This post is about a flower, or rather, a pick that could be a Spring flower, because of its color and beauty: The Ploutone Custom Purple Heart Pick.
The Ploutone Custom Purple Heart Pick makes me think of a soda I used to love as a little kid called Purple Passion:
And like that soda pop (a grape and ginger ale mashup), the pick is psychedelic in a way. Yes, it is purple, to my amazement, purple heart wood is truly colorful, and that is very cool, but I was curious about something else: The sound. This Ploutone Custom Purple Heart Pick is precision made in small batches “custom” produced.
[Author’s edit: the owner of the company pointed out that I spelled the name of his brand wrongly, so I’ve corrected that, and I also agreed to add the actual artisan of the pick, which I will put in the writing below]
You see a lot of custom luthiers love to use Purple Heart wood in guitars, not only because it is very pretty but because the sound is divine. <The artisan that made the pick is called GT Plectrums. When I get a link to them or more information, I’ll be sure to mention, the artisan deserves credit!!!> This pick is no exception. Dropped on my wood table it sounds like a cross between a nickel coin and an acrylic pick, with a thump added into the mix. It also imparts a cool tone on the guitar that I will describe as, well, gee, like nothing else.
It has a tone that goes on forever and is both sweet and tough. There is a touch of grind as the string slides along the edge of the Ploutone Custom Purple Heart Pick. Furthermore, the sound is strong yet soft at the same time.
“Well, that is cool, dude, but how does the Ploutone Custom Purple Hear Pick feel, is it hard to use,” you ask?
Well, despite being pretty, with a cool logo embossed in it, it feels grand to hold. The pick stays right in my fingers even when strumming, at least better than most other thick picks, and this is thick. It’s about 3.17mm thick. It is shaped not unlike a Jazz III but is larger.
What about the features of this Ploutone?
To start with, it has a real bevel, that is evenly and precisely formed, with a slight curve at the same time. Kind of a hybrid bevel. The embossed combination of cross/star and moon and star evokes the pairing of two faiths, and this Ploutone Custom Purple Heart Pick does indeed cross the median line between a tonewood pick and a soft metal pick. It possesses just a touch of a silver metal tone.
Ploutone can be reached here. As you will see, they have a LOT of pretty and neat picks for sale, and they do more than sell picks!
“So tell us, how does it handle and feel, that is great and all, but does the Ploutone Custom Purple Heart Pick serve as a real stage or studio tool?”
In a briefly put single word: Yes, emphatically. In fact, to hold these they stick in my hands almost as well as the Pine pick I reviewed previously, yet sounds entirely different and is definitely more durable. If your hand is moist, it will almost glue to your fingers in some fashion.
“OK, great, it sounds lovely, but I need specs brother, without specs I don’t know from Adam what it will do! It could be a purple people eater for all I care.” OK, OK, so you want specs then? Here you go:
| Material | Attack Tone | Decay Tone |
Finished Purple Heart Wood | warm and inviting | a raspy musical sound |
| Durability/Wear | Comments/Dimensions | Shape |
a moderately hard wood it will wear after a bit | Shore D hardness of 65H A Measurement usually used for Plastics | Rounded hybrid of 351 and JazzIII |
| Grip and Feel | Flexibility | Likely Use |
| Surprising grip | no flex | Various, where tone matters but not speed |
| Thickness | Width and Height | Resonance |
3.17mm | 24.2 x 28.75mm | sounds like a cross between a nickel and a poker chip |
| Tip Style | Bevel? | Approx. Cost |
| semi-rounded similar to a Dunlop Flow But more round | hybrid dual chamfered Bevels | 25 dollars and shipping |
So all in all, does the Ploutone Custom Purple Heart Pick check off the boxes, or not?
Well, here ya go, it:
-Holds fairly well, about a 4 star rating
-plays pretty well, about a 3 star rating
-sounds fabulous for the right types of song. I give it a 5 star rating
-looks splendid, a 5 star rating.
-is collectible, a 4 star rating
It’s tone is about a 4 star rating.
-plays the strings at a 4 star rating.
-is very likable, a 5 star rating.
Over all, that is a 4.25 star rating-
Yes, I’m now introducing star ratings, something I kind of avoided before, but you guys really need a better and more tangible assessment from my non-objective viewpoint.
So there you go, if you can get the maker, found here, to make one for you, I’m sure you will admire it. He has many other picks of wood and plexi and other stuff, check him out.
So how about you, do you like wooden picks and have you tried purple heart? Do you have a guitar made with it and how do you like the tone? Comment here:
OK, so what’s next? Well, like the pseudo-punk song, I might be turning Japanese, I really think so. Or, Lithuanian (that I actually am?) Stay tuned friends!