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If you have read my articles or blogs before you have come to know me as the "tree hugger" around here. So, when I came across some Green vendors at NAMM I was eager to get back and tell the world about them!

Wheatware is a company that makes guitar picks and drum sticks out of wheat. This is important to our enviornment because or the depletion of the world's forests for wood products and the home the forests provide for the animals. Also deforestation contributes to global warming.

Wheatware products are also biodegradable. They will decompose within 45-90 days. They are heat resistant, non-toxic, and recyclable.

But, do they work as well as 'regular' picks? Well, they were kind enough to give us samples of the guitar picks and here is Ryan's take on them:

Ryan: So there I was, suffering from your typical 'sensory overload' inherent of walking the floor of the NAMM show, when we happened upon a booth touting guitar picks, drumsticks, and other products made out of wheat...  What?!  Now, this I HAD to see!  I was greeted by a most engaging woman whose first words out of her mouth were like music to my soul; "We love the press!!"  We were off on the right foot..

Katherine Patton, co-founder and president of the company, briefly explained the product line and offered up several products... Two of which I was very interested in.  Guitar picks, and drumsticks.  With an acoustic guitar at the booth, I took several different gauges of picks, and tortured my host with what could only be described as, 'four thumbs, unplugged'.  I was impressed.  I was unable to test the drumsticks, as (luckily) there was nothing around to beat on, but the only initial difference from typical wooden drumsticks I noticed was their flexibility when 'air drumming'.  You couldn't really feel it in a static position, but it was interesting to watch, nonetheless. 

Katherine offered me a sample bag of picks to test at my convenience, so upon my return to the studio in Colorado, I decided to give them a go.  The first thing I noticed about the picks was that in the bag containing several different gauges of the product (ranging from wedged-light .5mm to Ultra-heavy 2.0mm) the weight designation seemed to run on the high side from what I am used to.  I normally use 'Heavy' picks that are 1.0mm in thickness;  The Wheatware picks' Heavy was 1.5mm... something I have NO business messing with (much less the 2.0's!!).  No problem though, I simply reached for a 'Medium' at 1.0mm, and commenced to abusing them.

First thing I LOVE about these picks; The company name molded into the top of the pick on both sides.  This makes gripping the pick a lot easier for me, and the need for constant adjustment between my thumb (all four of them) and forefinger minimal.  Upon the first few strums, the flexibility/feel of the pick seemed to fall between my celluloid and nylon ones of the same thickness.  As time went on, and I tried different gauges on different guitars with various strings, I concluded that the Wheatware picks exhibited a slightly warmer sound than my celluloid ones and were quite close to the tonal qualities of the nylon. 

Grabbing my go-to shred guitar, a Dean Razorback with .010-.046 gauge strings on it, I commenced with the all-out abuse of these picks.  Now I don't know if I expected them to crumble like cornflakes, or turn into flour as I pounded them up and down the strings, but they never faltered.  The pick attack is clean, string skipping is accurately executed, and I found myself only making a slight adjustment when pulling off artificial harmonics, possibly due to the better grip I get on the pick.

Now for the ultimate test; pick slides and scrapes:  Putting the picks on edge, I proceeded to run them up and down the neck, on the strings with varying degrees of pressure.  Within a few passes, my celluloid picks had noticeable grooves in the edge that you could definitely feel, but the Wheatware picks were hardly phased at all!  You could see some very slight feathering or shredding of the pick on edge, but other than that, it was still totally playable and there was no difference in feel at all! 

In conclusion:  I love these picks!!  I see no reason whatsoever why these won't be immediate hits with guitar players everywhere.  I can only imagine that they might be put-off by the natural look of the Wheatware items. Many pro axe wielders like to have their names printed on their picks, which also serve as souveniers when it comes time to 'feed the fish' from the stage.  Perhaps other alternatives exist for the personalization of the items such as molding in the artists name/logo or adding a natural pigment to them.  At any rate, give them a try, and of course... Tell them that we sent you. -Ryan

Becky: I would also like to point out that the music industry is a powerful medium in our culture. Musicians influence our society and their music can shape people's ideals. There is a wonderful campaign going on right now in conjunction with Greenpeace called "The Music Wood Campaign." They believe that good music needs good wood. Therefore, the Greenpeace Music Wood Campaign is partnering with the music industry to protect threatened forest habitats and safeguard the future of the trees critical to making musical instruments. So, I wanted to point out the companies who are participating in this campaign and give them credit where credit is due. Support those who are helping our planet: Gibson, Martin, Taylor, Fender, Guild, Yamaha,Walden, Luthiers Mercantile International, Pacific Rim Tonewoods, North American Wood Products, and Allied Lutherie.