Dragon's Heart Picks are the Best Guitar Picks for Sweep Picking

Sweeping through some arpeggios with my original DH pick

For the past fifteen years, I have been extremely sensitive about the types of guitar picks I use when I play. In fact, using a particular type of guitar pick is so important to me that I'll normally go to just about any length to have my Jazz III Ultex (when playing electric guitar, at least). You can read all about that in the article I wrote about guitar picks a little over two years ago.

Enter the Original Dragon's Heart Guitar Pick.

Discovering Dragon Heart Guitar Picks

Shortly before NAMM, Dragon's Heart guitar picks got in touch with me to let me know what they were up to, namely the manufacturing of aesthetically very pleasing and functionally very useful picks. Now, I've been to the NAMM show enough times to collect more free guitar picks than I could possibly know what to do with, and I've seen and played all kinds of designs that are supposed to improve the playing experience. In my normal life I'm a pretty big fan of changing things up to keep things interesting, too, but in fifteen years nothing has caught my attention or seemed quite on par with my trusty Dunlop's Jazz III's. This is one area of my life where I'm stubborn perhaps to a fault!

It was a pleasant surprise, then, when I opened the wrapper on my first Dragon's Heart pick and brought it to the strings. To be honest, at first I thought the pick was a bit big and bulky, and that I would not like it very much. It reminded me quite a bit of those big, hard, and stubby picks bass players use sometimes. When I started playing, though, the experience was very similar to playing with my Jazz III's, except the pick felt a little more sure and sturdy in my fingers since it is a little bigger. Despite the thickness, I believe the contour and beveling on the edges of the pick may be responsible for producing what I can only describe as a very smooth stroke for an extremely firm pick.

Sweep Picking Monster

What blew me away more than anything else, however, was how this pick instantly made me way better as sweep picking through arpeggios. At least for me, this pick feels tightly locked into the strings and in my mind I can almost visually "see" the distance of the strings between one another as I'm picking. It's kind of an odd thing, frankly, but it gives me a strong sense of where the strings are and this allows me to control my picking better, improving accuracy and coordination during fast runs. This is something I don't quite get with my Jazz III's, and I'm not quite sure why not. I won't give up on them just yet, but I'll certainly be bringing my Dragon's Heart with me to any acts where I'm playing lead in the future.

Three Unique Surfaces to Use

By the way, due to the interesting shape of the pick, there are three different surfaces available for you to use: the "standard" surface (shown at the bottom in the below image), the "pointy" surface (shown at the upper-right of the below image), and the "rounded out" surface (upper left of below image). In my own playing, I never saw any huge advantage to straying from the "standard" surface since that seemed to cover everything from my sweeps to alternate picking and strumming. However, I know a few players who will appreciate the additional bite of the "pointy" surface from time to time.

 

Conclusions

All in all, even with the hefty price tag (just three of these will run $24) I'll definitely be carrying one of these with me from now on. As a matter of fact, I haven't strayed away from the DH pick I've been using in favor of my Jazz III's consciously or subconsciously since I've had it, either. They may not be for you, but take it from a seasoned pro that it's worth picking one up and giving it a shot. Where hundreds of other picks have failed to impress, this one has stood out from the pack.