The Build Makes The Beast
Designing and manufacturing custom guitar picks is something that has become simpler and common over the past decade with the advent of hobbyist CNC machines, 3D printers, small form factor plastics extruders, laser cutters and credit card punch-out devices. As the machines become more readily available, affordable and compact, anybody with basic computer skills and a modest investment can setup shop in their spare bedroom, finished basement or study. Whoopee.
That being said, it doesn’t make any of them special. Sure, they look nice. All clean and neat. Perfect from number 1 to number 1,000. Identical. Uniform and boring. Yeah, you might get a cute logo laser or CNC cut into them or even your initials from a sheet of programmed fonts but they will always lack something that making good or even great music demands. Soul. Soul is at the heart of good music. Great music. It always has been.
The stories have been around since the beginning of music. The tales and legends of the artist who pours their heart, blood, sweat, tears and SOUL into their music. They hunt for that perfect instrument to carry their essence and dreams out to the world. They sacrifice everything, and if you believe the legends, even their souls, to attain legendary status, success and immortality.
When I started making my Copperhead* picks as a business, I decided I, not CNC machines, mold injectors or laser cutters, would be responsible for all the work. From cutting the planks that would be pattern blanks for my creations to hand tracing from patterns and then hand-hammering 12 gauge copper wire into the plucking edge “V” to be embedded between two pieces of wood. I would then hand turn the handles on the vices between which those two hand-cut wooden sides would
grip the hammered copper plucking edge. After the glue was dry each pick would then be rough sanded into shape on my 30 year old belt and disc sander, then the final finish and polish sanded by hand, through multiple grits of sandpaper, polishing, refining the wood and copper to a beautiful and natural finish.
Each pick would then be tested on the same shitty Washburn Guitar that showed me that very first pick I made for myself was different and somehow imbued with the power to raise the quality of sound, reassuring me that each pick would carry the power to make any acoustic or electric, mandolin, banjo or lap steel guitar sound new and better than a plastic or straight steel pick could make it sound.
Each Copperhead* pick takes 2 to 3 days to make, from first cut of a plank to first strum over that old Washburn’s strings. Some may take a day or two to make, or longer, if the future owner desires a custom inlay but each pick that bears my hand applied Old Scratch fire branded logo will be from my own hand and totally unique.
I currently carry an inventory of between 18 and 25 species of hard, medium and soft woods. Each chosen for a combination of its strength, beauty and or density. Some lend themselves better to being decorative inlays, others act as strong platforms for the decorative designs or beautiful natural grains of softer woods but all do that one special thing that any dedicated player wants; they make their instrument achieve their full potential.
I make straight wood picks that are either shaped from a single species slab or I marry two different species together, seeking to allow the features of one species to support or compliment the other. There is a warmth that wood gives to the metallic resonance of a stringed instrument. A blanket that settles that harsh click or plink you would get from traditional plastic or synthetic pick. In a studio environment, that difference becomes most profound. The design delivers the purity of the sound of the strings without the polluting the sound with that byproduct click of plastic, nylon or other synthetics.
Adding the copper edge to the pick design amplifies the resonance of stringed instruments with a brightness and sustain unmatched by traditional picks. Straight copper or nickel picks impart a tinny “twangy” byproduct sound but by inlaying the hand hammered copper into the wood jacket of the Copperhead mutes the twangy or harsh strike of the metal edge, keeping the brightness of the tone, the resonance and sustain. It makes acoustics sound stronger, almost amplified, and it lends an aggressive brightness to electrics that no other pick can touch.
To the obvious first reaction some will have about not liking thick picks, no, these picks aren’t thin, measuring between 1.5 and 3+ millimeters depending of the wood and if they have copper edge inlay. The big myth about guitar picks is that “thinner is better”. I don’t ascribe to that myth at all. I think it is more intended to prop up the cost savings for the manufacturers of those thin picks. More product for less investment. Thick and stiff picks have a huge advantage over the skinny pick. Firstly, they are precise. The stiff pick allows the player to better target the intended string as well as controlling “over-strike”, where the pick unintentionally strikes a second or even third string, muddying the sound or corrupting the purity of the intended note altogether. Secondly, the thickness and investment make the Copperhead its own instrument in your creation of music, like the bow is to the violinist. Sure, it will take a little time to acclimate to a Copperhead* but I am absolutely certain that the payoff will be well worth the investment.
It is my sincere hope that you give my Copperheads a chance to up your guitar game and let them speak for themselves. Because I make each one, your pick will be unique. There won’t be another like it, ever. No cookie-cutter, digitally programmed clones that anyone can pick up for a couple bucks at their local guitar big-box store. These are instruments for artists and dreamers looking to raise their art to a new level.
Welcome to this small, exclusive world I am creating and maybe, together, we can make magic.
- M. Stephen Gardner