Magic Room Picks - Eco-Friendly & Tone Friendly

This week on The Pick I'm checking out a selection of picks from Magic Room Brand Music Supply. Made in Missouri, these picks are made 100% biodegradable by using bamboo. Vijoy, the founder of Magic Room, assured me that when the time comes, you can "bury their gear in the ground guilt free. Poof. They'll go away", but I'm not sure I'll be doing that any time soon with my new MRB picks! The box which my MRB picks came in has a great design, and along with the letter describing which pick was which was a handwritten note from Vijoy saying he hopes I enjoy the picks. In the box with the picks was a small material carrying bag and a sticker both with the Magic Room logo on. This was probably the nicest package a selection of picks has ever come for me in, and I really like the effort they put into this, making the whole experience that extra bit special.

Having enjoyed using wooden picks in the past, I was really looking forward to trying bamboo picks. Both on acoustic and electric guitar these picks sound great - very usable and definitely unique, I'd even happily use one or two of them for picked bass guitar.

First up is a composite pick (the one with the logo). This is made from bamboo cellulose (the inside bit of bamboo) and other natural plant materials, moulded into the shape of a pick. This plectrum has a smoother finish than the other MRB picks I have which are finished with a more open grain, and feels more sturdy in general. On acoustic guitar, this pick nicely pronounces the lower mids of my 000-style guitar, making it great for melodic lines. There is a curve on this pick which gives a tonal and slightly dynamic variance between up and down strokes, however this can be used really well to create some innovative new rhythmic sounds. I would definitely use this pick in the studio if I was recording acoustic guitar.

Secondly is the standard bamboo grass pick. With a taper from 2.5mm to 0.8mm, this pick has the comfort benefits of a thicker pick with the precision of a thinner pick. MRB offer three variations on the standard pick - one could be considered a "normal" pick shape, one has a thumb indent, and one has a thumb indent on one side and a finger indent on the other. All three are tonally very similar, slightly mid-scooped with a clear attack and lots of volume available if you dig in. Unlike a few of the wooden picks I've tried, these picks aren't too scratchy when you strum or pick lightly. I really enjoyed the thumb groove on the standard pick, that extra bit of grip support, however the I didn't notice the finger indent on the other pick until I had read Vijoy's letter which described the picks, as it wasn't where I normally have my finger when using a plectrum, however I'm sure for some people it will be a great extra bit of grip.

Out of all the MRB picks, the one I would choose to use with electric guitar would be the jazz bamboo grass pick. As you might have guessed, this pick has a familiar jazz pick style shape, meaning faster playing is a lot easier. By reducing the size of the pick there is some compromise in volume, but often this doesn't really matter with electric guitar. It is very similar tonally to the standard pick.

Finally is the "fatty", a 3mm pick shaped like a triangle with rounded corners designed for use with guitar and bass. Because of the rounded corners, on acoustic guitar this pick produces a very balanced sound, each string played evenly. Because of this there isn't much dynamic variation, however I can imagine this being really useful when recording rhythm guitar parts which require even strumming. On bass guitar the sound produced has the attack of using a pick without losing much warmth, and retains an even dynamic across each string.

I've really enjoyed checking out Magic Room picks this week. They excellently balance saving the planet by using biodegradable materials with creating great picks with unique tone and feel. If you like the sound or look of them, go check out their website at www.magicroombrand.com. If you enjoy reading The Pick and want to see more variety and more regular posts, please do consider donating or sponsoring. For more info check out the Sponsorship page, but benefits of contributing include the ability to suggest what kind of post or product review your contribution will go towards and your name or company advertisement in the blog, plus it enables me to continue to put time and effort into producing content!