In keeping with our recent trend, we are going to highlight what the professionals are saying about our specialty guitar picks, the Talons. We believe that the evolution of guitar picks is here, which means guitar players of all styles and abilities have the chance to affordably enhance their sound in a revolutionary way. While other improvements can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars (think amps, a new guitar entirely, or even an effects pedal).
So without any more hype (read our past posts for plenty of that), let’s get to the meat and potatoes today. Here is what Dave Barlow had to say in his blunt appraisal of what we consider to be the best guitar picks on the market.
“These Aren’t Just Any Normal Kind Of Guitar Picks”
“These aren’t just any normal kind of guitar picks. They’re a little bit strange. They’re a really weird shape, and they’ve got a kind of cup section, where you put your thumb. The little bit of a pick sticks out. And then you’ve got another section where you can turn it around for more ‘flappy’ picking. They come in three kind of gauges – heavy, medium, and light. Within those gauges, they have different values on the end of the pick, on the actual picking part of the pick. The reason for this is to make sure that when you hold your guitar pick, you’re picking is spot-on accurate, which, surprisingly it is.
The first thing I came across is, and don’t get me wrong, these are great picks, and I’m using this one right now, but I want to take you through the whole story as to how this may affect you as well. [That’s] because when i first picked these guitar picks up from the post (mail), and played it on my guitar, and I went, ‘OH MY GOD, how can i use that pick, it’s just so weird!’ That was my first response, and it was a bit of a knee-jerk response…I wanted to make sure the geezers who sent me these guitar picks aren’t crazy, which they probably are (we take this as a compliment from someone like Dave, so thanks!).
“It Was A Very Efficient Guitar Pick”
I gave a few of these picks to a couple of guitar players of mine, and they went, ‘AHHHHH, I can’t use these picks. This is impossible. It’s in the wrong place, everything is wrong about it, I can’t use this pick.’ But anyway, Talon sent me a further email saying, ‘hey, stick with this, and you’ll see how it all comes together.’ And I’m thinking, okay. So there is some kind of hidden secret in using this. So I did! And I didn’t gig with it, at first. But i kind of just played with it at home. And I quickly realized that my picking style is very bad. [So] I changed my picking style for this pick, so I didn’t hold the pick so tightly, I could hold it looser. Plus I wasn’t holding the guitar pick at an angle so much. And the other thing is that I noticed the pick was very, I don’t know what the word is for it, but It was a very efficient pick.
“There Is Nothing Like This On The Market Place”
So, if I used my old pick, my old pick is nowhere near as efficient as this pick. And what I’m trying to explain to you is that when I pick a note, the effort involved is minute compared to my old where of picking compared to my old way of picking…The more I used this, the more the secret sauce was revealed…So I guess my point is that if you try these Talon picks out, the first time you use them, you’ll probably be freaked out. There is nothing like this on the market place, probably because it’s a tough one for people to get their heads around. But I can assure you that when you play this for a couple of weeks, just practice with it, and you’ll find you change your picking style a little bit…this will make your picking loads more efficient.
“You Can Hear The Difference”
I kind of A-B tested this up against another pick, and it was so much obvious that this pick (the Talon guitar pick) was so much clearer, the clarity when I played a note…you can hear the difference when using it up against one of these style picks (he picks up a traditional guitar pick). So once you get over the change in the design and the way you are holding it…and you start playing it, and you start listening to what you are doing, and watching what you are doing, and you’ll see how easy everything becomes playing the notes. You’ll probably start to play around with the different gauges and the different depths, and so on and so forth.
“If You Are A Metal Guitar Player, You Are Going To Love This”
Playing compared to the traditional pick. “It’ just so much cleaner. It’s just so much easier. It’s just clearer, and faster. So yeah, maybe it’s in my head. I’m trying to just promote these. But I’m not because I don’t get paid for it. It is generally a pretty good pick, once you get your head around it…They’re pretty good, I’m going to continue to use them. They are a game changer. If you are a metal guitar player, you’re gonna love this…I think some of the fast guitar players, the metal players, all those young guys doing amazing guitar work on YouTube, these might work out good for you because they make everything crystal clear. Each note is crystal clear…I’m gonna use them…go and buy some, and see what you think.”
That’s what we call an honest appraisal of what we have to offer here at Talon Elements! We appreciate Dave taking the time to describe the process of learning how to adapt to Talon guitar picks. If you want to actually watch the entire video, jump here! Dave is much more entertaining than our transcription, believe it or not. Plus, you can hear the actual difference in his live playing, along with being able to watch a Ben Higgins review and a Benoni Studio review and tone test.
We say that we have the best guitar picks on the market here at Talon. That isn’t a claim that we make lightly. We absolutely believe in our specialty guitar picks because the difference is tangible. Now, changing styles isn’t always easy, but we aren’t talking about learning a new instrument here. The great news is that you can try out a Talon guitar pick and not have break the bank to do it. If you are ready to improve your ability to speed pick, unlock new sonic dimensions, and give yourself more tonal control than you thought possible, shop our guitar picks online today!