Fender Tru-Shell Picks

[Charmed Life Picks]

Duplicate post, sorry.

[Charmed Life Picks]

I'm sure Tony Rice has played genuine TS picks for more than 40 years because of some marketing mystique (which, by the way, goes back several thousand years). And Chris Thile plays Blue Chips because of a scam. And Ricky Skaggs. And Adam Steffey. And Mike Marshall, Kenny Smith, Bryan Sutton. What a bunch of clueless hicks.

By this logic a Yamaha FG-830 is as good as a D-18. Hey, they're both guitars. They're both made of wood. I sold my Collings and picked up a Rogue dreadnought for $99 at GC. That guitar can really sing.

[saullacoursiere]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

HHP (or anyone else who has the Heavy and Extra heavys) - Is there any way that you could advise what the thicknesses are ? ...

I measure my extra heavy tru shell at 1.55mm.

[lcgeek]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

I'm sure Tony Rice has played genuine TS picks for more than 40 years because of some marketing mystique (which, by the way, goes back several thousand years). And Chris Thile plays Blue Chips because of a scam. And Ricky Skaggs. And Adam Steffey. And Mike Marshall, Kenny Smith, Bryan Sutton. What a bunch of clueless hicks.

By this logic a Yamaha FG-830 is as good as a D-18. Hey, they're both guitars. They're both made of wood. I sold my Collings and picked up a Rogue dreadnought for $99 at GC. That guitar can really sing.

I can't tell, are you being sarcastic?

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by lcgeek

I can't tell, are you being sarcastic?

Naw. This guy comes in here all the time and tries to tell people all about 50 cent picks. Fine. Have at it. Buy a $5000 Collins dreadnought and play it with a Fender medium. It's a free country.

I didn't get into the pick business as a businessman. I've owned (still own) genuine tortoise and had been looking for a suitable replacement for decades. When I played the casein ("tortoise") material, I knew I'd found it. I bought $100 worth or this stuff and made a few for myself. Then friends started asking me to make one for them, and then their friends, and suddenly I'm in the frickin' guitar pick business. This is the LAST thing I ever wanted to with my life.

The products flat out work. The materials perform. This is why almost every Bluegrass National Champion in the last then years has played Blue Chip.

The brown DuPont Vespel that Blue Chip uses is one of the most amazing plastics ever invented. It is extruded under incredible heat and pressure. It has a melting point of 1000+ degrees Farenheit (actually, it just gets soft; it doesn't melt). It is used to replace metal industrial bearings. Try that will celluloid.

Any injection-molded pick, no matter the material, cannot touch the mechanical properties of a thermoset engineering plastic. It's not even worth discussing. If someone doesn't want to play these kinds of picks, fine. But this is not mass psychosis. The stuff works. You don't build a solid company like Blue Chip for over ten years on smoke and mirrors. At those prices, if the stuff didn't perform, they'd be out of business.

Okay, I've griped enough. This has nothing to do with business or money. This is about me being thrilled as a player to have finally found a material to replace my TS picks.

Sorry, I get a little excited.

sm

[HHP]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Naw. This guy comes in here all the time and tries to tell people all about 50 cent picks. Fine. Have at it. Buy a $5000 Collins dreadnought and play it with a Fender medium. It's a free country.

I didn't get into the pick business as a businessman. I've owned (still own) genuine tortoise and had been looking for a suitable replacement for decades. When I played the casein ("tortoise") material, I knew I'd found it. I bought $100 worth or this stuff and made a few for myself. Then friends started asking me to make one for them, and then their friends, and suddenly I'm in the frickin' guitar pick business. This is the LAST thing I ever wanted to with my life.

The products flat out work. The materials perform. This is why almost every Bluegrass National Champion in the last then years has played Blue Chip.

The brown DuPont Vespel that Blue Chip uses is one of the most amazing plastics ever invented. It is extruded under incredible heat and pressure. It has a melting point of 1000+ degrees Farenheit (actually, it just gets soft; it doesn't melt). It is used to replace metal industrial bearings. Try that will celluloid.

Any injection-molded pick, no matter the material, cannot touch the mechanical properties of a thermoset engineering plastic. It's not even worth discussing. If someone doesn't want to play these kinds of picks, fine. But this is not mass psychosis. The stuff works. You don't build a solid company like Blue Chip for over ten years on smoke and mirrors. At those prices, if the stuff didn't perform, they'd be out of business.

Okay, I've griped enough. This has nothing to do with business or money. This is about me being thrilled as a player to have finally found a material to replace my TS picks.

Sorry, I get a little excited.

sm

Ok, I'll go up to a buck from now on.

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

I'm sure Tony Rice has played genuine TS picks for more than 40 years because of some marketing mystique (which, by the way, goes back several thousand years). And Chris Thile plays Blue Chips because of a scam. And Ricky Skaggs. And Adam Steffey. And Mike Marshall, Kenny Smith, Bryan Sutton. What a bunch of clueless hicks.

By this logic a Yamaha FG-830 is as good as a D-18. Hey, they're both guitars. They're both made of wood. I sold my Collings and picked up a Rogue dreadnought for $99 at GC. That guitar can really sing.

Be careful, we have some people who are very sensitive to sarcasm.

Stating the obvious when it conflicts with their practices is not appreciated.

I however appreciate your comments, it was overdue.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Goat Whiskey Picks

There are some folks on here that take beveling to an art form, so they'll break out Dremels and polishing cloths, etc. Personally I can get a bevel I really like with a couple of sheets of sandpaper. I'll use a coarse grit to cut the bevel into the pick and then go back with something pretty fine like 1000 grit and polish it out smooth. Another good thing to use if you're not beveling a bunch is a two sided Emory file. Use the coarse side for shaping and the buffing side for smoothing things out.

Works for me as well.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by saullacoursiere

I measure my extra heavy tru shell at 1.55mm.

Thanks Saul,

[Charmed Life Picks]

I'll keep this short (for once).

I apologize to everyone for my snark. I'm passionate about everything, from guitar picks to mountain biking.

We can all get too full of ourselves, and I am perhaps more guilty of this than most.

Have a great day,

scott memmer

[lowrider]

OK, I just ordered an extra heavy Tru-Shell. I'll bevel it using two flat files and my sharpening stone. I used these on my Primetones and they came out nice and smooth in just minutes. When I rebeveled the Primetone 2.0, it became the easiest playing, and best sounding, pick I have.

In my short time here as a pick head, I've gone from thinking that the red picks at GC were the cat's patootie to using Primetones at around 3 for $5, now to Tru-shell at $7. We'll see what's next but even I can hear the difference with a good pick.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by lowrider

OK, I just ordered an extra heavy Tru-Shell. I'll bevel it using two flat files and my sharpening stone. I used these on my Primetones and they came out nice and smooth in just minutes. When I rebevelled the Primetone 2.0, it became the easiest playing pick I have.

In my short time here as a pick head, I gone from thinking that the red picks at GC were the cat's patootie to understanding and hearing how much a good pick can make you sound so much better.

Thanks guys, for all your adice. I was paying attention!

You may want to consider a final polishing step. Makes a big difference, the edge should be free of scratches and glass smooth. Cheapest way is a 4 sided manicurist sponge.

[lowrider]

I'll go look for one. Do you think it's finer than a sharpening stone?

[HHP]

Originally Posted by lowrider

I'll go look for one. Do you think it's finer than a sharpening stone?

At lest 2 sides are. They buff and final polish with zero abrasion.

[lowrider]

Heading to the store tomorrow.