Qualities of a premium guitar pick
In our article “How to choose the right guitar pick,” we did a deep analysis on the qualities you should consider when deciding which plectrum to use.
In this article, we will discuss the most important characteristics needed in a guitar pick in order to make the playing experience as comfortable as possible and obtain the best results. These characteristics are not as obvious as others but are essential to getting the most out of this accessory.
1- What is a premium guitar pick?
The Cambridge Dictionary says premium is “used to refer to something that is of higher than usual quality."
Therefore, a premium guitar pick will exceed in qualities like material, shape or texture and will provide a playing experience that’s above average in terms of precision, durability, comfort, tone, or other areas.
Put simply, a premium guitar pick will perform better than regular picks.
1.1 How to achieve premium quality:
Reducing the definition of a guitar pick to its basic intrinsic features, it is easy to understand how to improve certain areas.
For example, it is logical to conclude that better materials will have an impact on the guitar pick’s tone and durability.
Also, with the help of basic ergonomic and design laws, you can create a shape that enhances grip or slides better. The key is to know what you are looking for.
Back in 2018, with the help of a number of professional guitar players, we defined the requirements the Rombo picks had to achieve:
- Excellent tone with minimal pick noise
- Durability
- Comfort and grip
- Great look
- Versatility
With these premises, we started a journey to identify the qualities that would provide an above-average experience in every area.
2- Qualities of a premium guitar pick:
2.1 Micronodules grip texture:
Grippy, non-sticky surfaces are perfect for the guitar pick’s hold area. The best way to achieve this is to create a texture that fits between the grooves of your skin and prevents the guitar pick from slipping or creating an aggressive grip geometry that is uncomfortable for long practice sessions.
When developing the grip texture, our focus was to create a type of grip that allows the player to maintain flexibility and freedom along with a feeling of security and control.
More information on guitar pick grip can be found here.
2.2 High-mirror polished tip:
A guitar pick with a polished tip allows the player to experience more control and less friction. Reduced friction between the plectrum and the strings of the guitar will increase the durability of the pick because it will wear less and reduce its noise.
Noise reduction is a feature especially useful for recording studio tracks.
Furthermore, a polished tip produces more clear individual tones, a requirement for some guitar techniques such as sweep picking.
2.3 Variable thickness:
One of the less common characteristics in guitar picks is variable thickness. It is ideal for the pick to be thick for better control; however, this could significantly reduce its flexibility.
For that reason, plectrums of variable thickness have been created, giving us the best of both worlds.
That is to say, we could have a guitar pick with a solid, thick body that gives us better grip and control. Additionally, it features a thinner tip that provides enough flexibility to achieve greater versatility when developing various guitar techniques.
Remember that an increase in the thickness of only two sheets of paper will substantially reduce the pick’s flexibility!
Read more about the advantages of using a guitar pick with variable thickness here.
2.4 Ergonomic design surfaces:
By following ergonomic models, the surface of the pick can be adapted to feel more comfortable and also look great.
Similarly, we can take advantage of concave or convex surfaces, as they help keep the plectrum’s position oriented and avoid losing control in turning movements.
The shape is also closely connected to the tone of the guitar pick. Just like with the design of a surfboard, you need a specific shape to optimize your energy when catching a wave. The same effect is caused when the guitar pick plucks the strings; different shapes will produce different results.
2.5 High-quality materials:
If your hands are doing an arduous job, then they deserve the best tools, right? Many people spend a lot of money on guitars, amplifiers, strings, and other accessories, but they overlook the guitar pick. This is a big mistake.
The material with which the pick is made can influence the tone, attack, flexibility, durability, and many other aspects. Therefore, without paying attention to it, you can hardly find your personal sound.
Are you curious about the materials used for the Rombo guitar picks? Read a full article on the topic here.
2.6 Unique designs:
The design of everything you own is a way of expressing yourself and defining your personal style.
When it comes to guitar picks, functionality is everything. This is the reason we have spent so much time integrating beautiful geometric patterns that also fulfill the functional requirements for every technique.
3- Conclusion:
In short, guitar picks are personal items that are bound to subjective perceptions. However, some aspects are measurable and can be improved to fulfill requirements that every guitarist needs.
Don’t overestimate this small piece of gear.
Not sure what is the right guitar pick for you? Let us help you here.
Medium Gauge Guitar Picks
Medium guitar picks are the most popular choice amongst guitarists and they offer the best of both worlds, right? Well, it is not that easy.
In our last article, “thin vs thick guitar picks”, we discussed both guitar pick thickness ranges in depth. Medium guitar picks deserve a separate analysis.
1- Why does guitar pick thickness matter?
Guitar pick thickness is usually measured in millimeters and this is an attribute that can change various aspects of a pick like flexibility, tone, volume, pick noise, durability, control over single notes, and more.
The thickness of a guitar pick is for this reason considered one of the 4 fundamental attributes of a guitar pick, along with guitar pick material, shape, and size.
2- Medium guitar pick thickness:
Medium guitar picks range in thicknesses from 0.55 and 1 mm.
The following is what a survey performed in March 2021 has shown. Thousands of guitarists were asked to define the following pick thicknesses:
- The maximum thickness of a thin guitar pick
- The minimum thickness of a thick guitar pick
With both limits established, we obtain the thickness definition of medium guitar picks.
The maximum thickness of a thin guitar pick was defined as about 0.55 mm by 2.292 guitarists.
The minimum thickness of a thick guitar pick was defined as 1 mm by 1.308 guitarists.
3- What is a medium guitar pick?
Medium guitar picks are guitar picks with a thickness between 0.55 and 1 mm. These guitar picks are very popular because of their versatility; in some areas, they offer the advantages of both thin and thick guitar picks.
Medium gauge picks have the broadest flexibility range. In this pick thickness interval, the material will play the most important role when it comes to defining the flexibility of a pick.
In other words, thick guitar picks are always stiff and rigid. With thicknesses over 1 mm, even the most flexible pick materials are stiff, and therefore the material has less influence on the flexibility of the pick. This relation creates a broad flexibility range amongst medium guitar picks, which can be very flexible or very stiff, depending on the material used.
The same effect can be applied to tone, durability, and pick noise.
Typically, medium guitar picks are used by lead guitarists who also implement rhythm guitar techniques and look not only for an all-round compromise between single-note melodic phrases and strumming, but also potentially developing a more versatile guitar career that integrates different techniques and mixes both worlds together.
4- Thin, medium and thick guitar picks:
|
|
Thin guitar picks (under 0.55 mm) |
Medium guitar picks (0.55 - 1 mm) |
Thick guitar picks (over 1 mm) |
|
Flexibility |
Flexible/very flexible |
Medium flexibility or stiff, depending on the material. |
Rigid/very rigid |
|
Tone |
Lighter tones, less bass |
Warm tones for softer materials. Brighter tones for harder materials. |
Warm/dark tones and mellow tones |
|
Volume |
Maximum volume is limited. Lower dynamic range. |
Can provide high volume with the usage of hard materials. |
Provide high volume. Broader dynamic range. |
|
Guitar pick noise |
Noticeable pick noise |
Reduced pick noise when the pick has a variable thickness. |
Reduced pick noise |
|
Durability |
Less durable |
Depending on the material. |
More durable |
|
Control |
Less control for single notes |
Very versatile. Control of single notes is possible if the player is experienced with this type of pick. |
High control of single notes |
|
Popular techniques |
Rhythm guitar, strumming, tremolo picking, ... |
Very versatile. A combination of both thin and thick guitar picks is possible if the player is experienced with this type of pick. |
Lead guitar, shredding, sweep picking, ... |
|
Common type of players |
Beginners, acoustic guitar players |
Most popular thickness. Medium thickness is used by beginners, intermediate and advanced guitarists. |
Intermediate and advanced guitarists |
This makes medium gauge guitar picks the most difficult picks to estimate without having tested them, and it is one of the reasons why we created the “guitar pick parameters” included in every product page, like in Rombo Origami.
5- Medium guitar picks are the best picks for beginners:
For most beginner guitar players, medium gauge guitar picks are the best option. You are in a process in which experimenting with sounds and learning new techniques will shape your profile as a guitarist in the future.
You might change your music taste during this process or even change your guitar type. You must stay flexible and versatile to allow your skills to develop in all directions and be a more rounded guitarist.
For this, a medium guitar pick is perfect, since you will be able to try different techniques with a pick that works very well in many different areas. After you have decided the direction of your development as a guitarist, increasing or decreasing the gauge won’t be that difficult.
Therefore, this is statistically the best option to start with if you want to try different guitar learning paths.
However, there are some exceptions: Some beginner guitarists know exactly what kind of player they want to be. They know from the very beginning if their dream is to become a very technical metal player, if they prefer being an expert acoustic guitar rhythm player, or if they will focus on songwriting and not on their guitar skills.
These examples are very rare, but they exist. In this case, you might want to consider starting with a guitar pick that has been designed for the type of skills you want to improve.
If you are a beginner, this might be interesting for you: Guitar pick for beginners
6- Medium guitar picks at Rombo
Rombo Origami guitar pick - 0.75 mm
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 ergonomic and comfortable hold.
Rombo Prisma guitar pick - 0.8 mm (available in September 2021)
A classic shape enhanced by modern surface technology. The geometry on the main body has different height levels for the most comfortable hold and grip.
Rombo Crisp guitar pick - 1 mm (available in September 2021)
Medium thickness combined with geometric concave design surfaces. The result? Unexpected flexibility with great bass tones. Its medium-sharp tip provides extra warm tones.
7- Conclusion on medium guitar picks
Each pick has a specific purpose, and you choose the pick based on the sound you want to achieve as well as other personal preferences like comfort and grip.
Medium picks are not just the picks in the middle of thick and thin guitar picks. They are a perfect approach for those guitarists looking to develop versatility and flexibility in their learning path.
Due to the high influence the material has on these picks, they are the most difficult picks to estimate before testing them, and every medium guitar pick is unique. Despite this, they are the best choice for most beginner guitarists.
However, if you have a very clear idea of the skills you want to develop in the future, you might be looking for either thin or thick guitar picks, which we discussed here.
Guitar Picks Online - 9 main Advantages of ordering Guitar Picks Online
But, why do guitar players order guitar picks online? What are the advantages of ordering picks online?
We have thought about this recently and have summarized the main 9 advantages of ordering guitar picks online.
1 - There is a huge variety of guitar picks available online
1 - There is a huge variety of guitar picks available online
There are lots of guitar pick makers (like us) using their knowledge to create guitar picks that differ a lot from common guitar picks or mass production guitar picks.
The aim of these guitar pick makers is to create something unique with a specific purpose and to show their work to the world. Where can you find these people?
2 - More information and detailed Descriptions for the Guitar Picks
However, in most online shops for guitar picks, the product pages show you everything you need to know.
Usually they display a couple of pictures of the guitar picks, inform about the guitar pick material, the thickness, the shape, and they include a detailed description of the plectrum and its features.
In our case, we use pictures like this to condensate all the information:
Nevertheless, we care a lot about packaging and want you to have this information in your hands as well
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.
3 - Personal Contact with the Guitar Pick Makers
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!
4 - Guitar Pick reviews are Gold!
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!
5 - Reviews can trigger Changes in the Design of Guitar Picks
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!
6 - Your Wishes will be fulfilled!
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.
7 - Online Guitar Pick Stores are open 24/7
You can visit the stores anytime from your couch or while you commute in the metro. That’s quite practical!
8 - Very easy to ship!
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.
9 - New Guitar Gear for the Price of a Starbucks Coffee
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!
Guitar Pick Materials At Rombo
Guitar picks can really be made out of anything. In the past, some exotic materials were used to produce guitar picks.
The technological wave that came with highly specialized polymers created a new era of materials with amazing properties.
How The Material Of A Guitar Pick Influences Your Playing
The material of a guitar pick is strictly connected to its flexibility and tone. It is hard to imagine that such a small piece can have a big impact on playability.
However, you will clearly notice some sound differences when testing a couple of different guitar picks.
Luckily, these small useful gems are the cheapest guitar accessory you can acquire, allowing you to test many guitar pick models.
The Constant Search For The Perfect Tone
When it comes to guitar picks, changing the properties of a material is not an easy task.
Flexible guitar pick materials:
Flexible guitar pick materials can create mellow and warm tones when using specific guitar techniques. However, they can also achieve brighter tones when holding the pick very closely to the pointy tip or “attack area”. This is the reason they have been the go-to choice for guitarists for decades.
Stiff guitar pick materials:
Stiff guitar pick materials can create a snappier, bright tone that can be very delightful, provide more volume and more clarity to your chords and solo notes. These picks are often used for more specific guitar techniques by lead guitarists.
Material Isn't Everything
Thickness, shape and size will play an important role too!
Flexible guitar pick materials can create mellow, warm tones. However, when using plectrum thicknesses over 1 mm, the tone will get darker and heavier. This can be used to create the feeling of having more “bass” in your instrument. The same effect happens with the size. The more material you have, the heavier the sound will be.
We have a guide to find your guitar pick HERE. You will learn how these 4 attributes (material, shape, size, and thickness) are connected.
Finding The Materials For Rombo Guitar Picks:
Every guitarist has different preferences. Throughout our development, we have involved as many professional guitarists as possible, and asked them to define how their perfect material should feel.
We came to the following conclusions. The guitar pick material should:
- feel nice to the touch and be comfortable, yet provide grip
- be able to create clear tones, without compromising the bass tones
- be very versatile: feel flexible when thin and feel stiff when thick
- be durable
- look nice
With these premises, we started our long journey: the search for a suitable material.
After lots of tests, feedback rounds and sending dozens of pick prototypes around the globe to our guitar pick testers, we think we`ve found it!
Guitar Pick Materials At Rombo
We are using a thermoplastic polymer that belongs to the family of the polyamides. This material is used in aerospace and automobile industries and has the following properties:
- High-mechanical strength
- Versatile (rigid or flexible -depending on the treatment and thickness)
- Excellent impact resistance (guitar strings)
- Superior aesthetic properties
- Medium / low friction
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.
We believe we have achieved an excellent balance between, sound, comfort, aesthetic properties, and durability.
Combined with well-thought ergonomic designs, different textures, and very good quality control of the process, this material can accomplish all 5 premises we defined above.
Eco-Black Range: 100% Recycled Guitar Picks
We are also experimenting with recycled materials. In our “ECO-Black" range, we offer the same material formula, but use 100% recycled material from pre-consumer waste.
In this product range, the guitar picks are only available in Graphite Black. Currently, this is the only color we can produce when using this compound.
In addition, during compound manufacturing, there are 90% less emissions, 65% energy reduction, and a 61% reduction of total resources.
We will continue our hard work in this area and someday in the future, we will be able to create colored guitar picks out of this material. When this day comes, all of our guitar picks will be 100% recycled.
Read more about the Eco-Black range and the recycled guitar picks in our article "ROMBO Unveils New “Eco-Black Range Guitar Pick Models".
Conclusion:
Finding a material you feel comfortable with is not an easy task, but you will have lots of fun along the way.
We believe material development is fundamental to ensure a future of plenty of functional, good-looking and environmentally friendly materials.
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