The best picks for electric guitar and acoustic guitar, from Jim Dunlop, Fender, Ibanez and more
A plectrum is a thing that plays a string. They’ve taken many forms, from the eagle feathers and quills once used to play lutes to the thin triangles of plastic we use to shred, strum and summon melodies out of guitars. Most present-day guitarists call them picks.
Modern guitar picks took shape between the 19th and early 20th century, culminating in the 1920s with the rounded triangle of the D’Andrea 351 celluloid plectrum, which set a benchmark for pick design that still hasn’t shifted. For more pick lore, read Will Hoover’s book, Picks! The Colorful Saga of Celluloid Guitar Plectrums for free online with an Internet Archive account.
But we’re here to help you pick a pick. There are many types, including 351-style (the most conventional), sharp-tip, triangular (often used with bass guitars), thumb picks for fingerstyle playing, and many other options in-between. We suggest you try a variety, as this is one of the cheapest ways to tap into different guitar tones and creative avenues. Even experienced guitarists who swear by a certain pick can freshen up their playing and sound by experimenting with other types.
Also consider gauge, which is the thickness of a pick. Most picks come in various gauges, and this affects your playing and tone. Thinner plectrums are often preferred for strumming, while thicker ones can offer more attack and precision. The author of this guide opts for middle-of-the-road 0.73mm picks.
The 20 potted reviews below will give you a brief introduction to some of the many types of picks that could broaden your musical horizons (or simply save your fingers from some wear and tear). Try a few, and enjoy the subtle differences!
At a glance:
Dunlop Nylon Standard
Dunlop Tortex Standard
Fender 351
Landstrom Sharkfin
Ibanez Grip Wizard Sand Grip
Dunlop Thumb Finger Pick Set
Gravity Picks Rob Chapman Signature
Ibanez P1000MH Meshuggah Signature
Taylor Celluloid Pick Tin
Jim Dunlop Nylon Jazz III
Gibson Medium Tortoise
Fender Aero Acrylic
Gravity Razer Mini
Fender Thin Picks Confetti
D’Addario National Brass Finger & Thumb Picks Bundle (6-Pack)
Black Mountain Asteroid Guitar Pick
John Pearse Fast Turtles
Herco Vintage ’66 Reissue
Dunlop Tortex Sharp
Martin Faux Tortoiseshell Triangle
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Dunlop Nylon Standard
Flexible, grippy and perfectly shaped for the average guitarist, these nylon Jim Dunlop picks have superb playability. Nylon does tend to be slippier than certain other pick materials including celluloid, but this model makes up for that with plenty of grip and embossed branding. The compiler of this guide has been happily using Nylon Standards for over 20 years.
Dunlop Tortex Standard
Tortex picks are made of treated Delrin plastic, which mimics the zingier qualities of real tortoiseshell (a banned material in the plectrum business since 1973). The upshot is that Tortex picks sound fantastically bright and lend themselves to decisive playing. They’re smooth-surfaced, but with a chalky texture that offers some grip.
Fender 351
This is the quintessential ‘modern’ guitar pick, based on the 351 shape pioneered by D’Andrea a century ago. Made from bright-sounding, great-looking celluloid, it’s a timeless favourite for good reason. Various colourways are available including a particularly pretty ocean turquoise, and there are thin, medium, heavy and extra-heavy gauges to choose from.
Landstrom Sharkfin
More than just a cool shape, Landstrom’s Sharkfin plectrum offers a generous area to grip, and different profiles on the top and bottom sides for tonally creative plucking and strumming. Messrs. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison are all said to have used these picks, which are ideal for playing crisp rhythms.
Ibanez Grip Wizard Sand Grip
Regardless of whether you’ve got mom’s spaghetti on your sweater, there’s a fair chance that you’ll sometimes have sweaty palms while playing guitar. This ultra-grippy pick from Ibanez is the drop-resistant answer to your woes, with a textured surface to give you plenty of purchase. The small teardrop shape is great for fast, precise picking.
Dunlop Thumb Finger Pick Set
The original six-string guitar picks were worn on the fingers and thumb, and this style is still available for players who specialise in old-timey fingerpicking. Jim Dunlop’s set is made in medium and large sizes to suit a reasonably wide array of digits, and it comes in right-handed and left-handed variants – so check that you’ve factored in your handedness before you order.
Gravity Picks Rob Chapman Signature
Using an out-there material called polymethyl methacrylate, Gravity Picks has created a standout plectrum that sounds far more powerful than its thin profile might suggest. The bevelled edges have been left rough for a distinctive tone, while the fairly sharp tip delivers considerable attack and precision.
Ibanez P1000MH Meshuggah Signature
Tough and teardrop-shaped, with a sand grip to prevent droppage, this Mårten Hagström pick is built for hard playing. At 1mm, the gauge is fairly heavy, which well befits a signature plectrum designed for a guitarist who frequently plays an eight-string M80M with beefy lower strings.
Taylor Celluloid Pick Tin
We’ve sometimes heard rumours that there’s an alternative universe where plectrums go whenever we lose sight of them for a few seconds. You’ll lose fewer picks to the wormhole if you get a nice tin to keep them in, like this Taylor-branded one (which comes with a nice selection of the company’s own picks).
Jim Dunlop Nylon Jazz III
A cult fave with guitarists across a variety of genres – including metal, as well as jazz – the Nylon Jazz III has a pointy tip and small surface that players in-the-know find helpful for picking precisely. Players with larger fingers might find this pick hard to grasp, but it’s perfectly suited for the average nimble noodler.
Gibson Medium Tortoise
A classic celluloid pick in a 351 style, the Gibson Medium Tortoise closely resembles D’Andrea’s original flat guitar picks in sound, feel and form. The faux tortoiseshell finish is lovely to behold, while the glitzy Gibson logo provides some welcome grip. Thin, medium and heavy gauges are available.
Fender Aero Acrylic
Acrylic picks are musical Marmite. The material has less flexibility than nylon or celluloid, but it delivers superb brightness and encourages decisive picking. This subtly streamlined model from Fender has smooth bevelled edges that work very well for tremolo picking or shredding.
Gravity Razer Mini
If you’d like a little added sharpness without going all-in on a very pointy pick, this acrylic plectrum would be a good bet. The price might rule this model out for guitarists who go through a lot of plectrums, but it does have some premium bona fides, including hand-cut production, and laser etching for improved grip.
Fender Thin Picks Confetti
This is one pick that your fellow musicians would struggle to absent-mindedly pick up from the top of your amp. The red, blue, black and white, mosaic-style pattern is a real standout, while the pick’s 351 shape and thin profile will keep most guitarists in a celebratory mood.
D’Addario National Brass Finger & Thumb Picks Bundle (6-Pack)
The National finger pick design has been a favourite among acoustic guitarists and banjo players since the 1930s – and it’s still faithfully produced by D’Addario. Brass is one of the brightest-sounding plectrum materials, and the brass finger picks in this set certainly shine. Meanwhile, the faux tortoiseshell and celluloid thumb picks make for smoother root notes.
Black Mountain Asteroid Guitar Pick
Guitar picks are generally less diverse than they once were, but there are still some fabulously creative outliers. This bizarre-looking creation from Black Mountain is one of the most unusual, with three sections offering distinct textures and profiles (which is potentially a riff on Charles F. W. Seidel’s pioneering multi-point plectrum of 1904). Just spin the pick between your fingers to sound completely different.
John Pearse Fast Turtles
Check them out here.
Come for the irregular shape and retro branding; stay for the distinct tortoiseshell-like feel. John Pease Fast Turtles are made from casein, a protein found in milk which produces a warm tone when manufactured into a plectrum and thwacked across guitar strings. The shape is essentially an offset 351.
Herco Vintage ’66 Reissue
Herco’s nylon picks were everywhere in the 1960s and 1970s, so if you’re a guitarist with vintage taste, this recreation of a 1966 classic may bring you closer to sounding like your guitar heroes, whether they be Jimmy Page, Neil Young or Phil Lynott. The plectrums are made from Herco’s original moulds.
Dunlop Tortex Sharp
The epitome of pointiness, made from Jim Dunlop’s trademarked Tortex material. Tortex Sharps will feel like an oddity to some guitarists – especially those who spend a lot of time strumming – but they’re a good pick for intricate lead parts. There are six gauges, including a very heavy 1.5mm.
Martin Faux Tortoiseshell Triangle
Guitar picks used to be made from tortoiseshell, a material which was mostly produced from the shells of sea turtles. This abomination was ended in the 1970s, but some guitarists still covet the look and sound of a tortoiseshell pick. These Martin picks are a particularly traditional choice, with a convincing faux tortoiseshell material and an almost-equilateral shape that’s become a rarity over the last half-century.
Why You Can Trust Us
Every year, Guitar.com reviews a huge variety of new products – from the biggest launches to cool boutique effects – and our expert guitar reviewers have decades of collective experience, having played everything from Gibson ’59 Les Pauls to the cheapest Squiers.
That means that when you click on a Guitar.com buyer’s guide, you’re getting the benefit of all that experience to help you make the best buying decision for you. What’s more, every guide written on Guitar.com was put together by a guitar obsessive just like you. You can trust that every product recommended in those guides is something that we’d be happy to have in our own rigs.
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