Info
Information on Custom Picks
Because of all the options we offer, there are a lot of factors that go into ordering your custom guitar picks: imprint method, style, material, and thickness. While these factors may not be important if the picks are being used for promotional use or decoration, they are very important if the picks are going to be used for playing. So if you are buying these as a gift make sure you do some research into what kind of pick your player uses.
Pick Colors - we offer a lot
We try to offer a lot of pick color options. Available pick colors vary depending on pick material and style you choose. Standard style 351 picks offer the most color and material options. When browsing the “custom pick” section of our website, you can use the drop down menu on the left to filter picks by style to make them easier to sort through.
Imprint Methods - we offer 3
Full Color Imprinting
Uses a 4 color imprint method (CMYK) that can be used to print full color graphics as well as photos. This imprint method also allows us to print "full bleed" or print off the edge of the pick but this imprint method is also the most expensive. However, note that if you do print up to the edge of the picks that comes in contact with the strings while playing guitar - this action will wear the imprint off the edge of the picks.
Single Color Printing
This method allows for more detail and is more durable than hot stamping. It is also the least expensive of the three imprint options. However, this method is limited to our stock ink colors and has a limited imprint area and does not allow for "full bleed". So if you want a single color "full bleed" imprint, you will need to use the full color process even though the imprint is only single color.
Single Color Hot Stamping
Is an old school process that uses a heated die to transfer a foil imprint onto the guitar pick. It's a classic old school look and looks great - especially the gold and silver that have the look of gold or silver foil. However, this imprint method has the same limited imprint area as the single color print, isn't good for detailed images and can wear off quickly.
Materials - we offer 3
Celluloid
The preferred material for picks, and most closely resembles the feel and sound of real tortoise shell. Smooth feeling and warm sounding. It has a polished finish and comes in a variety of "pretty colors" like tortoise shell and pearloid.
Delrin®
A registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Delrin® is a modern plastic that has a very woody but warm sound. Extremely durable and has a matte surface that makes it easier to hold on to. Less rigid than celluloid. Also goes by other names in the industry such as Tortex® and Gripp-X.
PVC
An inexpensive plastic and it sounds it. Picks are easily worn out with moderate playing. It isn’t quite as polished as celluloid and has more of a statin finish. PVC are great for promotional picks, but most professional players tend to shy away from these. However, there ARE players who prefer this material.
Providing Artwork
Now the most important thing about ordering your custom picks is the quality of the artwork. The better the artwork you provide - the better your picks will look. But you don't need to have artwork; if you just want to get text printed on you picks we can do that too.
Vector artwork is preferred. If providing raster art, a minimum of 300 dpi actual size is required, but 600+ dpi is preferred.
Lower resolution images will come out blurry and might have a white outline around them.
Higher resolution images will come out clean and clear.
Because of copyright laws you need to be the owner or have the rights or permission to use said artwork. We aren't able to print Disney characters or your favorite sports team logos on picks unless you have the rights to use them. Nor will we produce counterfeit tour picks. Wilmington Fibre (dba PickWorld) is not responsible for gathering, maintaining, or verifying the copyright status of customer provided files. All customers are responsible for obtaining permission to use, duplicate, or edit all copyrighted material before submitting said files to PickWorld. All persons/companies wishing to provide files to PickWorld for production must assume all liability for any possible copyright violations.
Also keep in mind that guitar picks are not that big. You may have an awesome graphic that works great for a t-shirt or a drum head but shrink it down and it just becomes a big blob. So when it comes to graphics for custom printed guitar picks., simpler is usually better.
Photo/Multi-Color Images
PickWorld can print multi-color images and photographs on picks. We can print these images with "full bleed" - that is to say the image can be printed right up to the edge of the pick. When printing photographs please keep in mind that we will have to crop the image to make sure none of the guitar pick shows through. Also don't crop the photo too close to the subject of interest, it's better to have a little background around the subject to work with.
Image is cropped too closely to the subject.
Part of the subject will be cut off when printed.
Image is too long for a guitar pick. This causes the white of the guitar pick to show through on the sides.
Image is cropped correctly with enough background showing to cover the full side of the pick.
Single Color Images
It needs to be 1-bit color (black and white - no gray, no shading). Please supply art as a black graphic on a white background. The white background color will end up being whatever color the picks are - the black will be whatever imprint color you choose.
Artwork is one simple color.
Artwork has multiple shades of gray. This would be considered a full color image.
Artwork made up of multiple colors. This would be considered a full color image.
Unlike our full color imprinting where we can print "full bleed" with single color imprint we are limited because of the size of the print pads we use. Print area is limited to about 7/8" diameter. So we are not able to print on the whole surface of the Style 351 and Style 346 picks. However this printable area can be moved around on the surface of the pick. THIS APPLIES TO PAD PRINTING AND HOT STAMPING ONLY - WE CAN PRINT THE ENTIRE SURFACE USING OUR MULTICOLOR PROCESS.
Text Only
With text you need to consider several things - what you want your picks to say, how you want it positioned, and the font. (View our current list of fonts). Now remember a standard guitar pick is only about 1.2" high x 1" wide - so you're not going to be able to fit your whole life story on the side of a pick. Now we don't have a set a limit on the number of characters and lines because it is flexible depending on how big you make the font. But if you make the font too small then it becomes unreadable. The less you have the bigger you can print and the easier it is to read. Think about how you want to break the text up. Trying to fit long URL's (web addresses) all on one line is not a good idea - think about dropping the www., or breaking it up into several lines.
Too much text in a complex font to be legible.
Simple text in a clear and legible font.
Guitar Pick Templates
Click below to select the appropriate template. This will open the image as a layered PDF in a new page. You can then download and load the template into your graphics program and add your artwork. Do not alter or re-size the templates in any way.
For one color imprinting and hot stamping please use the "single color imprint" template. For multiple color and full color imprinting please use the "full color imprint" template.
If you have one color imprint but require "full bleed" (printing right up to the very edge of the pick), please use the "Full Color Imprint" template. Our single color process doesn't allow for full bleed.
If you prefer the template in a different format, please let us know, and we can email it to you. Templates can also be supplied as JPG, PSD or EPS files.
If you are having a hard time using our template, just email us the artwork you have and our art department will try to help you out with it.
Click Below to Select Product
Additional Options (for Style 351 and 346 picks only)
Add holes, key rings or necklace attachments to upgrade your picks into fun merchandise or special keepsakes.
Add-ons requiring a hole aren't available on picks with a thickness of greater than 1.0mm.
Necklace:
add 24" nickel plated steel ball chain with jump ring to pick.
(+$0.80/pc - $80.00 min)
Key Ring:
add 28mm nickel plated steel split key ring with chain and jump ring to guitar pick.
(+$0.60/pc - $60.00 min)
Key Chain:
add 4" nickel plated steel ball chain to guitar pick.
(+$0.50/pc - $50.00 min)
Cord:
add charm cord with lobster clasp to guitar pick.
(+$0.40/pc - $40.00 min)
1/8 in. Hole:
add 1/8" hole to top of pick.
(+$0.10/pc - $10.00 min)
1/16 in. Hole:
add 1/16" hole to top of pick.
(+$0.10/pc - $10.00 min)
Grip:
add textured grip to 2nd side of pick. Style 351 only.
(+$0.20/pc - $20.00 min)
Fonts
For text only picks PickWorld can create your art for you. We just need to know what font you want. Here are the fonts we currently have available. If you don't see one you like you can always provide us with the font file or let us know where we can obtain the font.
Note that some fonts do not always have upper and/or lower case letters.
FAQ
WHEN ADDING ITEM TO CART, WHY IS IT TELLING ME THAT OPTION IS REQUIRED WHEN EVERYTHING IS COMPLETE?
This usually happens data gets hung up in the cache. Refreshing (using Shift+Refresh) or restarting your browser usually corrects this issue. If still having issues, please contact us.
HOW DO I PLACE A REORDER?
Currently, the best way to place a reorder is to send us an email or give us a call. We can then duplicate the previous order and send you an invoice for payment.
WHY SHOULD I ORDER FROM PICKWORLD?
Why not? We are one of the largest guitar pick manufacturers in the United States. Striving to offer the most pick choices out there at a fair price. Buying from PickWorld you are buying straight from the manufacturer. A manufacturer that has been making and printing picks for over 20 years.
WHAT'S THE MINIMUM ORDER?
The minimum is 25 guitar picks for text only or 100 picks for anything else.
CAN I ORDER JUST 1 PICK?
No, see above. Besides, what happens if you were to lose that one pick?
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET PICKS?
Our current lead-time is running about 4 weeks to ship most orders and about 5 to 6 weeks to ship picks with foil print.
WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG TO MAKE MY PICKS?
Thankfully, we are a busy shop so basically we need to schedule your job into our current workload.
CAN I GET MY PICKS SOONER THAN 3 WEEKS?
Depends on our workload at the time. If you need picks sooner than our standard lead-time, give us a call, and we'll see what we can do. Some expediting charges may apply.
HOW MUCH DO PICKS COST?
We have pricing up on our website. Here is a link BLAMO!
HOW ARE ORDERS SHIPPED?
Standard Domestic shipments are shipped US Mail or UPS Ground. International Shipments are shipped USPS or DHL express
DO WE SHIP INTERNATIONALLY?
Yes, we do; however, because of the variations in shipping costs we don't offer international ordering online. If looking to place an order, please contact us via email or phone, and we can put an order together and provide an invoice for payment.
CAN I ORDER JUST BLANK PICKS?
We don't sell blank picks other than THE PARTY PACK, which is a one pound bag of assorted blank picks.
WHY DO YOU ANSWER THE PHONE "WILMINGTON FIBRE"?
No you didn't call the wrong number. We are Wilmington Fibre, a manufacturing company that has been in business since 1904 - we've been offering custom picks online as PickWorld for over a twenty years now.