I was gifted by my dear sister a Red Agate Uncommon Goods Pick made by Dustin Headrick and his partner.

It was given to me two Christmases ago. I was so very touched by the thought. Sis has a real eye for beautiful things and not only the red agate Uncommon Goods Pick (she tells me my guitars are ugly, but that sort of delights me because I eschew appearances).

Good looks don’t always mean good stuff though. Many of us players love beat-up guitars and ugly ducklings that play well. I like that about my fellow guitarists.

When I look at this pretty pick, I’m reminded of the song Heart of Glass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU

In the materials section, we briefly talk about such materials.

Here is the page for the product I believe.

It is a birthstone pick store.

I was born in July, so Red Agate is representative (ruby is the main stone though) for my birthday, so the Red Agate Uncommon Goods Pick was an extremely thoughtful gift idea. I often ponder my state, being a stupid Cancer baby…

Ah well, enough of that nonsense…

I’m not going to write a lengthy review on this because the pick is more about beauty and collectibles rather than practical player’s gear. The Red Agate Gift Pick may look cool, and feel nice, but playing with it is a different situation.

Anyone with experience with Glass or Stone picks will tell you:

1. They are very lovely.
2. Such picks can handle well in the fingers.
3. They make a string squeal.
4. When you first strike the string, they don’t pronounce a strong tone until they pop off the strings.
5. If they have a well-rounded finish, the attack is extremely soft, even muted.
6. They usually come with pretty blunt tips.
7. Glass and Stone aren’t hard on strings contrary to some people’s expectations.
8. Additionally, these are thick, if they were thin, they’d likely break from being brittle.
9. Also, these are exceedingly durable nevertheless.
10. And they are expensive, costing upwards of 25 dollars, often much more.
11. Gemstone picks are more of a novelty.
12. They are all popular with folks that put form over function (in my humble opinion).
13. When dropped they produce distinct tones that widely vary, but it doesn’t carry over into the tone when playing with them.
14. They are similar to Acrylic Picks, without many of the advantages of Acrylics.

I’m not yet doing recordings as I don’t yet have the gear for it, but I’ll come back here when I start doing tone recordings.

This is not high on my list of favorable picks for playing what I do, the pick can do something very well though: It can work as a slide and can also do tap playing well.

But don’t get me wrong, this is a fantastic pick for certain situations and needed sounds. When I got it I had a ball with it. It’s just not easy to play because of the delayed and muted release of the strings.

The specs:

Material	Attack Tone	Decay Tone
Clear Red Agate Stone	Delayed/ held back some squeel	soft, muted
Durability/Wear	Comments/Dimensions	Shape
Quite durable	No hardness test needed it’s a gemstone look it up	very rounded 351 shape similar to Dunlop Flow Picks
Grip and Feel	Flexibility	Likely Use
Surprisingly good all around	It’s a rock	soft music unique music
Thickness	Width and Height	Resonance
Exactly 3mm	26×29.2mm	like a rock but with a sparkle
Tip Style	Bevel?	Approx. Cost
softly rounded but with a point	Gem process round	25 and up + Shipping

Now, as a gift, I was blown away by just how thoughtful it was, I have a really cool sister, in fact, I adore all my siblings and they are each amazing.

She supports my musical aspirations to a decent extent. The lady has 2 nice guitars but hasn’t yet begun her studies, however, she’s an accomplished keyboard player and she can give me a run for my money with those instruments by far. She freaking loves music as I do, and we share taste in about 1/3d of what we listen to, which is wonderful.

If you believe you need a stone pick, I will tell you that really, for all intents and purposes other than beauty or collectability, you only need one or two of red agate (or other) Uncommon Goods like picks for their utility.

Dropped on my wooden table, it sounds like a rock falling and is LOUD.

It is well-polished, I’m curious what a matte-polished pick would sound like. I’d also like to see what a less rounded and/or pointy-tipped version would sound and work like.

So I apologize that I don’t have a ton to say or many pithy comments save to say, it’s a gem, like my sister, and like my sister, it has very specific uses (sisters are good for yelling at you, that is their top function, hah hah). Sorry sis, just busting your chops, I love you kid.

So how about you:

Do you approach pick ownership as a collectible hobby?

Also, do you own or have you tried stone picks?

Do you have any insights to offer on them?

Now, coming next, some of you might remember a soda/pop that was my favorite back in the day called Purple Passion. It had a hippie-styled artwork on the can. Well, this next pick makes me think of that drink with a fond feeling.

Stay tuned and be sure to visit my extensive sections on types of pick materials and styles/shapes of picks. And, as always, a huge thank you for coming here for all your plectrum insights, we aim to inform and please you!