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Hense Picks Horn Standard Guitar Picks XH Review

Hello there, back again with another guitar accessory review! This time, we will be looking at one of the most expensive guitar picks around by Hense Picks, Horn standard guitar picks XH.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you are probably aware of my love for speciality picks and the fact that I don’t hesitate to try new picks. I have been using Chicken Picks guitar picks since 2013 but I have been also trying new ones that are segmented pretty high in comparison to generic, disposable picks.


Best Tools For Guitars at Stewmac.com

Best Tools For Guitars at Stewmac.com

In one of my recent purchases from Thomann, I was also looking at the speciality guitar picks category and trying to find a new guitar pick that might stand out. Hense Picks guitar picks caught my attention at the first sight and I immediately added one to my cart.

Hense Plecs Standard XH
Hense Picks Standard XH

For those who have never heard of the Hense Picks (or Hense Plecs) brand, here’s a quick introduction. Hense Picks is a very small German company that manufactures guitar picks from various materials. Their official website is called HappyTurtlePick but on Thomann’s website, they are represented as the Hense Plecs brand. More strangely, Hense Plecs don’t give you too many results on Google, however, Hense Picks does! So there’s a clear marketing failure going on here!

Although their website name contains the word turtle, none of their picks is made of tortoise shells. 🙂 Hense guitar picks feature four different materials in their picks.

The Happy Turtle series features a milk stone (an old plastic material that had existed before petroleum-based plastic materials were invented). The Cream Speedy series features a modern, self-lubrication plastic material. The Midnight Blue series feature a break-proof, high-tech plastic material. Last but not least, The Grunge Triangle series features a hard rubber material (similar to ebonite, vulcanite or Indian rubber).


Check out the best guitar pickup company, Seymour Duncan here!

Check out the best guitar pickup company, Seymour Duncan here!

Having said that, in this article, I will be reviewing a Hense Picks Horn Standard series guitar pick. Unfortunately, this particular guitar pick doesn’t exist on their website which is a simple blog really. You can easily imagine how small the company is.

Hense Plecs Standard XH with other picks
Hense Picks Standard XH with other picks

According to Thomann, the Hense Picks Horn Standard guitar pick is made of real horns. As I had already mentioned in my Chicken Picks guitar picks review article, I have been leaning towards a bit smaller and thicker picks these days, just like the new Chicken Picks Badazz 3.2mm.

Check out my Chicken Picks guitar picks review here

So initially, I wanted to buy an equivalent one to Badazz 3.2mm and compare these high-segmented guitar picks. However, when I received my order, I immediately noticed that it was the wrong pick!

Hense Plecs Horn Large Jazz
Hense Picks Horn Large Jazz – This is what I ordered!

Before contacting Thomann, I did a quick search on the Thomann store and strangely, I wasn’t able to find this particular guitar pick that I received.

So I contacted Thomann and shared photos of the item. As usual, they were extremely helpful and reacted in the best way possible. Thomann first checked my claim, and then found out I was right. They kindly told me that I could keep the pick as they can not send the correct one, also refunded me! Here, I would like to take a moment and really have your attention. This is exactly how e-commerce companies should react!

While I was working in the musical instruments business, we were also an online music store that is very well-known for the highest customer satisfaction with the lowest customer effort. When we made a mistake with some items, especially in the first order of a customer, we would immediately contact them and tell them to keep the wrong product and we would send the correct one. Having the same experience as Thomann was amazing!

Check out my Why Thomann is the best music store? article here.

Hense Plecs Horn Standard XH
Hense Picks Horn Standard XH vs Chicken Picks Light 2.2mm

Hense Picks review – Horn Standard Guitar Picks XH

As you can see from the images above, this particular pick is pretty similar to the standard, regular guitar pick form. Since I have been using Chicken Picks exclusively for a long time, I would like to compare Hense Picks Horn Standard XH with Chicken Picks Light 2.2 and Regular 2.6mm.

I didn’t measure the thickness of Hense Plecs picks, but as you can see, it’s almost identical to Chicken Picks Light 2.2mm. To be honest, I was expecting a lot more from this guitar pick. However, I must say I am a bit disappointed considering the fact that it’s almost three times more expensive than my favourite guitar pick, Chicken Picks!

As you can also spot from the images, it quickly showed some marks on the picking edge already. I’m talking about a very short amount of time playing with this pick. So I can’t really justify the pricing and what it offers for this price segment. I’m sorry but I don’t see any value in these guitar picks. Please take my opinions as subjective ones as I tend to always compare guitar picks with Chicken Picks.


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In order to provide you with in-depth insights into what I am talking about, I have prepared a short and sweet comparison video featuring Hense Plecs Horn Standard XH and Chicken Picks Light 2.2mm and Regular 2.6mm.

In this video, you will find a simple drop test that shows clearly the timbre and resonance of the materials used in making these picks. You will also find an acoustic comparison where I captured the acoustic sound of my Epiphone SG Custom Ebony with my Canon ESO M200 camera microphone.

I also wanted to play with all picks using my ENGL E570 tube preamp on the clean channel as well as the lead I channel on classic mode.

Hense Picks Review & Sound Demo (no talking)

Most people may think all the guitar picks sound the same, but in fact, they sound and feel completely different. Hense Plecs is a really cool-sounding pick, however, I wouldn’t take it as my main guitar pick. It feels really plastic and generates a lower volume than my Chicken Picks Light 2.2mm. I think in some cases, this may be desirable, but if you are also used to playing with thick and full-sounding guitar picks, you will feel the difference.

On top of that, if you really listen to these samples carefully, you will notice there is more harmonic content happening in the overall guitar tone. For sure, these are subtle differences, but we, guitar nerds can hear and feel these! 🙂

To sum it up, I can not justify the price tag and what it offers really. So in my opinion, I wouldn’t buy another Hense Plecs guitar pick and stock them for good. I would be more open to buying these often if they cost the same as Chicken Picks (which are also made in Germany, and the Netherlands).


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Even though I’m not impressed at all, I would suggest you try one yourself. At the end of the day, these little things are all subjective. So the cost of having a solid, fact-based and experience-based opinion is not that crazy high! 🙂

I hope you have enjoyed this article and found my review helpful! Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!

Osman Cenan Çiğil – cigilovic.com


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