Lets talk about plectrums.... and the greener guitarist.

[Les Paul Lover]

I must say my curiosity is aroused.

You'll need to watch the video Graphtech Tusq picks.


Also (and those aren't a solution, but since I have no solution yet, they're a possibility), I've been looking to reduce the plastics I use where I can lately.

Let me tell you...... when you're into building fx, it gets difficult!!!!!!

I've ordered a lot of components lately t9 build 2 or 3 pedals and fit an FX loop to my Rocker 30, everything is bagged in plastic.


Anyway...... My hobbies are not particularly environmental friendly.

I've been scratching my head.
How can I minimise plastic rubbish as a guitarist?


Wood / stone plectrums? (Strictly finger picking??? )
All strings I know of are wrapped in single use plastic too.

With regards to plectrums, I'm not really sure a stone or wood plectrum is actually greener. Sure, they are green in terms of materials, but expensive in terms of energy required to produce them (green house gas).

Anyway, that's a lot of thoughts for a Sunday morning!!!!

Any of you got any tips with regards to any of the above, let me hear them!!!!

[Jondog]

I really like the Dunlop Teckpick which is aluminum and surprisingly easy to control. Lasts longer than plastic. I know theres some guitar string manufacturers that use just paper envelopes, Dean Markley? You’ll have a hard time avoiding plastic with the electronics unfortunately...
George has an interesting perspective on plastic
https://youtu.be/7W33HRc1A6c

[caldurham]

i mainly use dunlop and stringjoy jazz picks. right now i have stringjoy 1.5mm made from polyoxymethylene. i also have dunlop tortex jazz 1.5mm, dunlop jazz tortex flex 1.5mm and dunlop jazz ultex 2.0mm.

i get different "tones" with all of them. so i'm not buying this claim that the tusq picks are the worlds first with built in "tone".


and at this point it's hard to avoid plastics. they are in everything; shoes, clothes, cellphones, drink containers, even food for christ sakes.

plant based plastics are an alternative but they also have their own pitfalls to usage as well. maybe in time those pitfalls can be circumvented by some inventive chemists but time will tell. there is also the struggle of power for the large corporations that will lose money when their oil products are abandoned. large multinational corporations are like any living entity that needs food, water and shelter to survive. except corporations need money to survive and when it comes to large multinational corporations when you threaten their money supply they can and will take things to the extreme. best case in point i can think of is the whole bayer infected hiv blood fiasco in the late 80s through the 90s and just because they didn't want to lose profit. bayer shouldn't even be a company anymore but they still exist and made more profit than settlements and payouts they had to pay.

[Jondog]

Funny thing with those big companies is all their owners bloodlinesare on the same family tree Anyways, have to be careful not to steer this topic into politics. I’ve got a tusq pick around somewhere, I think it wore down really fast.

[mici88]

I play with coin.

Yes, I am a huge fan of Queen / Brian May and he is well known to play with sixpence but that's not the reason; I'm not in a cover band, hell, I'm not even an AC30 user. So far I haven't found a plectrum that I like. Coin all the way for me!

[Mr Mustard]

I hear turtle shell picks sound really nice.

[Les Paul Lover]

I really like the Dunlop Teckpick which is aluminum and surprisingly easy to control. Lasts longer than plastic. I know theres some guitar string manufacturers that use just paper envelopes, Dean Markley? You’ll have a hard time avoiding plastic with the electronics unfortunately...
George has an interesting perspective on plastic
https://youtu.be/7W33HRc1A6c

I'll have to look into these techpick.
I used to love Dean Markley blue steel strings, but haven't bought any for ages.
Can't remember if they were wrapped in plastic or not. I might shoot them an email.


Let's say I didn't find that George particularly funny.....

Yeah, with electronics it's impossible to do without.

[Les Paul Lover]

and at this point it's hard to avoid plastics. they are in everything; shoes, clothes, cellphones, drink containers, even food for christ sakes.

No plastics can't be avoided. I can minimise some, as I've done it in every day life, but when I try to apply this to guitar and electronics, it becomes difficult.

As for corporations..... they sure right back. The tobacco, petroleum, weaponry, pharmacology industries have all been full of deceit in their search for profit. Social accountability isn't something that computes much there.

[Les Paul Lover]

Funny thing with those big companies is all their owners bloodlinesare on the same family tree Anyways, have to be careful not to steer this topic into politics. I’ve got a tusq pick around somewhere, I think it wore down really fast.

I keep reading that tusq picks wear pretty fast.

[bclaire]

I play with coin.

Yes, I am a huge fan of Queen / Brian May and he is well known to play with sixpence but that's not the reason; I'm not in a cover band, hell, I'm not even an AC30 user. So far I haven't found a plectrum that I like. Coin all the way for me!

Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top uses a Mexican peso. Personally, I hate the feel of metal against string so not for me.

I use regular Fender 358 Celluloid picks. They burn nicely if you're starting a fire.

However, as an art teacher, every day sees me using expendable supplies. At least the majority of it tends to be paper which is recyclable, but we use a LOT of water for cleaning brushes, cleaning clay tools, etc. etc.

[Les Paul Lover]

I hear turtle shell picks sound really nice.

Yeap. I'm gonna try that one....

Primarily because I've just shot the lost unicorn, and I'm planning to make a lifetime supply of picks from its horn. I'm reliably informed that with a unicorn pick, I'll finally play like all my guitar heroes.

It's not certain to work, but it was worth a shot.

I play with coin.

Yes, I am a huge fan of Queen / Brian May and he is well known to play with sixpence but that's not the reason; I'm not in a cover band, hell, I'm not even an AC30 user. So far I haven't found a plectrum that I like. Coin all the way for me!

Did you file it at all?

[Hubaxe]

I've tried bones picks metal ones (can't remind the brand, blue aluminium, with small holes), and finally had to admit I'm not earth friendly. It took me years to find the right pick for me, Dunlop 2 mm Gator Grip.
To balance that I drove a gas powered car for 340 000 km, I think it's ok, I can still use plastic picks?

[mici88]

I hear turtle shell picks sound really nice.

Yeap. I'm gonna try that one....

Primarily because I've just shot the lost unicorn, and I'm planning to make a lifetime supply of picks from its horn. I'm reliably informed that with a unicorn pick, I'll finally play like all my guitar heroes.

It's not certain to work, but it was worth a shot.

I play with coin.

Yes, I am a huge fan of Queen / Brian May and he is well known to play with sixpence but that's not the reason; I'm not in a cover band, hell, I'm not even an AC30 user. So far I haven't found a plectrum that I like. Coin all the way for me!

Did you file it at all?

Nope, I did not. It gives a nice scratchy sound which I like!

[Les Paul Lover]

To be honest, I've come to the conclusion the least damaging way to the environment to be a guitarist, is to simply buy used.

Whatever I'd buy has already been built, and so I'd simply be saving it from going into a landfill.

Right. I can now resume browsing eBay guilt free.

[caldurham]

To be honest, I've come to the conclusion the least damaging way to the environment to be a guitarist, is to simply buy used.

Whatever I'd buy has already been built, and so I'd simply be saving it from going into a landfill.

Right. I can now resume browsing eBay guilt free.

tree hugger!