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jedzep

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This makes sense. Ask me how I know.

 

Oh, I know all about your "addiction". I've been there. Had a spare bedroom turned into a music room with nearly 20 guitars. These days I'm cool with the two acoustics, (MIGHT want to add a third, but not really looking too hard at the moment). I'm concentrating on Bluegrass flatpicking and dabbling in Chet/Merle-style picking with a thumb pick. It's funny, when I concentrate more on getting better as a player I worry less about searching for guitars. When I am in a rut and feel like I'm stuck with progressing I tend to spend more time thinking I need another guitar.

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It's funny, when I concentrate more on getting better as a player I worry less about searching for guitars.

 

I'm in a pretty good spot with just 2 (Gibson) acoustics. I do, however, need to dump some amps and up-grade my acoustic p.a. gear.

 

But picks, you can experiment with picks for a lot less money, even the expensive ones.

 

Anybody tried the Tusq picks ?

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I'm in a pretty good spot with just 2 (Gibson) acoustics. I do, however, need to dump some amps and up-grade my acoustic p.a. gear.

 

But picks, you can experiment with picks for a lot less money, even the expensive ones.

 

Anybody tried the Tusq picks ?

Yes, I did not like them.

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I have used Wegen TF120 triangles for probably 15 years with the occasional Primetone mixed in. I usually use Dawg or D'Andrea on mandolin. I just got a couple Charmed Life Picks ntr and ntf triangles. They sound warm, yet crisp and are the most fluid picks on the strings I have ever played. They just flow.

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I'm in a pretty good spot with just 2 (Gibson) acoustics. I do, however, need to dump some amps and up-grade my acoustic p.a. gear.

 

But picks, you can experiment with picks for a lot less money, even the expensive ones.

 

Anybody tried the Tusq picks ?

 

The Graph Tech TUSQ won the years long competition for me 3 or 4 years ago. They've got "Dark" "Warm" and "Bright" flavors and different thicknesses and pick shapes. Around $1 each,

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I have some Graph Tech Tusq (warm) myself that I didn't even remember owning until this thread caused me to get my pick box out and polish up my technique once more. The GT Tusq feels and sounds pretty good on my only medium (Pearse) string guitar, a D41. I have lights on everything else and haven't used a pick for ages. This has been a relearning experience for me on the …. use it or lose it theme. Also noticed I have GT Tusq pins in an old sq SJ. Don't remember why, but it sounds nice enough to mention them.

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I picked (see what I did there....) up a 4 pack of Wegen teardrops 1.0 today locally. I sat down with the old mandolin watching the first Cubs game (double header today) and for the first few minutes wasn't terribly impressed.

 

Then, it happened.....

 

Wow, these things are pretty awesome. I wasn't sure about the holes, and they seemed light. Maybe I'm getting stronger.

 

The more I messed with these dudes, the more I liked them. Zero drag, they are like greased lightning. Less muted and dead sounding than my Blue Chip, that's always been one of my problems after years of using Tortex, the Blue Chip sounded "dead", but it still had "something" for the mandolin and I think it was the glide ability when shredding.

 

My search is far from over, the Tortex isn't working tonewise lately, and I see we have a new member who is a pick maker.

 

However I sat there shredding the mandolin for what became about an hour and a half and my fingers were getting sore and I'm digging theses Wegens. Spent a few minutes with the J-15 too. At least I now have some first hand experience with them and I like 'em...

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I picked (see what I did there....) up a 4 pack of Wegen teardrops 1.0 today locally. I sat down with the old mandolin watching the first Cubs game (double header today) and for the first few minutes wasn't terribly impressed.

 

Then, it happened.....

 

Wow, these things are pretty awesome. I wasn't sure about the holes, and they seemed light. Maybe I'm getting stronger.

 

The more I messed with these dudes, the more I liked them. Zero drag, they are like greased lightning. Less muted and dead sounding than my Blue Chip, that's always been one of my problems after years of using Tortex, the Blue Chip sounded "dead", but it still had "something" for the mandolin and I think it was the glide ability when shredding.

 

My search is far from over, the Tortex isn't working tonewise lately, and I see we have a new member who is a pick maker.

 

However I sat there shredding the mandolin for what became about an hour and a half and my fingers were getting sore and I'm digging theses Wegens. Spent a few minutes with the J-15 too. At least I now have some first hand experience with them and I like 'em...

 

Murph, hi again. Feel free to pick my brain. I've played most of the major brands and materials on the market and will give you an honest assessment. I never diss anyone, as I don't roll that way, and there are a lot of great choices out there.

 

take care,

scott

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I noticed in the "drop" test, the Ultex 1.0 seems "toney-er" than the Wegen, but the Wegen is quicker, quieter and glides better. They're beveled.

 

I'm going to get some Dunlop Primetones because I've read they are made from Ultex, but they are also beveled.

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Hey Murph. Wish I'd found the Primetones years ago. .73 and .88 are my thing now for just the right amount of flex. Can't find fault with them for strumming or country blues picking. They sand and re-polish nicely too for shaping. I recall liking the Red Bears a whole lot, but they eventually broke down and splintered. I thought the Blue Chips were clunky and too thick for the sound I like. Have fun.

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So the Blue Chips are a type of thermoplastic. I wonder if there is yet a material no one has thought of?

 

Let's see.

 

Animal, Mineral, Vegetable....

 

Murph, we're at the dawn of a new era, and Blue Chip opened Pandora'S Box.

 

To give you just an inkling. Within the DuPont family of materials alone, the BC material has more than ten brothers and sisters that have never been turned into guitar picks, by anyone.

 

There are more than a hundred (100) engineering thermoplastics that have never been tested by anyone as a possible guitar pick material. Easily over a hundred. It's just begun.....

 

scott memmer

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So I got three 1.0 Primetones the other day from Sweetwater with some strings.

 

Is it possible the bevel is TOO sharp? They just don't "glide" across the strings when you are shredding as well as the Wegens OR the regular Ultex that are not beveled. They look like they come to too sharp of a point and I actually prefer the regular clear ones with the Rhino on them. Perhaps they will be better with some wear.

 

I question that they are hand beveled, I bet it's a machine.

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Hah! For me, just a slight rounding off of the point and a slight bullnosing sped my picking up and mellowed the tone on my spruce tops. The hog still likes the sharper point, but still bullnosed.

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Hmmm. I have a bunch but have been using the same two or three favorites for years. Maybe you had some defective turtles [biggrin]!

Uh.....no. It is widely known that tortoise shell is not very durable. Back in the 90s a friend found 4 old jewelry boxes at a flea market that were laminated with tortoise. We pried if off and made a bunch of picks in varied shapes.......these were the only picks I used for several years on electric and acoustic guitar. And after every gig I had to get out the emery board and cleanup the edges. They eventually become too small to continue to use.

 

From a review of Blue Chip picks in Vintage Guitar:

Beyond being illegal, tortoiseshell picks have other liabilities. Tortoiseshell is brittle and chips easily. Tortoise picks need constant attention to keep their edge bevels smooth so they easily go through the strings. A quarter-sized tortoise pick can end up being dime-sized in a matter of six months of steady polishing and use.

 

From an article on the V-Pick website:

But the biggest downfall of TS picks is that they constantly wear with every stroke on your guitar strings. Players that use them are constantly cleaning them up and filing them down to be smooth again. Therefore the picks get smaller and smaller as time goes by.

 

Not my imagination, nor armadillo shell. Maybe the picks you have are not tortoise after all. [biggrin]

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So I got three 1.0 Primetones the other day from Sweetwater with some strings.

 

Is it possible the bevel is TOO sharp? They just don't "glide" across the strings when you are shredding as well as the Wegens OR the regular Ultex that are not beveled. They look like they come to too sharp of a point and I actually prefer the regular clear ones with the Rhino on them. Perhaps they will be better with some wear.

 

I question that they are hand beveled, I bet it's a machine.

 

Murph, one reason I never got into bevels is because everyone likes a different kind of bevel. There is no "standard" bevel. Almost without exception, the best players I've read about or know personally all do their own bevels -- that is, they re-bevel the bevel. So I just don't get involved.

 

As for Dunlop's production methods, I have doubt (about 98%) that they hand bevel or finish the Primetones in any manner. This would not fit their business model. For the amount of volume they do and their target profit margins, they need to remove all human hands from the manufacturing process. I'd bet my eye teeth the Primetone line is injection-molded.

 

I do expect them to jump into the "premium" pick market in the next five years or so, perhaps by acquisition. However, they'd have a huge marketing gap if they started selling $30 picks and the next closest far less than $10.00. They need a pick line selling ideally for $14.95, then you have the traditional steps of good-better-best.

 

My two cents,

Memmer

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Uh.....no. It is widely known that tortoise shell is not very durable. Back in the 90s a friend found 4 old jewelry boxes at a flea market that were laminated with tortoise. We pried if off and made a bunch of picks in varied shapes.......these were the only picks I used for several years on electric and acoustic guitar. And after every gig I had to get out the emery board and cleanup the edges. They eventually become too small to continue to use.

 

From a review of Blue Chip picks in Vintage Guitar:

Beyond being illegal, tortoiseshell picks have other liabilities. Tortoiseshell is brittle and chips easily. Tortoise picks need constant attention to keep their edge bevels smooth so they easily go through the strings. A quarter-sized tortoise pick can end up being dime-sized in a matter of six months of steady polishing and use.

 

From an article on the V-Pick website:

But the biggest downfall of TS picks is that they constantly wear with every stroke on your guitar strings. Players that use them are constantly cleaning them up and filing them down to be smooth again. Therefore the picks get smaller and smaller as time goes by.

 

Not my imagination, nor armadillo shell. Maybe the picks you have are not tortoise after all. [biggrin]

 

Buc, absolutely true. Genuine tortoise is not incredibly durable. I've been playing my old ones for forty years now. The brittleness increases as they age.

 

Playing for more than four decades, I was shocked a few years ago to discover how closely casein picks mimic the tone and feel of genuine TS. It's quite remarkable. Folks, if you've never played casein, you owe yourself the experience.

 

A good place to start is the wonderful Fast Turtle line from Jon Pearse. At less than ten bucks each, they have the look, feel and tone that casein is known for: https://www.stringsandbeyond.com/jopefatutogu.html

 

sm

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Murph, one reason I never got into bevels is because everyone likes a different kind of bevel. There is no "standard" bevel. Almost without exception, the best players I've read about or know personally all do their own bevels -- that is, they re-bevel the bevel. So I just don't get involved.

 

As for Dunlop's production methods, I have doubt (about 98%) that they hand bevel or finish the Primetones in any manner. This would not fit their business model. For the amount of volume they do and their target profit margins, they need to remove all human hands from the manufacturing process. I'd bet my eye teeth the Primetone line is injection-molded.

 

I've played Orange Tortex 60's for a LONG time. You have to know, I came from an electric/rock background and actually graduated to the 60 from the Red 50 Tortex. I never considered bevels because the picks were so thin.

 

I acquired the (slightly beveled) Blue Chip (TD35) several years ago and it sat in a drawer because the stiffness and stickiness didn't agree with me. Now I use it some and actually like it.

 

Working my way up to a 1.0 now with the Wegen I noticed it's beveled, but JUST A LITTLE.

 

I think you're wise to not bevel your picks because like I said, the Primetones I just got are too sharp, too pointy and simply feel weird. I only got 3 so I'm not gonna sweat it. I'll give a couple to a student and tinker with the other one.

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Uh.....no. It is widely known that tortoise shell is not very durable. Back in the 90s a friend found 4 old jewelry boxes at a flea market that were laminated with tortoise. We pried if off and made a bunch of picks in varied shapes.......these were the only picks I used for several years on electric and acoustic guitar. And after every gig I had to get out the emery board and cleanup the edges. They eventually become too small to continue to use.

 

From a review of Blue Chip picks in Vintage Guitar:

Beyond being illegal, tortoiseshell picks have other liabilities. Tortoiseshell is brittle and chips easily. Tortoise picks need constant attention to keep their edge bevels smooth so they easily go through the strings. A quarter-sized tortoise pick can end up being dime-sized in a matter of six months of steady polishing and use.

 

From an article on the V-Pick website:

But the biggest downfall of TS picks is that they constantly wear with every stroke on your guitar strings. Players that use them are constantly cleaning them up and filing them down to be smooth again. Therefore the picks get smaller and smaller as time goes by.

 

Not my imagination, nor armadillo shell. Maybe the picks you have are not tortoise after all. [biggrin]

 

Maybe not; here it is in writing so it must be true [biggrin] . They came from Germany in the 1970's and a lot of people sure thought they were as we sold a barrel full of 'em back then. Maybe those particular German turtles were like most things from Germany: overbuilt, beautifully engineered, and high quality. I've never broken one, never worn one down, nor ever filed one. I did remove a couple boards on a wooden porch to get one that I dropped though the cracks once! Whatever they are, Peter Bertram of Musik Bertram in Freiburg told me they were tortoiseshell, and they feel and sound like no others I've ever played. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

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