Red Bear Picks (fo' guitarists)

[Fishy]

So people spend thousands on guitars and amps and all sorts of stuff trying to get a better tone, and almost uniformly spent 50c on a cruddy piece of plastic which is the actual thing exciting the string. This, imo, is stupid. I did a bunch of research on the options and came across Red Bear.

These guys use proteins to culture a turtle shell substitute which is pretty much the perfect pick material. I cannot describe how easily these things glide across strings. I feel like I'm putting in absolutely no effort and I'm playing substantially faster and with more control then ever before. Anything that can make me super excited about just playing anything on my guitar after like 8 years of playing has gotta be special.

I used to use a Jazz III, which is about 1.4mm, pretty awesome lead pick. This is a picture of it next to my Red Bear lil' Jazzer pick.

It's about 1.6mm, super pointy, and with a really nice feeling edge to it. The holes are there to make it easier to grip. I should probably mention they cost $20 a crack ($25 with your name on it) but they last for ages. Here's guthrie govan if you need any more proof these are epic and that you should buy one:

I know of a bunch of other manufacturers of more 'premium' picks. What do you guys use? And if you just use boring brand X picks, I urge you to experiment with materials as well as with shapes and sizes.

[skewered logic]

I used to use the green Dunlop Tortex picks (0.88 mm)... they sounded pretty good paired with my favorite strings (DR MT-10), but then I switched to slightly smaller and thicker nylon picks with a sharper edge. I can play a lot faster with a lot more control and the attack and sustain haven't changed in a particularly bad way, but the smaller size did take some getting used to.

Personally, I was never able to get used to the Jazz III's - they're just so tiny and my picking style is pretty ungainly. For lead work though... holy crap those picks are freaking fast and the attack is really light and they're just awesome.

Now I'm seriously considering buying a one or two of these Red Bear picks; looks like a great sharp edge, there are holes for grip, it looks like good size, and they're made from faux-tortoiseshell (it won't bend!!!!!). I'm very interested in hearing more personal reviews about these new tortis picks - let us know if there are any new developments you discover about it from playing with it.

[Fishy]

Now I'm seriously considering buying a one or two of these Red Bear picks; looks like a great sharp edge, there are holes for grip, it looks like good size, and they're made from faux-tortoiseshell (it won't bend!!!!!). I'm very interested in hearing more personal reviews about these new tortis picks - let us know if there are any new developments you discover about it from playing with it.

They come with a note saying don't bend them, they will snap .

I would just say mine is the little jazzer plus, plus meaning it's a lot pointier then normal. It's pretty much a lead pick only. I'm gonna get some more different shapes soon for different styles.

They do more or less every shape you can think of, but they don't come thinner then 1mm.

[Darangen]

I've used Jazz III's and Tortex's for a very long time.

Pretty interesting stuff though, I'll have to check it out.

[Nabeel Ansari]

I use a small plastic First Act pick that came with my guitar when I bought it for $130 at Toys R' Us.

[luhny]

This looks cool and sounds most interesting. However I always tend to lose my plectra (leave them somewhere, put it in a wrong pocket, falling out of the jacket pocket, etc.). So I rather have loads of the 50 cent plectra rather than one awesome one that I will eventually lose.

Tortex 0.88, Nylon 1.0 and Delrin 1.14 are otherwise my plectra of choice.

But I take an expired creditcard as well as long as I can cut it decently into shape.