Steve Albini

In this picture you can slightly see the pick he is holding. It is metal and he is also known for using metal picks with notches out on the tip.

Mentioned in this May 30, 2020 Reddit AMA reply.

KyserSoze94 According to Wikipedia, the way you get your guitar sound is from playing a guitar with a metal fret board and using a pick with sheet metal clippings. I’ve seen pictures of your guitar but I’ve never been able to find a picture of the described pick. Do you have a picture of it or at least able to describe it better?

steve_albini I use thin tempered copper picks, used to be Hotlix .07 [sic] but lately these ones: https://media.musiciansfriend.com/is/image/MMGS7/Copper-Flex-Guitar-Picks-3-Pack-Light-3-Pack/117500000950170-00-500x500.jpg

but I have my friend Terry Straker from Guitar Works punch the ends with a metal punch so they have a little notch in the tip. Imagine a little dot, about 1/8-inch at the very tip of that guitar pick making two little horns. That's what I play, and why the top of my guitar is so fucked up.

A picture of one of Albini’s punched copper picks (which appears to be a Hotlicks) was posted online by Facebook user TheFudlip on September 19, 2023. TheFudlip had previously written on April 4, 2020 that he had “picked up” the plectrum at Shellac’s November 22, 2013 performance at the Liquid Room.

In this May 30, 2020 Reddit AMA reply, Albini includes a link to an image of the light/medium gauge Copper Flex, saying he has been using it “lately.”

KyserSoze94 According to Wikipedia, the way you get your guitar sound is from playing a guitar with a metal fret board and using a pick with sheet metal clippings. I’ve seen pictures of your guitar but I’ve never been able to find a picture of the described pick. Do you have a picture of it or at least able to describe it better?

steve_albini I use thin tempered copper picks, used to be Hotlix .07 [sic] but lately these ones: https://media.musiciansfriend.com/is/image/MMGS7/Copper-Flex-Guitar-Picks-3-Pack-Light-3-Pack/117500000950170-00-500x500.jpg

but I have my friend Terry Straker from Guitar Works punch the ends with a metal punch so they have a little notch in the tip. Imagine a little dot, about 1/8-inch at the very tip of that guitar pick making two little horns. That's what I play, and why the top of my guitar is so fucked up.

“Ice picks with the points cut off” is also listed under the “Picks & Strings” section of Albini’s gear summary in this March 1, 2024 Premier Guitar interview.