The Pick Plus 6 PackPick Plus is made by a small builder of picks good for electric AND acoustic guitar.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
A body’s design…
Well, sometimes it costs an arm and a leg for something that works right for you. But you won’t pay an arm and a leg, though these plectra are shaped not unlike your appendage. The 6 pack from The Pick Plus company was a happy purchase for me and it wasn’t expensive (paid 20 bucks and shipping) considering what the picks give in return. The Pick Plus 6 Pack has all the sizes you will need.
As you can see, they have a tip/351-shaped end and a forearm part. You want to grip them with the arm part pointing at the cup of your hand:
As you can see in their group photo, they have an arm or leg shape, hence my silly pun. But silly as I may be, they AREN’T silly, despite their appearance.
The Pick Plus 6 Pack is something very new.
I’ve tried so many guitar picks over the last few years seeking a pick that won’t rotate its point inward on me. Some of the picks I’ve tried do this amazingly well, and others, not so much.
Held in this way:
…it really helps with the rotation inwards. It helps prevent it
Innovations are great sometimes…
But let’s say this much: Innovators have made a great many cool picks. The use of fresh ideas Is always welcome but sometimes they’ve failed to gain enough gravitas to sell well, such as the pointless pick, or the sik pick (I will review it in due time) that uses a twist for a supposed advantage to picking. Some of the innovations are great but I found they needed further modification to be all they can be.
But thanks to good engineering…
In engineering we have a term when something works well and stays very simple, the term is “elegance”. Pick Plus plectrums are a pretty elegant solution to a vexing problem for many, particularly beginners. Shaped like a standard 351 pick but with a sort of right-angled handle and grip-aiding textured slot, these things really seem to work.
They appear to work for me at least, and even the elite version:
(there is the longer armed plus model:
and the pro medium armed model also)
These picks stay Put:
…and-work really well at solving one of my most vexing problems: pick rotation while strumming. On many picks, the playing point tends to rotate inwards to point at my wrist instead of orthogonal to my thumb as should be. I tend to have to grip much tighter and not strum hard or at all.
Strange as they seem…
I realize these picks look really weird, but in all honesty, for me, they seem to be working. They come in essentially two thicknesses, but I’ve noted a variance from thickness spec in some of them. There are Six of them, 2 of each length, the plus with the long grip side, the pro with the medium grip side, and the elite with the truncated grip side. Each of the three comes in two thicknesses of about .8mm and 1.0mm.
I enjoy the black one the most. Here is the red Plus model 1.08mm thick:
The maker’s formula for success?
I talked to the maker and he is using a great material, nylon with glass in it. No chirp, however, is not typical of glass-filled materials. They are stiff enough with just a touch of flex that most would want in a thinner pick and are great for strumming, even very firm energetic strumming. So you might love these on a flat top or a semi-hollow rock-a-billy guitar.
But do they sound as weird as they look?
The tone is a touch crisper and funky than plain nylon picks sound. They are, however, very much nylon-like, with the bonus of some glass added in the mix.
In my spec sheet, I could make 6 charts, but they’d be redundant in many ways, so my table will comprise all six picks with information on each of them in how they differ.
| Material | Attack Tone | Decay Tone |
| Special Nylon with Glass all Models | Like Nylon but more Crisp | light thunk |
| Durability/Wear | Comments/Dimensions | Shape |
| better than nylon itself | Durometer 68.0H all | Letter P with 351 tip end |
| Grip and Feel | Flexibility | Likely Use |
Grip is the Raison d’etre | a little firmer than pure nylon | You name it Folk, Country Jazz, Rock… |
| Thickness | Width and Height | Resonance |
| 2 sizes 1.0mm and .86mm | Large:45.30mm x32.6mm Medium: 39mm x 32.6mm Small (Elite) 30.mm x32.6mm tip | Like a very dense cardboard |
| Tip Style | Bevel? | Approx. Cost |
| Standard 351 moded into P shape handle | Wedge | $20.00 for 6 |
Manly yes, but I like it too, the Glass just makes it so slightly stiffer…
Compare these to my Herco picks , and Herco Picks, and do visit my materials section for more thoughts on materials. These flex less overall and have a more assertive tone. They are also more durable.
About the material:
The maker did try a different material but he didn’t like it. It would be quite cool, however, were he to offer these in a harder material or thicker material also. Obviously, doing so presents all sorts of challenges, but it would be pretty cool nonetheless.
How would they be when made of wood, or some more flexible material, or Ultem with glass? Who knows, I wonder if they’ve considered it.
But seriously, are they worth a try?
Now, some of you pros might poo-poo these, but I assure you, they aren’t just a strummer’s aide, they are a functional and useful tool for playing stringed instruments and one of the few drawbacks might be that they won’t be found in some music stores and, furthermore, they do look weird. But by golly, they are pretty cool.
I’d place these within my top ten favorite picks right now. Please give this fella a try, if you are a pro, start with a pro or an elite, if you are a novice, a plus and get both thicknesses.
Hey maker, how about other thicknesses, too?
I would say they should perhaps do these in a .6mm thickness, too. As far as durability, I’d guesstimate these to hold up like a typical nylon pick except perhaps a bit tougher toward wear. I do see some of the nickel from my StringJoy Strings rubbed off onto them.
So what do YOU think about these, would you be embarrassed to bring them to a practice or gig? What if they can help you be better at your craft?
Now for the next pick, what could I possibly offer that is truly different from everything I have covered so far? Oh, you of little faith, believe me, there are many more unique picks, even from the mainstream. Is anyone for a lamination? Stay tuned!
