We wanted to let all of our blog subscribers know that during each of the months of May, June and July, we will randomly select one subscriber that will win 100 free custom picks of their choice.  Winners can create any 100 picks up to a $75 value!  Make sure to subscribe to our blog feed by clicking on the “orange Entries (RSS) button” in the upper right corner of our blog.  Or you can click here: Subscribe to the Clayton Blog. The winner’s guitar pick will be showcased on the blog once it is printed and shipped.  Good luck to all of our blog subscribers!

Glasstone Records sent us press kit a few months back, we are in the process of endorsing several of their bands. You should have seen the stack of contracts I had to sign, my hand was aching at the end of it! .  When we get them all back I will take a picture with them all so you can see why, haha. We just got the first contracts back from Neil, Tom and Adam of Shotgun Riot. I think this is out first hardcore punk endorsee. They definently have a real gritty hardcore sound to them that any deep rock fan can appreciate. I normally don’t listen to the more hardcore stuff but you actually hear what these guys are saying so it is enjoyable and not so tough on the ears. Definently a band you would have to turn up to the max to get the full effect of. This band is located in London, UK. Check out their myspace to sample their music. Also, look out for more posts soon about Glasstone Records and new bands to be endorsed.

The Black Raven custom picks have become so popular! Here is a few that we ran this week and wanted to share with you. We can imprint white and full color imprints on the Black Raven. Of course white imprints the best on black, however, don’t hesistate to try other colors! Red and White really stand out on the Black Raven because they are brighter colors and look great together. We don’t really suggest designs with very fine detailing however you can always ask if you are unsure if it would turn out or not. Colors like purple, red, bright green, and dark orange or yellow really look best on this pick. It’s usually best to use a design that has solid colors in it rather than a gradient or excessive shading in it.  We have it available in the traditional sizes of thin, medium and heavy.

Woman Pleads Guilty for Selling Illegal Sea Turtle Guitar Picks

“A 54-year-old Sonoma County woman has pleaded guilty to charges of illegally importing guitar picks made from endangered sea turtle shells.The U.S. attorney’s office says Qing Song pleaded guilty to one felony Wednesday. She was sentenced to 10 months of home confinement and a $2,000 fine. Song admitted to importing picks or raw shells of the hawksbill sea turtle from China and selling them in the United States. Some musicians covet the turtle shells instead of ordinary plastic picks because they believe they produce a superior tone. It is illegal to trade endangered wildlife without a valid permit for scientific research or other approved, noncommercial use.”

Hmmm…. I guess she has never heard of Clayton Ultems.

To read more about Ultem vs. Tortoishell, Click Here.

This wedding pick is by far a staff favorite! We really liked how it is kind of like a comic type drawing. These colors turned out great on the white delrin because the bright white background allowed the colors to really pop. It was originally tested on Acetal which gave it a softer look, however, with these colors and the sharp detail in the lines it was better suited to white delrin. If we haven’t mentioned it before Delrin is great for fine lines, and intriciate detailing. The soft, smooth surface allows for sharp imprinting, as you can see in the text on the backside.

I don’t know what’s going on this week, but we’ve had an unusal amount of orders for skulls this past week. Here are a few that are my favorite. I really like the Otis pick, the skull rocks that hat! I also really like the overbleed skull on the Acetal Rounded Triangle. As you can see it has a two sided imprint on it. The thinner the Acetal is the more transparent it becomes so if you are going to have it imprinted with two sides we would suggest atleast getting .63mm or thicker. The rest were printed on the Delrin material. We have stock picks available that feature different skull designs. These are the Demonic Skulls of course, they come with 6 different designs. They are printed on Delrin, and available in thin, medium and heavy. You can now order them direct for our website by clicking here.

We’ve been making picks for the company Chick Picks for a couple of years now. They sell guitar pick earrings. They have some very intricite designs, and even add accents to the guitar picks that completely look like the picks were made for earrings. You can check out their website by clicking here. These are a couple of picks we did for them this week that we wanted to share. They always order White Delrin because it works very well with the intricate overbleeds they usually use. The snakeskin turned out gorgeous on the delrin with the mixutre of bright and dark, it looks as if the pick is textured however it is smooth to the touch. They also went with a simpler flower design that looks very sharp!

Here is a really neat pick that I thought we could share today.  We don’t often print overbleeds on Pearl, but this one really came out looking stunning. On our Pearl material we use transparent inks with the exception of black, so that the pearl can show through to the image. At first we weren’t to sure about this one due to the intense colors, however, it turned out better then any of our expecations! It has a really cool water effect to it. This is a good example of an overbleed that suites the pearl material well. If you are looking to do an overbleed on pearl you should think of using lighter colors rather then dark otherwise the pearl won’t show through quite as well and may clash too much. If you are interested in getting an overbleed like this on pearl and are unsure about whether or not it would work please feel free to email us at questions@steveclayton.com and we can help you decide!

So through the years I’ve seen quite a few picks made that I label “sweetheart” picks. These picks have speical sayings for a loved one on them. Well, my boyfriend is being deployed to Iraq for a year (he is in the National Guard) so I thought I would make him some picks with 100 different love notes and inspirational sayings on them for when he is missing home. Even though they were ooey gooey he really appreciated them! If you are interested in creating custom guitar picks for someone who is deployed we can ship direct to any country, and can ship to APO addresses as well. The cost of shipping is only $14! I made his on Colored Pearl and the Rounded Triangle shape so that more text could fit on it. They made from our Colored Pearl picks in a color that he selected from our online color chart, and I think it couldn’t look more gorgeous with the pearl affect. The photo to the right is a scan of some of his favorite ones.

Today we finished a HUGE order for Nikon Live. This is the 2nd year we have made picks for their Nikon Live events. Each year we have done a custom blend of pick color that matches the Nikon logo. For very large orders we are able to provide custom blends of color with any of our materials, and we can have them made into any gauge. Nikon live features all kinds of really talented bands, if you have a chance to go to one of the concerts you will not regret going. You can check out the Nikon Live website for information on locations and times of their music events. Their website is very nice, and of course has some excellent photography on it! We hope to make more picks for this wonderful organization again in the future.