# Dye sublimation guitar picks



## MikeyT (Jan 3, 2009)

Hey everyone.

I'm hoping that someone can help me locate blank guitar picks for dye sublimation. I've found picks that are already printed on, but I'm having a hard time finding blank picks.

Plastic? Aluminum? Anything?

I'm not too sure if it's possible to sublimate onto plastic guitar picks or not, but that would be GREAT!

Any help would be greatly appreciated !!!

~Mike


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

I have never seen guitar picks for sublimation. Remember to sublimate, the surface must have a polymer coating or be 100% polyester if garments.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Chewbarka has one, you have to sign up to see it but here is the link,

https://www.chewbarka.com/ProductDetailpage.aspx?Id=59


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## CGoran (Apr 25, 2005)

Any news on guitar picks for sublimatation ??


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## SaB (May 15, 2007)

sorry for digging old tread out but i will get some soon for testing so will post pictures and maybe some video...


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## deehoney (Dec 16, 2010)

I'd love to find a supplier as well.


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

Pre-made guitar pics are too soft to withstand the heat and pressure of dye sub, We tested dozens of different pick compositions and even tried getting things other than polymer and having them coated for dye sub and found that they all get warped and damaged in the process. 

We're actually in the final stages of developing our own system for dye sub guitar picks. If that is something you have in interested in, PM me and I will be in touch.


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## GarciaN (Feb 5, 2013)

Spray paint it. Old school lol. Or use a specific paint meant for plastic? You could make a stencil and put it over the pick then spray paint your design on it. Then get a sealant to hold the paint on so it does not wear off


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

Ideally, the best way to print guitar picks is with a $30K+ UV flatbed printer. No heat, and it'll do dozens at a time. Anyone have one of those laying around?


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

GordonM said:


> Ideally, the best way to print guitar picks is with a $30K+ UV flatbed printer. No heat, and it'll do dozens at a time. Anyone have one of those laying around?


We've got a much better way. We'll have pics soon...


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## jpkevin (Oct 22, 2007)

We have a think .030 thick material called Subliflex, that some people are using for guitar picks. I would be happy to send a sample for you to try.


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## Max Dos (Aug 28, 2010)

You could use any sublimatable card material and this:

PICK PUNCH | Custom Guitar Pick Maker | UncommonGoods

Good luck!


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

Max Dos said:


> You could use any sublimatable card material


I'd like to find some of this! (Preferably in the US, just as a convenience for shipping.) So far I've made my own, which is a real drag. It's also more expensive than I'd like -- Sublidecal plus card material.

Nice concept, though, with the punch. Guitar players like to be able to select the "flex" of their picks, so being able to chose different thicknesses and stiffness is a plus.


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## SaB (May 15, 2007)

It IS possible to print on guitar picks with sublimation.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

Would you be so kind to share thickness and the material itself? Is it a high gloss material like FRP or ???


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## SaB (May 15, 2007)

Is about 1mm thick and is glossy. But not as much glossy when pressed.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

SaB said:


> Is about 1mm thick and is glossy. But not as much glossy when pressed.


Is the material SubliFlex or ???

We do BMX number plates and SubliFlex just never gave us the quality we need for our customers. We now use SubliDecal which we have to cut with a plotter and apply. Time consuming but gives a professional look.

If you have an alternative material we would be interested in learning more about it.

Thanks


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

You can experiment will all sorts of rigid polyester sheets of the kind used for high end toner-based printers, but in the end, the picks just get tossed into a drawer. They don't last, and most guitar players are picky about their picks.

Like I said above, a UV printer would allow you to print onto materials guitarists are used to playing with, such as nylon, acetal, stone, shell, and various aluminum alloys. Most of these printers also provide a clear overcoat to protect the colors. The last three pick materials can be coated for sublimation, but that just adds to the cost. For a set of custom picks you can get some profit, but not for giveaways.


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## deehoney (Dec 16, 2010)

I'd like to do the guitar picks, but more as a keepsake rather than a useable product.


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## Are Tzzz (Feb 24, 2013)

try here EGOpicks | Custom Personalized Guitar Picks | Winnipeg, MB


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## imprints1 (Sep 23, 2012)

As a guitar player I can say I am "picky" about the picks I play with as far as thickness goes, but anything is useable pretty much. Some players really like thin or medium picks and others like hard or heavy picks, bass guitar players sometimes use very very thick picks. I'd love to print my own picks just for fun, we've never had any customers ask about guitar picks so an investment to be able to do it wouldn't be an option for us. I know I've seen picks that had foil prints on them before maybe that's an option? If you could punch out your own maybe something as simple as a CD or DVD printer would work if you cut your pieces of plastic or nylon into the shape of a CD? Just my two cents. Also I've never seen picks that had sharp edges they're always smooth and beveled, so even if you were doing novelty guitar picks for keepsakes they might not look like picks but more like triangle shaped plastic, in other words they might turn out kinda cheesy


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## CGoran (Apr 25, 2005)

Max Dos said:


> You could use any sublimatable card material and this:
> 
> PICK PUNCH | Custom Guitar Pick Maker | UncommonGoods
> 
> Good luck!


So has anyone tried this device yet? I might be able to entice the music store near me to buy some picks if I get one of these punches.


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## Metro Printing (Mar 2, 2013)

hi, new to forum here


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## jdixon74 (Mar 8, 2013)

CGoran said:


> So has anyone tried this device yet? I might be able to entice the music store near me to buy some picks if I get one of these punches.


I have a Pick Punch. I am also very interested in sublimating pics. The Pick Punch works great! I use old walmart store cards. If you goto the fuel station every day you could gather a thousand free empty (some not empty lol) cards. 

But if anyone know's a sublimatable material we could punch then i would be in on this as well.


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## Cindylou (Jul 10, 2009)

I'd like a sample


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Cindy....looks like this thread is over 18 months old and the posters here have not done many posts except Gordon...but maybe someone knows the guy


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## moosevalley (Jan 5, 2011)

we hope to be getting a flat bed in another rmonth or so


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## SaB (May 15, 2007)

sorry for late update. I will test them bit more and reply with video or better review.


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## Martin Boekers (Nov 14, 2011)

Conde now carries them, a little small and a bit more firm than I like. The sublimate bright colors...


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## maryellen1234 (Mar 4, 2010)

We just bought them from Conde. We did earrings with them. They sublimate very nicely. It took doing a few to get the hang of it being such a small print area.


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## casperboy77 (May 20, 2009)

I got to chime in here because we have printed every type of guitar pick every way you can imagine. Here goes my discoveries and trials:

I tried dye sublimating both poly and celluloid picks. They melted. I have not yet tried the ones that Conde' now sells. Our test on sublimating picks was about 2-3 years ago now.

So how do we print them and what types? Here's my answer: 

*Dye Sublimation:* We do have the aluminum picks from Chewbarka and do Dye Sublimate those at 3 minutes, 400 degrees F with the transfer covered with a silicone baking mat. They come out unbelievable! 

*Pad Printing:* Next for cheap picks that we print for music stores we have a manual pad printer and we made a pad printing jig to hold the picks and we pad print all kinds of picks all kinds of gauges and a mix of poly, celluloid, etc.

*Metaza (Photo impact printer):* We also have a Metaza machine and have printed (engraved) some nice guitar pick jewelry. These guitar picks we got from our Metaza dealer. It seems that the coolness and fad of photo impact printing has faded away and we very rarely run our Metaza machine.... It's been nearly a year since we have used it.

*Hot Foil Stamping:* Yes, this is how we do a lot of Guitar Picks. They come out awesome!
*
Direct to Substrate:* We have an older LogoJet and when we ordered Celluloid picks we ordered a bag of 1000 white picks. You don't need to pre-spray or post-spray guitar picks. The solvent ink prints on them perfectly and they are extremely durable. This is awesome because we can do full color images just like dye sublimation on any white or light color guitar pick.

And there you have. As you can see we have printed every imaginable way on Guitar Picks. We do guitar picks for some local bands and for a few local music stores. Honestly, you're not going to get rich from printing guitar picks. I checked Conde' out and those picks are a little pricey but I'm sure they print up nicely. Most of the picks that we print are medium action 0.71mm. I hope this info helps. These are the ways that we print professional guitar picks.

I almost forgot! I edited my post to add this: You can get cheap picks from LogoJet. They are poly and about $0.10 each. But they are cheap, crap... (am I allowed to say that). The best way to get guitar picks is just to import them yourself directly. You have to order 10,000 at a time but even with shipping they come out to about $0.05 per pick.


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## maryellen1234 (Mar 4, 2010)

Jim, The ones from Conde dye sub very easily. We had no problems with them heat pressing, the only issue making sure that if there was text, it really had to be big enough and then it took most of the guitar pick. I just try to stay away from text now. Call Derick at Conde and he should be able to send you a few samples. The earrings we did turned out great.


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## moosevalley (Jan 5, 2011)

We do them with a flat bed printer


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## tippy (May 27, 2014)

casperboy77 said:


> *Hot Foil Stamping:* Yes, this is how we do a lot of Guitar Picks. They come out awesome!


Oh really! I have an old Hot Foil machine that I haven't used in a couple of years. It's old and got a little too wiggly for absolute perfect registration on business cards. This might be the perfect use for it.

Do you need to use a special type of pick, or will any pick do?


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## casperboy77 (May 20, 2009)

We mainly stamp high quality Celluloid picks, but we do foil stamp Poly picks time to time. But use a good firm cushion board and then make a Pick template to hold your pick and you are good to go! We use Kingsley Hot Foil Stamping machines. They come out great!


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## smacity (Jun 24, 2012)

I believe Conde has them now. I saw a video of them


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