TuskBuffer Picks

On my quest for a perfect pointed pick, I wanted to try as many materials, both man-made and natural. Turtle picks are probably the most sought after, but the fact that an endangered animal has to die for my entertainment makes me not want to try them. Besides, turtle shell trade is illegal. It’s similar with elephant or rhino tusks. I have no problem with playing with buffalo horn, cow bone or similar materials. Then I heard about mammoth ivory. Mammoths have been extincts for tens of thousands of years ago, so using mammoth ivory is both legally and morally fine. Although the supply is limited, it’s said that there are millions of them still buried in Sibiera.

TuskBuffer.net was the first mammoth ivory pick maker that came up on google. Upon closer look, it seemed like a great place to get a pick to try. They make custom picks, one at a time, tailored to customer’s needs and wishes. You can pick size, shape, thickness and customize the looks. I got one jazz-style pick similar to Jazz III and Gravity Sunrise pick that I love.

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My first impression with the pick was – wow, what a grip! I’ve never seen a material that is this sticky without adding any adhesives. It stays put between the fingers no matter what. Tone it produces is also phenomenal – very natural and balanced with a hint of extra presence. It sits between the slightly warmer sounding buffalo horn and slightly brighter cow bone. Finally, it’s very pretty to look at. It’s ivory (no way!) color with tight growth rings, similar to those on a nice piece of wood. There’s an option to laser-engrave custom design and make them even prettier. You can use promo code ‘Bane’ to get the engraving for free!

One thing to note, however, is that this is a natural material and can be prone to wrapping and twisting, just like wood. My pick was very slightly bent from the get go. It’s hard to see, but between fingers it’s easy to tell the difference between logo side up or down. It’s not a big deal to me, but just feel like it needs to be said.

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I definitely recommend checking these out. They sounds great, look great, grip to fingers like crazy and besides, it’s a piece of mammoth! An amazing animal roamed through Siberia tens of thousands of years ago, and now I’m playing my guitar with a piece of it. How cool is that! You can get yours here.

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    The idea behind this site is to share my experience with Do It Yourself approach to guitars, amplifiers and pedals. Whether you want to save a couple of bucks by performing a mod or upgrade yourself instead of paying a tech, or want to build your own piece of gear from scratch, I'm sure you will find something interesting here. Also, this is the home of DIY Layout Creator, a free piece of software for drawing circuit layouts and schematics, written with DIY enthusiasts in mind.