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  #16  
Old 08-18-2020, 07:43 PM
Br1ck Br1ck is offline
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Just buy a Blue Chip and get it over with. Money back if you don't like it and it will drive you nuts until you do. That's what I did with a Les Paul years ago.It's the only way you'll ever know. The les Paul didn't last long but it cured me from the wondering.
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  #17  
Old 08-19-2020, 07:22 AM
packmule packmule is offline
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Blue Chips would be my first choice, but I always have a Fender Heavy or D'Andrea Pro-Plec in the case as well.
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  #18  
Old 08-23-2020, 07:49 PM
penguins0141 penguins0141 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lfoo6952 View Post
I much prefer the Blue Chip TPR 40 over the Primetones but as others have said at under $5 a pack it's worth trying. You can also experiment with different shapes, thicknesses, and materials to see what suits you best. Picks made by Charmed Life Picks get good reviews here but I have never tried them.

For a long time I hesitated buying the Blue Chip because it is expensive, but I'm glad I finally took the plunge.
I agree. The Blue Chip 40 stands out. Rounded corners. The primetones are nice as well, but the sound isn’t as warm as the Blue Chip IMO. Wegen 1.2 is also a nice sound with more clarity. I also have experimented with Dunlop Celluloid Heavy picks, and like the teardrop smaller pick.
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  #19  
Old 08-25-2020, 12:31 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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I use the rounded edges of a Blue Chip TD-35. It’s a slightly flexible pick, which has become unusual for mandolin players at this point, but when I started playing mandolin in 1975 it wasn’t at all uncommon for mandolin players to use celluloid Fender mediums for both mandolin and guitars.

Which I changed only slightly around 1979, when I discovered Fender medium-heavy picks, made for them by D’Andrea. I could use them for all of the stringed instruments I played, so that’s what I started using from that point onwards. Since medium-heavies were the only picks I was bringing along to gigs, whenever I’d dig in a pocket for a pick I’d get one that worked for me.

At some point in the mid-1980’s I watched a Norman Blake Homespun Tapes mandolin instruction video, where he mentioned that turning around and using the rounded edges of a standard pick rather than the point made playing tremolo parts on mandolin much easier and smoother-sounding.

I tried it and he was right, so I’ve done that ever since.

The Blue Chip TD-35 comes closest to the feel and flex of my D’Andrea celluloid medium-heavies, with the additional benefit of being far more durable. The high tension double strung courses of the mandolin really chew up and spit out most pick materials, but not the Vespel industrial plastic used for Blue Chip picks. All of the Blue Chip picks I own still look virtually new, at least along the playing edges where it matters, despite years of near-constant use. The lettering on some of those picks has faded and become more difficult to read, but the playing edges still look and sound great.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller
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  #20  
Old 08-26-2020, 08:29 AM
dwh dwh is offline
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I use a Dunlop Ultex large triangle
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  #21  
Old 08-29-2020, 03:00 PM
Mandobart Mandobart is offline
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For background info - I've played guitar over 40 years and mandolin over 12 years. I play every mando family instrument - oval and f hole, mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello, resonator mandolin and banjolin. I use all kinds of different strings and gages on these different instruments.

I've tried all the picks discussed on this thread, plus many more made of every material imaginable. Overall, the best pick tone and playability for me is the Gravity Gold 2.5 mm. I believe it's made of PEEK (thermoplastic). About $20 USD. Before I found those I prefered Wegen M200 picks, which are about $12 for two.
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  #22  
Old 09-10-2020, 04:33 PM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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Fender extra heavy. The white ones 351 style.
90% of the stages I play are flat black.
If I drop one I can find it quickly. Try doing that with a wegan. Also I can buy 100 of these for 33 bucks. You still need a few more $ for one blue chip.
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  #23  
Old 09-11-2020, 03:30 PM
frankmcr frankmcr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varmonter View Post
Fender extra heavy. The white ones 351 style.
90% of the stages I play are flat black.
If I drop one I can find it quickly. Try doing that with a wegan.
No problem:
http://www.thepickshoppe.com/store/f...olin-flatpicks
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  #24  
Old 09-12-2020, 02:47 AM
Mandobart Mandobart is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varmonter View Post
Fender extra heavy. The white ones 351 style.
90% of the stages I play are flat black.
If I drop one I can find it quickly. Try doing that with a wegan. Also I can buy 100 of these for 33 bucks. You still need a few more $ for one blue chip.
My Wegen picks are white.
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  #25  
Old 09-12-2020, 03:19 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Br1ck View Post
Just buy a Blue Chip and get it over with. Money back if you don't like it and it will drive you nuts until you do. That's what I did with a Les Paul years ago.It's the only way you'll ever know. The les Paul didn't last long but it cured me from the wondering.
THIS!

I use a BC TAD50-3r, but like Mando Bob, you might prefer the TAD60-3r.

I still have the tortoiseshell picks that I used for a couple of decades before BC came out. BCs are better, more stable, faster and louder than TS.

What's not to love?
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  #26  
Old 09-12-2020, 02:47 PM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varmonter View Post
Fender extra heavy. The white ones 351 style.
90% of the stages I play are flat black.
If I drop one I can find it quickly. Try doing that with a wegan. Also I can buy 100 of these for 33 bucks. You still need a few more $ for one blue chip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frankmcr View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandobart View Post
My Wegen picks are white.
Ha mine are all black..
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  #27  
Old 09-12-2020, 03:00 PM
Mooh Mooh is offline
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Blue Chip TP40 is my choice for guitars, tenor banjo, and mandolin. Other rounded triangles will work for me if there's not much clack. Surprisingly cheap celluloid picks I have printed for my business work surprisingly well.
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  #28  
Old 09-14-2020, 11:37 AM
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Kupuna50 Kupuna50 is offline
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WEGEN picks excel. Both feel and tone.
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  #29  
Old 09-16-2020, 03:03 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varmonter View Post
Fender extra heavy. The white ones 351 style.
90% of the stages I play are flat black.
If I drop one I can find it quickly. Try doing that with a wegan. Also I can buy 100 of these for 33 bucks. You still need a few more $ for one blue chip.
With celluloid picks, the white ones are actually ever-so-slightly stiffer than the tortoiseshell colored ones. Almost thirty years ago now I put in an order for three gross of white celluloid .84mm medium-heavy picks with my name on them, and I still have quite a few of them left.

But not as many as I’d like. Some fifteen years after that initial order I tried to get some more of them, only to be told that D’Andrea was no longer importing that gauge of white celluloid from Italy any longer.

So I keep a close eye on the white picks I still have, because they definitely are much easier to spot if they fall to the floor. Plus I like that slight but still discernible additional stiffness that they have.


whm
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  #30  
Old 09-17-2020, 07:10 PM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wade Hampton View Post
With celluloid picks, the white ones are actually ever-so-slightly stiffer than the tortoiseshell colored ones. Almost thirty years ago now I put in an order for three gross of white celluloid .84mm medium-heavy picks with my name on them, and I still have quite a few of them left.

But not as many as I’d like. Some fifteen years after that initial order I tried to get some more of them, only to be told that D’Andrea was no longer importing that gauge of white celluloid from Italy any longer.

So I keep a close eye on the white picks I still have, because they definitely are much easier to spot if they fall to the floor. Plus I like that slight but still discernible additional stiffness that they have.


whm
I think fender extra heavys are 1.4mm
I dont know if they are thicker than the tortoise
Colored ones...I've never used them.i use the round edge for tremelo.
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