Billy Strings could play a guitar with a grilled cheese sandwich and still sound 10 times better than me.

A blue grass monster.

 

And he does while being high!

 

That's Blue Chip Advertising for sure..thanks

 

I have a stash (p/o of a gross bought long ago) of fender medium jazz picks from the late '70s that I've used for years. Never break them; wear them down a tad, but work just fine. This BC thing seems like a bunch of marketing bravado.

 

Hmm… will it make my sloppy power chords and minor pentatonic noodling sound better?

 

I bought 3 Capos from D'Addario that are the best I've ever used, they came with points when you register them on their Website, so I did.
I had roughly 50 dollars in points to spend and I chose their "Casin" pick.
Pleasantly surprised how well it works, sounds and feels but I'd never spend that kind of Money on a Pick.
I'm hooked on Dunlop Prime Tones which are also pricey but well worth it.

 

I just don't get this Blue Chip pick thing, a solution looking for a problem IMO. I love Billy Strings et al but am perfectly happy with any of the 10 different brands & thicknesses in my pick bins, none of them more than a few cents. You can get a Dunlop Joe Bonamassa bag 'o picks 24 for $35 but at over a buck a pick that's too pricey for me

 

I have a couple of mid 80s cheap pics that just sounds much better than the common pics around today. They must be made of some sort of radioactive shit or something

 

You should try them before dissing them. As a mandolin player as well as guitar for over 50 years , I tried one side by side with every other pick in the store , and although I was sceptical at first , it was hands down the best pick I had ever tried , sound and feel. This same subject has been hashed over at Mandolin Cafe dozens of times and inevitably when sceptics try one , they buy one. I have only ever used one on acoustic instruments , so perhaps some of the subtle qualities might not transfer. Be warned. If you try one on a good flat top or Mando , you likely will by one. Not a good investment though if you loose picks often .

 

IF those picks are the best one for you and you have to money for it, let's go. Enjoy it.
My problem with a 35$ pick is, I'll probably lost it after 5 minutes.

 

sure
make me lose $35 down the couch

 

… at the rate I lose picks, these would bankrupt me!!

 

I recieved a blue chip pick in the "secret santa" exchange last year (my santa was a good sleuth).
It is very nice in both feel and sound. The attack is controlled and the notes seem to bloom almost like using a compressor (at least to my ears )
I have a d'andrea ultra plec that has the same qualities.
I agree with those who worry about pic loss. My go to in those situations is the dunlop jazz tortex in green or purple.

 

I like the Graphtech picks.

 

Funny thing, when a pick costs that much you tend to keep track of it!

A fan gave me a TD50 for xmas a couple years back and, much to my dismay, I absolutely loved it! I have since bought two more, a second TD50 and a TP40, and I still have all three 200 and some gigs later... knock on wood! On electric I can hear the difference but I can live with a standard extra-heavy, actually play electric with my fingers about 80% of the time. On acoustic and mandolin they are night and day. I literally hate every other pick on acoustic now.

 

The pick is the same for plucked instrument players as a bow is for violins etc, They can pay upwards of 10,000 dollars for a world class bow , and they have to be rehaired often , costing hundreds . That makes a 50 dollar pick seem like a bargain.

 

I'm a hack guitar player and always always have more than one pick in my pocket at all times...it's one of the few things you can keep in your pocket at airport security.
I don't believe this pick will make me a better player any more than Santa's gonna bring me a Hiwatt for Christmas....if you these picks give you hope and inspiration to be a better player, good on ya.

 

I've been a proponent of the BC picks for a while now. Like everyone else, I used to lose picks a lot. Usually ends up in the laundry washer and dryer or just pretty much everywhere. I used to buy bags of picks from Steve's music coz it was cheap, disposable in essence and it works for me. I still have some of it here. I switched to Jazz III picks sometime in the early 2000's. I still have a few of it because I keep buying those 5/6 pack bags whenever it goes on sale.
Then sometime after, I came across the Blue Chip pick. It didn't impress me at first, but then I start getting used to how it glides across the strings, how it sticks to my fingers and sounds consistent regardless of how long I have used them.
And surprisingly, I have not lost a single one of them over the years. I keep the picks in the Blue Chip box and that's how it has been for close to 20 years now.

 

…
And surprisingly, I have not lost a single one of them over the years. I keep the picks in the Blue Chip box and that's how it has been for close to 20 years now.

My audiologist has a rule: hearing aids in your ears or in the charger. Nowhere else. Ever.

 

A $35 pick in my hand is lipstick on a pig.

I like the Gravity picks JHS was tossing in with some of their pedals so I grabbed a few.

They’re around 0.8~1.0 mm and are stiff, fairly dense.

They have a nice glassy texture.

When I was gigging, I bought picks with my name on them by the gross, again around 0.8

(like a standard Fender medium)

 

The attack is controlled and the notes seem to bloom almost like using a compressor (at least to my ears )
I have a d'andrea ultra plec that has the same qualities.


I just did a bit of strumming and found that the d' Andrea ultra plec is the one that controls the attack the most....ymmv ;-)

 

I find that the BC is very neutral sounding with a flat eq and great single note separation.
I have a 0.89 Primetone grip pick that I like the sound of because it sounds a bit deeper and has a lovely drone but it lacks the crisp single note separation or clarity.

 

I'm always skeptical because the bias of wanting a pick to sound better after you dropped an exorbitant amount of money on it (for a pick) will work on your subconscious.

I looked for a blind test, this video is interesting:

Assuming it was truthful (damn you Internet!) they definitely heard the difference and loved the BC. (runner-up was D’Addario Casein which is also in that price range)

 

X

 

What is with all the X posts Mike?

 

A pick that I re-purposed from our dog's old Rabies vaccine tag.

 

Kinda like Brian May's Sixpence..

 

Use whatever works for you. Still think the BC / uber expensive pick accolades is a bunch of BS. Look / hear the sound Joe Pass and Wes got with fingers / thumbs. C'est La Vie.

 

Bluechip picks are amazing. They sound GREAT on acoustic instruments (on electric it's way too masked to be noticeable). But, as noted, they're easily lost and that's a heck of a lot to lose in one shot. Soooo... I've found the Dunlop PrimeTones to be an amazing substitute. Unlike the BC picks, though, they do wear. BUT they don't cost $50.