Folks, I just wanted to reiterate one important point:

FREE SHIPPING ON EVERY ORDER, EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR.*

I take it as a personal insult when someone charges me an additional $4.50 (or more) to ship something that doesn't weigh anything. How lame is that? We will NEVER charge you for freight, ever.

With my word as my bond, this won't happen at Charmed Life. We want your experience with us to be simple, painless and easy. This was our #1 goal in forming our company: free freight, always.

This philosophy is incorporated in our Mission Statement: "People before products." As good as our products are, it means absolutely nothing to me personally if you're not completely happy with our service. Another saying with have at CL is: "We're not 100% happy till you're 100% satisfied."

I hope this gives you a broader view of who we are as people.

I'll climb off my soapbox now.

take care,
scott

*Free Shipping applies to U.S. addresses only. International shipments, including Canada and Mexico, may incur additional freight charges.

Scott, I am not a flatpicker, and therefore not a potential customer, but I am curious about what these "two most coveted materials" actually are. Your website doesn't seem to elucidate.Could you clarify it for the curious?

Cheers

Murray

Murray, thanks so much for looking at our ad, especially since you're not a flatpicker.

For proprietary and competitive reasons, most manufacturers, including us, don't openly discuss materials or manufacturing processes. This is pretty much standard practice.

We spent two very intensive years researching and preparing our business. One of our materials is almost impossible to locate, the other almost impossible to afford; we found a way to just barely squeak through.

Not only that, but both materials are also a series of nightmares to fabricate into picks -- and in completely different nightmarish ways.

All that said, I'll PM you.

thanks so much,
scott

All Models in Stock & Shipping
 

UPDATE: JULY 3, 2016: Folks, we just found out from a couple customers that the mobile version of our site is not functioning properly. This is not due to us but to our web-hoster (which, ironically, is one of the best in the business).

PLACING ORDERS: Until we get this fixed, for placing orders etc. please visit us through a regular browser on any desktop or laptop device, not a smartphone or mobile device. We ARE processing orders and have all models in stock.

thanks!
scott & rhonda

Folks, I moved this over from the main Board, since it was getting kind of self-promotional.....

Ken, we did, and will again -- and also .60 mm too. End of July.

It was a real Homer Simpson moment, Ken. We cut them EXACTLY at .75 mm, then realized -- D'Oh! -- we had to leave room to sand, buff and polish. Future ones will be cut at around .85 mm, then sanded and finished down from there. Double D'oh! No one ever accused me of being a frickin' genius.

We also have some around .85-.90 right now, so you can go either way. And we'll have those .75s back in the barn by early August.

BTW, I also sent you a PM on a related topic.

be well,
scott

Scott,

Thanks for the information. I'll definitely order a .75 mm CL Brown when they're available in August. I'm looking forward to that time!

Ken, I found a loan straggler .75 mm for you, my last one. Please check PM here or email me directly at charmedlifepicks @ gmail.

sm

Two Models sold out: Get on Mailing List
 

UPDATE: As of July 10, 2016, we are completely sold out of all models in our charmed life brown series. We have good inventories on all tortoise designed models.

If you would like to get on the priority waiting list for our next run due to arrive early August, please email us directly at charmedlifepicks @ gmail and put in all caps WAITING LIST in the subject line. We don't carry back orders or accept prepayments, so when the store opens we will be prioritizing, filling and shipping orders based on first date of contact. We expect limited availability on the brown series through the end of 2016 and on into 2017.

We do have good stock on our three tortoise models, made from a remarkable material known for over a hundred years to produce tonal characteristics very similar to real tortoise shell. At $24.95, with free shipping, this is a real bargain when compared to other vendors.

thanks,
scott

I have regularly jammed with Scott for the past few years and have watched as he developed his picks, so I got a chance to play them all.

A bit of history on my use of picks. I started using tortex, as most people do, starting with the red .5 mm and over the years as my technique improved and I got more into playing individual notes as I pick and strum, I moved up to the purple 1.14. Tried Ultems and a number of other picks, but after I tried a Blue Chip, I could see their appeal. I bought some Wegen Bluegrass 1.4 and that became my go to pick several years ago.

Some months ago Scott "lent" me one of his natural tortoise picks (I think the 1.15). I was smitten. Though the pick has no bevel, it flat picks very nicely, but the thing I like about it most is how warm and subtle the sound is. I do not like a bright sound, so I found the pick ideal for jamming with others when I didn't want to stand out (I have a loud D18 with medium strings), but with a heavier hand it will bring up the volume. I've never played a pick like this before, warmer, softer than the Blue Chip and my Wegen. I'd say I use it 50% of the time when I want a mellower sound. It's particularly good with new strings.

Thanks for the "loan", Scott.

Thanks, Fred. I appreciate you being one of our early CL guinea pigs. I’ve been so busy, this is the first chance I've had to come up for air and add a few comments to your post.

First, just a correction of facts: Fred is indeed playing one of our natural “tortoise” models (in this case, a classic 351 teardrop shape), but it’s at 1.25 mm thickness, not 1.15. (Please Note: The 1.25 mm model is not shown on our website, but is available by special order only for the same price: $24.95, which includes free shipping. Please email us if interested.)

[IMG]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...pslkrjdcnt.png[/IMG]


Fred is pointing out the first thing people usually notice when they start playing this material – its incredible warmth and smooth, balanced tone. It’s also noted for its “softness” across the strings and almost total absence of pick noise.

Many of our customers prefer our “tortoise” models to our brown series (actually, we don’t care, since we sell both) – and it’s cheaper too. It has been made into guitar picks for well over than 100 years, and is revered around the globe for its remarkable tonal similarities to real tortoise shell. It is derived from a natural protein that has been one of the “building blocks” of life on our planet since the beginning of time, and goes back at least 5000 years to Ancient Egypt, where it was for known for its unique properties. It’s amazing material.

One last thing: Fred mentioned that the pick was on “loan” (actually it’s on “permanent loan”). Why? This is because I have no desire to make money off my friends and jamming partners. If you knew Fred as well as I do, you’d know that you could never “buy” a good review off him; he’s not that kind of guy, and it wouldn’t sit well with him. He’s a good picker, and he’s been testing our prototypes right along for more than six months now. We don’t want people to blow smoke; we want the truth. I’m a driven perfectionist. How am I going to get better if people won’t be straight with me? That’s the kind of guy Fred is.

And by the way, he road tested this pick for more than sixty days before posting this review.

thanks, everyone,
scott

Ken, hi, I sent you a PM but didn't hear back. The second pick went in the mail today and you should see it shortly.

sm

Scott, I've asked this before, but must have got lost somewhere - please advise the material that you se for the "tortoise" line.

Also would the 346 triangles be speed beveled ?

Thanks

Silly, hi again. On the second question, at this point we're not offering speed bevel on any models. We're obviously aware of how popular that feature is, but assume most people would prefer we that hold prices rather than add features and raise prices. Most hot players re-bevel their bevels once they receive the pick anyway.

If you factor in freight, we’re $10.00 less than the competition. There’s an extremely good reason (actually, a number of good reasons) no other company makes picks from this material. We're nuts to do it, but we're nuts anyway, so we persist.

Please PM me on question number one.

thanks,
scott

Our Warranty: Best in the Business
 

Although we've been receiving raves on both our product lines, even more important to us is the positive feedback we're getting regarding our service and responsiveness.

One aspect of that is our warranty, which is as good or better than any in the pick industry. It's amazing how many pick companies don't even mention the word "warranty"on their site, like it's some kind of poison. (This, in itself, is a direct comment on the quality of the materials they're using.) We're the only ones I'm aware of who put it right up there on our main menu:

http://www.charmedlifepicks.com/#!warranty/z19l6

As I state on the site, we're PROUD of our warranty. We're not gonna take your money, then go hide away somewhere in case something goes wrong.

take care and thanks,
scott

Clarifying the term "Tortoise"
 

A potential customer had written us the other day asking about our "tortoise" models. He was concerned that we might be using real tortoise shell.

Just to clarify: "tortoise" refers to the design of the material, not the material itself. This term is used in other industries as well, such as sunglasses and combs. "Tortoise" material is probably the most imitated design in the world for guitar picks, since this is what the original picks were made from for thousands of years.

The selling of real tortoise shell products was banned in the early seventies by the international CITES treaty. In fact, one of the things we're most proud about is that no harm comes to any animals in any of the products we manufacture -- and yet our two lines of material are generally regarded by serious players as most closely approximating the tone and the feel of real TS.

Hope this clears up any confusion.

thanks,
scott