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Permalink Reply by BenBob on June 11, 2010 at 6:23am

Those look cool, I'll PM you. Goatskin... do you make djembes?

BTW happy B-day!

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Permalink Reply by Chester Winowiecki on June 11, 2010 at 8:41am

Thanks! It's been a great one so far!

Not djembes, but close...I'm a potter who makes a lot of ceramic musical instruments and one of these is a middle eastern drum called a dumbek or darbuka. It's similar in shape to a djembe but make of clay and a bit smaller. It's a quieter drum played mostly in ensembles with other instruments and vocalists. I'll have to get on my other computer, but I'll post a pic if you're intersted in seeing one.

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Permalink Reply by BenBob on June 11, 2010 at 11:26am

Yeah, I'd like to look at your pictures. I think i've played a dumbek. Held in the lap played more with fingers right? Is fish skin used for those too? I like hand drums and especially goblets but alas, I'm not very good on them.

Chester Winowiecki said:

Thanks! It's been a great one so far!

Not djembes, but close...I'm a potter who makes a lot of ceramic musical instruments and one of these is a middle eastern drum called a dumbek or darbuka. It's similar in shape to a djembe but make of clay and a bit smaller. It's a quieter drum played mostly in ensembles with other instruments and vocalists. I'll have to get on my other computer, but I'll post a pic if you're intersted in seeing one.

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Permalink Reply by BenBob on July 6, 2010 at 6:55pm

Hi everyone, here's a review of Chester's picks.

I play primarily 6-string acoustic, and Dunlop Tortex yellows have been my go-to picks for many years. Before that I used Claytons, which are basically the same thing but translucent white and harder to find on the carpet. I like that they're fast on the string and don't have as much of a clicky sound that regular plastic (e.g. Fender) has. Nylon picks are OK but just don't sound or feel as good as the yellows to me. Sometimes I use the heavier Tortex greens too.

When Chester's picks arrived, my first sensation was the mojo edge that brutally tramples plastic. They're handmade by a CBG brother out of goat skin! They're a standard teardrop shape and definitely have more texture to grip, but they're not quite as rough as they appear in the OP picture. I felt the flex of them and there were two that were the same as my yellows, two marginally heavier, and one indicated as "heavy" - a good selection based on what I told him I play with.

At first, they feel abrasive across the strings. After strumming a few tunes however, they get smoother and smoother. As I played I noticed that one made a different sound, and upon close inspection found that the two layers of rawhide had separated at the very tip. His accompanying letter explicitly offered to replace any that are coming apart new, and I have no doubt that he would, but I can probably just glue it up with c.a. Also, I've played daily with one of the other picks for a couple weeks and it shows no sign of separating.

So on to performance... For strumming, it has a great sound. It seems to have a little more percussive attack, but at the risk of cuteness, it's more "organic." Even after wearing in, they have a bit more friction and you can subtly hear it, but it's a good sound with no plasticy click in it. I think these picks might sound great in recorded rhythm tracks too. When I'm playing and singing with these picks... I can't describe it but it feels great and sounds great to my ear. I really enjoy the sound of them for playing primarily rhythm acoustic, which is what I play quite a bit of!

For alternate picking where you're more careful to just use the tip and edge of the pick and you want a sharper sound it sounds dull, especially on the low strings. Also, they just aren't as slick as the Tortex (I guess Chester doesn't put Teflon in his picks), so they aren't as fast. To play at the same speed as a plastic pick, you have to either work harder or play lighter. I'm no shredder, but I don't imagine rawhide is incompatible with your pleather pants. While playing Sweet Home Alabama way too fast (as usual) they gave me no accuracy problems, but I could definitely feel more tension in my hand and wrist over the Tortex at the same volume.

For CBG... well, I haven't really been playing CBG long enough to make an opinion. Also, my little paper-covered box needs all the brightness it can get, so I'll stick with plastics for that.

These picks will stay on hand and I'll use them, so I'm happy. They're nice sounding, grippy little strummers, another tone in the palette, and a little extra mojo which we can all use from time to time. Just don't put them in your mouth or drop them on the tan carpet. -Ben

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on July 7, 2010 at 3:54am

Guitar Player magazine once ran a full two-page spread on the picks of 100 prominent players of all sorts. It was interesting. A lot of guys used thoroughly-standard Fender-type picks. However, there were some strange and creative devices in the mix.
Billy Gibbons' peso coin, John McLaughlin's chunk-o-plexiglass, stainless steel....On and on. The owner of our old club, the leader of the "Gravois Gypsies", used to cut his picks out of thin nylon sheet. Never hit a single note in his life....

So...If it works for you, it's great. Picks are cheap, try 'em all. Oh, except for those 30.00 numbers somebody sells...

BTW...I use standard .88mm Dunlop nylon jobs. Have for many years.

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Permalink Reply by BenBob on July 7, 2010 at 12:16pm

Did they review the P.O.D.?

Mark Werner said:

Guitar Player magazine once ran a full two-page spread on the picks of 100 prominent players of all sorts. It was interesting. A lot of guys used thoroughly-standard Fender-type picks. However, there were some strange and creative devices in the mix.
Billy Gibbons' peso coin, John McLaughlin's chunk-o-plexiglass, stainless steel....On and on. The owner of our old club, the leader of the "Gravois Gypsies", used to cut his picks out of thin nylon sheet. Never hit a single note in his life....

So...If it works for you, it's great. Picks are cheap, try 'em all. Oh, except for those 30.00 numbers somebody sells...

BTW...I use standard .88mm Dunlop nylon jobs. Have for many years.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Dunbar on July 21, 2010 at 12:26pm

would you happen to make mridangam / khol ?

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Permalink Reply by Chester Winowiecki on July 21, 2010 at 3:01pm

No, but maybe in the future! I've seen them before but I didn't know that the shell was ceramic...I'm not very interested in lacing heads (I generally glue them on) but I might get into making something like that sometime. My general feeling about instruments that have such strong traditions is to try to make something that I like that approximates or is very closely related to it. I don't want to insult anyone who has strong ties to that tradition by making it "wrong." So if did try to make one it probably wouldn't have laced heads and might not have the weighted dots either, but it would be double headed and made of clay....maybe with some strange experimental head weighting system!

thanks,
Chester

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