I don't know about the Tusq picks, but I think the black Tusq nuts have a bit of Teflon in then. I'd be curious to try them. I was hooked on V-Picks for a while, also made some similar ones from a take off motorcycle helmet face shield. They were great. because the face shield was curved the picks had a very slight curve to them as well. Lately I've been using Dunlop Ultem picks and like them a lot