leather guitar picks review skintone

Leather Guitar Picks Review

Last Updated on February 8, 2024 by Justin

Leather guitar picks, what are they all about? In this article, I’d like to discuss the leather guitar plectrum in-depth as well as give my thoughts on what they are best used for. As well as what they are not good for. I have just tried a whole bunch of these. So, I’m finally equipped to give my best leather guitar picks review.

Discovering Leather Guitar Picks

I started Guitar Pick Zone in 2017. And, since then I have been delving deep into the world of guitar picks. For that reason, I continue to keep on discovering new types of guitar pick materials that I have never come across before.

The leather guitar picks were something that was completely off my radar. And it was not until a few days ago that one of my Twitter followers tweeted me a picture of a leather guitar pick.

As I said, this was something I had never even heard about. Let alone thought of reviewing. However, I am very glad that I was tagged in this photo that brought leather guitar picks to my attention.

Let’s dive a little bit deeper into this review of leather guitar picks…

What Are Leather Guitar Picks?

Simply put, the leather guitar picks are just like your regular plectrum. However, instead of being made from synthetic materials, these are made from leather.

These guitar picks are made out of leather for a specific reason, and not just to be “fancy”. You see, there is a certain natural tone that the guitar will produce when the strings are struck by the fingers. This is the desired tone by many players.

However, many guitarists struggle to play as accurately with their fingers as they can with a pick. But, the leather guitar picks were designed to provide the closest substitute in terms of sound, that will replicate the natural tone produced by the fingers.

How Do Leather Picks Sound?

Well, because these were made to almost replicate the sound of fingers. I’d have to say that these give a rather mellow and organic sound. It is also for that reason that bassists use leather picks.

Despite this characteristic in sound, the leather picks won’t necessarily be suitable for all types of guitar styles. That is, of course, just my opinion. For example, I like to use these for the acoustic strumming of chords.

However, I’d be reluctant to use these to shred a rock solo. But, once again, that is not to say you should not try these for whatever style of music you desire. After all, the tone is such a subjective topic.

Leather Ukulele Picks

I mentioned above that bass guitar players tend to enjoy using leather picks. But, did you know that many ukulele players also tend to prefer the sound of leather picks?

From what I understand, traditional ukulele strumming is supposed to be playing without a pick (I stand to be corrected here though).

And, since some ukulele players prefer a pick, they opt for leather as it will deliver the closest tone to that of traditional ukulele strumming styles.

How Do Leather Guitar Picks Feel?

For me, the leather plectrums tend to feel softer when striking the strings. Even the thicker gauged leather picks feel softer. This is of course just the nature of the leather material.

Due to the fact that these picks made from leather come in the same shapes as regular picks, I don’t find them too unfamiliar. What I do find unfamiliar is the softer feel these give.

The softest picks for me before trying these were nylon. However, these feel a lot softer and more mellow than nylon.

After writing this post, I have since played a lot more guitar using a leather pick. I have found that the more you use the leather pick, the more it starts to wear into your playing style.

This actually makes for quite a comfortable and enjoyable playing experience. The downside to this is that you have to wait out the time to wear in the plectrum.

How Is The Leather Picks Grip?

One of the upsides to these picks I found was the grip. It does not necessarily come with any special type of grip. But, the leather material will start sticking more and more to your fingers as they begin to get sweatier.

Think about it like this for a moment. Have you ever sat on a leather sofa or seat for an extended period of time on a hot day with exposed skin? Then, tried to get up and found that your sweaty skin sticks to the leather.

Well, that is pretty much exactly what happens in terms of grip with these picks. The problem is that my fingers aren’t always sweaty.

And when they are dry, the leather can feel quite slippery. Which makes this pick a bit harder for me to play lead. But it is not really a problem for playing chords.

Who Makes the Best Leather Guitar Picks?

I said at the start of this leather guitar picks review that I have recently just tried a whole bunch of these. I went through all the rubbish ones and narrowed it down to about 3 different choices for the best leather guitar picks.

Each of these is slightly different from the next which makes for a tougher decision. But ultimately, a fun task nonetheless.

1) SkinTone Leather Guitar Picks Review

SkinTone Leather Guitar Pick

I have to admit that the SkinTone leather picks were my favorite of all the leather plectrums that I tried out. This leather pick was designed to be the same shape as a regular guitar pick. Also, it is comprised of not only leather but instead, merges the leather material with plastics to give it a truly unique, yet natural sound. I believe that these were ultimately designed with bass guitar players in mind. For that reason, they’re generally not widely used by many guitar players out there.  This guitar pick is said to feel like a normal synthetic material pick. But, I still find the leather to feel a lot softer than any other material I’ve tried. On a side note, these SkinTone leather picks come in an option of two colors which include the black one featured above. Or, there is an option for a brown one.

2) Anwenk Leather Picks

Anwenk Leather Picks

The second leather picks I enjoyed were those made by Anwenk. These were designed with ukulele players in mind. The only downside to these is that they only come in a triangle shape. This is not so much of a downside for me as I have recently started enjoying the feel of the triangle-shaped plectrums. Whilst the Anwenk leather picks come in an option of four different colors, their gauges remain the same. The quality of the leather feels similar to that of SkinTone’s above. Which I think is good but I don’t know much about leather quality.

3) Leather Picks By Revived Vinyl

Leather Picks By Revived Vinyl

Finally, the last set of picks made from leather that caught my attention is those made by Revived Vinyl. They’re quite literally and figuratively rougher around the edges. But, to my feeling, seem to be the most genuine leather-like picks of the bunch. These produce a much duller and deader tone when I compare them to the other leather picks I reviewed. But, they seemed to hold up and I certainly did not hate them.

Final Thoughts On Leather Guitar Picks Review

After getting my hands wet in the world of leather guitar picks, there is something that I have discovered overall. These leather picks serve a specific purpose. and that purpose is to basically sound like the natural tone of using your fingers. When keeping that in mind, it is not hard to see why these aren’t as popular and perhaps why they were not on my radar for such a long time. If I am completely honest, these are not my best guitar picks. But, I also realized that these also serve a smaller purpose. And that is to be used as a great strumming device should you wish to not strum with your fingers

Give these a go as I think they provide a unique tone that is very hard to find, if not impossible to achieve with synthetic picks. Let me know in the comments below if you’ve ever used leather picks for guitar. If so, how was your experience