Casein ?

[Murph]

I've never played a casein pick. They are all the rage in the mandolin world now thanks to Chris Thile.

Casein Chris Thile Signature Pick | Accessories | D'Addario (daddario.com)

I'm going to have to find one in a teardrop 1.0 because I just gotta know.

Anybody here use casein?

[jedzep]

[Dave F]

I’ve completely switched to them. Look at apollopicks.com 

I’ve also started using the Fender grips on them. 

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Dave F

[Sgt. Pepper]

2 hours ago, Murph said:

I've never played a casein pick. They are all the rage in the mandolin world now thanks to Chris Thile.

Casein Chris Thile Signature Pick | Accessories | D'Addario (daddario.com)

I'm going to have to find one in a teardrop 1.0 because I just gotta know.

Anybody here use casein?

Isn't that made from boiled milk fat or something weird like that. I had a Red Bear pick. They are nice, but I'd rather use a Blue Chip. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper

[egoidealmusic]

5 hours ago, Dave F said:

I’ve completely switched to them. Look at apollopicks.com 

I’ve also started using the Fender grips on them. 

 

Dave, what pics are you using in these covers now?  I'm considering trying them and I use a 60mm pic but wasn't sure what size to buy.  

[Dave F]

1 hour ago, egoidealmusic said:

Dave, what pics are you using in these covers now?  I'm considering trying them and I use a 60mm pic but wasn't sure what size to buy.  

Mainly the Apollo Casein pick (the pink one). It just has a nice feel to it.

The grips do have some stretch as long as the corners are rounded. They will not stretch far enough for the Clayton pick shown below.

 

 

[egoidealmusic]

ok, thanks!  Guess I should go with the medium sized for what I'm playing.

[Murph]

Man, that Red Bear site is....

Unique. 

[northcntryblues]

After more than a decade of bare finger playing, I recently  spent some time learning to hybrid pick.   I found that I prefer nylon flatpicks, just the regular grey Dunlop ones, .73mm.  Then I noticed that Black Mountain thumbpicks are nylon, so I got one.   They look like flatpick with  a spring loaded thumb band attached.  I've been using it exclusively for a while now.   Can easily go from fingerpicking to strumming to flatpicking.  These are the only thumb picks I’ve found that sound good strummed.    And while hybrid picking is good, having the index finger freed up is even better.  Gotta say - picks are possibly underrated in their impact on tone and feel.

https://blackmountainpicks.com/

Edited July 30, 2022 by northcntryblues

[jedzep]

Yeah, Murph.  At first I had trouble, especially given that the particular pick you may want isn't always available.  I just got on the email list and had the owner let me know when my choice (Classic light) was in.  Smaller models slip out of my hand.

[Murph]

12 minutes ago, jedzep said:

Yeah, Murph.  At first I had trouble, especially given that the particular pick you may want isn't always available.  I just got on the email list and had the owner let me know when my choice (Classic light) was in.  Smaller models slip out of my hand.

 

I must say, they were decades ahead of this one!

I've been using Bluechip and Wegens for many years, always heard of Red Bear, but never followed up.

I also like the Dunlop Primetones (naked) better than the Bluechip sometimes. 

[MorrisrownSal]

I’ve had the Blue Chip picks, and moved them on. I think my favorite pick is still the Clayton NuTone picks, which are cheaper, and I believe casein.

[fortyearspickn]

23 hours ago, northcntryblues said:

Gotta say - picks are possibly underrated in their impact on tone and feel.

Yep.  To my ears, at least as much variability as switching between strings.  All sorts of shapes, bevels and materials not available fortyearsago....     Technology occasionally does actually deliver the goods ! 

[thegreatgumbino]

20 hours ago, Salfromchatham said:

I’ve had the Blue Chip picks, and moved them on. I think my favorite pick is still the Clayton NuTone picks, which are cheaper, and I believe casein.

Sal-

Do you know the thickness on these?  I've looked at them several times, but haven't pulled the trigger because I think the medium is probably too thick for my liking.  In my experience with casein, it's fairly brittle when less than 1.0mm thick, and I prefer around .75mm.

[MorrisrownSal]

Gumby mine are 1.00

https://www.stringsandbeyond.com/clayton-picks-nsm-1-medium.html
 

 

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

10 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

Yep.  To my ears, at least as much variability as switching between strings.  All sorts of shapes, bevels and materials not available fortyearsago....     Technology occasionally does actually deliver the goods ! 

I bevel mine the old fashioned way, by using it. Sometimes I use my wife’s nail file to start a bevel.

[E-minor7]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I bevel mine the old fashioned way, by using it. Sometimes I use my wife’s nail file to start a bevel.

                          ✔

[Buc McMaster]

I prefer a Blue Chip TPR50 nearly always but will, from time to time, dig out a Red Bear.  I find  casein very articulate and bright, very sensitive to angle of attack......the BC has a smoother attack and rounds off a little treble., which has much to do with the rounded tip of this one..........pointy picks are too screechy for me.  And yes, changing your pick is the most effective way to alter your tone over a broad range.........so many tones!  so little time!

[Murph]

I read an interesting piece about Ultem / Ultex / and PEI plastics about the GLASS CONTENT in the plastic. 

Very interesting.

FAQs — Apollo Picks | Custom Made. Casein and PEEK.

Never really gave much thought to glass being mixed with plastic.

Kind of creepy, actually. And only God knows what Vespel (Bluechip picks) is made of, the toxic dust coming off of our picks as they grind against the strings.

Casein is made with formaldehyde.

Isn't that what they use to make mummies?

[jedzep]

Don't over-worry, Murph.  There's only a handful of players whose picking pulverizes solids into dust.  I'm not sure any of them are reading this forum.

[Murph]

22 hours ago, jedzep said:

 There's only a handful of players whose picking pulverizes solids into dust. 

 

I'm the pulverizing type, from way back.

[fortyearspickn]

I'm partial to emulsifying:   You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose ...  

[Murph]

On 7/31/2022 at 6:31 PM, Sgt. Pepper said:

 Sometimes I use my wife’s nail file to start a bevel.

Curious.

Do you tell her you do this?

Or, do you "sneak it" when she isn't looking....

[Murph]

And what about Tortex?

You never hear about Tortex anymore. I used to use the orange .60's when I played electric and loved them because they never (hardly) ever broke. We used to break celluloid picks all the time as teenagers.

When I went all acoustic, I graduated to Wegens and Bluechips pretty quick and never really spent any time with the thicker Tortex picks.

I may re-visit them in the next few weeks, just for fun.

[Sgt. Pepper]

2 hours ago, Murph said:

Curious.

Do you tell her you do this?

Or, do you "sneak it" when she isn't looking....

It not like I'm wearing her bra and going shopping.

I'm using her nail file on a guitar pick.