#16
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I use (and love) TP40's. The TP40 is just the right size and thickness for me, and I love that it works no matter which way it's rotated. I tried the TD35 and TD40, and they felt too small even though they are the same size as the standard size Dunlop Tortex I'd used for years. I tried several thicknesses of TP and TAD, and a CT55. I only sent back the TD's and CT55, so I have several Blue Chips I don't use regularly, but sometimes they're nice to have in the pick jar. I keep a TP40 with every guitar and one in my pocket all the time. And I haven't lost one yet! One of these days I'll get a few more, but I'm not made of money so I'm kinda putting it off.
I'm primarily a strummer, but a couple years ago I figured out that I needed something better than my Tortex picks for flatpicking and single note runs. I found my playing limited by my picks, which is saying something because I'm not the most amazing player. I tried a lot of picks before I settled on the TP40. It took some adjustment to make the thicker picks work for strumming, but my sound is so much better with the Blue Chips, and of course they work great for all the other stuff too. I don't feel limited by my pick anymore, now it's just my ability. So at least I've solved one problem! If there's something better than a Blue Chip, I don't know what it is. I can't imagine ever playing with anything else. That's just me though. |
#17
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Im a TD35 guy. I have one for each guitar and a couple of spares. I can strum light or heavy, and the pick just glides over the strings. But, what really attracted me to the BCs is their curious grippiness. I no longer worry about losing my pick. They do sometimes accumulate oil from my fingers. I’ve found window spray like GlassPlus to be a quick and easy cleaner.
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Regards, Jim Larrivée L-05 Mahogany Gibson Les Paul Traditional Fender Stratocaster Epiphone Les Paul Standard |
#18
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Quote:
Many members here on AGF share that opinion, and many (most?) play both materials in different situations. my two cents, scott memmer Last edited by Charmed Life Picks; 02-26-2019 at 11:16 PM. |
#19
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I feel the same way. I haven't used anything other than my TD45 for over a year now. It hasn't shown any wear, changed shape, or slipped out of my grip. Love it. I have a couple just in case I lose one, but I'm pretty careful with a pick this expensive.
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#20
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Quote:
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#21
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I have fallen in love with the BC picks over the past 6 months too.
I have 2 TD35s... I ordered one each with the Speed Bevel and the Round Bevel... This is weird but on my acoustic guitar there is 0 doubt in my mind I prefer the Speed Bevel. And on my Telecaster there is 0 doubt in my mind I prefer the Round Bevel. Very odd but they sound different, and the round seems to complement the Tele's thin strings whereas the Speed Bevel makes it easier to play on the thicker acoustic strings. I think it is ridiculous for anyone to point fingers at anyone for using these picks.. they are a drop in the bucket in cost compared to owning expensive guitars. I would actually say the right pick, whether it is the BC for me or something else for someone else, can have a tone effect that can be greater than a guitar costing a lot more that is used with a pick that isn't as good. Picks really make huge non-subtle tone differences IMO. I have a couple TAD style BC picks too.. I need to sell those. I bought those retail and didn't like them, the TD's I ordered off the BC website. The big triangular picks don't really work well for me regardless of brand. For the way I keep my stuff organized losing them is not a concern. |
#22
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The whole CLP thing started with me making picks only for myself. Let me tell you in all honestly, I had NO intention of starting a company. But I fell so in love with casein that that's what happened. The other thing to know is I've been playing genuine tortoise shell for forty years. I've been a pick nerd for four decades, but I never dreamed I'd ever find something close to real thing. It's really strange but wonderful stuff, incredibly hard to work with. If interested, the best entry-level but high quality casein picks are made by John Pearse. They sell for only about $10 each and, frankly, are priced too low. But that's to your advantage. Check 'em out: http://www.jpstrings.com/brpicks.htm scott memmer Last edited by Charmed Life Picks; 03-05-2019 at 04:27 PM. |
#23
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Quote:
I have been playing genuine tortoise shell picks since the seventies. I still play them, although I never take them out of the house. They will always be my Reference Standard. I didn't start a pick company for ego reasons or even to make money. I bought $100 worth of several of the material(s) I'd heard about on this very forum and, because I'm cheap, decided to make my own. I'm a fully tenured English professor and had no plans to start a dang guitar pick company. None. But then I started playing these materials (particularly casein) and fell in love. I totally backed into this. I had no plans. If you'd told me five years ago that I'd be doing this, I'd ask you to pass what you're drinking (hint, hint, Mick). I'll make a bold statement: A quality guitar pick is the single most significant investment under $50 you can make to improve the tone of your acoustic instrument. I know this will sound like I'm blowing smoke. I was certain it was all smoke and mirrors. But then I played them. It's real, folks. The best pick companies offer you a full money back guarantee in the first 30 days. Are these products for everybody? No, certainly not. But these high-end pick companies would not be able to sustain a five or ten or even fifteen year run on smoke and mirrors. This post is too long. Apologies. But I did want to share my experience. Scott Memmer Last edited by Charmed Life Picks; 03-10-2019 at 12:34 PM. |
#24
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When I first heard about Blue Chip picks (possibly on this forum) *I decided that they were a con. Great marketing ploy - say they are made of unobtanium and charge 100 times as much as the rest .."some fools'll fall for it and the margin will be enormous (like other scams).
But folks kept talking about them and then I went to a gig where the act (extremely good British female bluegrass folk) was using them. I started looking for them and got a used one -can't remember who/how or where, and it was a TAD40 1r. I tried not to like it. It also taught me a lot about pick design. 346 (large triangles were definitely better than 351 (teardrops) - i) You get three points, ii) you get more mass for the same thickness, iii) you get a better grip. I also learnt about speed bevels - these really do give you exactly what the name implies. So, I set out to compare with every other 346 style I could get - Wegen, Tortex, Ultex, Fenders, Claytons, D'andrea, Primetones and others. During my illness in 2017, when I could do little else between treatments, I even learnt to emulate the bevel on BCs and Wegens on unfinished ones like Ultex, Tortex, and Claytons. I wore my ageing hands out on remodelling loads of the things and also learnt a lot about the commonly used materials - celluloid being the most wearing and difficult to bevel (it melted), and white Claytons and Primetones were just dead. Wegen TF120/140 were the closest and Tortex could be made into a pretty good pick when bevelled and polished. Ultex as good but far harder to finish. I gave up, and bought a Bluechip for every guitar I flatpicked. - TAD50 (1.235 m/m) for dreads, Jumbo, and National, and TAD40 for 000,00 and my WL-12, and a TAD 50-3r for mandolin. I bought a TAD 60 for 12 string but found that Wegens worked better. I made one particularly large order from BC which was lost immediately. They did not mess me about, they just sent a new batch ... I won't forget that. I also have a considerable collection of Tortoishell picks from "back in the day" I compared them and did some vbevelling on one or too (smelly!) - I prefer my BCs. Whilst I've never been careless with picks , I solved the oft repeated problem of losing them and devised my pick boxes which are, inthemselves items of value and each guitar has one with a Wegen and a BC and a shubb capo and a clip on tuner). I know that they are all there when I pick up a case, and the first job when Ive finished playing (wherever) is to ensure that all items are in the box and inside the case.
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Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#25
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Blue Chip makes my favorite picks. I typically use TAD 40, TAD 50 or TPR 45. However, I have wondered why Blue Chip doesn’t offer a TAD 45. So I contacted them and asked if they could make TAD 45 picks. No Problem! Seems like a small thing, but they seem - just right.
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#26
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Blue Chips are amazing...congrats! Mine sounds so smooth and it feels great. Plus, my wife/daughter had it engraved for me!
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#27
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I too recently tried blue chip, and although they are very nice picks, I actually expected a bigger difference compared to the prime tones. Don’t get me wrong; they’re better. But not by a huge margin, I wouldn’t say. The BC still has some of that clicking pick noise and brightness I was hoping to avoid. Enter casein. Let us know what you think of the CL pick when it arrives. I tried my first casein pick recently and have been blown away by the rich tone and buttery smooth action, especially on the high two strings. Zero pick click. Have fun.
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#28
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I recently picked up a Fast Turtle and I’m hooked! Super warm tone and no pick noise!! It’s crazy how a $10 pick changed the sound of my Bourgeois for the better! I keep a Wegen bluegrass 1.2, an Ultex 2.0 and 1.14, a primetone 1.0 in the pick case with my Fast Turtle and it quickly makes its way back to the front of the line every time I cycle through the picks for best sound! I’ll be buying a CLP casein in the near future.
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Education is important! Guitar is importanter!! 2019 Bourgeois “Banjo Killer” Aged Tone Vintage Deluxe D 2018 Martin D41 Ambertone (2018 Reimagined) 2016 Taylor GS Mini Koa ES2 |
#29
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Zoo and TN:
I'm so pleased you both tried casein and love it as much as I do. Even before I got into the business, I've always loved experimenting with different pick materials. Dunlop Ultexes were my go-to default picks for many, many years. What I've always done, what I still do, is use different pick materials, as Lady Solo noted, for different instruments. But I also find that I use not only different picks but the same material on the same guitar in different thicknesses and shapes. This provides a lot of variety in tone -- ballads vs up-tempo tunes, for example. I also go sans picks completely and play straight fingerstyle on the softest tunes, especially if playing solo. Now here's the coolest thing most people don't know. The BC material is a class of plastics called polyimide, developed by DuPont. That class alone has more than ten other polyimides that have never been made into flatpicks by anyone on the planet. Furthermore, there are more than a hundred (100) industrial plastics that have never been made into picks by anyone. That is actually a conservative number that I'm rounding down. What I'm saying is, we are at the very beginning of a guitar pick journey that will stretch ahead of us for decades to come. It's an exciting time to be playing an acoustic instrument, and it's only going to get better. scott memmer |
#30
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I’ve been thru the pick craze. Landed unequivocally on Blue Chip. They really are beautifully designed with a prefect bevel and feel. I’ve had tortoise picks and bought and made casein picks and to me it’s not even close. Tortoise is rightfully unattainable. In my experience, casein is extremely clicky compared to just about anything. Tone-wise it is ok, but just ok. Def not worth the premium some sellers put on it. Fast turtles are the best I’ve tried and priced right!
Buy one BC and your done so long as you don’t lose it! |