Dragon's Heart Original pick...

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Strangeman86

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Dragon's Heart Original pick...
« on: October 17, 2018, 12:13:33 PM »
A short expositional onslaught:  Dragon's Heart picks (in this case the 'original' formulation) are made of an extremely tough thermoplastic called polyamide-imide with a 12% graphite filler for reduced friction.  They have three distinct picking surfaces for different timbres (a super pointy edge, a more 'traditional' edge and one that's completely rounded off) and because it was easier to make one model than three (and because the polyamide-imide apparently takes a ridiculous amount of time to melt down and form). 

Pros:
- Three distinct options for how you want to pick (I prefer the more traditional edge as I like the mix of speed and attack).
- Super low friction strikes (I had to adjust my picking technique a bit, but now that I'm used to it I don't want to use any other pick).
- Supposed 1000-ish playing-hour durability (each player's results will likely vary).
- Beveled edges help it feel/perform more like a thinner pick.

Cons:
- The graphite rubs off little by little as you play and gets on the strings and ones fingers (not a terrible thing, but certainly not desirable either).
- It's 2.5mm thick and not everyone player enjoys such a stiff pick.
- At $12 plus shipping (almost $4) it's not cheap.

Overall, a great pick and concept.  Super fast with a nice round attack that doesn't hold on to the strings (it essentially just 'gets out of the way' of the strings vibrating, lets notes sing a bit more).  I haven't sampled the other models, which have slightly different formulas (the Pure is just the polyamide-imide and is supposedly warmer sounding, the hardened model has glass fibers in it and is supposedly brighter and the GT model has carbon in it, is the most durable and has a feel/attack somewhere between the original and the hardened models).  I'm reasonably sure I won't get anywhere near 1000 hours out of this pick (I've got about 1.5 hours on it now and can see the primary downward strike area starting to slightly change shape), but it can easily be flipped over and used that way as well.  It's still stupidly more durable than any other nylon or plastic-ish pick I've ever used (that includes cellulose, tortex, ultex, nylon, dunlop's stubby picks, etc...).  Certainly not for every player, but certainly worth a try if you routinely tear up regular picks.

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Offline gtrjunior

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Re: Dragon's Heart Original pick...
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2018, 03:50:49 PM »
I’ve got a handful of these too. You’re description is accurate. When I first got them it was difficult to get used to them. In time, I of course did and I preferred them over a traditional picks as well. Right now I’m using a Steve Clayton pick. I forget which type but it got a slippery surface and it’s 1.40(?) thick.

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Offline littlebadboy

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Re: Dragon's Heart Original pick...
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2020, 03:31:48 AM »
Been using them for years already. After trying the different models, my choice is the original. The others are a bit noisy on recordings with my style on hitting the strings.

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Offline Guitar74

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Re: Dragon's Heart Original pick...
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2021, 11:49:24 AM »
I wonder how they would work for me. I have a pretty light attack. I used to compensate with thicker picks but have gone back to .60 star pick. I like the thinner picks.
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