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WoodenPicks.com Exotic Hardwood Guitar Picks
Chris Bereznay
2002-08-12

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Recently, we received a sample pack of wooden picks from WoodenPicks.com. I must say we were quite interested as most of the guitarists around here had not played with anything other than standard picks. We have folks interested in Rock, Jazz, Blues, Metal - just about every genre you can think of, and these picks received a workout in each category.

Probably the first thing we noticed was that these wooden picks have a really different string attack and cause a much stronger string resonance when used traditionally. The attack is less pronounced at first, kind of softer, but due to the more rigid nature of the wood will provide a deeper more bass heavy tone from your strings. We used them with electrics, acoustics and acoustic electrics all with similar results.

Probably the favorite use for the wooden picks was strumming tunes on a Martin D-28. The soft attack and powerful strum capability really capitalized on the big bold tone of the Martin and made it sound even more booming, especially when breaking into a chorus. You can still get a nice gentle tone, though, and each pick, regardless of wood type could provide a smooth tone for picking around various chord formations when handled properly. You'll learn quickly to use some finesse or you can easily over strum and end up with more volume that you're looking for.

What you may not realize, though, is the different things you can do with these picks, especially when going through some exercises on a Fender Strat plugged into a Fender Cyber-Twin amplifier. We started playing with the edges a little more, gliding the picks edge across the strings for a real subtle gliss type picking method. We even attempted some pinch harmonics which provided a real unique tone, distinctly different than the same type of technique used with a standard pick. Experimenting was half the fun, and although some of us found them a little hard to get used to, the different tones and colors we could pull off the strings really made us realize how unique these picks are.

Current selections on the site include Bloodwood, African Olivewood and Pink Ivory woods. This is just a small sample of what you might find at any given time at WoodenPicks.com. Fortunately, style and wood variety is changed frequently on the website, so if you decide to order you'll likely end up with a new surprise each time. These picks are unique, that's for sure, and may not be for you if you're more of a traditionalist. If you're into creating unique tones, though, you'll want to give them a try. These fine exotic wood picks can be had for around four bucks a piece at www.WoodenPicks.com.