We offer the four styles shown above. Click Here for Scale Comparisons.

Bring out more tone!!! Listen as your mandolin or guitar transforms itself into a louder, fuller sounding instrument. Made in the U.S.A.

For almost 40 years John Greven has toiled to find the perfect substitute for tortoise shell. He has finally found it in this new material. This is different than the material he uses in his pickguards. This new material is a polymerized protein that is very close chemically to the real thing. You could look at it as cultured turtle-shell. Many people who have tried picks made from this material cannot tell them apart from the real thing.

Folk of the Wood offers these in the [A] teardrop (alien head) shape, [B] the standard triangular style 1-point shape, [C] the larger tricorn triangle and [D] the mondo circular. We offer three thickness ranges on styles A-C (D only comes in Heavy) - "Light":.8 to 1.1mm, "Medium": 1.15mm to 1.3mm, and "Heavy": over 1.35mm. We suggest .8mm as the thinnest with this material. Any thinner and they are prone to breakage. Thinner picks are brighter sounding and would have a slighty more flexible feel.

Some folks are "pickier" than others when it comes to the edges of their picks. We round the corners and add a sharp bevel. The picks sand easily so you can sand them to your own preferred shape using 320 grit paper and 000 or 0000 steel wool. A thicker pick with a sharper bevel will result in a brighter tone.

While these picks do indeed sand easily, they exhibit virtually no wear at all - even after several months of daily use. Maybe after years they would, but, since these are newly introduced, we will have to wait and see.

Check out the testimonials!

Check out the Tortis Pick Photo Essays

How to Take Care of Your Tortis Pick

Go Tortis Flatpick Web Site

Check out the Tortis Flatpick Video Sampler 1	Check out the Tortis Flatpick Video Sampler 2
Check out the Tortis Flatpick Video Sampler 3	Check out the Tortis Flatpick Video Sampler 4
Check out the Tortis Flatpick Video Sampler 5	Check out the Tortis Flatpick Video Sampler 6

On Flatpick Choices: Medium to Thick Gauge picks are the only way to go (with Tortis Picks, the Lights are Gauged as Medium when compared to plastic flatpicks)...Thin picks just slap the strings and seem to relinquish control in your picking. The thicker the pick, the truer the tone...the thinner the pick, the more the tone comes from the pick (instead of the instrument's natural voice). Dimensional size of pick would be personal preference...principally, there are three sizes: tiny teardrop, standard teardrop and large triangular. Of these three, I've personally found the larger triangular pick (Style C Tortis) to be most comfortable. Having more surface of the pick striking the string seems to bring out more tonal presence...with a larger pick, you can push the limits of striking the string with lots of surface without sacrificing the area necessary to have a solid grip. Mickey

CARING FOR YOUR NEW TORTIS PICK
Your New Tortis pick is very similar to real turtle shell so it must be treated as such. Store your pick in your guitar's pick compartment. DO NOT store it in your wallet or carry it around with you in your pocket. If you also carry coins, keys etc. in there, your pick will get scratched and may break. In your wallet, it is doomed to failure. The picks are brittle and if flexed will most likely break.
Also, don't let your pick go through the washer and/or dryer in one of your pants pockets (see above warning). The material is hygroscopic (look it up) and as such it will most likely deform if allowed to soak in water.
With proper use - as a guitar pick only (not a screwdriver, scraper, knife etc.) it will likely last you a lifetime. If your pick breaks during playing, it is covered under warranty. Any other breakage and you are on your own! I trust you! Be kind to your New Tortis pick!

Learn More About Flatpicks and Right-Hand Technique (The above is only an excerpt)...applies to both guitar and mandolin.

		Go Tortis Flatpick Web Site

Testimonials for Tortis Picks:

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"The Flatpick is critical in more ways than normally imagined: playability, tonal range, volume, dynamics, picking accuracy, speed, fullness of back-up, comping/chopping chords, instrument resonance, clarity, timbre, transient noise (the noise made by a pick that lays outside of tone emitted by the string), lows, highs, depth, richness, and many more subtleties that escape description. Considering the many balanced, and critical, elements that a flatpick upholds on both guitar and mandolin, why are most of us settling for a mass-produced commercial piece of flat plastic? Yes, I also have settled for the standard plastic flatpick for the last 25+ years...until I received my very first Tortis. It was a true awakening of both my ears and my mandolin. I now covet my Style C Thin! It inspires me to play. I find myself gravitated to practicing more often. The Tortis brings out a fullness in all of my mandolins that I didn't know existed! My Breedlove Alpine, Rigel CT-110, Weber Big Sky Mandola & Octave and Gibson F-5L all seem to have an entirely new voice...one that rings with clarity and fullness...

Playability: I find that I have far more control...it's amazing how a pick can contribute to better control and accuracy.
Tonal Range: There's more definition and the lows to highs seem to have a brilliance and clarity unattainable with plastic.
Back-Up: Chords are full sounding without any transient noise such as clicking sounds.
Speed: The Tortis is so comfortable, and because of the better control, I find that speed is easier to attain.
Bluegrass Chop: On my mandolins, this pick brings out the most percussive chop I've heard to date.
Inspiration: You'll find it with the Tortis!"
Mickey Cochran - Ruidoso, NM

"Picks really make a big difference in the tonal color of your instrument. I've had a favorite pick for about 4 years now, but since getting the Tor-Tis pick, it's the only one I use. It's amazing how much better it makes me sound!"
Lynn Dudenbostel - Knoxville, TN

The Tortis Pick Photo Essays...Click on Images for Magnified Views

Click on Images for Magnified Views