Building the Ergonomic Guitar

Straps, picks and other items for improved playing comfort.

The F-1 Guitar Pick is a different kind of pick – one that seeks to improve picking hand ergonomics and potentially your playing as well. Where most picks are flat, the F-1 pick is designed with a built-in grip that locks the pick in position avoiding the shifting and slipping that can occur with a [...]

Guitar picks, despite varying in size, thickness and material, typically share one common trait – they’re flat and thus lack an adequate grip surface. Sweaty fingers and/or heated play can lead to trouble holding the guitar pick as it shifts position or ends up being dropped. In response, the guitar player may end up squeezing [...]

The Planet Waves Dare Guitar Strap is designed to improve guitar playing ergonomics by distributing the weight of the instrument across both shoulders as seen here: Available for several years directly from designer Troy Dare, effective this month it is being distributed through major player D’Addario’s accessories arm – Planet Waves. This is a great [...]

As Thomas Heck states in his article, A New ABC for Holding the Guitar: Aguado + Bassoonist strap = Comfort, “guitarists have wrestled for a long time with the question of how best to hold the guitar when one is seated.” The issue of how to best hold the guitar was a primary concern of [...]

That’s what I wondered when I came across the Big Rock guitar pick. In fact, this is exactly what this unique design promises. The F-1 and X-1 guitar picks from Big Rock Engineering improve the guitarist’s grip on the pick through the use of a concave surface that helps the guitarist hold the pick in [...]

In Make Your Guitar More Ergonomic, I discussed some general ways to address issues of weight, balance and playing effort in an existing guitar. The following list of guitar accessories further illustrate how a guitarist can improve the ergonomics of a guitar with a minimum of effort. Below is the Planet Waves Dare Guitar Strap. [...]