V-Picks Gear Review

Overview

If you are into picks you have got to try out some V-Picks. I head about V-Picks about a year ago. They are basically laser-cut handmade picks. V-Picks are made out of a cast acrylic material. Basically this is a special grade of plexi-glass. There are several things that I really dig about V-Picks including tone, durability, gripability and variety.

I am admittedly a bit of a pick freak. By that I mean that I love to try new and different picks to see how they affect my tone and playing. Having said that, it is pretty needless to say that I was super stoked when my shipment of V-Picks came in the mail. I have really found that V-Picks add a little something special to my guitar tone in the note attack and midrange areas.

V-Picks come in a pretty staggering variety of shapes sizes and thicknesses. You might be quite surprised when you see how thick some of these guys are! I admittedly did not like all of the V-Picks that I tried, but there were quite a few that I really fell in love with.

I play a lot of “strummy” acoustic music in addition to my electric guitar playing so I kind of leaned toward some of the thinner V-Picks. Some of my favorite V-Picks that I tried were ones that could use to easily go back and forth between strumming an acoustic and shredding on an electric. I really dig the ULP Small, ULP Large, Lite Small, Lite Large, Bb, Screamer, Tradition UL, SwitchBlade and the Stiletto.

Price   -   7.5/10

At first glance V-Picks can seem quite expensive. The entire line of picks range from about $3-$35 apiece, but most of them are about $3-$5. You may be thinking “Wow that is a lot of money for one pick”. Well, relatively speaking that is true, but these are hand made picks that last a very long time and have the ability to change and improve your overall guitar tone and playing.

Sound Quality   -   10/10

V-Picks are a fun and relatively inexpensive way to tweak your guitar tone. The sound difference between V-Picks and standard run of the mill picks is quite noticeable. The midrange seems to be fatter and the volume seems to be louder.

My favorite thing about the sound of V-Picks is that each different type of V-Pick has a very different sound for the initial attack on the guitar strings. Depending on what kind of music I am playing I may want a very sharp attack or a very soft attack.

Build Quality   -   9.5/10

V-Picks are all handmade and or laser-cut picks. They are very specialized and Vinni really takes his time figuring out the best designs to take your tone and playing to the next level. A lot of the V-Picks are quite thick so if you are into the really thin or floppy picks you might not dig them. They are definitely worth trying out though. You might be surprised how much you like a “thick pick”.

Features   -   10/10

• Handmade and or laser-cut
• Cast acrylic
• Wide variety of shapes, sizes and thicknesses

Ease of Use   -   8/10

They are picks, you pick with them! But seriously, the only thing hard about using V-Picks is deciding which ones you like out of the huge variety that they offer.

Pros

• V-Picks are a relatively inexpensive way to improve or change your guitar tone
• Handmade and or laser cut
• Durable
• Gripable

Cons

• You may have to spend some time and cash before you find out which pick(s) you like best.
• I feel like I am at a bit of a disadvantage when I don’t have a V-Pick available

Overall Rating   -   8.8/10

If you love improving and experimenting with you guitar tone you should grab a couple of V-Picks. Their wide variety of handmade picks will open up a whole new world of subtle guitar tone for you. You may have to buy several different V-Picks before finding the one(s) that really work for you, but the whole process of experimenting is quite fun. The V-Picks site is very informative and they run monthly pick specials too! Check them out at http://www.V-Picks.com