Any suggestions for some good flatpicking picks? I've been using white Claytons for several years, and am ready for a change, somthing along the lines of fuax tortise shell. I know Clayton makes some, but I cannot find them thicker than .94 and I prefer a thickness of about 1mm. I would also rather not plop down $35 for one Blue Chip, though I've heard great things. Anyone use the PaPa's that Cherokee sells? Any other suggestions?
I've been very happy with the Wegen TPs - 1.00 or 1.2 I think. I also keep a couple ultex nylon picks with me, and ( I have to admit it ) a couple of really cheap thins - brand seems unimportant -
I've been asking and wondering about the Blue Chips myself, and based on alot of input, I am convinced that I would really like to get one - maybe for my birthday, or Xmas -
Alright, I broke down and bought a Blue Chip TAD 50. i should have known that as soon as I started considering the purchase, it was going to happen. It sounds great, and is very speedy. I'm thinking of it as a guitar upgrade, rather than a 35 dollar pick.
Spending $35.00 should almost get you a lifetime supply of flat picks. Nature is attempting to tell you that you have too much time and money on your hands. :beer
I have 3 Blue Chips. Unless something better comes along I'll never use anything else.
I use the TAD601R for mandolin and they make quite a significant improvement in tone and playing ease.
I use the XR50 for guitar.
There isn't as much of a difference on the guitar.
Quote from: ducktrapper on August 03, 2011, 03:10:25 PM
Spending $35.00 should almost get you a lifetime supply of flat picks. Nature is attempting to tell you that you have too much time and money on your hands. :beer
Dang! Are Blue Chips made by the medical industry? Better be good, though. And you never have to buy another one!!!
f
Quote from: ffinke on August 04, 2011, 12:17:32 PM
Dang! Are Blue Chips made by the medical industry? Better be good, though. And you never have to buy another one!!!
f
I hate to sound too geeky, but I work in the semiconductor manufacturing industry and this same material is used in the systems we use to grow the chips. It is a polymer (hi-falootin' plastic) that is made to withstand nasty environments like high temperatures, and/or caustic gases.
Playing a guitar, mandolin, or other stringed instrument should never wear one of these out.
Now, I just need to make sure I don't leave it at a gig! :laughin:
QuoteSpending $35.00 should almost get you a lifetime supply of flat picks. Nature is attempting to tell you that you have too much time and money on your hands.
I actually don't have excessive amounts of either, and I had to choose this over a few of my normal expenditures. I just thought that I would give it a try. And I'm glad I did.
Quote from: WillRoland on August 09, 2011, 02:47:23 PM
I just thought that I would give it a try. And I'm glad I did.
:thumbsup
Quote from: WillRoland on August 09, 2011, 02:47:23 PM
I actually don't have excessive amounts of either, and I had to choose this over a few of my normal expenditures. I just thought that I would give it a try. And I'm glad I did.
Good for you! :+1:
I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine.
I picked up a used blue chip a while back and really like it too. Use a wegen too. They are different and produce different tones. Use the wegen to dig in a little more on bluegrass tunes and the blue chip gets used more for warmer sounds. I have been experimenting with a lot of picks and find they can be about as important as the choice of strings in achieving the tones I like best. Would like to try a thicker blue chip one of these days.
jeff
Quote from: ducktrapper on August 03, 2011, 03:10:25 PM
Spending $35.00 should almost get you a lifetime supply of flat picks. Nature is attempting to tell you that you have too much time and money on your hands. :beer
Acknowledging, that I've never even considered that a pick's
material could make any significant difference and that I haven't experimented to see if it can, I can't even fathom spending maybe as much as a buck on a guitar pick! 25 cents is more like a good price for a pick to me. Maybe one of the Blue Chip or other high end picks do make a bit of a difference, but $35.00 worth? C'mon. Then there's the issue of hanging on to it, not leaving it behind, not misplacing it, etc. as pointed out.
The only attribute that seems significant to me is the thickness (I prefer quite thin .60 mm Jim Dunlop nylon picks). Maybe the fact that they are nylon and not some other plastic-type material is what makes me like them, but if I can't find those, any pick of more or less same thickness works just fine for me. Plus, I've never even come close to wearing a pick out so I don't see that as an issue. Even if I did wear one out, I would just grab another 25 cent one. Hell, in a pinch, one of those plastic clips from a bread bag works good enough and they are free, although they are brittle and don't last very long before they break.
IMHO the "perfect" pick for any given player on a given instrument could quite likely be discovered by spending a couple of hours experimenting with a couple of dozen 25 cent picks of different brands, materials and thicknesses. Once found, spend your $35.00 on buying up every one of those you can find and Bob's your uncle. Like Ducktrapper says, you will have a lifetime supply. :guitar
Good old Jim Dunlop 0.60 mm for me! Always keep about 20 in my gadget pouch along with capos, tuners, bottleneck and spare bridge pins.
Occasionally use a thumb pick if my nails have worn down/split. Also have a hybrid thumb/strumming pick.
Plenty of cod liver oil in the diet makes your nails stronger too (saves money on picks and keps aches and pains away... :laughin:)
Quote from: L07 Shooting Star on August 10, 2011, 02:43:02 AM
Acknowledging, that I've never even considered that a pick's material could make any significant difference and that I haven't experimented to see if it can, I can't even fathom spending maybe as much as a buck on a guitar pick! 25 cents is more like a good price for a pick to me. Maybe one of the Blue Chip or other high end picks do make a bit of a difference, but $35.00 worth? C'mon. Then there's the issue of hanging on to it, not leaving it behind, not misplacing it, etc. as pointed out.
Guess you could save your $0.25 and follow Billy GIBBONS lead and use A Coin (http://askville.amazon.com/coin-Billy-Gibbons-guitar-plectrum/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=65514454). Not sure if this is still his pick of preference but it certainly was in his hey-day. Or one with the Queen on it would likely do :smile:
To be fair, as others have said, my main objection to personally spending $35.00 on a pick is that I'd
probably just lose it.
In a pinch once I used one of those square bread bag ties.
Quote from: hadden on August 10, 2011, 11:25:07 AM
In a pinch once I used one of those square bread bag ties.
Yeah I've done that but they're too soft and leave plastic dust on your guitar. To think I may have been breathing that stuff in! :ohmy:
I tend to use any 1 mm pick pretty much indiscrimately. I bought the green tin and have a lot of these hanging around. Decent choice for my needs.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/vault/fender-60th-anniversary-36-piece-guitar-pick-tin
Quote from: JOYCEfromNS on August 10, 2011, 11:08:56 AM
Guess you could save your $0.25 and follow Billy GIBBONS lead and use A Coin (http://askville.amazon.com/coin-Billy-Gibbons-guitar-plectrum/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=65514454). Not sure if this is still his pick of preference but it certainly was in his hey-day. Or one with the Queen on it would likely do :smile:
Brian May (Queen) used /uses an old sixpence coin (British coin pre 1971 - about 2 pence/1 cent today) He'd file down the edges a bit and get that wonderful attack on the strings....... :nana_guitar
I wish they would make artificial nails out of that material or something like it. I've been making do with ones only so good. Not even as good as the average pick. About bread bag tie level. And no I won't go to see the salon ladies.
Quote from: hadden on August 10, 2011, 03:14:55 PM
I wish they would make artificial nails out of that material or something like it. I've been making do with ones only so good. Not even as good as the average pick. About bread bag tie level. And no I won't go to see the salon ladies.
I'm told you can cut up ping pong balls and fashion your own with good results. Never tried it myself.
Quote from: ducktrapper on August 10, 2011, 05:51:25 PM
I'm told you can cut up ping pong balls and fashion your own with good results. Never tried it myself.
Not tough enough I found. Steel strings are a *****
Long time a go when the earth weren't green, an old time picker gave me a real tortoiseshell pick. It was the most amazing thing I have ever had for caressing/attacking a guitar with. He played an old Martin herringbone dread that sounded amazing and I only had one guitar then, a Yamaki mahogany dread. When he gave me that pick and I tied into my guitar I could not believe the difference. I had that politically incorrect pick for years and finally left it a gig somewhere and have deeply regretted it ever since. Sometimes It's hard to be green ... :whistling:
Dave
Quote from: webberink on August 28, 2011, 07:13:34 PM
Sometimes It's hard to be green ... :whistling:
Dave
It's not politically incorrect. It's illegal. Against the law.
Quote from: CZERO9RW on August 28, 2011, 07:34:19 PM
It's not politically incorrect. It's illegal. Against the law.
So is speeding and spitting on the sidewalk (against the law, not politically incorrect). If one comes across a pick that happens to be made of tortoiseshell it would be a shame not to use it since the damage to the tortoise has already been done, which may be unfortunate. That doesn't mean the picker is not in favor of saving tortoises or whatever.
I have a small stack of thin real ivory pieces that my brother salvaged from the keys of an old piano. I intend to use them at some point for inlays or something like that. I have no qualms about using them since they were obtained at a time when it was legal to do so and whatever animal they came from is already dead. I don't even know if it's legal to do so, but I don't really care. Yet, I'm just as concerned as most people are today about the current situation regarding the harvesting of ivory.
L07,
You bring up a good point, and I apologize to Webber for trying to make him sound like a criminal. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using an existing Tortoise Shell pick. I believe the law is against making new and/or selling the material.
I'm just a lil' bit passionate on the subject. Again, my apologies.
Quote from: CZERO9RW on August 29, 2011, 11:52:34 AM
L07,
You bring up a good point, and I apologize to Webber for trying to make him sound like a criminal. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using an existing Tortoise Shell pick. I believe the law is against making new and/or selling the material.
I'm just a lil' bit passionate on the subject. Again, my apologies.
Hey, nothing wrong with being passionate enough about a good cause to speak up about it, that's for sure. If people don't speak up, nothing gets changed. Yes, I was trying to point out that distinction between "old" and "new" materials. I agree we should do what we can to discourage the harvesting of any new ivory, horn, various wood species, etc. Probably the best way for most of us is to reduce the demand by never purchasing or using products that contain these materials.
Kurt
Apology accepted czero. Always interesting how we jump to form our impressions on this here forum. At any rate, I sure hope no one goes off and buries a good Brazilian in the back yard cause its wood is now on the protected list. A local luthier up our way name of Jedidiah Wiebe has been really getting into the subject, building all of his world class instruments out of repurposed wood from furniture and such. Incredible. No coffee table seems to be safe. You might want to take a peep. http://jedidiah.madravengraphics.com/ Now if only someone could find an old dead turtle shell lamp to repurpose ...
Jim Dunlop 1mm nylon picks have been my go to picks forever. I love them.
Quote from: OutWithTheBlue on August 30, 2011, 08:57:18 PM
Jim Dunlop 1mm nylon picks have been my go to picks forever. I love them.
Used to be mine as well until I went to thumbpicks. Golden Gate.
Just got some V-picks yesterday. I really,really like em'. I also really like the Wegen Bluegrass picks.
Dunlop, Tortex Standard 60mm is my standard flat pick. Sometimes I rough em up some.
Dave