So, I decided I was gonna give these Clayton picks a proper go. You hear things, right? Figured, what the heck, maybe they’d do something for my sound.
The Grand Plan… or Not
Went out and got myself one of those variety packs. Loads of ’em. Different thicknesses, different plastics, the whole shebang. My big idea was, I’d just pop one in, find the magic one, and boom, instant awesome. Yeah, right.
First off, my strings. Sounded like old socks. Seriously dead. So, fine, new strings it is. Slapped those on. Then I start playing with the Claytons, and yeah, they sounded different, but not, like, mind-blowingly different. And then my amp, all my settings just felt totally off. Spent ages twiddling knobs, this up, that down. Felt like I was chasing my own tail.
It stopped being about the pick pretty fast. It was the strings, then the amp, probably even how I was clenching the stupid thing. Turned into a whole saga, not the quick test I signed up for.
Plot Twist
And here’s the real gut punch. After all that messing around, with some of those Clayton picks, especially the pointy ones, my old faithful guitar just sounded… well, awful. Real thin, scratchy, just plain bad. I was this close to just chucking the picks in the bin. Thought, “Okay, these are garbage, or just not for this guitar.”
Man, I was getting properly cheesed off. Here I am, just trying to make things sound a bit better with a new pick, and everything’s going south. Story of my life, sometimes, eh?
So, dragged my guitar down to this local repair fella. Old timer, shop looked like a guitar graveyard, bits and pieces everywhere. I start bending his ear about my Clayton pick disaster, showing him the picks, how they just weren’t cutting it. He just kinda grunts, nods, barely even looked at the picks I was waving around.
He plugs in my axe, strums one chord, listens for maybe two seconds. Tops. Then he looks at me and goes, “Kid, your pick ain’t your main headache right now. Your electrics are fried.” Fried! Would you believe it? My baby had been quietly giving up the ghost, and I was too busy blaming a tiny bit of plastic. The new picks just made the problem impossible to ignore.
Then he starts off on one, you know? About how back in his day, they had like two pick choices, and you just got on with it. And how a proper setup beats any fancy-pants pick any day of the week. Bit of a lecture, but, you know, couldn’t argue with him, could I?
So, What Happened?
Long story short, got the guitar’s guts fixed. Cost me a bit more than I wanted, but hey, that’s guitars for ya. And what do you know? After that, I tried those Clayton picks again. And they actually sounded pretty decent! Especially the acetal ones, those felt good. The whole pick quest turned into this massive detour that ended up fixing a problem I barely knew was that bad.
Funny how these things go. You start off thinking you’re just trying a new plectrum, and it sends you down a rabbit hole. For me, this whole Clayton pick thing ended up being way more about my guitar’s health check than the pick itself. Still use a couple of ’em now and then. They’re alright, once your guitar isn’t actively fighting against ’em.
