Tony DiCesaro, the lead singer of Bon-Journey contacted me and asked if they could be endorsed by us. I got their promo package in the mail and was very impressed with the bands music and how they presented themselves to us. They are an awesome Pittsburgh band which is a tribute band for Bon Jovi and Journey. If you’re looking for a good show be sure to check out their schedule on their website www.bonjourneyshow.com

Check back later to see the amazing custom picks made for the Bon-Journey Show Band.  It will be featured in our pick of the week blogs.

Black celluloid picks are one of the newer materials that Steve Clayton, Inc. has provided for custom guitar picks. Black celluloids are a smooth material, with a slightly glossy finish. They are available in three gauges; thin (.5), medium (.8), and heavy (1mm).  Most designs created for black celluloid picks are white only, so we decided to draw attention to some of the full color designs that have been created recently. We find that red is another popular choice for designs on black celluloid picks, and bright red stands out really well against the black background. Anything bold and bright will look fantastic on the black picks, such as the Simon Sez picks shown in the image here. Hot pink can also look great to add some flare to a design. Visit www.claytoncustom.com to play around with some bright color designs on our black celluloid picks!

This week we are featuring a full color Acetal pick, by the Rick Copus Band.  We loved the shading of the blue and black in this custom guitar pick.

Sally Debauchery is an independent artist and model that works with many bands.  When she was 17 years old she received her first bass as a gift from her friend, Shavo Odadjian, from the band System of a Down.  In 2009, Debauchery has made a guest appearance, recording bass on Team Cybergeist’s song “Justified.” Debauchery chooses Steve Clayton picks because she has a hard time finding the right size pick in stores. She likes to use our 1.26mm acetal guitar picks.  She has been using our picks for years and claims she is hooked on them.  Debauchery and many other bassist are finding the heavy gauge acetal picks are a great choice. Sally is determined to pave the way for female musicians as she continues to leave her mark on the entertainment industry.  For more information about Sally Debauchery you can find her on myspace, or her website http://www.myspace.com/ddevild0ll

We wanted to show off some of the recent glow-in-the-dark pick designs that customers have ordered. Glow-in-the-dark picks are still a fairly new item that Steve Clayton, Inc. has provided for custom design, but they are definitely a hit! Glow picks don’t look that much different from other picks at first sight, but all you have to do is put them under a bright light for a couple minutes, and they are sure to stand out at a dark rock concert! Simple designs with thick, bold lines come out best on the glow picks, which is why we chose these three designs as great examples. Each design has a name and an image to give them the personal touch, but they are not overcrowded with detail. So, if  you are thinking about designing some custom glow picks, have a look at the picks shown here to get some ideas! To design custom glow picks: Clayton Custom

Our custom picks have excellent picture quality and we just thought we’d share a couple performers who have chosen to place their photo on our custom picks. We recommend photos to be put on our acetal picks. Customers have used photos for wedding occasions, couples, and band members who are promoting themselves. On the back side of these picks customers will have their signatures, band website, names and dates for weddings or special occasions. These picks here all have the full bleed option taking the image to the edge of the pick that way they are able to fit more on the pick.

The designer is really simple to use to adjust your artwork or photo image. You can zoom in on a particular part of an image, move it around and make it fit just on the guitar pick template. As a suggestion when placing lettering in a photo try to find a spot where the lettering has a solid background so it is legible just like the ones on these picks. If you need help with sizing your photo or getting artwork to fit on the guitar picks please send us your questions at questions@steveclayton.com. Our custom design team will be happy to help you with any questions you have on an order. You may also call us at 1.877.752.9484 M-F 9am-5pm PST.

The Steve Clayton team is proud to announce that we have been included in a blog for Live Musician Central. Live Musician Central is a site that provides resources for performing musicians, including information about being in a band, gigs, band equipment, and how to improve live band skills. The blog entry dedicated to Steve Clayton, Inc., referred to our acetal picks, and the reasons why our they are chosen over other brands. The main reasons include that our acetals have a sweat-resistant surface, they are long-lasting, and they have a good hardness that allows for a sharp attack when playing. Our acetal picks are available with our logo on them, or as a material for custom design. To check out the blog posting, please visit http://livemusiciancentral.com/2008/06/13/the-best-guitar-picks-clayton-acetal-standard-picks/ For Clayton Acetal Standard Guitar Picks,visit http://www.steveclayton.com/acetal.php and to design custom acetal picks, visit www.claytoncustom.com. Thank you, Live Musician Central!

This week we selected a bright orange delrin pick by The Ray Johnston Band for Pick of the week.  Our colored delrin picks can only be printed with black ink, but they sure can get an audiences attention! The band also ordered their design on our yellow delrin and pearl celluloid picks. You may have noticed we did a blog earlier about this band, here. They are a true inspiration!  This pick was created to help Ray Johnston promote a new web series featuring him.  Below is the synopsis of the program by HDNet: “HDNet is proud to introduce a new series presenting the journey of cancer survivor and former Dallas Maverick Ray Johnston and his band as they travel across the country trying to make it in the music business. The band’s journey is only a part of the story, however. The larger part of this behind-the-scenes series is the uplifting story of the band’s leader, Ray Johnston and his heroic battle with leukemia. While still trying to beat the disease, he is pursuing a new dream, traveling across country with The Ray Johnston Band. Some of the band’s performances will be fundraisers for The Ryan Gibson Foundation or TRGF.” TRGF (www.trgf.org) is a Dallas based non-profit organization that supports leukemia research throughout the U.S. Ryan Gibson, like Ray Johnston, had a passion for finding a cure for leukemia. Now, through the talent of he and his band, Ray will be spreading the word about the importance of leukemia research as well as raising funds for TRGF.”

The series premieres on April 25th, 8pm eastern, so make sure to watch his inspirational journey only on HDNet. Or visit his website at: http://www.rayjohnstonband.com/

We don’t just have standard shape picks for your designs. Checkout these rounded triangle picks these customers came up with. The rounded triangle picks are very popular as you can tell from our featured artist stories. Many bass players and guitar players will pick the rounded triangle shape to give them a little more surface to hold while playing. These picks also provide more space for your design than our standard shape picks. With these larger picks you are also able to enlarge your design or sort of like, zoom in on the design and make it easier to see. The picks in the picture here are with the materials ultem, green delrin, acetal, white pearl, and an orange delrin. These picks customers designed had lots of info such as business name, phone number, and websites to promote themselves. In the claytoncustom.com site once you pick the material you’ll then see what pick shapes come in that material. If you have questions feel free to email us at questions@steveclayton.com or contact our custom design team at 877.752.9484.

Here at Steve Clayton, Inc., one of the pick materials that we offer for custom pick design is white pearl. White pearl is a white pick that has a marbleized quality to it, with a shiny/glossy finish instead of being a flat color. Our custom white pearls are available in six different gauges and in both standard and rounded triangle shapes. We have noticed that designs with a lot of color tend to look especially eye-catching on our white pearl picks. Some examples are shown in the photo below. Some customers choose to have white pearl designs that are overbleed, meaning that there is not a border around the edge of the design. We have also noticed that designs with a gradient, or fadeout of color, look very appealing on the white pearl picks because the fadeout blends so well into the background of the pick. So, if you are planning a pick design that has a lot of bright color or shading in it, take a look at these picks and maybe you will decide that white pearl is the best choice for your design too!