The Official Apollo Picks Gallery

[ApolloPicks]

Hello,

Could I get your help with something? I’m going to be updating my list of available pick shapes here in a few weeks. I want to make sure I don’t leave anything out. There is a form on the “shapes” page, which you can find here.

https://www.apollopicks.com/shapes

If you could provide any feedback on this I’d appreciate it greatly.

Thanks!
Nik

P.S. I got a nice review from Mike Marshall (the mandolin master), which you can read here.

https://www.apollopicks.com/reviews

[ApolloPicks]

Happy New Year Folks

Apollopicks.com

[ApolloPicks]

Happy new year folks.

Thanks for the input in that pick-shape survey. I used that information and made a new (and more permanent) collection of available shapes. Please note that I chose to re-arrange the names the previously named picks. I should only have to do this once, and I don’t anticipate doing it again. Thanks for being flexible with me about that as I iron out those details.

Of the three picks at the bottom (that are the teardrop shape), the one in the center is the “standard” size. The one on the left is 2mm more in height, and the one on the right is 2mm less in height.

I will be putting specific measurements up on the site later today.

If you have an idea for one of these new shapes in a specific material, then by all means, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

All the best!
Nik

[ApolloPicks]

apollopicks.com

[ApolloPicks]

Here is another "speed bevel" shot. This spiral casein material is sounding fabulous. I'd be happy to make one to your desired specifications.

apollopicks.com

Have a great day,
Nik
😰

[ApolloPicks]

You can pick one of these up here:

https://www.apollopicks.com/store/p/spiral-casein-picks

[ApolloPicks]

Here are a few picks that are heading to a classical mandolinist. They are quite thin (.67mm) and (.72mm). I love being able to accommodate requests like this! This is what Apollo Picks is all about. I hope these get a lot of use ��

apollopicks.com

[ApolloPicks]

40 dollar pick, are you kiddin’ me?

I get it. It is not an insignificant amount of money to spend on a pick. You can walk into a guitar shop and buy a celluloid pick for $1, maybe even less. Is an Apollo Pick at least 40 times better? You can also walk into that same guitar store and buy a $100-dollar acoustic guitar. Will the $4,000 dollar guitar that sits behind the counter sound better? I’d think so, but it is up to each player to come to their own conclusions. For what it is worth, I’d like to offer up a few more thoughts on this.

1. Apollo Picks are made by one person, me (Nik), in Ohio. I don’t have a factory somewhere far away, where people are working at low wages, using injection molding equipment, to produce mass quantities of “product.” On a good day, I make 4-6 picks. That is because casein is notoriously difficult to work with. In a way, it is not all that dissimilar to paying $50 for a tortoiseshell pick. The material cost for tortoiseshell (though it has been illegal to buy and sell since 1973) and for casein is actually somewhat similar. In both cases what you mostly are paying for American labor and skill.

2. If you have gone down the rabbit hole with high-end acoustic instruments, like me, you make have noticed the phenomenon of “diminishing returns.” That is to say, there is much more of a difference between a $500 instrument and a $3,000 instrument than there is between a $3,000 instrument and a $5,000 instrument. The higher the prices get, the smaller (but sweeter) the differences get. Though it would be hard to quantify, I’d argue that the differences between an Apollo Pick and any other pick would represent a large “category jump” amongst these high-end instruments. So, particularly if you have a nice acoustic instrument and are looking to get even more of it than what you have already heard, $40 is a relatively small expense.

3. While I mostly play mandolin and guitar, I also play upright bass. When I play, I often use a bow. In the world of bowed instruments, the bow is seen as an instrument in itself. The differences among feel and tone that various bows bring out of my bass is unbelievable. There is a huge range in price for bows. From $50 up to $300,000. Most serious bows start at $600 and diminishing returns seem to kick in at 2k. That said, there is a strong market for bows above 2k and there are bow makers whose entire career is devoted to the craft of producing the finest bows possible. Why should it be different with picks? Our picks are what connect us to our instrument. When they work well, we don’t notice them and the listeners can’t hear them, we only feel their effects as in increased musicality to the performance.

4. Last, you already know this, but it is worth mentioning: if you currently use a $1 pick, a $40 dollar pick will not make you 40 times better as a player.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here.

[StillStephen]

I've bought a couple of these picks. The vintage casein has a very unique warmer tone. After trying BC picks and various new casein versions from CL and Hense, was amazed that there was such a noticeable tonal difference!

Highly recommend the picks and Nik is great to do business with!

[ApolloPicks]

Thanks, Stephen,
Here are a few I made today

[StillStephen]

Salivating! Look forward to receiving these!!

[ApolloPicks]

yeah buddy! Oh and you could put all your picks in this

https://www.apollopicks.com/store/p/apollo-pick-box

[StillStephen]

Originally Posted by ApolloPicks

yeah buddy! Oh and you could put all your picks in this

https://www.apollopicks.com/store/p/apollo-pick-box

Will have to "pick" one of those up with my next order!

[ApolloPicks]

Good deal. I hope you love the picks. Let me know what you think once you get a chance to test drive them for a bit!

[ApolloPicks]

I just listed a batch of picks in the store. Since these are not custom order picks you can skip the wait-list. I can ship the same (or next day). Check them out here:

https://www.apollopicks.com/store