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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 25, 2018 18:44:43 GMT -5
I just pulled these out of the Lot-O. I've never made this many before. Left two columns: green quartz from here in Alpena. I've only found two rocks of this material here. Third column: Montana agate Fourth column: Green rock I got in a trade. Not sure what it is. Bottom rock should be with the black ones on the right, oops. Fifth column: Not sure, but it kind of looks like Flint Ridge to me. Sixth column: Unakite from Lake Superior Seventh column: Crazy lace Eighth column: I think the top rock is Rhyolite from the U.P., not sure what the rest are.  |
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unclesoska
freely admits to licking rocks
All those jade boulders tossed in search of gold!
Member since February 2011
Posts: 934
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Post by unclesoska on Apr 25, 2018 19:13:04 GMT -5
Nice job! I know from experience that they're harder to get right than they look. How thick are they?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 25, 2018 20:11:32 GMT -5
Nice job! I know from experience that they're harder to get right than they look. How thick are they? I don't have calipers and they vary a bit, but somewhere around 3/32. |
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Post by orrum on Apr 25, 2018 22:01:11 GMT -5
Wowtastic Rob!!!
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Post by fernwood on Apr 26, 2018 4:15:21 GMT -5
Nice looking picks and nice variety.
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Post by MsAli on Apr 26, 2018 9:52:39 GMT -5
Those are great-I love the crazy lace!
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Post by Psycho on Apr 26, 2018 18:53:43 GMT -5
Very nice, love the crazy lace also
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Post by aDave on Apr 26, 2018 20:21:32 GMT -5
Good job. I'm assuming you've gotten feedback. Are these pretty well accepted?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 26, 2018 20:50:45 GMT -5
Good job. I'm assuming you've gotten feedback. Are these pretty well accepted? I know zero about playing guitar. I haven't gotten a lot of feedback. I did sell some at a local guitar shop and the owner said that they're good for playing mandolins. I can't remember who, but I gave one to someone who has a teenager who plays guitar and it's their favorite pick. It's very possible that the kid doesn't know any better though. |
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Post by aDave on Apr 26, 2018 21:10:38 GMT -5
Good job. I'm assuming you've gotten feedback. Are these pretty well accepted? I know zero about playing guitar. I haven't gotten a lot of feedback. I did sell some at a local guitar shop and the owner said that they're good for playing mandolins. I can't remember who, but I gave one to someone who has a teenager who plays guitar and it's their favorite pick. It's very possible that the kid doesn't know any better though. That sounds great. If you can get a following, that would be a good thing. Congrats for moving into this arena. |
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pizzano
Cave Dweller 
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Apr 26, 2018 22:24:21 GMT -5
Good job. I'm assuming you've gotten feedback. Are these pretty well accepted? I know zero about playing guitar. I haven't gotten a lot of feedback. I did sell some at a local guitar shop and the owner said that they're good for playing mandolins. I can't remember who, but I gave one to someone who has a teenager who plays guitar and it's their favorite pick. It's very possible that the kid doesn't know any better though. I'll chime in a little here since I'm a flat picker........stone picks are a nice novelty, especially the quality being shown here. However, for actual playing, the are not advisable and most of us serious strummers never consider them for a few reasons...:
They are hard and lack any flex. Depending on the picking style, for rhythm guitar they eat strings. For melody (lead) type playing, they are difficult to get any speed with and tend to buzz (vibrate) against the strings rather than absorb the vibration.
If made thin enough to function properly, they don't hold up to the continuous action...crack, split, round out.
I have seen a few guys try them on mandolins and other acoustic type instruments that require stiff short stroke picking, but once again, they buzz and are not metal string friendly.........worse on gut/nylon strings.....don't even consider electric guitar strings.
That said, I know a fellow musician from Hawaii who uses a volcanic rock type pick on his uke......he's changing strings a lot, but feels it's part of the earth he comes from (Kona)....and it has a spiritual quality to him.........this guy is pretty good, he could use damn near anything laying around to pick with if he had to.
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Post by parfive on Apr 26, 2018 23:39:50 GMT -5
You have to be pretty careful handling polished cabs . . . slippery buggers, they are.
Curious why polished guitar picks are not a problem.
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Post by fernwood on Apr 27, 2018 4:35:46 GMT -5
I have been using one recently received to play my Appalachian dulcimer. So far, no buzz or string deterioration. Granted, I have a more mellow style of playing, with no amplification. I like the control it offers for certain songs. But, I have used a pick made from Ironwood in the past and liked that as well. Can see where they would not work for certain instruments/playing styles. They are great for making jewelry. pizzano Your friend from Kona is a great example of a musician connecting spiritually with Earth. Have seen musicians do this in a variety of ways with adornments on their instruments/straps. |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 27, 2018 7:23:14 GMT -5
You have to be pretty careful handling polished cabs . . . slippery buggers, they are. Curious why polished guitar picks are not a problem. I've been told it is a problem. Any idea how to rough up the part you hold onto without making it look bad? I haven't come up with any thing yet. Sandblasting a circle there might work, but I don't have a sandblaster. |
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Post by MrP on Apr 27, 2018 7:51:03 GMT -5
You have to be pretty careful handling polished cabs . . . slippery buggers, they are. Curious why polished guitar picks are not a problem. I've been told it is a problem. Any idea how to rough up the part you hold onto without making it look bad? I haven't come up with any thing yet. Sandblasting a circle there might work, but I don't have a sandblaster. I use a convex wheel to put an elongated divot where a person's thumb contacts the pick. I put it in before I tumble the pick. Feels good to me but I don't play so have no real info..........................MrP |
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Post by fernwood on Apr 27, 2018 8:06:47 GMT -5
MrP. Can I post a photo here of the one you sent that I have been using? I roughed up the groove a little and it works great.
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Post by fernwood on Apr 27, 2018 8:16:52 GMT -5
In the mean time, here are photos of both sides of some "traditional" picks. The top two were thrown to the audience at an REO concert. Notice that the one on the upper left only has some roughage (the manufacture name) on one side. The one on the upper right has a lot of roughage on both sides. The lower left shows my all time favorite pick for hard strumming. Softer nylon and roughage on both sides. The lower right is one of the 5 Roswell picks I won. It is nylon as well. Has roughage on only one side. I did not photograph my metal pick, as there is no roughage on that. I have a couple with no roughage that are the same shape as the ones you made. Preference for roughage on a pick depends on a lot of factors. Playing style, instrument(s) played, condition of finger/thumb pads, etc. Maybe other pickers here will chime in with their preferences. I have many musician friends who have specific picks for specific songs and venues.   |
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Apr 27, 2018 8:36:50 GMT -5
A glass etching kit from a hobby shop might work for the roughing business , puts a frosted finish on the glass and you could mask any design you wanted, letters, numbers or artwork of choice depending on your artistic level ? Most places that sell frosting kits have sample work you could check (touchy - feel- me ) to get an idea before buying. Maybe someone here could do a sample for you ?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 27, 2018 10:19:45 GMT -5
I've been told it is a problem. Any idea how to rough up the part you hold onto without making it look bad? I haven't come up with any thing yet. Sandblasting a circle there might work, but I don't have a sandblaster. I use a convex wheel to put an elongated divot where a person's thumb contacts the pick. I put it in before I tumble the pick. Feels good to me but I don't play so have no real info..........................MrP What sort of wheel? Like a cabbing wheel? I thought about using a ball shaped burr on a Dremel, but I don't know if I could control it enough to center it properly. Maybe in a drill press I could. |
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Apr 27, 2018 11:54:46 GMT -5
Not to side-track this thread much more......guitar picks are more of a personal preference than anything else. Gauge, type of material, shape all come into play. Most of us find something we are comfortable with related to our playing styles and type of instrument. Electric and acoustic guitars require separate types of strings, which many times will dictate the type of pick used......If one is a "tone" guy, we'll even have a special "pick" for recording rather than a jam or live play, particularly if using acoustic's.........If you need to "broadcast" your sound, a thicker gauge is preferred if not plugged into amps or mic'd up......That's my 2 cents worth........Now, back to stones.
If there was a way to keep half of the pick shaped but semi-rough and only polish the middle to tip half, that might solve the slippage issue....just a thought..! |
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