Dear all, Quite a number of my customers are using real quill. It was after all the standard ball-point of the time and everybody was used to handling it, although I too suspect that the name became general like biro. Large, probably preferably wild, goose feathers are good. Try a canada or brent goose breeding ground at the right time of year. Alison Stephens, the classical mandolin player uses raven. Ostrich also is being used by some mediaeval gittern players. Feathers will require shaping and the tip will probably end up shaped like the plastic saz plectra that seem ideal to very amateur players like myself. I have also used cherry-tree bark as recommended by at least one 18th c. mandolin source. You need to find a reasonably thick piece and scrape both the inside and outside. It makes a dark red-coloured plectrum which works well, but wears comparatively quickly. Peter
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