I am a Wilmington musician and I have combined my passion for music and lapidary to make stone guitar picks.
I am not a professional. It is a hobby that I love. My products will have minor flaws that may slightly affect the look of the stone but not the use of the pick.
I used Semi-precious stones, gemstones and unusual man-made materials.
My picks are all hand made and each is unique. I try to cut the stones for the best effect. I grind and polish each one by hand. They take about 1 to 2 hours depending on their Mohs Hardness.
I call them “Picks of Destiny” and I have a Facebook page that shows how I make them and other stone products for the guitar.
The harder the stone, the longer it will last. I stress-test each pick to make sure it holds up under the stresses of being used.
Every stone has its Metaphysical Properties. I describe what they are for each pick I sell.
Not all stones impart the same tone. Quartz is probably the best for an even brilliance across the fretboard and excels on acoustic guitars. They all offer a crisp sound for electric lead work.
Stone picks can be noisy and they can scratch your guitar so you want to consider how hard you strum and the value of the guitar you are strumming. I don't recommend “windmilling” because they can easily damage a guitar top.
If you try to beak them by squeezing them too hard, you can probably break them. They will be fine with just enough pressure to strum or pick. They are somewhat fragile so dropping them on concrete could be disastrous.
I chose to make mine with sharp points. This seems to add the the brilliance and attack on the string. They will tend to “eat” brass wound strings over time but it would take a while. If the points break, send them back to be and I can restore them. So far, I've had no returns.
They are used by some artists but they are also great to collect and some are translucent.
Light will be between 1.7 and 2 mm.
Medium will run 2 to 3 mm
Thick will run 3 mm and up
They are rumored to break strings but I only say it so you know about it up-front. I do not believe a stone pick will break a string any more often than normal.
I make some picks for pick collecting. These will not necessarily be for playing but will look awesome in any pick collection. I try to select exceptional stones for this series. It is sometimes difficult to show a completely accurate color in the pictures. Some are taken indoors and others in sunlight. Most are very close to the color. I try to get the pictures as close to the actual color of the picks but there may be some variation.
Hope you enjoy them for the great sound they can emote from a guitar and for their unique look and materials.
Find your groove!
