Tortoise Shell Picks

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by H165

plus 1 arf arf !

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by alien

Silly Mustache-As you live in The British Isles, I doubt would would be familiar with Coors Beer 0r Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Coors was originally brewed in Colorado and distributed pretty locally. Eventually it became available east of the Mississippi River and the rest is history. I have no idea who owns the Coors company now. It is, however, a mediocre beer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coors_Brewing_Company

Krispy Kreme, Yes spelled with a K...is a Coffee & doughnut shop started in North Carolina around 1937. It has grown into a worldwide organization. There is even a store in Portsmouth, England. They bake all kinds of doughnuts and pastries. Their signature product is probably the yeast raised, glazed doughnuts, which when consumed warm, just melt in your mouth. But that is definitely my own opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNcG3moWyEE

And as you mentioned, neither product has diddly squat to do with Tortoise Shell picks!

Thank you for this info Margaret, and as you say I am British and so have easy and manifold access to real ale and so would never really have to resort to the yellow drink.

I'm so sorry to hear that there has been an outbreak of "Kreepy Krumbs" (?) in Portsmouth, possibly transmitted by visiting American sailors (of whom there are many). I hope it is cleared up soon. We have antibiotics at the ready.

Now back to our regular programme.

[simpl man]

I have a TS pick that was made from an old lampshade & later gifted to me.

I personally prefer my BC. The TS is "clicky" and "softer" sounding, IMHO.

Anyway, here is a small shell salvaged from a dead Hawksbill found out fishing off the cost of So. FL. It belongs to my brother in law, and is on the wall in their home.

He plays, too but wouldn't consider ever carving it up for picks. This sort of decor, including all sorts of marine taxidermy, is prevalent in the fishing, surfing, beach type lifestyle here.

[ALBD]

Originally Posted by simpl man

I have a TS pick that was made from an old lampshade & later gifted to me.

I personally prefer my BC. The TS is "clicky" and "softer" sounding, IMHO.

Anyway, here is a small shell salvaged from a dead Hawksbill found out fishing off the cost of So. FL. It belongs to my brother in law, and is on the wall in their home.

He plays, too but wouldn't consider ever carving it up for picks. This sort of decor, including all sorts of marine taxidermy, is prevalent in the fishing, surfing, beach type lifestyle here.

Clicky is a good description of TS. Highly overrated IMO. And yes, Blue Chip is the only “high end” pick I’ve tried that is at least close to being worth the money.

The best pick is no pick, but when you need a pick, no need to be too picky in the pick you pick. Just MHO.

[s2y]

I'm a little young compared to most of the forum. I enjoyed reading the discussions about TS picks. I have never seen one or heard one in person. I doubt I'll ever experience one in person.

[EMLPicks]

Aside from the many very good reasons to avoid tortoiseshell (picks or any other goods) already named in this thread, it's worth avoiding them even in the case of believing that if it's antique, that couldn't be any further harm done. I have seen A LOT of tortoiseshell picks being moved by a small number of people here in the US. These picks are all described as being repurposed from antiques, but the fact is that much of the tortoiseshell being sold here comes specifically from Japan. Just recently I was amazed to see a reputable Japanese guitar distributor openly selling them on their site (I won't be naming the site for obvious reasons)

[Mycroft]

Wade, have you tried soaking your TS pick in Coors? That might do it.

When I was in high school, I lived in a an Oregon town about 15 miles from the California border. One could not get Coors in Oregon, as it was unpasteurized. Which made in unbearably attractive, of course, and well worth the 30 miles round trip.

Of course, when I went overseas, first to New Zealand and then Australia, I discovered just how bad American ricebeer really was. Now, of course, I live back in the Pacific Northwest, ground zero of the microbrew movement. Krispy Kreme, on the other hand, is great should a person like their pastries drenched in sugar.

Ick...

Oh, right, the topic was TS picks. I've several, all repurposed bought within the past 10 years from a source I know. I use to not play with any sort of pick, although I owned one at the time. (It has a "Tahoe Music" stamp, which dates it to when I lived in South shore back in the late 70s) My gateway drug was a thumbpick, and eventually I started using a flatpick as well. Eventually I picked up several from my friend, having seen him making them in his shop. Which was legal at the time, so long as one kept their paperwork straight as to the item used for re-purposing. (He ran into a problem with Fish and Game at one point, and once he got clear due in no small part to my constant harping about paperwork, he decided it was not worth it and stopped making them)

But first I had ran through the usual cheap picks, eventually settling on the Wegens, then picking up a few TS picks. Once the BC started appearing on forums such as this, I wanted to try one, but no one locally had then and I wasn't going to spend that sort of clams unplayed.

Mr. Hampton Miller then offered to send me one, to buy if I liked it, so he could trade for a different style. I was able to A/B it with my TS, Wegen and a couple of inexpensive picks. (I kept Wade's pick, even with his handle engraved on one side. For grip, he says. I still think that it is for flicking at hot chicks at gigs, to get them backstage. But he denies it. I had something besides my name engraved on the couple more that I bought.)

Tonally, the BC is extremely close to the TS. both give a very clear and crisp tone. To hear the minute difference, you have to single pick a string, stop it and pick again using the other. A very non-playing music sort of thing. The Wegen note, by comparison, is not quite as well defined, but darker.

One thing that I like about the TS pick was that, after holding it for a minute or two, that it warmed and became slightly tacky, and so easier to grip. I found the same effect on the BC pick. The Wegen, by comparison, even when warm has a slight "plastic" feel, and I found that I like the version of the Bluegrass pick with the grippy holes in it.

I found that the speed bevels on both the BC and Wegen make them slightly smoother, faster.

My opinion is that the BC is fully the equal of the TS picks, or at least the one's that I have. From a standpoint, of feel, of smoothness, and most importantly, of tone. The Wegen is not quite as good, but I use them more often than the others. The TS picks seldom leave home, and the BC picks seldom leave my pick pocket.

I've never played either a Red Bear or Charmed Life, so have no opinion there.

So I see no reason to buy a TS given the quality of the alternatives available, other than their being made of unobtanium. I wouldn't do so again, even absent the change in the laws governing re-purposing.

Others mileage may, of course, vary.

TW

[jazzguy]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

P
Same thing with Krispy Kreme doughnuts. About ten or fifteen years ago I started seeing people getting all excited about Krispy Kreme doughnuts, even though we didn't have any of their shops up here in Alaska. But people were importing them to sell for fundraisers, and carried on as if they were the most delicious thing imaginable.

I tried one and it was.........just a doughnut. Not even a particularly good doughnut, though I thought that must be because it had had to travel from Seattle to get to Alaska and wasn't perfectly fresh as a result.

A year or so ago a Krispy Kreme shop finally opened up in Anchorage, and I dutifully went so I could try some absolutely fresh Krispy Kremes.

Wade - This is heresy, heresy I say! LOL When they are hot and fresh - 1 is not enough, 2 is just right, 3 sends me over the edge.

[kathyson]

Played nothing but TS Thumbpicks on 5-string Banjo for years, Nothing sounds like them. Tried the Blue chip TP's but not only did they not fit well they didn't sound as good as the shell. Wouldn't use shell picks now unless they were really old, pre-ban. Save the Turtles.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by kathyson

Played nothing but TS Thumbpicks on 5-string Banjo for years, Nothing sounds like them. Tried the Blue chip TP's but not only did they not fit well they didn't sound as good as the shell. Wouldn't use shell picks now unless they were really old, pre-ban. Save the Turtles.

Don't think any "pre-ban" applies. If you don't have them now, there's no legal way to obtain one.

[OKCtodd71]

I feel it my responsibility to let those who don't know that Krispy Kreme has the just about the worst coffee I have ever tasted. I try not to talk about coffee in "pick threads" but there you have it. Seriously, you don't want to experience this for yourself, don't drink their coffee. Never tried TS, no desire to, Ultex does what needs to be done for me. I was also a big fan of D'Andrea Pro Plec before they started selling them even though they're warped like Dorritos.

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

But once Coors became more widely available, the mystique evaporated, because it turns out that it's just another watery industrial beer.

Them's fightin' words, where I come from.

I grew up in Colorado. During the summers of my collegiate years I worked at a scout ranch located in a county that had no liquor stores and only one bar. The bar could only sell 3.2% beer, and only stocked two brands: Coors and Budweiser.

If you walked into the bar and ordered a beer, you were served Coors unless you specified "Bud." Only the cowboys ordered Budweisers.

I remember clearly the summer when the proprietor tried to raise the price of a beer to $1.25. No one would stand for it, not even the cowboys. It was a matter of principal, and pretty much everyone in town notified the proprietor that if we had to drive to the next county over to get a beer for a buck, we'd do it. He finally relented, much to everyone's relief.

I got a job internship in Philadelphia the summer before my senior year. It had been a competitive posting, and I was selected on the condition that I would bring a case of Coors along with me. This was in 1974. I had a new Guild D-25 that I wanted to take along as well, so I bought a little Fiat for $250 and drove it to Philly with my guitar and a case of Coors.

Watery industrial beer? The one thing I learned that summer back in Philadelphia was that there's no snob worse than a beer snob.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by bufflehead

Them's fightin' words, where I come from.

I grew up in Colorado. During the summers of my collegiate years I worked at a scout ranch located in a county that had no liquor stores and only one bar. The bar could only sell 3.2% beer, and only stocked two brands: Coors and Budweiser.

If you walked into the bar and ordered a beer, you were served Coors unless you specified "Bud." Only the cowboys ordered Budweisers.

I remember clearly the summer when the proprietor tried to raise the price of a beer to $1.25. No one would stand for it, not even the cowboys. It was a matter of principal, and pretty much everyone in town notified the proprietor that if we had to drive to the next county over to get a beer for a buck, we'd do it. He finally relented, much to everyone's relief.

I got a job internship in Philadelphia the summer before my senior year. It had been a competitive posting, and I was selected on the condition that I would bring a case of Coors along with me. This was in 1974. I had a new Guild D-25 that I wanted to take along as well, so I bought a little Fiat for $250 and drove it to Philly with my guitar and a case of Coors.

Watery industrial beer? The one thing I learned that summer back in Philadelphia was that there's no snob worse than a beer snob.

You are confusing someone who is a snob with someone who has taste...

[Wade Hampton]

Bufflehead, I apologize to you and anyone else irked by my offhand dismissal of Coors beer and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. We all have formative experiences that shape our tastes thereafter; in my case I took a trip to London when I was 17 and their delight in selling me beer made me a fan of British-style ales and Irish stouts forever. In a “fermented adult beverage” showdown, Coors won’t win over Guinness, not for me, anyway.

Now I make this next point not to suck up to the Canadians, but the Tim Horton’s doughnuts I’ve eaten when in Canada have impressed me more than any of the Krispy Kreme doughnuts I’ve eaten in the US.

So I guess a lot of it comes down to personal taste, but it seems as though my tastes must be more Anglo-Canadian than US-centric.

Oh, no - does that mean I must “hate America?!?!?”

Nope. Not in the slightest. I guess I just prefer British beers and Canadian doughnuts.


Wade Hampton Miller

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

I guess I just prefer British beers and Canadian doughnuts.

Wade, should we ever meet, the first Guinness is on me.