Last winter, I griped to Chris Walz at the Old Town School of Folk Music that I needed a better guitar pick.

For at least 15 years prior, I’d used Fender Classic Celluloid picks to pretty good effect. I was loyal to the Heavy tortoise-shell model. But as I started playing long hard sets with Tangleweed, I found I was wearing the tips off them far too quickly for my liking.

I then found that Jim Dunlap made an Extra-Heavy version almost identical to the Fender picks, so I used them for a couple years. They had a little more authority and wore out a little slower than the Fenders did, but I was still burning the tips off within the context of a single night at The Charleston, so I eventually soured on these too.

Enter the WEGEN PICK - a handmade pick by Michel Wegen in the Netherlands. Wegen makes several varieties for different instruments and styles of play, many of them very interesting and different from traditional picks.

I have been using the TF Triangular model for about six months now, and I love it. The fact that I can play with any of its three corners is a great convenience. The 1.4 mm thickness gives me much better single-note resonance than I was able to achieve before. Despite the increased thickness and strength of this pick, I’m actually breaking fewer strings than ever. The beveled edges allow it to skip across the strings beautifully, esp. when combining picking and strumming. The pick is rock-hard and barely wears at all. I have been using the same one for six months of gigs and rehearsals with almost no appreciable damage. The holes in the center took a little getting used to, but now I’m dropping my pick less than ever. And when I do drop it, its white color makes it much easier to find on a barely-lit stage than my previous tortoise-shells. I can’t say a single bad thing about this pick.

They’re not cheap - about $7.50 US apiece, but it’s been totally worth it for me on every level. My only problem is that I bought a two-pack, and I’ve since lost one, so I’m playing gigs with no backup. Going back to the Dunlap’s mid-set is a scary prospect… so as soon as the Different Strummer gets another load of these babies in, I’m stocking up, having finally found a truly excellent pick I can rely upon.

Big thanks to Chris Walz for the recommendation, and to Mr. Wegen for his excellent solution to my problem. Check him out if you’re in need of a new pick option - he even takes requests for customizations of his standard versions.