Pick suggestions?

Started by WillRoland, July 27, 2011, 02:26:33 PM

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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?
This ain't quite heaven and it ain't quite hell
ain't no angels playin harps
ain't no devils with tails

Larrivee OO-03R
Martin D-18

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 -
Bunch of Larrivees - all good -
and a wife that still puts up with me, which is the best -

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.
This ain't quite heaven and it ain't quite hell
ain't no angels playin harps
ain't no devils with tails

Larrivee OO-03R
Martin D-18

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, 02:10:25 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
Larrivee L-03 w/Gotoh 381 tuners (African Mahogany/Sitka)
Collings OM2Hc (EIR/Sitka)
Schenk Ophirio (Sapele/Cedar)
Bourgeois 00 Custom (Mahogany/It. Spruce)

Quote from: ffinke on August 04, 2011, 11:17:32 AM
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. 
This ain't quite heaven and it ain't quite hell
ain't no angels playin harps
ain't no devils with tails

Larrivee OO-03R
Martin D-18

Quote from: WillRoland on August 09, 2011, 01:47:23 PM
I just thought that I would give it a try.  And I'm glad I did. 

:thumbsup
Larrivee Electrics - My Dream then and Now!!!!!<br /><br />Forum IV     00-03MT       #4      (Treasured)

Quote from: WillRoland on August 09, 2011, 01:47:23 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
Santa Cruz PJ
Martin om28v
Martin 0018vs
Bourgeois 'Alan Simpson' Slope Dread
Martin LXM (on loan)

Quote from: ducktrapper on August 03, 2011, 02:10:25 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

"Badges?  We don't need no stinkin' badges."

Became a Shooting Star when I got my 1st guitar.
Back in '66, I was 13 and that was my fix.
Still shooting for stardom after all this time.
If I never make it, I'll still be fine.


: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:)
Larrivee J-05 (2003), Taylor 514CE 30th Anniv, Taylor 214e (2005), Ovation 2005 Collectors', Kinkade 'Kingsdown (1987), Avalon L25 (2009)

Quote from: L07 Shooting Star on August 10, 2011, 01:43:02 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. 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:
Larrivee Electrics - My Dream then and Now!!!!!<br /><br />Forum IV     00-03MT       #4      (Treasured)

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.
L-03 Italian Spruce

Quote from: hadden on August 10, 2011, 10:25:07 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, 10:08:56 AM
Guess you could save your $0.25 and follow Billy GIBBONS lead and use A Coin. 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
Larrivee J-05 (2003), Taylor 514CE 30th Anniv, Taylor 214e (2005), Ovation 2005 Collectors', Kinkade 'Kingsdown (1987), Avalon L25 (2009)

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.
L-03 Italian Spruce

Quote from: hadden on August 10, 2011, 02:14:55 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.

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