Graphtech Latte Tusq Realeaux Tri-Tip is a durable, great sounding, multi-tool plectrum, or should I say 3 plectra in all instruments for jams!
Ziggy Marley and his brother are playing through my Bluetooth speaker and I wonder if Zig would like this pick for his type of music. Hmmm… Tusq is a very cool material. Its primary purpose is nut and bridge stock. The Graphtech Latte Tusq Realeaux Tri -ip could be used by a great many headline artists to achieve marvelous sounds.
Tusq is very hard and has a lovely plinkety tone when dropped. This pick is 1.0mm thick and has 3 tips, 2 are finer and one is more rounded. I tend to favor the finer tips, but there is some real versatility in this plectrum. While it imparts a bright tone with a strong attack with the finer tips, with the rounded tip you can achieve a more mellow tone.
The maker is Graphtech. They offer three materials as you will see on their site. This material is sort of their medium-toned substance.
One thing I definitely would give to it is a B+ for how it holds. The Graphtech Latte Tusq Realeaux Tri-Tip with raised print has material that’s a bit grippy. With it being a larger Realeaux, it’s a great learner’s pick that will suit many a pro.
Graphtech Latte Tusq Realeaux Tri-Tip is a café-colored hard Pick. It is firm for a 1.0 mm thick pick, because of the special “Tusq” material. I have a few other Tusq picks I’ll talk about in the future, but since I’m more used to this one and because I like it, I felt it would be a great thing to review right now.
With the sharp rhythmic beat of Reggae music, I think this would be a fantastic pick. Its quick attack, bright tone, and sharp feel would be great for that style of strumming.
Here are the Specs:
| Material | Attack Tone | Decay Tone |
Graphtech Tusq Brand Medium tone | brisk, rich, bright | loud and clear |
| Durability/Wear | Comments/Dimensions | Shape |
Very durable | Shore D Hardness 69,5H | Realeaux TriTip |
| Grip and Feel | Flexibility | Likely Use |
| Good Grip Firm feel | Only a slight flex | Rock, blues, Alt, you name it |
| Thickness | Width and Height | Resonance |
1.07mm | 31.93mm 3 ways | Has a lovely ring when dropped very rich |
| Tip Style | Bevel? | Approx. Cost |
2 fine and 1 rounded | Regular small chamfer | $6.55/4 pack USA dollars |
I am not as talkative as I usually am today, so I’ll be brief: I would recommend this pick to beginners, intermediates, and some pros who want a firm feel, a great grip, and a sharp response. IOW, I would actually dare to recommend this pick for purchase to people collecting picks for their sound and feel.
Combine this pick with a 10 gauge string set, and some single coils, and boy will you have a tone. Especially grand for a clean tone I think.
lots of musicians seek bone nuts on vintage instruments, but honestly, this Graphtech Material, or Graphite, either of them, I think they are great. (Author’s note: I just got a guitar with a Graphtech nut and I definitely like it, it’s a recent acquisition I didn’t have during this review.)
I don’t know much about the material itself except that the Graphtech Latte Tusq Realeaux Tri-Tip is made with oil-free organic polymer. I think it is proprietary.
It is a high-pressure-produced (organic) polymer plastic. It is very workable so you can modify it much like bone. There are different Tusq materials, Some have PTFE (lubricity). This puts some of them in league with the plastic that Blue Chip Picks uses (Vespel). They are both slippery yet grippy. The strings glide but your fingers can hold on to this plectrum pretty well.
One of the most important things to me as an intermediate player, if you have been following, is grip:
You already know that, since I’m always critiquing that quality or the lack of it. Un-textured nylon is too slippery, acrylic grips a bit better, and Tusq grips even better than that.
If you like large picks like Realeaux-shaped models, and if you like the tone I’m discussing, get this pick.
I would recommend it. However, it’s not for everybody. I don’t know if a Jazz player or mellow accompaniment to a song would call for this. In such cases, wood might be better, this isn’t a thick low tone. There is some warmth though.
Furthermore, It’s not soft sounding. But it still has a rich tone, they make two other “Tusq” materials, one that is brighter and one that is more mellow. We will look at them later.
How about you, do you own a guitar with a tusq nut? Have you picked with such a material and how do YOU compare it to bone? Some prefer bone, I’m agnostic about it, both are awesome!