People Loving Casein Picks? Here's Why. (see embedded video). Share Your Experience.

[dougt]

After having bought a Charmed Life pick from Scott i decided to compare them to the picks mentioned at the start of this thread. I ordered a Fender medium and a Clayton NuTone medium after seeing them listed here. My testing was done on a 97 Taylor 414 strung with TI Plectrums.

All 3 are awesome picks yet each one sounds a little different to my ear. The Fender is the brightest of the 3, with the Clayton coming in the middle. The Charmed Life sounds the best to me. It has a quality about it that the other 2 do not quite have. But the bottom line is to my ear all 3 are fantastic picks.

I have a Blue Chip coming next week so don't know if that will change my mind or not but we shall see.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by dougt

After having bought a Charmed Life pick from Scott i decided to compare them to the picks mentioned at the start of this thread. I ordered a Fender medium and a Clayton NuTone medium after seeing them listed here. My testing was done on a 97 Taylor 414 strung with TI Plectrums.

All 3 are awesome picks yet each one sounds a little different to my ear. The Fender is the brightest of the 3, with the Clayton coming in the middle. The Charmed Life sounds the best to me. It has a quality about it that the other 2 do not quite have. But the bottom line is to my ear all 3 are fantastic picks.

I have a Blue Chip coming next week so don't know if that will change my mind or not but we shall see.

Hey Doug, did you receive your BC? I'm always curious to players comparing those two materials, since as a player those are among my two faves.

Members would love to hear your assessment.

be well,
scott

[zoopeda]

I just bought a casein red bear. I'm amazed! I've played plastic Dunlop Primetones for a while. I tried Bluechip and was impressed (in the sense that they are a little better than the Primetones) but disappointed they are really not that much more awesome (to my ear). The casein pick, on the other hand, brings a whole new tonal palette to my guitar. To me the difference between a 1.5-2.0mm Primetone and a comparable BC is just not worth $30+, but having a casein pick on hand--even for a cheap skate like me--has definitely been awesome. I will definitely try a Charmed Life pick in the future as well!

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by HeyMikey

My favorite pick is my Charmed Life casein. It’s amazing how much more responsiveness and quality sound it delivers. Any one chasing tone through other means should give one of these a try.

I second this!

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by zoopeda

I just bought a casein red bear. I'm amazed! I've played plastic Dunlop Primetones for a while. I tried Bluechip and was impressed (in the sense that they are a little better than the Primetones) but disappointed they are really not that much more awesome (to my ear). The casein pick, on the other hand, brings a whole new tonal palette to my guitar. To me the difference between a 1.5-2.0mm Primetone and a comparable BC is just not worth $30+, but having a casein pick on hand--even for a cheap skate like me--has definitely been awesome. I will definitely try a Charmed Life pick in the future as well!

Zoo, yes, Red Bear makes some really stunningly gorgeous stuff. Just wow. To the best of my knowledge, Dave has been making casein picks longer than anyone in North America. And it shows.

scott memmer

[Tnfiddler]

I bought a John Pearse Fast Turtle thin pick a couple of weeks ago and when I first tried it on my short-scale Bourgeois, I wasn’t ready for the tone. It made an already warm guitar even warmer and I wasn’t sure I liked the sound. The more I’ve played it, the more I realize that it’s not only warmer, it’s a much cleaner tone with almost no pick noise and I love the sound. I’ll definitely be buying a Charmed Life casein to add to my collection.

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Zoo, yes, Red Bear makes some really stunningly gorgeous stuff. Just wow. To the best of my knowledge, Dave has been making casein picks longer than anyone in North America. And it shows.

scott memmer

If Red Bear customer service was half as decent as their pick quality, they'd really have something magical going on. I'm grateful they're starting to get more competition in that department.

Scott, as soon as you start making thicker picks (1.5-1.75mm-ish), I'd buy my next one from you, for sure.

[TNO]

Picked up a Fast Turtle based on this thread and it really is pretty amazing. May have to try a few diffferent brands of casein.

[dougt]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Hey Doug, did you receive your BC? I'm always curious to players comparing those two materials, since as a player those are among my two faves.

Members would love to hear your assessment.

be well,
scott

I did receive the Blue Chip last week, I also got a backordered Clayton NuTone heavy last week. The Nutone is just too thick for my tastes so I have not played it enough to have an opinion.

The BC I ordered was a TP-1R 35, i believe this is about the perfect thickness for my playing. I really like the way it glides off of the strings and it sounds great. I now understand why everyone loves these picks.

I spent some time comparing the BC against the CL nf-1.1. to my ear the BC is a little brighter. I personally liked the sound of the Charmed Life a little more on my Taylor 414 strung with TI Plectrums.

I think I will probably order a casein from CL in the same thickness as the BC sometime soon.

The bottom line is I have now gotten a bunch of high quality guitar picks and they are all awesome, just different.

[DownUpDave]

Originally Posted by Tnfiddler

I bought a John Pearse Fast Turtle thin pick a couple of weeks ago and when I first tried it on my short-scale Bourgeois, I wasn’t ready for the tone. It made an already warm guitar even warmer and I wasn’t sure I liked the sound. The more I’ve played it, the more I realize that it’s not only warmer, it’s a much cleaner tone with almost no pick noise and I love the sound. I’ll definitely be buying a Charmed Life casein to add to my collection.

Interesting that we had the same reaction. I bought the Fast Turtle x-thin because it is 1.0mm which is my preferred thickness. Like you I thought it was a bit too warm, although I do prefer warm to bright. But the more I dug in the better I liked the sound and it slides off the strings with no noise, that is amazing.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by DownUpDave

Interesting that we had the same reaction. I bought the Fast Turtle x-thin because it is 1.0mm which is my preferred thickness. Like you I thought it was a bit too warm, although I do prefer warm to bright. But the more I dug in the better I liked the sound and it slides off the strings with no noise, that is amazing.

Dave, it's the strangest thing, and I confess that the first time I played casein I had almost the identical experience. My reaction was, like, "meh."

But, for some reason, it's the kind of material that sneaks up on you. One day you're laying it aside, two weeks later you realize you're laying every OTHER pick aside and the casein has become your go-to. Not sure exactly why that is, but there's kind of a subtle elegance about the stuff, if that makes sense. In the seventies and eighties I worked in the hi-fi business, and I was always most drawn to speakers with a flat, balanced frequency response. I suspect the same thing is happening here.

Thanks for sharing your experience with other members here, Dave. It's always valued.

scott memmer

[Paddy1951]

Originally Posted by Paddy1951

Scott, I read your post and thought...OK, I am willing to try one of the less expensive picks you talked about. I ordered and received a Fender Tru-Shell. It is a heavy. I use large triangles, so that one made sense.

The jury is still out. I am trying it out on all of my guitars.

Perhaps, your post will introduce this material to many players and that will keep the material viable.

Thanks for heads up.


Update

My first impression of the Fender Tru Shell was sort of ho-hum.

I decided I should give the pick a good across the board test. I spent two hours playing 6 guitars with the Fender casein pick. I played leads and strummed different tunes. Different guitars, different strings. I listened very carefully. I played loudly and very softly and somewhere in between.

The non- flexibility of the pick required me to slightly modify my playing technique. That wasn't much of a problem, though.

I know some of the custom casein picks are quite a bit thicker. For my purposes, a thicker pick would serve no purpose. Even this mass produced pick gives me what I want- a slightly warmer tone.

This was true on all my guitars.

So, I like the Fender Tru Shell. Being mass produced, it probably isn't as good as the hand produced versions. But it does work. I can afford it. I have a tendency to lose picks. I don't want to lose this one. But if it should happen I wouldn't be out $30-$50.

I did read reviews of the Tru Shell. It gets mixed reviews. Some of the negative points are the results of the nature of the material, I am sure.
I suspect some negative comments were a snobbery thing. Some of those that can afford what the percieve as the best, will minimize products that cost less.

It occurs to me that one possible reason Fender can sell their pick at its price is an economy of scale.

I don't know how long this pick will last. That remains to be seen.

I am going to order a few more.

The Fender Tru Shell is a good place to start for anybody interested in casein picks.

After playing the Tru Shell for some time, I have become fond of the casein pick. It is not an across the board thing, however. Just certain guitar/string combinations.

New strings? The casein definitely rounds out the sound.

I can see no other rhyme or reason for why I like them on some guitars/strings and not on others.

I will keep trying different combinations.

[PTony]

I must confess that in all of the years playing and singing live/professionally I’ve never used, or even heard of some of these picks until recently. I will admit that I’ve never really experimented with different picks either. I’m a creature of habit. So, my wedgie .088 picks with thumb grip have been my go to for some time.

Recently, I’ve ventured into trying a new pick my son has been using. Davas? Apparently how and where you hold them determines the thickness of the pick. The higher you hold it the more flexible, and the lower the more rigid.

I’m a strummer/percussive rhythm player. I’ll play lead runs occasionally, and arpeggios depending on the song. I’m discovering that I prefer a thicker pick when playing lead runs/arpeggios, but also like a small bit of “flex” when strumming.

This thread has been a real positive for me as I’d love to venture further into experimenting. That being said I’m clueless as to what I’d need. I play my Electric’s 99% (in a live setting 2x weekly) of the time and my J45 in smaller settings/duos etc.

Would the 1.0 John Pearse Fast Turtle be a good “transition” into this new pick world? Or, should I have a specific size made by CL?

Again, as exciting as this is...I’m utterly clueless. I appreciate any advice/input that any of you veteran pick guys/gals may have.

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by PTony

I must confess that in all of the years playing and singing live/professionally I’ve never used, or even heard of some of these picks until recently. I will admit that I’ve never really experimented with different picks either. I’m a creature of habit. So, my wedgie .088 picks with thumb grip have been my go to for some time.

Recently, I’ve ventured into trying a new pick my son has been using. Davas? Apparently how and where you hold them determines the thickness of the pick. The higher you hold it the more flexible, and the lower the more rigid.

I’m a strummer/percussive rhythm player. I’ll play lead runs occasionally, and arpeggios depending on the song. I’m discovering that I prefer a thicker pick when playing lead runs/arpeggios, but also like a small bit of “flex” when strumming.

This thread has been a real positive for me as I’d love to venture further into experimenting. That being said I’m clueless as to what I’d need. I play my Electric’s 99% (in a live setting 2x weekly) of the time and my J45 in smaller settings/duos etc.

Would the 1.0 John Pearse Fast Turtle be a good “transition” into this new pick world? Or, should I have a specific size made by CL?

Again, as exciting as this is...I’m utterly clueless. I appreciate any advice/input that any of you veteran pick guys/gals may have.

...The Fast Turtles have a unique shape and countour that may or may not be to your liking...not for me was my decision....Charmed Life and EML are my two faves and they have a variety of products that may allow you to select something that matches your preferences better...

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by PTony

I must confess that in all of the years playing and singing live/professionally I’ve never used, or even heard of some of these picks until recently. I will admit that I’ve never really experimented with different picks either. I’m a creature of habit. So, my wedgie .088 picks with thumb grip have been my go to for some time.

Recently, I’ve ventured into trying a new pick my son has been using. Davas? Apparently how and where you hold them determines the thickness of the pick. The higher you hold it the more flexible, and the lower the more rigid.

I’m a strummer/percussive rhythm player. I’ll play lead runs occasionally, and arpeggios depending on the song. I’m discovering that I prefer a thicker pick when playing lead runs/arpeggios, but also like a small bit of “flex” when strumming.

This thread has been a real positive for me as I’d love to venture further into experimenting. That being said I’m clueless as to what I’d need. I play my Electric’s 99% (in a live setting 2x weekly) of the time and my J45 in smaller settings/duos etc.

Would the 1.0 John Pearse Fast Turtle be a good “transition” into this new pick world? Or, should I have a specific size made by CL?

Again, as exciting as this is...I’m utterly clueless. I appreciate any advice/input that any of you veteran pick guys/gals may have.

I did not like the JP Fast Turtle. However, I picked up a Clayton Nutone NSM/1 medium casein pick from amazon and I think it's great. Much better feeling/sounding than the fast turtle and only $7 with prime shipping (or $4 on strings and beyond). Might be an easy way to try out casein.