The shortest and simplest answer is this; I can play better on a $200 guitar with a Dragon’s Heart than I can a $2000 guitar with any other pick. Generally speaking, the disparity in the quality of tone and feel of instruments in these varying price ranges will remain the same, but your ability to get the most out of that instrument can be directly influenced by your choice of pick. The Dragon’s Heart will allow you to take your instrument to the next level.
You might be thinking that I am suggesting that a guitar pick can make you a better player over night. While I wish that this was true and that there was such a device (pick or otherwise), I think we all know that the only way to get better is to practice. Even though the name may imply, the Dragons Heart isn’t mystical or magical. It is the result of objective scientific research, combining some the best elements that material science has to offer. The Dragon’s heart will allow you to play more consistently and/or faster. Moreover, it will maintain it’s shape and, subsequently, it’s performance through the most brutal of your performances.
Now to the next question. Why should you try the Dragon’s Heart? Most of the people that ask me about the Dragon’s Heart raise similar concerns so I’ll try to address them as best as possible. First up is the price. “Why would I spend nearly ten dollars on one pick when I could get a dozen or more for that price?” The Dragon’s Heart is priced a little higher as far as picks go; and if I could make them for less without sacrificing the quality and performance I would. But let’s gain some perspective on this. Ten dollars is not a lot of money today. You would probably spend that much on dinner or a movie. Ten bucks will get you about three gallons of gas that would fuel your car for about 100 miles or so. The main point being that most of your ten dollar purchases can not last you a full year. The Dragon’s Heart can.
This brings me to the next concern I often hear. “I would lose it. I lose guitar picks all the time.” Now this is certainly a possibility, but I would suggest that one reason why a person would lose their picks frequently is because they simply do not care about them. And why would they? Most of them are cheap, not well engineered, and don’t last long anyways. I myself used the bargain bin picks for many years and could never seem to keep one on me for any length of time. When I switched to higher grade picks, and started spending as much as $35 per pick, I suddenly stopped losing them. I have had as many as seven of these picks on me at any given time for the past three years and I have yet to lose one. If you care about something and it has value, you will be much less likely to lose it.
The last concern I will address here is the thickness. “It’s too thick and it doesn’t bend, I like thin picks.” I too was a thin pick player for many years, so I can certainly understand. In addition, if you were to take your standard shape pick and make it as thick as the Dragon’s Heart, it would probably not play well at all. I would propose that most of us like the thin picks because they bend and therefore glide across the strings quite easily. A thin flat pick at rest is, for the most part, two dimensional. However, when you are playing it bends and flexes, which makes it much more three dimensional. In addition, this flexing of the pick changes radii of the curves and the angles at which those curves meet. The Dragon’s Heart design uses a bevel, varying curves, and specific angles to interact with the strings in a similar manner to various thin picks. Beyond that, the thickness, rigidity, and high-grade material allow it to perform consistently for extended periods of time. A thin pick typically erodes quickly and doesn’t bend consistently. I have found that they erode and change as you play until you have to grab a new one start the whole process over again. I could go into great depth on this last issue but I think you get the picture.
I have often heard the old saying “practice makes perfect”. The truth is, practice makes permanent. If you practice poorly you will perform poorly. If you practice towards perfection, you will perform as such. The consistency and durability of the Dragon’s Heart offers you a boost to playing better. I personally have improved greatly since I designed and started using this pick. Is the Dragon’s Heart the best guitar pick available? For me it is, and I would like to believe that many of you will come to share my opinion.