown to lower cortisol levels—the hormone responsible for stress—while increasing the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure and reward.

When you play the guitar, you enter a state of mindfulness, where your attention is fully focused on the music. This mindfulness can help you temporarily escape from the pressures of daily life, allowing you to relax and recharge. Whether you’re strumming your favorite chords, improvising a solo, or simply practicing scales, playing the guitar can be a powerful tool for managing stress and maintaining your mental well-being.

10. Boost Your Creativity

Playing the guitar is a highly creative activity that encourages you to think outside the box and explore new musical ideas. Whether you’re composing your own songs, experimenting with different chord progressions, or improvising solos, the guitar provides endless opportunities for creative expression.

Regularly engaging in creative activities like playing the guitar can enhance your problem-solving skills, improve your ability to think critically, and foster innovation in other areas of your life. Whether you’re a musician, artist, writer, or entrepreneur, the creativity you cultivate through playing the guitar can help you approach challenges with a fresh perspective and develop unique solutions.

11. Keep Your Brain Active, Especially in Old Age

As we age, it’s important to keep our brains active and engaged to maintain cognitive function and prevent mental decline. Playing the guitar is an excellent way to keep your brain sharp, as it requires you to continuously learn new skills, memorize songs, and coordinate complex movements.

Studies have shown that playing a musical instrument can improve memory, increase neural connectivity, and even delay the onset of dementia. Whether you’re a young adult or a senior citizen, playing the guitar can help you keep your mind active and healthy, providing long-term cognitive benefits.

12. Express Your Feelings Through Music

Music is a universal language that allows us to express our emotions in ways that words cannot. Playing the guitar gives you a powerful outlet for expressing your feelings, whether it’s joy, sadness, anger, or love. Through your guitar playing, you can convey emotions that might be difficult to articulate verbally, creating a deep and personal connection with the music.

This emotional expression can be incredibly therapeutic, helping you process and release pent-up feelings. Whether you’re writing your own songs or playing covers of your favorite artists, the guitar provides a medium for expressing your innermost thoughts and emotions.

13. Feel Part of Something Bigger

Playing the guitar connects you to a rich musical tradition that spans cultures, genres, and generations. Whether you’re playing classical guitar, blues, rock, or jazz, you’re participating in a global community of musicians who share a passion for creating and performing music. This sense of belonging can be incredibly fulfilling, as it allows you to contribute to a larger cultural narrative and be part of something bigger than yourself.

Additionally, playing the guitar can connect you with others who share your musical interests, whether it’s through jam sessions, concerts, or online communities. This sense of connection and shared purpose can be a powerful motivator, encouraging you to continue learning and growing as a guitarist.

14. Personal Satisfaction: Achieving Goals

One of the most rewarding aspects of playing the guitar is the sense of personal satisfaction that comes from setting and achieving goals. Whether it’s mastering a difficult song, learning a new technique, or performing in front of an audience, the guitar provides countless opportunities for personal achievement.

This sense of accomplishment can boost your self-esteem and motivate you to set and pursue new goals, both in your guitar playing and in other areas of your life. The discipline, focus, and perseverance you develop through playing the guitar can help you achieve success in whatever you set your mind to.

15. Take You Out of Your Comfort Zone

Learning to play the guitar can be challenging, especially when you’re first starting out. However, stepping out of your comfort zone and pushing through these challenges is where real growth happens. Whether it’s performing in front of others, learning a new genre of music, or tackling a difficult technique, the guitar constantly challenges you to expand your skills and push your boundaries.

By embracing these challenges, you’ll develop a greater sense of resilience and adaptability, which can help you face challenges in other areas of your life with confidence and determination.

Conclusion

Playing the guitar offers a wealth of benefits that extend far beyond the music itself. From improving your mental focus and motor skills to boosting your confidence and creativity, the guitar is a powerful tool for personal growth and self-expression. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced player, the journey of learning to play the guitar can enrich your life in countless ways, helping you become a more focused, disciplined, and fulfilled individual.

So, pick up your guitar and start playing—you never know just how much it might change your life for the better.

__________

LINK TO THE VARIAETY PACK

1- What is a Guitar Pick Variety Pack

 A Guitar Pick Variety Pack is a set of at least three different guitar picks aimed to contain different shapes, sizes, materials, or thicknesses of plectrums. 

There are other common names for this type of guitar pick set, like “Try out Mix,” “Guitar Pick Mix Set,” or “Guitar Pick Box.” Some variety packs are focused on specific guitar areas like a “Heavy Gauge Variety Pack,” thought to be used by advanced players or “Beginner’s Variety Pack” containing medium and thin guitar picks.

On guitar picks, qualities like thickness, shape, size, and material play a pivotal role in the guitar tone, sustain, grip, or pick noise.

Therefore, it is not only about the personal preferences of the player but also about the techniques you want to develop. Your hands do an arduous job, give them the proper tools they need.

2- Reasons why a Variety Pack is a good idea

REASON ONE - It is the fastest and cheapest way of changing your guitar tone

Think about it: The guitar, strings, amp, cable, and effects pedals are all pieces of the guitar gear that play a role in tone. Surprise: guitar picks too!

Use a rounded thick nylon pick and you’ll get mellower, darker, and thicker tones. Use a pointy medium Tortex guitar pick and your tone will be as bright as you can imagine.

It only takes two seconds and the cost of a coffee to change your pick and increase your tone spectrum. Larger tone repertoire means larger versatility.

Music is about staying dynamic, and monotony kills dynamics. Therefore, your most logical step as a guitarist is to find ways of expanding your repertoire of tones and techniques. This happens with practice and the right guitar gear.

REASON TWO - The joy of exploration

Music theory, speed exercises, precision exercises, and warm-ups all have one thing in common: They focus on improvement, repetition, and perfection.

However, performance is not everything and sometimes we should focus on the joy of exploration.

The greatest ideas happen when we achieve a “flow” state, also known as the “zone.” This applies to guitar too! So, why not relax for a day, test some new pieces of gear, spark some creativity by playing around some guitar phrases, and then see what happens without planning too much and having the pressure of achieving one specific performance milestone?

Chose 4-5 different picks, turn on the amp, and give yourself a two hours break by enjoying the music you are playing now.

PS: Don’t forget to turn off your phone!

REASON THREE - Develop specific skills

Try to perform your speed exercise with a large, worn-out, thin guitar pick. Let’s say 0.35 mm.

You will face one of these three scenarios:

• You are slower than usual.
• You are as fast as usual but your technique is bad.
• You are slower and your technique is bad.

As in every discipline, using the right tools is the key to success.

“Modern Guitars” are attributed to Spanish musician, Antonio de Torres Jurado. He was a luthier, and in the mid-1800s, he began creating the style of guitar that would rise to all modern guitars.

Imagine then how immense the number of available guitar techniques that had more than a dozen decades to be developed is. From strumming to hybrid picking, palm mute, sweep picking, or down picking, all these techniques have different requirements, and different requirements can be fulfilled with different tools.

In our article, “7 essential guitar pick techniques,” we have summarized some of the most common techniques.

REASON FOUR - Different instruments

Sure, the average guitar player owns a red Stratocaster with 09 strings and plays classic rock.

But what about the rest of us? The 7 strings shredders, the acoustic unplugged fans, the indie effect experts, the experimental music lovers, the metal-heads, the bassists using picks, and the jazz/bossa relaxed musicians out there?

We all deserve to have a choice according to our requirements.

Personally, I like to play bass with a medium pick (Rombo Prisma), and I love the warm tones of Rombo Horizon for guitar reverb phrases on my telecaster. However, when I feel like using the thickest metal distortion ever, I choose Rombo Diamond.

Different guitar pick shapes, sizes, materials, and thicknesses create a widely broad tonality and usability ranges that I need to keep my motivation up!

REASON FIVE - A fresh input kills routine!

Did you use the same guitar pick for the last 20 years? Well, it’s never too late to get a little bit of fresh air and try something new.

Even the riff you have played 1000 times will sound different and you might notice that there are some nuances on “pick feedback” that can make your sound more fun and interesting.

What is the worst that can happen? In the worst case, you will discover a guitar pick that you prefer more than your usual! Go take that risk :-)

REASON SIX - A Guitar Pick Variety Pack is a great gift

Guitar players have a lot of things going on in their heads: the next gig, one unfinished song composition they started some weeks ago, the speed rates of their last practice, and more.

A Guitar Pick Variety Pack is a great gift for beginners, intermediate, or advanced players. Guitarists love trying new gear because it is a way to spark some creativity and explore tonalities.

A variety pack is a super affordable option for a small, but elegant gift to make a guitarist smile and feel excited for the next practice day.

There are many different gift options from Rombo:

• Guitar Pick Variety Pack
• Guitar Pick Gift Box
• Guitar Pick Variety Bundle

If only one of the guitar picks is chosen as the new favorite one, your friend will be thankful for life!

REASON SEVEN - Reflecting on your guitar tone and level

Even if you don’t like the picks included in the variety pack, they will have a positive effect on your playing.

You will reflect and confirm why you had chosen your current pick in the past and what the advantages of it are. You will reflect on your guitar tone and the nuances of guitar pick feedback and pick noise.

These experiences accumulate, and after years of exploration, you start having a sixth sense of “feeling” your instrument, your preferences, and music in general.

What do you do with your new picks? Well, if you don’t like them, give them to a friend that could need inspiration!

3- Who can profit from Guitar Pick Variety Packs (Spoiler: Everyone)

From the reasons above, we can take away a clear lesson: It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an advanced player, the advantages of trying a Guitar Pick Variety Pack are always there.

Why beginners profit from Guitar Pick Variety Packs:

• Develop new skills.
• Develop a sense of exploration and identify tone nuances.
• Understand that different techniques need different requirements.
• Understand that the guitar path is a long one and that not everything is performance.

Why intermediate and advanced players profit from guitar pick variety packs:

• Expand the spectrum of techniques.
• Discover an unexpected tonality change.
• Focus on one specific technique.
• Joy of exploration.

4- Examples of a guitar pick variety pack

One example is our own guitar pick variety pack containing:

- 1 Rombo Classic | 0.45 mm

- 1 Rombo Origami | 0.75 mm

- 1 Rombo Prisma | 0.8 mm

- 1 Rombo Crisp | 1 mm

- 1 Rombo Waves | 1.25 mm

- 1 Rombo Horizon | 1.4 mm

- 1 Rombo Diamond | 2 mm

- 1 Rombo Jade | 2.3 mm

It is not only thickness that is everything. In order to make these picks more understandable for you, we have created four metrics: Attack, Flexibility, Tone, and Techniques. Here an example:

With this information, and in combination with the description of the pick and the technical drawing, we give you a very precise picture of the qualities of our guitar picks.

We also have a specific set for beginners with the “Beginners Guitar Pick Gift Box”:

And a specific set for intermediate/advanced players.

5- Conclusion

A Variety Pack is not only an excellent gift for your musician friends, but also for yourself if you are looking to explore tones, develop specific skills, or just need fresh air and try new guitar gear.

Different qualities like shape, thickness, or material, make guitar picks very different tools for different requirements. You will learn a lot in the process of testing them and every fresh input can help keep your motivation at the highest level.

The worst case: You will discover your new favorite pick!

In June 2022, we finished the first 3D sketches of our four new guitar pick models. However, the picks weren’t 100% ready.

The thickness, size, and even the names of the picks were still undefined.

We decided to take the approach of involving as many guitarists as possible to help us co-design our new guitar picks.

The aim of this article is to summarize the results of the survey that 2122 guitarists completed. These people directly influenced the final design of our picks.

The guitar community has strongly supported Rombopicks since its beginning in 2019.

We did not want to create new guitar picks without asking the people who have been with us since the beginning. You all are the core of Rombo, and you should decide which products we develop.

The most logical step was to create a big survey, allowing users to tell us how they prefer their guitar picks. We think this is the only way to develop a product based on the wants of our users, allowing us to make essential decisions about our company's direction.

This is only possible by listening to the thoughts of every guitar player.

GUITAR PICKS 2023 - RESULTS OF THE SURVEY

2122 guitar players participated in the survey and, therefore, have taken part in the design process of these new guitar picks for 2023.

509 of them left a private message with detailed information.
We discuss these private messages below.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GUITAR PICK DESIGN?

There is a clear winner. Guitar pick number 2 is the favorite for most people.

Could it be because of its similarity in shape and size with the iconic jazz iii guitar pick?

Surprisingly, number 4 is the guitar pick that surprised me the most during the
prototype test. But of course, you never know until you try it! 

GUITAR PICK NUMBER 1:

Name:

• Mosaic: 33,4%
• Pegasus: 16,6%
• Sense: 13%
• Summit: 6,8%
• Other names: 30,2%

Average Thickness: 0,66 mm
Size: Small Size with 89% of the votes

GUITAR PICK NUMBER 2:

Name:

• Shell: 42%
• Lance: 18%
• Turtle: 8,2%
• Other names: 31,8%

Average Thickness: 0,953 mm
Size: Medium Size with 77% of the votes

GUITAR PICK NUMBER 3:

Name:

• Erebus: 52%
• Quasar: 32,1%
• Jupiter: 10,1%
• Moon: 5,15%
• Other names: 0,65%

Average Thickness: >2 mm
Size: Large Size with 55% of the votes

GUITAR PICK NUMBER 4:

Name:

• Dune: 39,8%
• Lance: 31,2%
• Doppler:19,6 %
• Sense: 4,7%
• Other names: 4,7%

Average Thickness: 0,72 mm
Size: Medium Size with 85% of the votes

GUITAR PICKS: PERSONAL THOUGHTS OF 509 GUITAR PLAYERS

A total of 509 people left us a private message regarding guitar picks.

We have read all of them carefully and we will use all this information during the
development stage.

Here are the top 10 questions we have repeatedly received and our comments on them:

● Will the guitar picks be available in different colors?
Yes! The launch will include all regular Rombo colors.
Other “special edition” colors are in the pipeline.

● Will they have the same grip structure?
Lots of people have sent us e-mails and letters regarding the grip structure. With the micro-nodules, we have the advantage of medium-grip surfaces which add lots of control.

However, a very small number of people want the picks to have more grip. We had to make a decision here, and it was hard. We will slightly increase the “grain density” on the textured areas, so there are more “micro-nodules” per square millimeter.

This way, we hope to satisfy the needs of all groups.

● The material is cool but it produces warm and mellow tones. I prefer
bright tones. Do you plan a new material range?
We have intentionally created our compound in order to reach those mellow tones. However, about 12% of the users reported preferring bright tones.

We have decided to start the research on a new material that will be launched as an extra range as soon as we find the correct formula. The expected date for the launch of the new material is early 2024.

● Why don’t you create different guitar pick thicknesses for each one
of the models?
We want every guitar pick to be unique. As every person has individual preferences, we believe every guitar pick should have its own design. In the future, we hope to be able to create a wider range of plectrum designs to cover each possible necessity.

● What about picks for bass players?
Most of our picks are compatible with bass, as we have confirmed this with some bassists that are using them regularly, especially Rombo Diamond and Rombo Origami. We explained this HERE.

● You should create some merch, T-Shirts, and other stuff:
Maybe in the future. Now, we want to focus 100% on the development of the guitar picks. Every minute we spend on the design of a T-Shirt will be taken away from the quality of the picks! ;)

● Will you offer the EcoBlack range in other colors?
The EcoBlack material can only be produced in one color at the moment.

The recycling process creates a very dark pigmentation. The industry is working hard to find a way to create new recycling processes. We hope we will manufacture all of our picks out of recycled material in the future.

● Why don’t you create boutique picks?
Counter question: What is a boutique guitar pick?

A boutique pick is a unique piece of art with the shape of a guitar pick that you can use for guitar playing. Usually, these picks are handmade and out of exotic materials. They contain some artistic elements like ornament geometries and usually they are unique special edition pieces with elevated starting prices.

Our approach is different. We create boutique-like guitar pick designs at very affordable prices. Otherwise, there would only be a couple of Rombo designs available for the most influential pick collectionists.

We think, this way, we found a niche in the middle of mass production picks and single special editions. With this approach, we bring the boutique feel to a larger number of people, reinforcing the guitar pick community and the awareness of this small but important accessory.

● Some picks I ordered in 2019 had burrs. This is not a problem for
playing but it doesn’t look cool.
We have good news for you. In 2021, we developed a new method to manually remove the burrs from the picks. This means that all Rombo picks are manually revised and processed to remove all the visual aspects that don’t belong to the original design (like small burrs on the border).

This cost us extra time but as a premium brand, we need to keep improving our quality standards to make sure your guitar picks are as good as your expectations!

● Why Kickstarter again?
See below :)

WHEN WILL THE NEW PICKS BE AVAILABLE?

The new guitar picks will be launched in spring 2023.

If you want to receive an E-Mail as soon as the picks are available, join our
mailing list (see the footer).

This is the timeline we created for this project:

WHY KICKSTARTER?

Kickstarter campaigns turn dreams and ideas into reality. Rombo is still a small start-up run by two people, and with limited access to resources. Through Kickstarter, we involve the community of guitar players, showing our guitar picks before launching.

This process brings us in contact with the real guitar players. It forces us to remain flexible, accept changes, and it challenges us to create new designs to fulfill the expectations of our audience.

We love open and critical criticism, and this is the best place to get it, where all comments and thoughts are visible. By sharing your experiences, we can listen to your needs and wishes, and create guitar picks that make a difference.

The grip of a guitar pick is one of the most controversial topics when it comes to guitars.

Different materials or shapes of guitar picks make this topic as interesting as confusing to many guitar players.

Everyone is different and everyone plays differently. However, we (guitarists) have the same goal in this area: have a decent guitar pick grip and play as comfortably as possible.

1. What is Guitar Pick Grip?

Grip is defined as “a firm strong hold”.

Sweaty palms or sweaty hands are one of the most common issues guitar players suffer from.

Playing with wet hands makes it difficult to play and some techniques like bends and slides can get a bit tricky.

Not only will your playing be affected by sweat, but also your guitar: the salts contained in the sweat will erode your strings and can even damage the neck of your guitar.

If you experience this problem often, you will know the feeling of reduced grip, imprecise movements, and lack of control when playing guitar. This can lead to frustrating moments and, in the worst case, to stop playing the guitar forever.

Nevertheless, we have two good news for you:

You are not alone: sweaty hands is a problem that affects almost 10% of guitarists.

Sweaty hands won’t prevent you from becoming an excellent guitarist. There are many solutions.

We have done our job and talked to many experts to summarize the top 10 ways to avoid sweaty hands when playing guitar.

Tip 1 - Relax and calm down: 

The most common reason for sweating while playing guitar is being too nervous. Especially in live performances or during studio recording sessions.

At home, you are in a controlled environment and you can reduce the tension of your body more easily, you can take your time and start again from the beginning when making errors.

Some guitar students have reported having sweaty hands only during their guitar lessons or rehearsals.

If this is your case, take a couple of deep breaths and warm up before you play guitar. Try to learn how to control this situation and understand that it is only mental. Good luck with it!

Tip 2 - Cold Water and Soap:

In combination with the first tip, washing your hands with cold water and soap before playing guitar can work very well.

Soap removes dead skin cells and carries away oils and dirt so you will be protecting your guitar from dirt, especially your guitar strings.

Tip 3 - Play in a dry Place:

Even in the warmest months, looking for a dry place to play guitar can help a lot when it comes to sweat.

One way to reduce the humidity of the air is by using air conditioning. Other alternative ways to keep a room dry is growing plants that absorb humidity or using a dehumidifier.

Tip 4 - Use a Fan:

Using a fan that points to your guitar will help evaporate your sweat and keep your hands cooler, making them sweat less.

The biggest downside of this solution is the noise created by the fan. Especially if you are playing at home and want to relax, the noise of a fan can be annoying even when playing electric guitar.

Tip 5 - Use a Towel between the Songs:

The same way you tune your guitar between songs, you should dry your hands as well and wipe the strings down after every song and after playing.

Sweat is a guitar string killer, and some people have very acidic sweat that will damage the guitar and strings even faster.

Keep a towel on your guitar case, and after a couple of sessions you won’t even notice you are drying your hands.

Tip 6 - Baby Powder:

Baby powder, also known as talcum powder, is a great home remedy for sweaty hands when playing guitar. It’s simple, fast, and effective.

Many great guitarists have used this method over decades and even carried a small bottle of talcum powder for every gig.

Tip 7 - Climbing Chalk:

To be confident in your guitar playing, you need to be sure that your sweaty hands are perfectly taken care of and stay dry.

If the talcum powder did not work you might consider looking for professional climbing chalk.

Tip 8 - Stay hydrated:

Staying hydrated not only will help you manage your body temperature and make you sweat less, but also have a healthier sweat. What do I mean by this?

When your body is dehydrated, there will be an increase in the concentration of sodium in sweat which is indicated by a higher pH value.

Acidic sweat is very sticky and uncomfortable to play with, and it will damage your guitar and corrode your strings even faster.

Tip 9 - Use the right Finish for the Wood of your Guitar Neck:

Guitar necks are made out of many different wood types and wood finishes, for example varnished or bare wood.

Bring your guitar to a luthier and talk about the problem with your hands. He will recommend the best finish for your type of skin and playing style and you will increase the chance of finding a practical solution.

Tip 10 - Visit the Dermatologist:

Everybody’s hands sweat. If you have tested many methods to reduce sweat while playing guitar and this is taking away your enjoyment or affecting your technique, you should visit a dermatologist and check if you suffer from hyperhidrosis, a medical condition that affects 2.8% of the global population.

They work every day with such problems and will know what to do so you can play guitar again without any worries.

Bonus: Tip 11 - If your picking hand sweats, find a suitable guitar pick

 

Sometimes the best place to start is with a Variety Pack containing different guitar picks.

In our experience, the right grip, shape or geometrical pattern can help a lot here. 

Last Thoughts:

You are not alone. Talk to other guitarists, share your solutions with them and help each other. The guitarist’s learning path is a path full of obstacles and sweaty hands is just one of them.

Talk to your guitar teacher and let him or her know about your problem. Likely, we will also have had some other students with the same problem.

Please let us know if you have found an even better method to prevent your hands from sweating when playing guitar, so we can include it in this article. Thanks!

Reinventing the Guitar Pick: Rombo 2.0

In our first campaign, we focused on outstanding technology at affordable prices. We are now determined to take this to the next level and have designed our guitar picks as an extension to your hands, using the latest technology, materials, and smart models, with your comfort in mind.

We are now focusing on YOU, and your experience, using a fresh design. 

Rethinking the Idea of a Guitar Pick 

Guitar picks are the bridge between you and your instrument. A hidden hero in the hands of guitarists. A guitar pick is a very personal item and choosing the right one depends on several factors.

Rombo Jade Guitar Pick Set in color Honey Yellow

Back in 2018, ROMBO was born with a mission: Question every aspect of a guitar pick, to redefine what the user really needs. We started our personal search for the perfect balance between tone and ergonomics.

We have learned a lot during the last 3 years, and finally, we are ready to offer new experiences to guitar and bass players around the globe.

Rombo Crisp Guitar Pick Set in color Graphite Black

Try Out Mix Guitar Pick Set

Fresh Approaches

During the creation of these new 4 plectrums, we used the following rules as a guideline:

●  Work very closely with many professional guitarists.

●  Question our own first designs

●  Redefine what a user needs to get the best performance.

● Perform in-depth research, to find the best material improvements.

In addition, we conducted a big survey, (1552 guitarists from 31 countries participated), to define the thicknesses, shape, size, and even the names of the new guitar picks.

After a long product development process, we have reached the point where we are extremely happy with the results!

Rombo Horizon Guitar Pick in color Graphite Black

The constant Search for the perfect Material

We are using a thermoplastic polymer, which belongs to the family of the polyamides. This material is used in aerospace and automobile industries, and has high mechanical strength, excellent impact resistance (guitar strings), and superior aesthetic properties.

We believe we have achieved an excellent balance between sound, comfort, grip, aesthetic properties, and durability.

In addition, we offer all our picks in EcoBlack: A 100% recycled material from pre-consumer fibre waste.

Rombo Guitar Pick Set EcoBlack material

Special Attributes we always wanted for our Guitar Picks

When it comes to guitar picks there are four main attributes: thickness, shape, material, and size. These attributes define 80% percent of a guitar pick.

However, the last 20%, contains improvements, and attention to detail, making the playing experience much more comfortable, giving you better results, and a more enjoyable playing experience.

These aspects are essential, to get the most out of this guitar accessory.

Here are the 6 features we have defined for all of our ROMBO guitar picks:

A mirror polished guitar pick reduces friction between guitar pick and strings. With every impact, the guitar pick will suffer less friction and therefore wear down slower. The pick will glide better, and produces less pick noise.

All of our picks have variable thicknesses: The solid and thick body, gives you a better grip and control. The thinner tip will give you enough flexibility to achieve greater versatility when developing different guitar techniques.

What makes a Guitar Pick durable?

The attributes that define the durability of a guitar pick are as follows:

• Guitar Pick Material
• Guitar Pick Thickness
• Guitar Pick Tip Shape
• Guitar Pick Tip Texture

Harder materials will wear down slower. This is one of the reasons there has been a lot of research in the area of suitable materials for guitar picks.

The goal is to find a wear-resistant material, that keeps the tone characteristics that guitar players want, while still giving a good grip.

Other attributes of the pick that affect the durability, are the Tip Shape, and the Tip Texture. Very pointed guitar tips tend to wear down faster, because there is less material on the tip.

However, this problem can be partially solved with the right guitar pick tip texture. A polished tip on the guitar pick will cause less friction between strings and plectrum.

Surfaces and Textures on Guitar Picks: Finding the Balance

Textures on guitar picks, define not only the important aspects like grip, control, and friction between the strings and guitar pick, but also focus on the equally important details, like comfort, pick noise, and design.

We believe textures on guitar picks are essential for a tool that was designed to be held between your fingers.

The combination of two different surface finishes in the guitar picks, have convinced us, and our testers, of the potential gains a player can achieve:

• A polished tip for clarity, durability and control
   
• A micro-nodules texture in the centre of the guitar pick for the most comfortable holding without compromising grip

Rombo Jade Guitar Pick Set in color Honey Yellow

Rombo Prisma Guitar Pick Set in color Graphite Black

Rombo Horizon Guitar Pick Set in mixed colors

Rombo Crisp Guitar Pick Set in color Honey Yellow

The New Rombo Guitar Picks

ROMBO HORIZON - 1,4 mm

The wide curvature on the body and tip allows you to slide smoothly through the guitar strings. Its curious-shaped raised hill on the body ensures splendid comfortable hold.

ROMBO PRISMA - 0,8 mm

A classic shape enhanced by modern surface technology. The geometry on the main body has different height levels for the most comfortable holding and grip.

ROMBO CRISP - 1 mm

Medium thickness combined with geometric concave design surfaces. The result? unexpected flexibility with great bass tones. Its medium-sharped tip provides extra warm tones.

ROMBO JADE - 2,3 mm

Maximum precision. Perfect for shredding guitar techniques. Its wide bevel edge, combined with a decent body thickness, provides a supreme attack, without compromising bass tones.

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.

1 - Guitar pick Rombo Diamond: Overview

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.

Guitar pick shape

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.

Guitar pick thickness and guitar pick flexibility

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.

3 - Guitar pick Materials and Surfaces

Guitar pick material

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.

Guitar pick design

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.

Guitar pick grip

For the grip of Rombo Diamond, there are three aspects to consider:

• The material

• The 3D Geometry
• The micro-nodules texture 

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.

Guitar pick colors

Currently Rombo Diamond is offered in the following colors.

Manufacturing technique

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.

4 - Guitar pick sound

Guitar Pick tone

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.

Guitar Pick Noise

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.

5 - Guitar pick techniques

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.

6 - Pricing

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.

7 - Conclusion

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

 

This article was created because you asked for it. It is meant to be as transparent as possible, so that you can see who the faces behind Rombo are and how we organize this project internally.

We hope you enjoy it!

Rombo Guitar Picks: Short Introduction

Since 2019, Rombo has been researching surface finish and design in order to find the perfect balance between grip, ergonomics, and function in guitar picks and other guitar accessories. Rombo was born thanks to an amazing guitar player community whose aim is to continue this adventure and quest for the perfect guitar accessories.

Who are the faces behind Rombo Guitar Picks?

We are Judith and Carlos, a happily married couple trying to innovate in the world of guitar picks. We live near Stuttgart, Germany.

We both love music, guitars, product development, challenges, and attention to detail, so Rombo was the perfect excuse to mix all these things together and have some amazing adventures.

Our location in Remseck a.N., Germany

Packing and shipping of our guitar picks

From Remseck, near Stuttgart in Germany, we do almost everything.

Here, we receive the packaging and the dots we use to fix the guitar picks to the packaging. We try to be very organized and keep the place very tidy. Tidy places also look better for photographs!

In the shipping station, there is one tray for every guitar pick model. We also include a flyer and a “thank you”-card with every delivery. This way we make the experience more personal, while sharing our journey of packing your guitar picks directly with you!

We have a label printer, which is super useful, and thankfully our web system allows us to automate the printing for every customer and create a label with just one click.

Our post carrier receives the boxes from us with all the information they need to bring our products to you, including weight, countries, and import information for the customs.

We ship every order directly from our location.

The envelopes we use are not very cheap, but they protect the product well, they are made of 100% recycled paper and they are plastic free.

Always learning something new

We have to be very multifaceted to cover all the tasks we do, from idea generation, product development, graphic design, photography, web maintenance, logistics, social media, packaging development, and accounting, to all the stuff a start-up involves.

We believe that doing everything by ourselves gives us a very close perspective from the customer side.

This means, when you ask something on Instagram or Facebook, you receive an e-mail from us, or we answer your comment. It is us behind the screen typing every word and every smiley!

We love walking a lot. We go for a walk for 5 kilometres almost everyday. Almost every idea we applied to Rombo was created while having a walk. We called it our daily inspiration walk.

Rombo is a long journey

Two years ago, at the very beginning of this journey, we could not have imagined how many things we needed to learn!

We have encountered many challenges on the way; for example, I remember it was very difficult to find out how to sell internationally and establish a system that is fast enough for us.

I cannot tell how many books on startups, online marketing, Kickstarter or time management we have read! One of the most useful ones was A Crowdfunder's Strategy Guide: Build a Better Business by Building Community, by Jamey Stegmeier.

A funny anecdote is that Judith and I don’t have our own Instagram profiles. For the first post from Rombo, we had to check out a tutorial on Youtube to try to understand the process. I am glad to say that two years later, we have reached almost 20K followers!

PS: We still don’t have our own accounts, the one for Rombo is enough work! :)

Guitar picks: All about the design process

The most complex part is the design process of a guitar pick.

I like to sketch a lot, so I have lots of old ideas and sketches which I use as an inspiration source. Sometimes, we use questions to challenge the design process, like “Is it possible to create a guitar pick that is flexible and rigid at the same time?” While trying to answer this question, we came up with the idea of “variable thickness”, which has proven to substantially increase ergonomics.

Since we have an engineering & design background, we also do the modeling in 3D and product engineering. Every detail is important here to create high-quality products.

When we think the design is ready, we create some prototypes and send them to the testers. If you follow us on social media you will know some of the testers from our stories.

In total, we have about 30 guitar players that help us during this phase of the project and communicate with us which points they liked or didn’t like. Thanks to their feedback, we are able to improve areas of the guitar picks which we would otherwise not have thought of.

Manufacturing technologies

For the manufacturing of our guitar picks on a large scale, we use a technology called injection molding.

In this process, the melted raw material is injected into a mold with the negative shape of the guitar picks.

It is a very complex process with lots of engineering in it, the material has to be treated in a special way to keep the proper humidity, temperature and pressure, and to avoid external contaminations.

On the left, the injection mould from Rombo Diamond: Our polimer flows through the mould runner (yellow arrows) after it reaches over 270°C degrees and it is pushed forward. 

The red area is the area we use for the grip texture. The blue area is high mirror polished.

On the right: The first ever produced Rombo Origami from 30.11.2018. The first 50 guitar picks we produced were sent to guitar pick testers who gave us feedback about the material, the grip, the tone and the shape.

The raw material we use is produced in Italy. We have worked very closely with our material partner to accomplish every requirement we had, including the 100% recycled material of the EcoBlack sets. If you want to know more about the materials we are using, you can find more information HERE.

Packaging for guitar picks

We believe packaging is a very important aspect of a product. We not only use it to create an atmosphere and emphasize the quality of the product, but also to inform you about the attributes of our guitar picks.

This is the reason we created packaging with lots of printable areas to describe the guitar picks. We include our parameter bars, a short description of the guitar pick, the 6 special attributes of a Rombo guitar pick, and a QR-code with extra information.

We had a total of about 6 different concepts before we decided which one was the most suitable.

Right now, we are creating the packaging layouts for the new models that will launch in 2021. We have received some samples and they look great!

If you want to see the new models, you can click HERE.

Guitar picks and social media:

Rombo product photography:

Carlos takes the pictures for social media. We are not very skilled with the camera, but we have learned a couple of tricks and after thousands of trials, we are able to take decent pictures in our living room.

In our Instagram you can find the best pictures.

Educating the customer

You have probably noticed that our posts on Instagram are mainly informative. Guitar picks are often underrated and most guitar players don’t think much about it.

However, guitar picks are the loudest amplifier you can have in your hands and are the bridge between you and your guitar.

We try to pass the know-how we have obtained directly to you, so you can make conscious decisions about the products you purchase. Aspects like the variations on the tone depending on guitar pick thickness, or why are there so many guitar pick shapes and materials… And this is the reason we created our blog articles.

Our aim is to create a communication process that goes back and forth between us. Some of you have become friends of ours and have won a new perspective of thinking about guitar picks. 

Engagement of the community

“To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.” – François de La Rochefoucauld, essayist.

We believe we have one of the most engaged communities ever! We try to answer every comment and every private message, and we are sure we have an answer rate very close to 100%.

You all have participated in surveys, and you have left amazing comments and reviews. You post stories regularly and we have had very deep conversations with some of you! Thank you!

We also received great support from many amazing blogs like Heavy Repping, Gigs and Guitars, The Gadget Flow, Ultimate-Guitar, Guitar World, and others.

Rombo around the world

Rombo is expanding. We are working with dealers around the world and currently we have sellers in the following countries:

This means, with the help of our dealers we are able to sell in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, almost every country of South America, and South Africa.

Transparent communication with our dealers is a priority with us, and so far 100% of the new sellers stay with us! Together we are developing the brand and taking it to the next step.

The future of rombo:

During our inspiration walks, we talk about Rombo in the next few years. It is very difficult to imagine what the future will bring.

We would like to bring new designs (lots of them!), to increase the amount of recycled material for the manufacturing of the picks, or even be able to create colored recycled guitar picks. We want to talk more to our customers and share our experiences, and from time to time, share some great music and playlists.

We are only two people and every step takes its time. Some of you have written beautiful thank you letters to us or left very good reviews and we want to let you know that we are working hard everyday not to disappoint you :)

You are the best and you have a vote on the future of Rombo!

In May 2020, Judith and I had finished the first 3D sketches of our four new guitar pick models. However, the picks weren’t 100% ready.

The thickness, the size, and even the names of the picks were still undefined.

We decided to take a new approach and involve as many guitarists as possible to help us co-create our new guitar picks. 

What is a signature guitar pick:

Signature guitar picks are common in the guitar pick world.

These picks were developed with the help of some expert and famous guitarists from a specific music field.

From our point of view, this is a very narrow design path that only considers the opinion and guitar playing style of one person.

Our approach: The opposite of a signature pick:

The guitar community has strongly supported Rombopicks since its beginning in 2019.

We did not want to create new guitar picks without asking the people who have been with us since the beginning. You guys and girls are the core of Rombo, and you should decide which products we develop.

The most logical step was to create a big survey to allow users to tell us how they prefer their guitar picks.

We think this is the only way to develop our guitar picks, based on the wants of our users, allowing us to make essential decisions about our company's direction. 

This is only possible by listening to the thoughts of every guitar player. 

In addition, by asking precise questions about guitar picks, we are able to create more awareness of complex issues, like:  Why are guitar picks thick or thin? How they behave when the size changes? Does the flexibility of a guitar pick affect the tone? What about the material?

When the user is aware of the product features, he/she can deliver a useful vote.

Since the beginning, we have been researching all these areas and are sharing them with you. With every article about plectrums we have written, we have contributed to the knowledge you have about your gear so you will be able to decide which gear is the best for you and understand why.

The results of the survey: 

Participants:

1.552 guitar players (including us) have participated in the survey and therefore have took part in the design process of these new guitar picks for 2021.

336 of them left a private message with detailed information.

What is your favorite guitar pick design?

Pick number1: 18,8%
Pick number 2: 14,8%
Pick number 3: 27,8%
Pick number 4: 38,7%

Guitar Pick Number 1:



Name:
Rombo Horizon: 34,5%
Rombo Sense. 33,9%
Rombo Summit: 14,1%
Rombo Mood: 7%
Other names: 10,5%

Average Thickness: 1,378 mm
Average Size: Medium Size with 71% of the votes

Guitar Pick Number 2:

Name:
Rombo Prisma: 76%
Rombo Spin: 7,7%
Rombo Treble: 8,4%
Other names: 7,9%

Average Thickness: 0,831 mm
Average Size: Large Size with 73,5% of the votes

Guitar Pick Number 3:

Name:
Rombo Crisp: 47%
Rombo Split: 22,1%
Rombo Prisma: 16,4%
Other names: 14,5%

Average Thickness: 1,028 mm
Average Size: Medium Size with 59,7% of the votes

Guitar Pick Number 4:

Name:
Rombo Jade: 33%
Rombo Shift: 17,6%
Rombo Slope: 12%
Rombo Summit: 10%
Rombo Dune: 7%
Rombo Cascade: 7%
Rombo Wizzard: 4,9%
Other names: 8,5%

Average Thickness: 2,37 mm
Average Size: Small Size with 56,6% of the votes

Guitar picks: Personal thoughts of 336 guitar players

A total of 336 people left us a private message regarding guitar picks.

We have read all of them carefully and we will use all this information during the development.

Here are the important questions we have received and our comments to them: 

• Will the guitar picks be available in new colors?
  Not at the moment. However, we are thinking about creating some additional colors for special editions in the future.
  
  
• Will they have the same grip structure?
  Yes!  Definitely. Lots of people have sent us e-mails and letters regarding the grip structure. With the micro-nodules, we have the advantage of medium-grip surfaces which add lots of control.
  
  However, a very small number of people want the picks to have more grip. We had to make a decision here, and it was hard.
  
  We won’t forget this topic: In the future, we want to develop a texture with more grip for these players.
  
  
• Why don’t you create different guitar pick thicknesses for each one of the models?
  We want every guitar pick to be unique. As every person has unique preferences, we believe every guitar pick should have its own design.
  
  In the future, we hope to be able to create a bigger quantity of different plectrum designs to cover each possible necessity.
  
  
• What about picks for bass players?
  Most our picks are compatible with bass, as we have confirmed this with some bassists that are using them regularly, especially Rombo Diamond ad Rombo Origami. We explained this HERE.
  
  
• You should create some merch, T-Shirts and other stuff:
  Maybe in the future. Now, we want to focus 100% on the development of the guitar picks. Every minute we spend on the design of a T-Shirt will be taken away from the quality of the picks! ;)
  
  
• Will you offer the EcoBlack range in other colors?
  The EcoBlack material can only be produced in one color at the moment. The recycling process creates a very dark pigmentation. The industry is working hard to find a way to create new recycling processes. We hope we will manufacture all of our picks out of recycled material in the future.

When will be the new picks available?

The new guitar picks will be available in early 2021.
If you want to receive an E-Mail as soon as the picks are availabe, join our mailing list below on the footer.

This is the timeline we created for this project:

The pre-order product launch will be on the platform Kickstarter (like the first generation of Rombo guitar picks we launched in January 2019).

However, the current development of the Covid-19 could postpone the project a couple of months. We want to launch the product when we are able to deliver worldwide.

Why Kickstarter?

Kickstarter campaigns turn dreams and ideas into reality. Rombo is still a small start-up run by two people, and with limited access to resources. Through Kickstarter, we involve the community of guitar players, showing our guitar picks before launching.

This process brings us in contact with the real guitar players and their necessities. It forces us to remain flexible, accept changes, and challenges us to create new designs to fulfill the expectations of our audience.

We love open and critical criticism, and this is the best place to get it, where all comments and thoughts are visible. By sharing your experiences, we can listen to your needs and wishes, and create guitar picks that make a difference.

Guitar picks are one of the most useful accessories for beginners, who have just started to play the guitar or bass.

Having a guitar pick won’t make you a professional guitar player faster, but will enhance the playability of your guitar.

With the right plectrums, you can easily learn new techniques and shape your skills.

The amount of guitar pick brands available on the market today is huge. This can be overwhelming if you are a beginner guitarist, and choosing the right guitar pick can be a tough process if you start in the wrong place.

But first of all: Who is considered a beginner guitar player?

Who is Considered A Beginner Guitar Player?

A beginner guitar player could be someone who just started playing last week, or, someone who has been practicing guitar for 2 months.

It is very difficult to define a line between the beginner and intermediate stages of guitar playing. Especially when you have learned to play the guitar yourself.

In general, to be considered an intermediate player, you should know and master the following areas:

• Change smoothly between fundamental open chords.
• Know power chords and be able to move around then cleanly.
• Know the difference between major and minor basic chord shapes and sounds by hearing.
• Know the note positions on the fretboard for the low E and A strings.
• Having mastered a significant amount of strumming patterns.
• You are able to practice using a metronome, and are aware of your comfort tempo for every technique.
• Have a basic understanding of music theory for musical keys and chords.
• Play through several complete songs smoothly.
• You’ll need to feel familiar with the basic lead techniques of picking, bending, and sliding,...

Why Use Guitar Picks?

Guitar Picks have different advantages when comparing them with fingers.

Guitar picks help increase your playing speed, produce a louder, brighter sound than fingers, and can be shaped to achieve better results when using different techniques like strumming or palm mute.

In general, plectrum techniques are easier to master than classical fingerstyle, or hybrid. It is easier to play fast picked notes.

As a beginner, this is very motivating, since your process of learning will be accelerated.

Guitar Picks - Quick Guide:

At the very beginning of your guitar learning process, your feeling of sound and feedback provided by a guitar pick as not yet developed.

Therefore, you should consider only these two attributes of a guitar pick:

• Guitar Pick Thickness
• Guitar Pick Shape.

Simplifying the “science” of a guitar pick will help you make a fast choice without spending too much time and stress.

After your first couple of months playing guitar, you will develop new skills, which will allow you to introduce more complex factors to your final decision of which pick to buy, guitar pick material, guitar pick size, and other special features.

If you feel secure enough to understand these additional features of a plectrum, go to our guide: How to choose the right guitar pick, which you can find HERE.

For the thickness and the shape, here is where you should begin:

0,75 mm Guitar Picks: The Best Choice for Beginner Guitar Players

Light guitar picks with less than 0,6 mm are considered beginners’ guitar picks.

The reason for this, is that most beginner guitar players first learn strumming techniques, which can usually be played better with thinner plectrums.

However, medium guitar picks with 0,75 mm thickness are the best place to start.

Plectrums with medium thickness are the most versatile in terms of tone, and can be used for rhythm and lead guitar.

If you are having fun with strumming exercises, medium thickness will perform well. If you need to practice some lead guitar techniques, it will work as well.

Depending on the kind of guitarist you want to become, you may consider moving to a higher or lower thickness range afterward.

Rombo Origami is a good example of a medium thickness guitar pick.

Teardrop Shape and Standard  Shape Guitar Picks: The Best Choice for Beginner Guitar Players

Teardrop shape and standard shape guitar picks are simply the most common shapes for plectrums, and globally famous by every single guitar player.

You cannot go wrong if you use one of these shapes for your first guitar pick.

Both picks have enough surface for a solid grip, and the tip has mostly a medium radius, and often even a light bevel edge for smoother playing.

When is it time to change the guitar pick?

I am not talking about wear and tear. For this, we already published the article “Guitar Pick Durability”

What I really mean is, when is it time to question the guitar pick model you are using and use a different thickness or a different material?

Avoid sticking with a single guitar pick model for the rest of your life.

Using different guitar picks will give you the possibility to increase your tonality ranges, develop a more accurate feeling for different guitar techniques, and be more aware of your preferences when it comes to guitar gear.

Therefore, the answer is: always! I cannot recommend enough, the benefit of testing as many different plectrums as possible, and then decide which ones are your favorites.

I used the plural noun “favorites”, because you should find at least 3 of your top guitar picks.

As you develop your skills as a guitarist, you will notice that some guitar pick shapes, or guitar pick thicknesses, are more adequate for specific techniques.

Discover our variety pack HERE

In my case, I like medium picks for strumming, hard ponty guitar picks for practicing scales and loud music, and very rounded guitar picks for the days I just want to relax, use my reverb pedal, and create beautiful clean guitar melodies.

Conclusion: The Right Guitar Pick For Beginners

An important part of learning guitar, is knowing the gear you use: The amplifiers, the pickups, the different guitar strings, the guitar pedals, and also the guitar picks.

Don’t feel overwhelmed by the amount of guitar picks out there. It’s just a matter of preference, and you will have to spend some time trying new guitar picks, which can be fun and bring you some nice experiences.

You can start with a standard shaped guitar pick with 0,75 mm thickness. But, if you don’t feel comfortable with just one option, try a variety pack, containing some different guitar picks. Close your eyes, and chose the guitar pick that feels right to you.

Please leave a comment and tell us the thickness of the first guitar pick you had. Thanks!