User:Julia lee30/sandbox



V-Picks Inc. is a small, family owned guitar and mandolin plectrum business. V-Picks produces over thirty original plectrum models. Incorporated since 2006, V-picks manufactures a brand of plectra out of Nashville, Tennessee, and ships them worldwide. Though the company itself is young, owner and designer Vinnie Smith began making the picks in 1980 and has innovated continually with regard to design. V-Picks now produces a variety of plectra that have specific functionality, designed to fit different playing needs not particularly met by other manufacturers.

Contents
[hide]


 * 1 Materials


 * 2 Sizes and Shapes


 * 3 Models


 * 4 Development


 * 5 Innovations


 * 6 References


 * 7 External Links

[edit]

Background and early history
Though Vinni Smith’s guitar pick was born in 1980, V-Picks Inc., founded by Vinni and his wife Nancy Smith, came into existence only in 2006. Years of experimentation with the applications of the acrylic material for plectra were done, and years of testing by a variety of guitar players to determine the material's and the different models' strengths and weaknesses. Concluded in 2006, the product became available on the market only at that time.

The development of the V-Pick begins not only with Vinni Smith’s love for music but with an unforeseen event that spurred his desire to manufacture the unique plectra. Vinni Smith was inspired as a young adult by the playing of Peter Frampton. Working a day job at the time, he had time only on weeknights and weekends to pursue his dream of becoming a rock star. He tried to emulate on his Les Paul guitars the styling of this player as well as that of Brian May and Ed King. Unsatisfied with his guitar pick, even after sampling hundreds of different materials, shapes and colors, he decided to create his own plectrum.

Vinni Smith experimented with different materials such as wood, metal and rubber until he came across a type of cast acrylic. The clear material attracted him and so he began trying different pick shapes and sizes cut by hand from the plastic sheet he had purchased. After shaping about thirty of these first V-Picks, Vinni Smith stopped making them. He used some for a few years and gave the others to guitar and bass player friends of his.

About five years of the gap between 1980 and 2006 is covered by a period during which Vinni Smith stopped playing the guitar. When he picked up the instrument again, he found himself enduring the same pick dilemma that he had encountered in his early days. An interesting fact is that he had forgotten about the picks that he had made years before and started the process of experimentation with different materials all over again. He rediscovered one of the clear picks he had fashioned by accident while looking through an old guitar bag. To his dismay, he realized that many of the other picks he was using over a decade past must have gone with the guitars he had sold when he stopped playing.

With a friend by the name of John, Vinni Smith started making the picks again, this time with an even better material, and sent them to friends all over the world, whom he had met through guitar forums. As it was with the first picks, these were greatly admired by all who received and used them. Holding up one of the picks between his finger and thumb, John dubbed it the V-Pick and Vinni heartily agreed. The shape of the pick made it an apt moniker in Vinni’s eyes, but his friend had meant to name it for Vinni himself. Thus, V-Picks were born.

At the same time that Vinni Smith was rediscovering his picks, his and Nancy’s daughter Audrey had become ill and her condition was getting worse. A battery of tests over a long period of time with many different doctors finally revealed that the young girl was suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis, an auto-immune disease. Low on money and struggling with the bad news, the Smith family was unsure about what to make of the many comments they were receiving regarding putting the picks up for sale. A timely message from a friend gave Vinnie Smith the avenue he needed to decide the matter; a market for and a forum from which to sell his V-Picks. After deciding with family and friends as to an appropriate price, Vinni was still doubtful as to whether the picks would sell. Taking a leap of faith, Vinni discovered that not only were his picks salable, but that orders immediately started pouring in on PayPal and did not stop. Most surprisingly, he says, people trusted him, a stranger, and were paying in advance for a product they had never used or even ever seen. Money problems ceased and Audrey’s health began to improve.

[edit]

Innovations
Vinni Smith has worked to develop the guitar pick that will not drop from even the most excitable and vigorous players’ fingers. This goal is based on his belief that the last thing a player should be thinking about when playing is the equipment. Made of a clear, cast acrylic, the material clings to the skin as it warms up without becoming sticky. This innovation is among the best aspects of V-Picks, according to creator Vinni. It allows artists to focus their energies on creating art rather than trying to keep the pick in the right place or looking for it when it drops. This facet has evolved into a type of V-Pick motto, “Never drop your pick again.”

V-Picks are the only picks available on the market that can be comfortably used by some who have particular difficulty with their grips. The “pick that will never drop,” as the V-Pick has been described, helps players who are double-jointed and so drop picks easily. Players who experience frequent cramps in their hands or tension in the fingers and wrists while playing will not have this problem with V-Picks. Even those who suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome, nerve problems and loss of muscle control resulting from various injuries can take advantage of the advanced grip technology of V-Picks.

Working from the premise that good guitar playing is all about control, Vinnie Smith continually redesigned the V-Pick during its first years. His efforts have resulted in a bevel that works with the special material to produce additional benefits. The gliding action of the bevel and the material together allow faster action. Richer and fuller tones along with greater volume without common distortion problems are also possible due to the bevel balance. The clear thick acrylic picks have become well known for tone, speed, feel and grip. Vinnie Smith works also from the concept that the longer one plays using V-Picks, the more light handed one becomes, which helps a player to become faster and more accurate.

The company’s founders and owners, Vinni and Nancy Smith, manage the business and cater to their customers themselves. Vinni and his son Adam handle the manufacturing process from start to finish.

Today, Vinni and Nancy are selling thousands of V-Picks all over the world. The couple spends their days communicating with international customers. Some of their more well-known customers include Carlos Santana and Alex Masi. Their 30-some pick models comprise an assortment of personalized guitar picks, electric guitar picks, acoustic guitar picks, mandolin picks, bass picks, gypsy jazz picks, dulcimer picks and therapeutic picks for players with injured hands and fingers.

[edit]

Materials
The V-Picks plectrums are the result of a long process of study and experimentation with many different kinds of plastics that began in 1980. A discovery made by Vinni Smith concerning one particular type of acrylic paved the way for the manufacture of the plectrums.

Further research with different shapes and sizes, including thickness, revealed a combination of flexibility and wear that was not feasible with existing materials used commonly in the manufacture of plectra. Smith also discovered a range of tonal and volume possibilities achievable with picks made of the new material. The speed and levels of articulation and accuracy that he achieved while testing the picks was found to be higher than those of industry standard picks. (See the table below for a description of various pick specifications.)

The trademark of the V-Pick is its no-slip grip. The V-Pick material has the quality of clinging to the fingers so it does not move around in the hand. This grip quality has the potential to eliminate the tendency of many guitar players to tense the fingers and hand muscles when playing fast. Tests run on the V-Pick have shown that the grip quality allows for greater freedom of movement, leading to faster and more accurate playing. Moreover, the heat generated by the picking hand serves to increase the gripping ability of the material. Tests show that common slip problems with perspiration are not a concern with V-Picks.

[edit]