It’s all in the hands …
For decades guitarists worldwide have been contempt with flat pieces of industrial plastic which don’t really account for the fact that we all have different sized and shaped fingers, hold our picks differently and all play different styles on different guitars.
All my picks are 3D … in addition to providing better grip and control of the pick the 3rd dimension gives me many additional parameters to tailor the guitar picks to a specific feel, and tune the playing characteristics and dynamics response of the pick much more precisely.
My plectrums are engineered from natural materials to provide what i think a great guitar pick should have:
- superior grip and feel
- precise control
- clean and warm sound
- enhanced speed
- durability
As a guitar player myself I have taken particular care to develop designs that meet these requirements.
The quest for the ultimate pick box …
It always seemed like a shame to mix my beautifully crafted picks with spare change in my pocket so early on i set out to craft the ultimate pick boxes: little things of beauty and practicality.
Over the years different design directions emerged but all are fueled by the desire of a minimal and practical high-end object taking design cues from boutique guitar lutherie. My boxes all fit in the little jeans pocket so they are always in reach and can be customised to hearts content with precious woods, inlays, purflings, bindings and engravings.
Mixing modern production with traditional artisan techniques
From the initial idea more than 20 years ago I have faced many obstacles in manufacturing my products. Horn is a very difficult material to work with and creating tiny objects with repeatable precision out of this capricious material always remains a challenge.
The process of making my products starts with a complicated parametric design process on the computer which helps me visualize my ideas as well as guarantee precision and repeatability in production. But most of the work is based in traditional artisan techniques. More than 80% of the production process is done by hand using traditional hand tools and techniques I have derived from master craftsmen around the world. Preparation of the raw materials for production and finishing are the most time consuming tasks in the process.
I only use sustainable natural materials and finishes and absolutely no chemicals are used in any step of the production process. Respect of the environment in my production process is very important to me so this naturally excludes cheaper industrial processes involving plastics or chemical finishes.
Life without guitars is like a guitar without strings …
The drive for crafting my products comes from my deep fascination with the guitar. In the more than 40 years I’ve been playing guitar and bass I have always sought to analyze and understand more about how guitars work and what makes them magic or boring. This has led me to design and build my own guitar line and a lot of the techniques i use in guitar building have bled over to my pickmaking and pick box designs.
My drive has always been to create my own design language and manufacture as many parts of the guitars myself as possible. A lot of the guitar industry is focused on a handfull of ‘iconic’ models created more than 60 years ago (mostly from Fender and Gibson). This limits the avilability of parts for anything that isn’t of a similar size and shape. As such, besides the actual guitars, I often create my own parts as well which frees me from the dimensional constraints of other peoples designs.
