Red Bear Trading Company, Custom Picks (so real, you'll swear you could taste the turtle)
Thank goodness it's up to 21 degrees outside lakelizardmusic studios...and I thought it was going to be a cold one...well, it is too damn cold, but as you can see above, I still get killer sunsets right outside my windows.
This will seem silly to some of you, but to the hardcore pickers out there, listen up. Over the years I've played with all kinds of picks...made from all kinds of stuff...Fenders, Ernie Ball, Gibson, picks from music stores all over, picks cut out of an old Clorox bottle, pennies, nickels...you name it it's been tried. My favorite for a long time has been Dunlop 0.73mm, the old gray mare of flat picks...durable, grippable,playable and cheap. With my new LazyRiver guitar, I've been using finger picks for the first time and got myself some of the Dunlop metal kind which I think are standard for resonator and steel players. But for a newbie like me, they're hard to control, they pinch, and the thumb pick doesn't want to stay on.
(oh yeah, custom made for lakelizardmusic)
Now, tortoise shell guitar picks have long been legendary for their exceptional sound and playability and longevity...and to protect the turtles, they are illegal in this country...yes, illegal guitar picks...and highly sought after. You can go to the turtle farm in Grand Cayman and buy them in the gift shop there, but you can't bring 'em back in the good ol' US of A. (or those Cubans you bought from the lady across the street from the turtle farm.) Well, having said that, I've heard that you can buy them around here, but you ain't supposed to. (disclaimer: lakelizardmusic does not endorse illegal activities in any shape, form, or fashion) Anyway, Red Bear Trading Company has picks made of 'cultured tortoise shell' which are legal and the closest to the real thing I've seen to this point. They handmake each pick and will even bevel them to your specs to improve the angle of string attack. I've had mine for about 2 days, and so far, wow! I love these picks! If you tend to lose picks, you can stop reading now unless you're rich...cause these puppies ain't cheap (on lakelizard money anyways). But if you can hold onto one, it's worth the money.
The pick pictured above, I like even more than the flatpicks so far! This ingenious device resulted from a collaboration between a blues guy named Little Brother and Propik and Red Bear. No more metal thumbpick for me if I can help it. This thing fits and stays on. The tip is made of their tortoise shell like material so it sounds killer...I'm blown away by this! What else is out there that I haven't found out about yet? Free beer?
Go check 'em out at redbeartrading.com You'll be glad you did and tell'em lakelizardmusic sent you.
hbsongs 948 overandout it's cold...stay inside and pick!
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