Tuesday, October 4, 2022

The Space Age, does it even relate to guitar picks? Yes, it does. But not all space rockets or even space age picks make it on their first flight… Finally, the long-awaited review of picks sold as being a revolution of sorts, the Goonis Picks:

I’m watching Keith Moon on Count Me In, the documentary about modern and past-year drummers coinciding with my rediscovery of a rhythmic aspect to my own playing. Keith’s last name was Moon, and some called him “Moon The Loon” because he was a wild and crazy guy. My generation was all about letting loose with our energy and Mr. Moon was on the cutting edge, the Moon, the Keith Moon, and the space age. And now, here we are with futuristic Plectrums, an old art made new: The Goonis Picks…

Now here we are, in 2022, and pick theory might just be catching up with the Saturn V and Keith’s visionary touch, and trying to “let loose” with some strong rhythms. Can a futuristic pick lead to better tone, better performance, better durability, better feel?

Sean Halpin makes bold claims about this pick that was the result of Jordan Goonis’ growing frustration with the picks he was trying to use.

<Important edit: Sean Halpin has contacted me. I told him I am having issues with my site and the ability to do comments and I apologized to him for that. I’m a website novice guys and I don’t have pros to help me, I might be a former tech specialist, but even I don’t know how to do most things. With that said, here is the comments Sean Tried to post, in full, it’s a heartfelt and sincere response, so before you read on, check out what he says:

So Goonis Picks became a worldly vision and I suspect that guitar will never be the same.

OR…

As we look into this, as strong as the claims about the asymmetric plectrum (that it won’t move around, either in and out, or roundabout), I’ve found that the Goonis Picks still want to move on me without a firm grip.

Now, Sean says a light grip is all that is needed, so I wonder if it is the pick or if it is ME?

I first tried with the ink side up under my thumb and it worked great in leads, but the same problem that has vexed my growth for months now has been strumming. I keep getting better, but I’m an intermediate player and I still lose picks [Author’s note, while editing this, I’m aware that my gripping of picks is improving in general since this article.]

Try as I may, I can’t get it without the Goonis picks rotating tip inward on me. But these Goonis Picks keep rotating in my fingers on me. What am I doing wrong???

Now to be very fair, yes, in fact, YES emphatically, the pick does stay put better than many other picks, but here are some things I found:

It worked better for me with the ink side down over the last knuckle of my index finger and the thumb only 2/3ds inward on the obverse side (on top where the thumb normally goes, because we humans cannot rotate our wrists 360 degrees). EDIT: Now on further experimentation, nope, it doesn’t work better!

To Continue on this direction: I also found that the material makes for -an outstanding- tone, but a slippery grip.

This is the same problem with many different materials that have a great sound, they don’t like to stay put.

Now I’m too poor to make inventions, and Mr. Goonis and his folks have a revolutionary pick here, here is what I would add on to the idea: A 4 piece dense but comfort type foam kit that goes on like an applique to any pick one chooses, the same curves, 2 pieces on top, that can be spread for wider fingers, and 2 pieces on the bottom for the same reason.

But I feel terrible being critical because this pick is not only evolutionary, it is at least the start, a BIG START of a revolution in picks.

I’ve been criticized gently for writing with too little curmudgeon-y-ness and yeah, I’m a soft touch. Let’s just say that I -always- see potential where many others close their eyes to it.

I also DO honestly like most picks for one reason or another. I’m a genuinely affable guy when it comes to being open-minded and ‘hail fellow well met”. So I will say that I will continue using this pick and get more used to it.

Mr. Halpin suggests using it for at least 6 to 8 hours to get used to it, and I agree!

Some Specs for you to consider:

Material	Attack Tone	Decay Tone
Automotive Grad Plastic	Musical	Thick with Chime
Durability	Comments	Shape
Quite Durable sturdy	Durometer Shore D 45+	highly sculpted
Grip and Feel	Flexibility	Likely Use
Slipper Matearial good feel but moves around	moderate flex mostly stiff	Lead on electric
Thickness	Width Height	Resonance
Varies .095mm tip	25.5×32.3mm	clacky
Tip Style	Bevel	Approximate Cost
tapered wedge	No Edge Bevel Necessary	$20 for a set one size

In some ways, next week’s pick, an extremely much more modest pick, stays put better for me, but it’s just a piece of wood, a fragile piece of wood that after 2 hours of playing is already wearing down.

I will offer this opinion: there is no “panacea of picks”, but there are a multitude of remedies that work for different players differently.

I spent 5 hours trying the pick with the ink side up and it wasn’t working for me, but the ink side down was a substantial bit better. Where my trouble lies is just in fast, hard rhythmic strumming. It still rotates inward towards my palm, the tip that is.

I did realize that a big part of my problem has been my technique, I dug deep in my memories and remembered that when fast strumming up and down, I would normally “fan-sweep” my arm and wrist in and out from the guitar (as a young band member), and that also helped immensely.

I’m going to play at least 3 more hours on my other guitars but I will say so far: Outstanding tone, a good grip but not a perfect one, pick still wants to rotate on me somewhat, a wonderful feel otherwise, and clearly the automotive grade nylon (according to Sean) is very durable, in fact, this pick will most assuredly be more durable than most other nylon picks, perhaps all of them!

Now, I want to say something: With all reviewers, we are faced with the problem of backlash from the public when we are critical.

But I aim for integrity in what I tell folks here and in real life. While I’m a big pushover, I still can be quite blunt at times. I just want to say that this pick is not completely the solution for ME. But it goes a very very long way towards it theoretically.

Simply put, a great idea in mind didn’t fully translate to a great item in deed. I would tend to say, for utter beginners, start off with a Medium Celluloid, then try a nylon pick or two, something firm. The Goonis Picks are very firm and I encourage people to support what they are trying to do, but give them constructive feedback. They can improve this!

Moving on, to you new players: Then try an acrylic, and then try this. Keep in mind that even Sean says you have to work up to getting used to it and isn’t that the case with everything in guitar and music: Practice, PRACTICE, P R A C T I C E !

Now, this is my first writing and I am going to add on in a couple days or so after I give another 4 to 6 hours with it. Read on…

…A morning later and I still feel frustration and disappointment. I had such hopes for this pick, but now I have to say that that way of holding it just doesn’t work either. However, there is the very rudimentary kindergarten way of holding the pick and I’ll give it a last try this afternoon and tonight.

I experimented some and watched what was happening dynamically, and I see why the pick rotates: I slice the strings, and I don’t flat-flap them with the flat part of the pick. I don’t know if that is a flaw in my playing or that the pick wasn’t engineered to enough degree (which is how I feel is the case).

Those close to me have warned me, don’t withhold the truth about what I think, they tell me I’m too rosy about things.

Well, darn it, they are right, one thing I refuse to be is a shill or a liar. So so far, this pick isn’t doing it for me, in fact, it does worse. I think the problem has to do with the material, despite how good it sounds. It’s slippery and the curves for the finger just aren’t abrupt enough, they really need to encircle the finger, or last least go 2/3ds around it.

…OK, over 1 week later, here we are:

I’ve tried holding the pick 3 different ways including the way I think they intended for it. I tried 3 different guitars and gave my pick some daily use for over 3 weeks.

Now I have a conclusion, and it’s not typical of me to raise complaints or be very critical, because I usually see value in almost all picks.

So, in just a short few words:

This pick isn’t working for me. Nowhere near working.

It moves around, and worse, it rotates in just the way they said it wouldn’t. As I try and up and down strum, the tip swings inward towards my palm, and the pick sifts around.

For me, the tip is too elongated also.

The material is too slippery, and yet the tone is fantastic.

Here I show one of the ways I tried using it:

No matter how I told it, no matter how I tried, it won’t work for me.

Now I have medium, slightly small hands for a man.

My brother-in-law, who has very large hands had the same problems that he couldn’t get a good fit.

His comment was that the pick must have been designed for a specific pair of fingers, not his or mine.

To say that I’m disappointed is an understatement, I’m almost crestfallen, I had so many hopes and aspirations with this pick.

It just doesn’t work for me.

I think more people need to try it and give input to the maker.

I have some ideas on how to improve it and I hope to communicate those ideas in the coming days or weeks.

Now on to something very very different, something that grows all over where I live, next pick to come…

Return to the reviews page

Go visit the form factors section

Ok, so that is MY take, what about YOU? Have you used this pick extensively? How well does it help your grip? What would you change on it? I’m thinking of trying it again with cork grips.