The material which is used to make Chicken Picks is what makes these really unique - they are unlike any other pick I have used before, and the only way I can think to describe them is by comparing them to a new, unused Dunlop Tortex pick, before you've rubbed away all the grippy-ness. These things stay in your hand. The Chicken Picks website says that the material used is "a high-quality and highly-durable thermosetting plastic", but it doesn't feel 'plastic-y'.
The selection of picks I was send have a real variety in playability and tone. They range from picks for shredders, picks for country players, picks for bluesy players - I'm sure that players from many areas of the musical world could find their pick in the Chicken Picks selection. Out of these 7, I've found 2 which I love for my playing style, 2 which I enjoy playing with but I'd use less, and 3 which don't suit me that well (that's not to say they aren't good picks, but they just didn't work for me).
So lets start in the middle. Two of the picks I enjoyed playing are the 2.7mm Bermuda and the 2.0mm Badazz. The Bermuda is a triangular picks, with all three corners the same. This pick is a great size for players who change their picking technique spending on what their playing. It has a large surface area, which is by no means cumbersome, but allows for comfortable movement. The bevel is about 3-4mm long, and ends at a point. The edge of this pick is pointed, but the tip is rounded, and gives a warm tone to your playing. As with all these picks, there is a great deal of attack in the sound, which works well for arpeggiated picking.
Moving on, the 2.00mm Badazz was good, but the 2.5mm was great. This thicker pick is of a similar shape to the Turquoise Jazzy Tone pick which I reviewed a few weeks ago, sort of a wider Jazz III. It's shape works well for all the styles which you would associate with smaller scale picks, such as complex alternate picking, and has that same bright attack and warm tone which I've come to expect from Chicken Picks. After a few minutes of testing out this pick, I forgot what I was doing and went on a bit of a musical tangent, which I think is a good thing to happen when testing out new picks.
The Regular picks are, as you can imagine, in the shape of what everyone expects a pick to look like, however these are slightly taller and have slightly larger wings, and for me, this made my playing feel a bit clumsy. I would usually use larger picks for acoustic guitar playing, however these felt a bit too scratchy for me. I also was a bit disappointed with the 2.1mm Bermuda - it seems that 0.6mm is all it takes to change my opinion of a plectrum! Even though these few picks weren't for me, that's not to say they wont be the perfect fit for someone.
My favourite of the Chicken Picks was the 3.5mm Shredder. As you probably know by now, I'm a bit of a sucker for a thicker pick, and this one was no different. It has the shape of a scaled down Regular pick, and worked great for all kinds of playing (unlike the name suggests!). The bevel on this pick is great, smoothly tapering to a point in around 0.3mm, and just works really well for the kinds of stuff I was playing.
On the whole, these Chicken Picks have been great fun to try out - the feel is so unique but so usable and comfortable that gives them an advantage over others. The look is nice and classy - all the picks are finished in a matt white colour, and I've had a great time playing them.
Do you use Chicken Picks? Why do you like them? Let me know in the comments!
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