Damascus Steel Guitar Pick

Our Damascus steel guitar picks are made for us by renowned knifemaker, Gary Little. Gary forges his own damascus, making each piece a unique one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Quantities are limited and sold individually. Thickness ranges from .038 to .050, average is around .040.

Damascus steel is made by an ancient metalsmithing process that was used mostly in swords and knives, and that was thought to be lost in the 19th century. Modern metal analysis techniques that have been used on period weapons have revealed the chemical composition of the steel, which has enabled re-creation of steels that mimic the strength and swirling light & dark patterns characteristic of this material.

Gary Little learned the concept of making Damascus in 1984 and developed his own process for forging the steel in his own custom knives.  Gary starts by layering L6M and 1095 steel, sometimes adding thin layers of nickel 200, 7-11 layers per billet to start.  He heats the billet up to not quite melting point, just to where the surface of each layer gets sticky, and forge welds the entire billet. After a slow air cooling he cuts the billet in half, grinds the surface, coats the newly cleaned surface with borax, and repeats the forge welding process. Each weld cycle takes about 1 hour & 45 minutes,  and Gary takes the billet through 8 to 9 of these weld cycles, resulting in 100 to 300 layers of material in the finished billet.

For a knife, the finished shape is ground, then zone tempered to make the edge harder and stiffer and the back tougher and more flexible.  For a Master Craftsman guitar pick, Gary grinds the shape and finishes the edge, then etches the surface to highlight the layering of the steel alloys used and enhance the surface texture.  We laser etch our logo on the pick, which is now a completely unique work of steelmaking art, and ship it off to customers liking a stiff and durable pick to enhance their playing. 

Why a guitar pick made of Damascus steel?

Many players have experimented with picks made of stone, metal, even using coins (Brian May comes to mind), and prefer the crisp metal-on-metal “bite” the rigid metal pick imparts to the picking tone. The thin metal picks offered give a smooth release of the string like a plastic pick, whereas thicker picks add more texture. Our Damascus steel picks have a nice grippy surface from the many layers of metal, and the edges transition from the wavy side texture to the thick, smooth edge for a variety of tonal shadings.