tortoiseshell pics

[modoc_333]

ok, so i played with one today. what are the LEGAL ways to buy them and have them. i understand that it's ok to buy if it came from an old source, and ok to have, but i'm i'm curious.

[rar]

ok' date=' so i played with one today. what are the LEGAL ways to buy them ... .[/quote']

 

There is none. Federal regulations make it a felony to "buy, sell, trade, barter or exchange" them. Whether made from freshly harvested shell -- wild or farmed -- or from an antique is irrelevant.

 

-- Bob R

[Flinx]

A couple of links for you:

 

Re-working Antique Tortoiseshell for Picks - Is it Legal?

 

Woman Allegedly Sold Turtle Shell Guitar Picks

 

... Flinx

[KL]

I wouldn't want one. No need to use a tortoise to get a good sound.

[Murph]

There is none. Federal regulations make it a felony to "buy' date=' sell, trade, barter or exchange" them. Whether made from freshly harvested shell -- wild or farmed -- or from an antique is irrelevant.

 

-- Bob R

[/quote']

 

I don't get it?

 

So harvested shells are just thrown away?

 

[KL]

As long as people will buy something like a tortoise pick then people will always bend the law to make them and animals will suffer. Please do not buy or promote tortoise picks. If there is no interest in them then no one will bother to kill animals to make a GUITAR PICK.

[bkharmony]

As long as people will buy something like a tortoise pick then people will always bend the law to make them and animals will suffer. Please do not buy or promote tortoise picks. If there is no interest in them then no one will bother to kill animals to make a GUITAR PICK.

 

But you can also look at it as the very serious laws against any kind of sale just creates a black market and a lot of interest. People always want what they can't have. If the market was flush with genuine tortoise shell picks, it would be no big deal, and we'd probably have a bunch of folks talking about how synthetics like Blue Chip are better anyway.

 

Not saying the law should be there, just that you can't legislate away a desire or curiosity.

[KL]

But you can also look at it as the very serious laws against any kind of sale just creates a black market and a lot of interest. People always want what they can't have.

 

But if people just showed no interest whatsoever in these picks here would be no need for a black market. I personally have never had any interest at all in using or owning a tortoise pick. I do have a lot of interest in seeing tortoises walking around enjoying their lives though.

[modoc_333]

great points guys. was just curious. i knew it was ok to have thing like ivory, if it was attached to an old piano, etc. wasn't sure about these. looks like the only legal way is to make one out of your grandmother's old hairbrush for personal use. thanks for the info!

[Gilliangirl]

.... I do have a lot of interest in seeing tortoises walking around enjoying their lives though.

A person needs to set aside a whole lot of time to sit back and watch tortoises walk around LOL

I do agree with you tho'. As tempting as these things are, live creatures trump the importance of sound, IMHO.

[KL]

A person needs to set aside a whole lot of time to sit back and watch tortoises walk around LOL

I do agree with you tho'. As tempting as these things are' date=' live creatures trump the importance of sound, IMHO.

 

[/quote']

 

So right!

 

Ha ha ha . . . . they can go pretty fast if they need to Karen!!

[Murph]

I still don't get it.....

 

Not ALL tortises are endangered. Some are eaten. And farmed. And sold.

 

I've got some in my pond. Is it illegal for me to make a pick?

 

How about an ashtray?

 

:D

[Dove Histronic]

I've got some in my pond. Is it illegal for me to make a pick?

 

 

I doubt you've got 175 pound Hawksbill Sea Turtles in your pond

 

These endangered creatures are the source of the coveted picks ...

[Murph]

I doubt you've got 175 pound Hawksbill Sea Turtles in your pond

 

These endangered creatures are the source of the coveted picks ...

 

 

That's what I didn't get. Only one type are good for picks' date=' and they are endangered.

 

Go figure.

 

( I didn't want turtle soup for supper tonight anyhow.....)

 

[Flinx]

great points guys. was just curious. i knew it was ok to have thing like ivory' date=' if it was attached to an old piano, etc. wasn't sure about these. looks like the only legal way is to make one out of your grandmother's old hairbrush for personal use. thanks for the info![/quote']

 

Actually, maybe not even that. A quote from a website called Bluegrass Wales:

 

Q. What about picks I have made myself from a 100 year-old antique hairbrush? Surely these must be legal?

 

A. This is a common misconception. In fact, they are categorically NOT legal. Once an antique (classified as an item 100 years old or more) has been “reworked”, in this case, converted from a hairbrush into a guitar pick, it automatically LOSES ITS EXEMPTION. There are no exceptions to this. In this case, while the original, unmodified antique hairbrush would qualify for a pre-convention exemption, provided it was adequately documented, the guitar picks obtained from it would not. They are, therefore, just as illegal as if they had been made from fresh tortoiseshell. It should also be noted that the internal sale of these items is equally illegal in some circumstances, for example, selling or transporting “reworked” tortoiseshell (or ivory) across state lines in the US.

 

There are further complicating factors with regard to “reworked” antiques, in that under the ESA (in the US) the item also loses exemption if it has been “bought, bartered, offered for sale or leased” at any time since it was subject to the Act. This is a complex area, and if you are intending any kind of transaction or transport of either elephant ivory or tortoiseshell within the US, you are advised to seek expert advice from a lawyer well versed in conservation legislation. Ignorance of the law is unfortunately not an excuse even if you make an innocent mistake and are caught.

 

In short, while you may be able to make one from an antique item for your personal use, don't even think about trying to go through Customs and/or traveling with it.

 

Flinx

[Murph]

And ya wonder why the debt. meter is spinning so fast.....

 

Morons.

 

[Hall]

And ya wonder why the debt. meter is spinning so fast.....

 

Morons.

 

 

With you, Murph.

[bkharmony]

And ya wonder why the debt. meter is spinning so fast.....

 

Morons.

 

Huh? Care to 'splain?

[suburude63]

RED BEAR PICKS !

 

These picks come the closes to a real Tortis pick ! They are made with a protein based material . Icredible tone!

Try one !

 

http://www.redbeartrading.com/flatpicks.html

[Dove Histronic]

BLUE CHIP picks --- an insane $ 35 a piece but worth it...at least for a grassy tone

 

Made of some wonder material that costs nearly $4000 for a 10" X 10" X 1/2" square ---

won't melt in the oven, shows no wear after months of heavy playing, pulls out tone like nothing else

 

BLUE CHIP is always my first choice with Adi topped Martins and bluegrass, but interestingly, sometimes I like the

75 cent Vintage T-Shell Classic Pick Boy 1.0 for country warble moaning on the Dove...

 

Was a young troubador, when I rode in on a song...

[Flinx]

I've got a Blue Chip TAD40-1R with a right-hand bevel, and it's my working replacement for a TS pick.

 

I tried a couple of the Red Bear picks, and except for a heavy "Tuff-Tone", which wasn't too bad, I didn't care much for the sound, which I thought was too brittle.

 

I played with TS picks for years, and IMHO, the Blue Chip offering is the better replica in terms of tone ... and it isn't nearly as prone to being damaged as the Red Bear. It costs more than a Red Bear, but that's why I've got a pick holder on my key ring, so there's no chance of losing it!

 

I've got a glow-in-the-dark acoustic V-Pick that's pretty interesting, too!. It's a little clicky through the strings, but it also gives off a really deep sound that's kinda cool.

 

Flinx

[Buc McMaster]

Having used genuine tortoise, plastic, nylon, Blue Chip, Red Bear and a host of others I must say that the real article is in a class of it's own for guitar tone. I still have a handful of tortoise picks I made from shell that was salvaged from some old jewelry boxes found at a small town flea market in Missouri back in the late 90's. Two of them are unused and pristine, the rest are in various stages of "worn out".........rounded off to the point of being just about like a quarter. No, I haven't sold them or bartered them or tried to transport them outside the country and do not intend to do so. I will continue to use them without guilt. The turtle is long dead and, if he/she had a brain that could contemplate such things, I'm sure he/she would be content to know that a part of him/her lives on. I understand and appreciate the fact that man is generally an abusive species when it comes to other life forms that inhabit the earth. As mentioned by someone, no law is going to placate the wants and curiosities of humans when it comes to such products. Humans will be humans. Just like recreational drug use, the threat of law might curtail illegal activity of a few, but those that want to get high will, regardless of the law. If someday the Hawksbill sea turtle vanishes from the earth it will be chalked up to the insatiable, wrong-headed appetite of humans for all things of the earth....like the carrier pidgeon, the dodo bird and countless other lesser creatures over which we have dominion. That said, I have no pangs of conscious when I use my tortoiseshell picks. The turtle is dead. Long live the turtle.