The most popular guitar picks? Says who? Says Amazon…that’s who.
If you’ve played guitar (or any plucked musical instrument) for any amount of time, you’ve probably come to realize that not all guitar picks are created equal. They have different gauges, or thicknesses, and come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and designs.
So how do you know which guitar pick is best for you? You try out several types until you find the one you like the best. We’re talking about little pieces of celluloid (for the most part) here, so this searching won’t cost you an arm or a leg. Sometimes you can get a variety pack that lets you check out several types in one go.
Alternatively, you could rely (at least, to some degree) on those who have gone before you into the world of guitar pick experimentation and see which brands, shapes, sizes, and gauges are the most popular at Amazon. That’s exactly what I’ve done here for you. The guitar picks shown below are the mostly highly rated ones (as of this writing) at Amazon.
If you’re in a hurry and just want to check the pricing and availability of these picks at Amazon, you can click (tap) the links in the list below. Otherwise, you can keep scrolling and reading what few details there are about each brand.
- D’Addario Pearl Celluloid Guitar Picks
- Dunlop Tortex Guitar Picks
- Fender 351 Premium Celluloid Guitar Picks
D’Addario Pearl Celluloid Guitar Picks
Here are a few comments from the manufacturer (with spelling corrections included)…
“One of the first polymers ever created, cellulose nitrate [celluloid] is made by reacting cotton fibers with nitric acid. Celluloid was substituted for natural tortoise shell picks in the early 1900s and is still one of the most popular pick materials available today. They are available in a wide variety of thicknesses, shapes, and colors, and provide a natural feel and warm, fat tone.”
These picks are available in a wide variety of styles. You can get pretty much any combination of the following features.
For color, choose from black, blue, red, and green. Or you can get an assortment of colors. These are usually packaged in bundles of 10, 25, or 100. And they all come in light, medium, heavy, or extra heavy gauge.
Dunlop Tortex Guitar Picks
Dunlop’s Tortex picks are made of a “highly durable” treated Delrin base. They are designed to mimic the characteristics of a traditional tortoise shell pick – thus the “Tor” or “Tort” in the brand name. Tortex has been around since 1981, so you can see that the line has some staying power. The picks have a “grip-enhancing matte surface” for an improved hold, so they shouldn’t slip out of your fingers easily.
Tortex picks are color-coded to indicate their thickness.
- Red = 0.50mm
- Orange = 0.60mm
- Yellow = 0.73mm
- Green = 0.88mm
- Blue = 1.00mm
- Purple = 1.14mm
These Dunlop picks come in 12-, 36-, or 72-packs.
You can also get the PVP112 variety pack which contains the following 12 items.
- Ultex 0.60mm
- Tortex 0.60mm
- Tortex 0.73mm
- Tortex 0.88mm
- Tortex Flex 0.73mm
- Tortex Flex 0.88mm
- Shell Celluloid Thin
- Shell Celluloid Medium
- Nylon 0.60mm
- Nylon 0.73mm
- Nylon 0.88mm
- Herco Flex 50
Fender 351 Premium Celluloid Guitar Picks
The Fender 351 picks are quite traditional in style. They come in 12-packs of these colors.
- Black Moto
- Green Moto
- Ocean Turquoise
- Purple Moto
- Red Moto
- White Moto
If you do want to take a chance on the above, you can take your chances with a Sampler 12-, 24-, or 48-pack. Each pack includes thin, medium, and heavy gauge picks. Beyond that, what you get is a crap shoot.
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