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Finger-pickin' good

Natasha Muktarsingh, Mail on Sunday
5 January 2003

A RECURRING nightmare for any professional guitarist must be dropping the plectrum on stage. That searing solo is halted in mid-chord and the embarrassed musician has to scrabble on the floor for the tiny bit of plastic.

But Paul Nuttall has good news for guitarists. He has invented the Plectro and claims it is almost drop-proof. Paul, 47, says: 'It has a hole in the middle, giving the player a much better grip.

'Three years ago I picked up a large metal washer about the size of a 2p piece. As I held it, I thought it would make a fine plectrum if it wasn't quite so thick.'

So Paul, who runs Reidys Home of Music, a shop founded in 1922 in Blackburn, Lancashire, by his grandfather, investigated using plastic to make a new type of plectrum.

He experimented with varying thickness and degrees of flexibility until coming up with the ideal string-picker.

The Plectro is round, rather than pointed. 'This way it's always ready to go,' says Paul. 'You don't have to keep adjusting it so the point is aimed at the strings.'

So far, Paul has spent about £8,000 on patent application and tooling costs. A Blackburn plastic manufacturer has produced the first batch, which is on sale in 100 music shops.

By the end of the year, he expects 500 shops will be carrying the Plectro, which costs the same 50p as a standard plectrum.

Paul intends to travel to music trade shows in Frankfurt and America to give the rest of the world a chance to buy his invention.

He realises sales would jump if he could get an endorsement from a celebrity guitarist. He says: 'I would be glad to give a Plectro to a well-known guitarist. In fact, if any guitarist wants to go to www.plectros.com he can find out how to get a free sample.'

Paul says that the Plectro will always be made in the UK because of the high standard of craftsmanship.