We have just discovered a new product, LivinWell Guitar Pick Grips, that may offer a simple and inexpensive solution for people who have trouble holding on to their guitar or mandolin picks. While there are similar items on the market, this one seems to offer a number of features that make them very attractive.
LivinWell Grips are made of a food grade silicone rubber, pre-shaped to fit the typical teardrop pick shape. They attach to your pick using an adhesive that is removable, yet strong enough to remain where you need it. The material is very easy to cut to shape if you prefer to place it differently on the pick.
The product is the brainchild of Steve Hooper, an electronics salesman and guitarist who was inspired to launch the company by that greatest of motivations, dissatisfaction with what was available to him on the market. So last year he began experimenting with existing grips for flat picks, but found them either too bulky to be comfortable, or too thin to stay in place.
So Steve reached out to a manufacturer overseas, and had prototypes made with his own design. After the third one he had a mold made and ordered 3,000 sets of his grips. They sold so quickly on Amazon in October of last year that he ordered 5,000 more, and is ready to reorder yet again.
His design uses dozens of tiny raised “bumps” on the grip surface, which make it easy to hold onto your pick, even when your fingers get sweaty or tired. The silicone is also extremely soft, and users say that you really don’t feel it when you are playing. The company has a patent pending for the design.
Hooper tells us that the most surprising responses he has gotten from LivinWell users wasn’t from your typical fumble finger picker who just kept dropping picks.
“I was just trying to come up with a grip that had all the advantages and none of the disadvantages of my competition. What I did not expect was the great outpouring of thanks and joy from people who have difficulty holding onto their picks these days due to ailment or injury. Carpal tunnel, arthritis, neuropathy, or fingers cut off all prevent them from enjoying their beloved guitar. So many have reported that they can now hold and control their pick to play for long periods again. What a blessing to hear those stories!”
We also asked if he might consider making grips for the larger triangular picks favored by many mandolinists.
“I get asked this in Facebook and post comments a lot. The demand is not big enough yet to serve those smaller niches with specific sizes and shapes, but these are so easy to trim with a blade or scissors that people report great success by just trimming them down to jazz pick size, or using more than one for large triangle style picks. They are clearly designed for the most common pick shape.”
The LivinWell Guitar Pick Grips sell for $11.95, which gets you 16 pieces of the material shaped for teardrop picks. Some people may choose to use two pieces on either side of a pick, giving you enough for 8 picks. Steve reports that users tell him that the grip is so strong that they have actually experienced them outlasting the picks. When that happens, he says you can simply peel them off and place them on a different pick. The adhesive is strong enough to do that three or four times.
They are sold exclusively through Amazon online.
The post LivinWell Guitar Pick Grips appeared first on Bluegrass Today.
