The Norman Blake Picks
These picks were developed in collaboration with Norman Blake over the period of three months. The subtleties were carefully refined, and everything is just how it suits his style of playing. The bevel angle, and amount, in particular is different than my standard approach here. I think that you will find that these move quickly through the strings, while retaining a fullness in all registers.
You can hear Norman discussing these matters by clicking the audio link (below the add to cart button).*
Here is what we came up with:
NB1: This teardrop-shaped pick is one that Norman would use on guitar. It should be said that he only uses the top two rounded corners of this type of pick. Depending on the particular guitar he plays he likes either 1.4mm or 1.5mm, so I’ll offer both of those here.
NB2: This is the smaller pick with rounded corners. Norman uses this one strictly as a guitar pick as well. It suits him just as well as the teardrop pick, and it too will be offered in 1.4 and 1.5mm.
NB3: The larger pick with rounded corners is what he prefers to use when playing mandolin. That pick is available in one thickness, 1.5mm.
The fourth image shows the size of the picks compared to a quarter. NB1 is 29.26mm x 25.34mmm, NB2 is 27.7mm x 27.5mm, and NB3 is 29mm x 29mm.
—
*I originally captured the audio in order to paraphrase it, but there is something to be said for hearing directly from the man himself. Apologies for the poor audio-quality. Norman was unexpectedly ready to speak on all of this, so I quickly grabbed my wife’s iPhone and used it to record my phone on speaker mode.
These picks were developed in collaboration with Norman Blake over the period of three months. The subtleties were carefully refined, and everything is just how it suits his style of playing. The bevel angle, and amount, in particular is different than my standard approach here. I think that you will find that these move quickly through the strings, while retaining a fullness in all registers.
You can hear Norman discussing these matters by clicking the audio link (below the add to cart button).*
Here is what we came up with:
NB1: This teardrop-shaped pick is one that Norman would use on guitar. It should be said that he only uses the top two rounded corners of this type of pick. Depending on the particular guitar he plays he likes either 1.4mm or 1.5mm, so I’ll offer both of those here.
NB2: This is the smaller pick with rounded corners. Norman uses this one strictly as a guitar pick as well. It suits him just as well as the teardrop pick, and it too will be offered in 1.4 and 1.5mm.
NB3: The larger pick with rounded corners is what he prefers to use when playing mandolin. That pick is available in one thickness, 1.5mm.
The fourth image shows the size of the picks compared to a quarter. NB1 is 29.26mm x 25.34mmm, NB2 is 27.7mm x 27.5mm, and NB3 is 29mm x 29mm.
—
*I originally captured the audio in order to paraphrase it, but there is something to be said for hearing directly from the man himself. Apologies for the poor audio-quality. Norman was unexpectedly ready to speak on all of this, so I quickly grabbed my wife’s iPhone and used it to record my phone on speaker mode.
These picks were developed in collaboration with Norman Blake over the period of three months. The subtleties were carefully refined, and everything is just how it suits his style of playing. The bevel angle, and amount, in particular is different than my standard approach here. I think that you will find that these move quickly through the strings, while retaining a fullness in all registers.
You can hear Norman discussing these matters by clicking the audio link (below the add to cart button).*
Here is what we came up with:
NB1: This teardrop-shaped pick is one that Norman would use on guitar. It should be said that he only uses the top two rounded corners of this type of pick. Depending on the particular guitar he plays he likes either 1.4mm or 1.5mm, so I’ll offer both of those here.
NB2: This is the smaller pick with rounded corners. Norman uses this one strictly as a guitar pick as well. It suits him just as well as the teardrop pick, and it too will be offered in 1.4 and 1.5mm.
NB3: The larger pick with rounded corners is what he prefers to use when playing mandolin. That pick is available in one thickness, 1.5mm.
The fourth image shows the size of the picks compared to a quarter. NB1 is 29.26mm x 25.34mmm, NB2 is 27.7mm x 27.5mm, and NB3 is 29mm x 29mm.
—
*I originally captured the audio in order to paraphrase it, but there is something to be said for hearing directly from the man himself. Apologies for the poor audio-quality. Norman was unexpectedly ready to speak on all of this, so I quickly grabbed my wife’s iPhone and used it to record my phone on speaker mode.