Dasotomic Picks is run by Daniel Alejandro Sánchez Ortiz and his fiance, Natalia in Ibague, Colombia. Daniel Launched Dasotomic and started making guitar picks by himself in 2016, and Natalia joined him a year later, in 2017. Both Daniel and Natalia are industrial designers, and you can see their level of expertise in the quality of the picks they make.
Like many pick makers, Dasotomic’s first picks were made out of Acrylic, but today they’re making picks out of Acrylic, Resin, and Wood, and they’re even 3D-printing some of their designs.
During the research I made for this review I went over their designs and saw the astonishing progress they’ve made in the past 6 years. I saw some of their early models that were impressive in their own right, all the way to making some of the most beautiful guitar picks in the market on daily basis. And after I tried them all, I can honestly say that their look is backed by performance, too.
An early design worth mentioning is the Tomahawk, which was made as a part of a challenge presented to some pick makers. The challenge was to make a playable 50(!) mm pick, and this is what Dasotomic presented:
Table of Contents
The Dasotomic Picks I’m Reviewing Today
For this review, Dasotomic Picks sent me 12 picks:
- Glass – A 7.5mm Resin pick
- Secrets – A 7.5mm Resin / Wooden pick
- Glow – A 7.5mm glow in the dark Resin pick
- Whisper – A 7.5mm Resin Pick
- Legno – A 8.5mm thick Wooden pick
- PiXY – A 4.5mm Acrylic / 3D printed Pick
- Pick Of Destiny – A 3.6mm thick Acrylic Pick Of Destiny replica
- Ouija – A 2.8mm Acrylic pick
- Standard – A 2.5mm Acrylic pick
- Standard Grip – A 2.5mm Acrylic pick
- Ripper v1 – A 4.8mm 3D printed pick
- Ripper v2 – A 4.8mm 3D printed pick
Dasotomic Picks Rundown
I’ve divided them into four groups, based on materials: Resin, Wood, Acrylic, and 3D printed. For picks that combine two materials (PiXY and Secrets), I went with the material of the tip.
Resin Picks
Dasotomic’s Resin picks include Glass, Secrets, Glow, and Whisper. Even though in the picture their shape looks the same, they are very different from each other in the way they sound, in the way they play, and also in the way they are constructed. The biggest difference between them, though, is their bevels. Each of Dasotomic’s Resin picks is available in any gauge from 7mm and above.
Whisper
Whisper is constructed of three parts. It took me a while to find the points at which the resin pieces connect, and If Daniel wouldn’t have told me, I’d never know. As mentioned above, this Whisper is 7.5mm thick but is available in any gauge above 7mm.
Its bevel is not completely sharp, but not round enough to eliminate the string noise if you play with the pick held diagonally. Personally, I kinda like it because it allows me to choose whether I want to accentuate some notes with additional noise or just play them clean. That being said, I know that some players don’t like it, so now you know what you can expect.
Secrets
Secrets is the type of pick that is 100% unique. Even if you chose the exact colors of another one, no two Secrets will ever look the same. It is my favorite in terms of looks. Not just among the picks from Dasotomic – this is, hands down, the most beautiful pick I have or have ever seen.
It is made of a piece of Pau Ferro and Resin. Pau Ferro is used for the grip part, even though many makers are using it by itself for making wooden guitar picks. The process in which the Resin and Wood are combined is called “stabilization” and is a widely used technique for hardening wood. Similarly to Whisper, you can also have this one engraved at no extra cost. Dasotomic’s Instagram account shows a few Secrets picks with Spotify Codes engraved, which is a clever idea.
In terms of how it plays, it’s 7.5mm thick and has a bevel similar to Whisper. It’s available from 7mm and up, and in either their regular shape or a Jazz III shape. The wooden part carries some additional grip, even though Resin is quite grippy on its own.
Glass
A simple and elegant clear Resin pick, with a hint of green pigment. There’s not a lot to tell about it in terms of design. In terms of how it plays, it’s exactly like Whisper. Available from 7mm and up, and in Jazz III shape or Dasotomic’s regular design.
Glow
Glow is different than Dasotomic’s other Resin picks. It glows in the dark, has a matte finish, and has extremely sharp edges. The finish adds a little bright burst to the attack when it’s held flat against the strings, and the sharp edges add a very aggressive scratch when the pick is held diagonally. The intensity of the scratch can be controlled with the angle of the pick.
It perfectly demonstrates how the same material can behave differently with different shaping and treatment. It also shows how the same pick can sound like dozens of different ones just by holding it differently.
Wooden Pick – Lengo
Dasotomic’s wooden pick is called Lengo and is made of a hardwood called Granadillo. Granadillo is a tonewood that resembles the tone of Rosewood, but it’s harder and denser. Its hardness adds some bell-like qualities when it’s used for acoustic guitars. As a pick, its toughness makes it brighter than many other wooden guitar picks, and relatively durable, too. And the fact that it isn’t finished at all (all of its gloss comes from sanding with extremely high-grit sandpaper) adds some warmth to its sound. Granadillo scored 2700LBF in the Janka test, ranking it harder than Purpleheart, Padauk, Mahogany, and most other woods used to make picks.
Like the Resin picks, Lengo is available in 7mm and up. It can be made of Savannah Oak, Pine, Spanish Cedar, Zapan, or Garandillo, and you can have it engraved for no extra charge.
Acrylic Picks
Dasotomic sent me 5 different Acrylic picks for this review: Standard, Standard Grip, PiXY, Ouija, and Pick of Destiny. The Standards, PiXY and Ouija have roughly the same tip angle, while Pick of Destiny is a little sharper.
Standards: Standard and Standard Grip
Standard and Standard Grip are two similar, yet very different picks. The only difference between them is their grip surface, which is very subtle on Standard and extremely aggressive on standard Grip. I’m not a big fan of grip surfaces because they don’t allow the pick to “breath”. This, though, gives it some wiggle room, so you can control it, but it also allows it to move freely.
The sharp tip angle makes them very accurate, and the sharp bevel makes them brighter than most Acrylic picks. As weird as it may sound, the grip made me play a lot more aggressively.
Ouija
An Acrylic guitar pick inspired by a seance board. It’s 2.8mm thick and slightly bigger than a standard 351 pick. It has a similar tip angle as the standards, making it sound and behave very similarly. It has a hole near the tip, adding a tiny bit of almost unnoticeable flexibility to the tip. This extra flex doesn’t go a long way, but it does make a small difference.
Pick of Destiny
Pick of Destiny is a replica of the guitar pick from a movie of the same name, starring the rock duo Tenacious D. It’s quite big, and at 3.6mm, it weighs more than the other Acrylic picks, helping it resist the strings’ tension in spite its considerably sharper tip.
PiXY
PiXY was one of the picks I was the most curious about. It has the most unique grip surface I’ve ever seen on a pick and seeing a pick that combines two materials and techniques so different than each other is also quite intriguing. Having the grip practically hollow makes it light relative to its gauge.
The two parts of the pick are seamlessly glued together using CA glue, and the pick glides pretty well, even though its tip is not beveled at all.
3D Printed Guitar Picks
Dasotomic’s 3D printed picks include Ripper and Ripper v2. The difference between them might sound subtle, but it has a huge impact on how they behave. The core design elements are similar, they are both straight triangles, and both have immersed gripping areas and speed bevels. But Ripper’s design contains sharp angles while Ripper v2 is rounded – this is true to the tips and the bevels.
Rounding the tip on v2 allowed this pick to release faster and easier from the strings, which was an issue I had with v1. The material itself is quite rigid, but Daniel is replacing it with a more flexible one. Bear in mind that the bevel is right-handed by default, so make sure to let them know if you are playing left-handed.
My Impression
Even though every single pick I got is more than capable of performing extremely well, I still find myself thinking about them in 3 groups.
The Jewels
I call the first group The Jewels, and it contains Glass, Secrets, Glow, and Whisper. These are the most beautiful and least durable picks in Dasotomic’s collection. Their looks are prioritized over how they perform, and even then, they are great-sounding picks. They are a conversation piece, and they’ll be the focal point of every jam session they’ll be used at.
I need to clarify the reason I said they are the least durable because they are really not that fragile. Since these picks are so beautiful, every little scratch takes away from them being, well… Jewels. Even if the wear is audibly undetectable. I found myself playing them softer than with other picks, and I’ll never let them fall on the floor.
The “In-Betweens”
The second group, until I find a better name for it, is the “in betweens“. These are performance picks, that still have tons of finesse. They are made to work, and they look great, but how they look is not their main quality. I put Standard, Standard Grip, Ouija, Pick of Destiny, and Lengo into this group.
It was hard to find a proper group for Lengo, because it shares some of the properties of both this group and the jewels.
The Performers
The third group, the “performers“, are nice looking, but they were made to take tons of abuse. These are the pick you won’t feel bad wearing because they always come back for more. Their wear is their scars of war, and they are proud to show them. This group includes Ripper, Ripper v2, and PiXY.
The Ripper duo feels rougher than the other picks Dasotomic makes. It could be the technology Dasotomic are using to make them, after all, 3D printing is very different than hand sanding and polishing, but I think it’s more than that.
Packaging
Even though Daniel and I had very open communication through the whole process of getting the picks for the review, the packaging took me by surprise.
The picks came in two different 3D-printed pick boxes, and there was a wooden business card in the envelope.
The Next Dasotomic Picks I’m Buying
Even though Daniel sent me one of each of the picks he had at the time, there are some new designs I want to try.
The Oni Set
This came out about a month after I already got the picks for this review. Very curious to see how such a wide tip will behave because it’s quite rare. Another interesting thing is the angle of the tip affects the tone when it’s isolated like that. It’s the same material with the same type of tip and bevel, the only difference between both sides is the angle.
Some More Reapers
Dasotomic is experimenting with new materials for their 3D-printed picks, and I want to see how they feel compared to the old material. I think I’ll get a set of six and have a few different grips and colors.
Dasotomic Oni Set Dasotomic Reaper
Pricing and Where to Get Them From
The most expensive picks Dasotomic makes are Secrets and Whisper, which are $25 each. It makes sense because they take a lot of time and work to make. After them, there are the rest of the resin picks, Premium, Glass, Glow, and Deadly Hollows (which is a resin pick made as a tribute to the Harry Potter series), and Lengo, PiXY, and Pick of Destiny at $18 (which also has a glow in the dark version at $20). Now there’s Ouija, Standard, Standard Grip, Skull, and Love (a heart-shaped Acrylic pick) at $13 each, the Oni Set at $25 (but it’s three picks, so it’s just over $8 per pick), and Ripper, which is available at a set of 4 for $15 or 6 for $22.
Dasotomic is currently taking orders through WhatsApp and Instagram messages, but their website shows every one of their models.
Disclaimer
This is not a paid review, but I did get the picks for free. This, however, didn’t change the way I wrote about them or the score I gave them.
Dasotomic Guitar Picks Review
The quality of the materials is very high, so they sound great, each with its own perks. They feel well-made, and there's no doubt that they were not rushed in any way. They are as durable as the materials allow, but the close attention to detail and polish made sure they last as much as they can. I'm still blown away by how well the Standard Grip behaves, I enjoy its "stickiness" even though I tend to not like aggressive grip surfaces. And lastly - the price: It's not, in any way, cheap, but it's very fair for what you get.
-
Sound
-
Feel
-
Durability
-
Grip
-
Price