I'm ready to take the plunge. Have you?! (PICKS). And I need advice on BC, CL, etc.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by tnez13

Allow me to throw a curve and suggest another company and a slightly different route. Take a look at Gravity Picks, specifically their acrylic picks. These picks are around $5 each rather than over $20 each. When I went down the pick rabbit hole a couple years ago, I ordered several picks from Gravity with different sizes, shapes, thickness, grip hole options, etc. That allowed me to experiment and determine the the size, shape, thickness, etc. that I like and worked for me. I then stepped up to the premium picks based on understanding my preferences. I would recommend trying picks you think are too small/large and too thick/thin to really determine your sweet spot with pick selection. I was surprised when I liked a smaller pick size than I had previously used.

Good luck on the search. It's actually a lot of fun trying out new picks.

This is not meant as criticism of Gravity, which is a great company (and used to be a Sponsor here; don't know if they still are), but for those reading this, be cautious of jumping into acrylic picks before sampling them. Since this Forum is specifically about acoustic playing, most (but not all) acoustic players do not end up playing acrylics. They tend to be very scratchy and harsh across the strings.

However, they have excellent feel and are extremely popular with ELECTRIC guitar players. As an example of this, take a look at the endorsing artists over at V-Picks, another quality Acrylic house. Dozens and dozens of electric players, with nary an acoustic musician in the bunch.

When looking at Gravity, the line you want is the Gravity Gold Series. https://www.gravitypicks.com/product/gold-series/

We tested this very material for a looooong time (over a year) before finally voting no. However, it was NOT because of performance, which is superb, but only because we're a tiny shop and have to make choices we sometimes later regret. We may yet do something with it a few years down the road.

Anyway, these are excellent, and at $20 a throw are one of the best premium picks on the market, at any price. Check them out; you'll be impressed.

Other really good value lines are Wegen and John Pearse. With most models at less than $10 a pick, these are also worth seeking out.

Hope this helps all in their search.

Best,
Scott Memmer

[tnez13]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

This is not meant as criticism of Gravity, which is a great company (and used to be a Sponsor here; don't know if they still are), but for those reading this, be cautious of jumping into acrylic picks before sampling them. Since this Forum is specifically about acoustic playing, most (but not all) acoustic players do not end up playing acrylics. They tend to be very scratchy and harsh across the strings.

However, they have excellent feel and are extremely popular with ELECTRIC guitar players. As an example of this, take a look at the endorsing artists over at V-Picks, another quality Acrylic house. Dozens and dozens of electric players, with nary an acoustic musician in the bunch.

Scott,

You have a good point about the acrylic picks. I came across acrylic picks at about the same time I upgraded to a truly quality guitar. They were such an upgrade from Fender Heavys that I took a liking to them. There are times I play them now even after entering the Blue Chip world awhile back. But, no, the acrylics don't exactly have the cleanest sound on the strings. Thanks for your thoughts here and for the other nuggets of wisdom you provide to the forum.

Travis

[hairpuller]

I just recently received my casein pick from Scott at Charmed Life, and I couldn't be happier! It's absolutely gorgeous, a joy to play, does not slip even though the pick is quite smooth, and the tone is so clean and mellow! I love the triangles, too!

Scott has exceptional customer service, too.

Now I just include in my nightly prayers that I don't ever lose it!
scott

[Don54]

My favorite Bluechip is the TP1R 60. The TP is a small triangle and (for me) its the perfect in-between size (bigger than a tear drop and smaller than a standard triangle). It also provides 1 rounded edge for variety.

A few things to keep in mind. Bluechip offers free speed beveling. Most consider it a must. Also, as you move to thicker picks, strumming will require a “different” technique or attack. It’s less forgiving than a thinner pick. It can be a little disappointing and frustrating at first. As your technique adjusts for the thicker picks, you will be rewarded with better tone. However, I find that the really thick picks are more ideal for a flat picking style or lead (one note at a time). Lastly, there are so many shapes and thicknesses available, that it takes some experimenting to find out what works for you. Which can get pricy. Bluechip is pretty generous with their return policy. That could be a cheaper way to experiment. However, I try not to return things whenever possible.

Based on your current preferences (strumming with teardrop picks), I’d probably go with the TD or TP1R with 40 to 50 thickness.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by hairpuller

I just recently received my casein pick from Scott at Charmed Life, and I couldn't be happier! It's absolutely gorgeous, a joy to play, does not slip even though the pick is quite smooth, and the tone is so clean and mellow! I love the triangles, too!

Scott has exceptional customer service, too.

Now I just include in my nightly prayers that I don't ever lose it!
scott

HairPuller, thanks for the props. However, I'm praying that you DO lose it. How do expect a guy to get reorders? LOL

Be Well, My Friend,
Scott

[bil40272]

I used the cheepo fender picks for ever.
Once I tried the Dunlop Gator 1.14, I was sucked into the what else is out there mindset as far as picks go.
I moved to the Dunlop Ultex, and the Primetones with and without grip.
At this point I started buying any pick that was different from what I had in my ever growing pick box.
I settled in on the smooth Primetone TD 1.3.
I then started beveling these pics.
Then it happened.
At one sitting I ordered a BC TD 45, CL TD red, CL TD Tortoise, CL TD Brown,
CL TD Black.
When they all arrived, I had a pick nock down drag out.
For the test I sat in my hallway a couple feet from the wall to get the best sound feedback.
The primetone, the BC, The CL Brown were all virtually the same. Very warm and articulate.
The CL red, and CL tortoise, had the same sound, Brighter and articulate.
For me the only one i didn't like was the CL Black. It was very dull sounding.
I will never get rid of my Boutique pics, i do play them occasionally, but my go to pics are my Primetone smooth 1.3.

Unlike my insatiable GAS, i no longer have PAS.

Good luck with your decision.

[bil40272]

The guitars i used for this test were my Taylor GA4, Taylor 324, and my Martin 00018.

[HeyMikey]

Originally Posted by StrumNSing

Ok, folks, I'm ready to take the plunge. Have you?!

I recently received three different material Charmed Life Picks . Here is my initial comparison vs my old go-to Dunlop Tortex Purple picks. My assessment doesn't necessarily parallel the descriptions on the CL web site and I expect that based on playing styles folks are going to feel and hear something different - just as we do with guitars in general.

All three CL picks are Teardrop shaped roughly 1.15 mm thick similar in shape and thickness to the Dunlop Tortex.

CL Casein Tortoise - My clear favorite. Crisp, clean, bright, distinct and loud when called upon. Really a pleasure to play! This pick is something special.

CL Black - Second favorite. Not as bright as the casein, but still crisp, distinct and full. A terrifically balanced sounding pick that for me plays in between the Brown and Casein.

CL Brown - Third favorite. Noticeably more mellow in attack than the other two, but still a rich sound. Best if I'm playing quiet, but not as forward as I generally prefer. Again, others may have a different opinion.

Dunlop Tortex Purple - After playing all three CL picks my old go-to was now my least favorite. The sound was not as full, sort of boxed in and restrained. Not bad, but clearly lacking in comparison.

[Silly Moustache]

I see that you currently use a Wegen TF120 - my second favourite pick, so to my most favourite ... after resisting and trying everything else I settled on Blue chips.

After buying a TAD 40 (1 m/m) then a TAD50 (1.25 m/m), and also a TAD60 (1.5 m/m)

I have settled on TAD50s for dreads and my jumbo (all with medium gauge strings) and TAD40s for smaller guitars (with light gauge strings).

The TAD60 was expected to be for my 12 string, but I prefer Wegen TF140s for that job.

I also use TAD50 3r for mando.

There is simply nothing better than a BC with speed bevels.

When I was ill 2017/8 and couldn't do much I ordered a load of cheaper 346 shaped picks and tried to make them into the image of the TADs and TF shapes - see this :



This might also be of interest :

[tippy5]

I love CL for strumming and hybrid strumming.

I like BC (TAD -50-1R) for lead melodies, double / triple stops - partial chords and Travis rhythms.
Especially love the round end (I also like the TAD-IR-60's, want to try the 80's-$75 yikes). That round end can be used for a virtually clickless, albeit slower, less accurate, lead. The closest thing to a warm sounding, thumb flesh tone that I have found. My large Goodall with the BC round end, held on an angle to reduce all clicks, with Elixir strings has huge, very dramatic tone.

But for fast accuracy, I love the beveled Wolframs!
They free you up for mando type, crazy train, 64th notes.

[DesertTwang]

Originally Posted by raysachs

The ONLY difference I can tell is the Blue Chips are finished a little slicker and the Charmed Life are a little rougher, which for me makes the Charmed Life a bit easier to hang onto, but both are fine and they sound and play identically. So there's not a lot of point in buying both to compare them.

As far as I know, BlueChips have speed bevels, while CL picks don't. Perhaps that's not a consideration if one strums mostly, just thought I'd mention it. Tone-wise, the two are both great, as good as it gets in my opinion. When I compared my CL vespel pick directly to my Wegen picks, the discrepancy in tone and volume was so shockingly large that I took my Wegens (which I had really liked until then) out of rotation immediately.

[Steadfastly]

Originally Posted by tnez13

Allow me to throw a curve and suggest another company and a slightly different route. Take a look at Gravity Picks, specifically their acrylic picks. These picks are around $5 each rather than over $20 each. When I went down the pick rabbit hole a couple years ago, I ordered several picks from Gravity with different sizes, shapes, thickness, grip hole options, etc. That allowed me to experiment and determine the the size, shape, thickness, etc. that I like and worked for me. I then stepped up to the premium picks based on understanding my preferences. I would recommend trying picks you think are too small/large and too thick/thin to really determine your sweet spot with pick selection. I was surprised when I liked a smaller pick size than I had previously used.

Good luck on the search. It's actually a lot of fun trying out new picks.

I use the small DAVA pick. Like you, I was surprised I liked this smaller pick, especially with my large hands and fingers but it works really well for me.

[buddyhu]

I like the Blue Chip TD 40. To me, It sounds similar to the Dunlop Primetone, but it glides across the strings more smoothly (which means faster and smoother playing) than the Primetone, which has a slight (but noticeable) grab. The Wegens I tried had some grab, but my main objection to them was the tone.

I prefer brighter/ "modern" sounding guitars, like Collings. So a fairly thick (1mm or thicker) Vespel pick paired with coated or warm strings sounds very pleasing to me.

I haven't (yet) tried a Charmed Life.

By the way, the Blue Chip thumbpicks are SUPERB for fingerpicking a 12 string (they are nice for picking a 6, but where they really stand out is in getting to the octave strings on the 12). And NO grab.

[CycleBob]

Hi OP. As your looking at getting a couple of high end picks I’d recommend the casein from charmed life (>1 mm for robustness) and a blue chip (TAD40 in my case). I use both of these all the time.
I agree with the post that said there’s essentially no difference between the BC and Charmed Life brown except the former is finished a little more smoothly and you can get the CL brown in <1 mm thickness if that’s your thing. I have a CL 0.7 mm brown and it’s very good.
I like gravity picks but as Scott points out they are harsh across the strings and result in more pick noise than I can deal with.
I have not tried EML casein picks yet but they look beautifully finished and I probably will at some stage.
Best of luck.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by CycleBob

I have not tried EML casein picks yet but they look beautifully finished and I probably will at some stage.

I have a couple of EML picks, one of them casein, and it’s really well finished and an excellent pick. I like the slightly larger than standard teardrop size too. But the thinnest pick they sell is 1.5mm and that’s just thicker than I like - about 1.1 - 1.2 mm seems to be my sweet spot. So I find myself always picking up one of my CL casein picks when I want to play casein - almost exclusively for acoustic at the moment. I’ve tried I think four different casein picks and I REALLY like the feel and finish of CL. I have three of Scott’s casein picks (and a few brown vespel picks and one black one too). I have a couple of the yellow / orange artisan picks and one of the brownish ones (“faux tortoise”) and I honestly can’t feel or hear any difference between them, so I have a couple more faux tortoise picks on order, which should be enough to last me about indefinitely.

If you like thicker picks, though, I’d say the EML picks are definitely worth checking out - they’re really really nice. I grab mine occasionally for flatpicking, but just find it too thick for strumming.

-Ray