Kirk Hammett: “This Guitar Pick Was the Best Thing to Happen to My Playing”

Features
By published

In this debut episode of CBC Music’s series Show Me Your Pick, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett debuts his brand-new His custom Dunlop Jazz III pick.

“Usually my guitar picks are lime green but today I have a black pick with metallic flake in it. I got these because I like metallic flake, but if I drop these onstage, I’m fucked—’cause I won’t be able to see ‘em!”

As Hammett notes, the pick has a V shape cut out of the top. Check out the video to learn its purpose.

“This pick completely changed my guitar style, completely changed how I play, completely changed how I pick,” Hammett says. “This little pick here was the best thing to happen to my playing.”

Find out why below.

Chris Scapelliti
More about guitar picks

“Takes the tactile and tonal experience of our Tortex Flex Picks line to a whole new level of performance”: Dunlop launches its first-ever Tortex pick with a grip – guaranteeing “ultimate playability”

“Allow you to focus on your technique rather than trying to hold onto the pick”: Bog Street Picks review

“The Strat was about as ‘out’ as you could get. If you didn’t have a Floyd Rose, it was like, ‘what are you doing?’”: In the eye of the Superstrat hurricane, Yngwie Malmsteen held true to the original
See more latest
Most Popular
Prince and Dez Dickerson get into the jam onstage in this close-shot black and white pic from 1979.
“He got that from me. I used to throw my guitar as high as I could, like, 20 feet, and my guitar tech would catch it”: Dez Dickerson on Prince, his iconic Little Red Corvette solo, and why he left the Revolution
Corinne Bailey Rae
“I’d always seen the guitar as a thing for really accomplished people like Jimi Hendrix – watching Nirvana on MTV Unplugged exploded my brain”: Studio nerd Corinne Bailey Rae broke through after moving on from her punk roots. Then she went back
Davey Johnstone (left) and Elton John perform at the Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia on July 10, 2012
“Elton said, ‘I'd better buy that guitar just to have in my house.’ I played it and said, ‘Yeah, you'd better buy it, so I can play it when I come by’”: One of Davey Johnstone's favorite guitars was once a piece of upscale decor for his superstar bandmate
Dick Dale, wielding a Fender Stratocaster, performs onstage
“Leo said, ‘Here, try this guitar.’ I grabbed it, turned it around, held it upside-down backwards and started playing ukulele chords. He almost fell off his chair laughing”: How Dick Dale made the Stratocaster the ultimate surf-rock weapon
Bassist Tim Lefebvre (also known for David Bowies 'Black Star' album) performs with Chris Potter Circuits Quartet at Lantaren Venster on April 4, 2019 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
“When I first heard his voice in my headphones, there was that moment of, ‘My God! I’m recording with David Bowie!’” Bassist Tim Lefebvre on the making of David Bowie's Lazarus
Honoree Yvette Young, recipient of the Inspire Award, performs onstage during the 10th Annual She Rocks Awards at THE RANCH Restaurant on June 02, 2022 in Anaheim, California
“It was tour, tour, tour. I had this moment where I was like, ‘What do I even want out of music?’”: Yvette Young’s fretboard wizardry was a wake-up call for modern guitar playing – but with her latest pivot, she’s making music to help emo kids go to sleep
Jaco Pastorius on 11/15/78 in Chicago, Il. Joni Mitchell performs at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco - September 7, 1979.
“One of the guys said, ‘Joni, there’s this weird bass player in Florida, you’d probably like him’”: How Joni Mitchell formed an unlikely partnership with Jaco Pastorius
Musician Prince performs on stage at the 36th NAACP Image Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on March 19, 2005 in Los Angeles, California
“I said, ‘If I could have it my way it would sound like this,’ and I pulled the bass guitar out of the mix”: Why Prince removed the bassline from When Doves Cry
Lee Kiernan poses with a Fender Player II Mod Stratocaster
“I don’t want a guitar that, the moment I play it, sounds like the blues. Sometimes I want a guitar to sound truly horrendous!” For IDLES’ Lee Kiernan, modding guitars is a gateway to sonic chaos – and Fenders make the perfect platforms
Justus West wearing headphones and playing guitar with a bassist
“The Beyoncé effect is, in fact, real. I got a lot of traffic just from people checking the liner notes”: With three Grammy wins and plaudits from John Mayer, Justus West is one of modern session guitar’s MVPs – but it hasn’t been an easy ride