# Guitar Players: Cool Gadget! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406 "2012-01-23T17:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/1 "2012-01-23T17:25:48Z")
Happened to stumble across this due to another thread. [A guitar pick punch](http://www.vat19.com/dvds/pick-punch-make-your-own-guitar-picks.cfm)! Why didn’t I think of this? I used to play guitar and was always buying new picks. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/2 "2012-01-23T17:33:24Z")
Fun idea, but would it make good picks? A pick made out of a credit card seems to thin to me, although I guess some people like them that way. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/3 "2012-01-23T18:16:31Z")
I measured a credit card at .030", or .77mm. That’s a medium pick thickness, a pretty popular size. What I wonder is how the material compares to factory-made picks in terms of flexibility and durability. Comparing to picks priced at $4/dozen, it would cost the same as 75 picks. For most amateurs, it would take a while to hit break-even. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/4 "2012-01-23T18:20:54Z")
Makes you wish you’d kept all those CDs AOL used to send, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![GEEPERS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c89c15/32.png) [@GEEPERS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GEEPERS)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/5 "2012-01-23T18:22:04Z")
just learn to play fingerstyle guitar, and then you’ll never go back to guitar picks. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/6 "2012-01-23T18:25:00Z")
My bandmate has some business cards he got from someone that consist of laminated plastic (very creditcard-like), with picks scored out. That is, you can punch out like 4 or 5 picks from the card. Clever … but as picks, they suck. They’re a little thick - if you prefer a thinner pick, the laminant frays really fast, , and they’re about as slippery as eel shit. Maybe it’s just me though … I play without a pick about as often as I play with one; when I do play with a pick, I need some grip-nubs or some cross-hatching on it or something. I even hate the smooth nylon ones. Picks are nothing to toy with, damnit. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/7 "2012-01-23T18:48:34Z")
I just finger pick. After a while and getting used to it, it feels more “right”. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/8 "2012-01-23T18:57:39Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Picks are nothing to toy with, damnit. Basically this. Sounds like fun in concept, but wouldn’t yield much value. Since I play hybrid, holding a flatpick and using my middle and ring fingers for picking, I see both sides. If you can make fingerstyle work for you, very cool. But if you use a pick, pay for one that helps you play and feels comfortable. I wouldn’t try to save a buck with econo-Amex-picks - unless they happened to be just what I was looking for… ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/9 "2012-01-23T19:36:16Z")
> [@GEEPERS](#): > > just learn to play fingerstyle guitar, and then you’ll never go back to guitar picks. This reminds me of a Chet Atkins quote (I believe he said it to Les Paul during the “Chester & Lester” sessions): “Why don’t you get a thumbpick so you can play with yourself?” ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/10 "2012-01-24T03:23:39Z")
My sister got me this for Christmas. The picks are…okay, once you file down the edges a bit. The most entertainment I’ve gotten from it so far was making a pick from an old credit card that has both my first name and “5150” embossed on it. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/11 "2012-01-25T04:12:59Z")
Store bought picks aren’t flat sided, they’re smoothed; if you took a sheet of your exactly ideal pick material and punched out a few with that gadget, the edges of those picks would be too rough for good use until you buffed them down a little with some light sandpaper or an emery board or somesuch. Cute idea, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/12 "2012-01-25T04:38:58Z")
It’s not like regular picks are expensive. And I don’t like plastic picks, I use nylon ones. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/13 "2012-01-25T05:22:57Z")
I can’t imagine using picks punched out by that gadget. I like those fat little jazz picks, with nice polished edges. A CC just isn’t going to be thick enough nor smooth enough. And fat picks like I use never wear out (but I do seem to lose them easily) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/14 "2012-01-25T06:34:31Z")
If that thing would punch through cymbals, I’d get one. The company that made my picks went out of business, and I’m down to like 56 of them now. Well, 56 of the extra heavy guitar picks. I still have 10 of the jazz picks and 10 of the blues picks and at least 10 of the medium and 10 of the thin guitar picks. I could run out any day now! ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/15 "2012-01-26T01:59:20Z")
I use the Dunlop Tortex .60 mm, they’re grippy, not regular plastic. Occasionally stainless, brass or spring steel I made at the shop from a template, so I can use it for a quick slide, but they kill strings pretty quickly. Cool idea though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-cool-gadget/610406/16 "2012-01-26T02:18:49Z")
The last time I used a credit card (part of one, that is) for a pick, about 2 years ago, it snapped. Too brittle. Heavy, clunky, then broke. Way back when, the CCs used to be good for that, but, no more.