jedzep Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 With generosity and well wishes, Buc gifted me a Blue Chip flatpick the other day, thus allowing me to kill a couple hours doing the side by side comparison thing. Didn't want to paint my kitchen ceiling after all. When I first picked it up I said 'no way', ain't gonna like this thick-*** poker chip of a pick. OK, I'll say right off I'm still struggling to find the touch needed to play my super lightweight L0. It appears to need more of a bevel and a bit of flex to throw the voice I know is in there. The pick, a TPR-60, is quite rounded and probably 1.25mm thick or better. Different story though on the bigger d'naughts J45 and Martin D18. With just a flick of touch these two guitars throw out an almost amplified less trebly tone, especially the D18. I'm primarily a flatpicker (though I'm trying to change that with the Kenny Sultan DVD) and like to fill in with as many picked notes as possible on my way through the chording. I've never played anything but solo, so I have to throw in a fair amount of filler to de-emphasize my fading vocal abilities. I've got just under a hundred songs I can get through, and find it easy to pick up most anything by ear so I could add to the 'catalog', but now with the new weapon I'll just be happy to run back through the playlist to re-tailor the sounds. I'm still unsure however, of my strumming attack with this thing, but that's another topic. Just want to express my appreciation to Buc for adding a dynamic to my playing that I'd have never discovered based on the advertised dimensions of these picks. Buc kindly woudn't take any money for it, but to show my appreciation I've shipped him my 90 lb. Chocolate Lab, Vito, via Greyhound. So Buc, remember to check the bus station in a couple of days. He likes a good steak on the grill every once in a while. You're a mensch! Dave
Buc McMaster Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Yer most welcome! The TPR60 is 0.060" or somewhere around 15 to 16mm......not so heavy but certainly inflexible. The rounded tip does attenuate the high freqs to some degree. Round tips are very mellow and smooth in tone, not jangly and shrill. I've come to love this tone over the years and my ears cannot tolerate the harsh (to my ear) sound of a pointed pick. The Blue Chips can be ordered with the bevel you mentioned. That's a matter of taste as well. Almost all pick materials will wear with play and achieve a bevel by use......the Blue Chip will not wear with play and if you want a bevel you need to order them made that way. Perhaps you could take a file to it and make a bevel, but playing your guitar will not wear this pick at all. Glad you got it.....give it a fair shakedown run. And as for the dog, no offense but I'm a cat person. Dogs are okay but I don't want one. S'pose Vito can find his way home?
j45nick Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Buc sent me one of his Blue Chips as well. Buc and I both ordered some Red Bear picks at the same time, and these are due pretty soon (eight weeks deliver time!). I'm going to wait until I have the Red Bears to do a real comparison. I can say, however, that the Blue Chip is radically different in tone from my standard Fender mediums, and I haven't fully come to terms with it. The stiffness and thickness don't particularly bother me, but the tone is quite different. Part of that is a function of the very rounded tip of this particular Blue Chip model, Buc tells me. No matter how you look at it, Buc is a great guy for passing these on for others to use, and I thank him for it.
j45nick Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Yer most welcome! The TPR60 is 0.060" or somewhere around 15 to 16mm......] Buc, that .060" pick is actually about 1.5mm thick.
Buc McMaster Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 And yer welcome too, Nick! It bears mentioning that the bevel mentioned tends to retain or enhance high freqs. The profile of a pick edge has a lot to do with tone, just as the shape of the tip. A beveled edge is thinner.....not more flexible, thinner....than a rounded profile like the picks I sent. A rounded profile lets the string roll off the pick; with a bevel on the edge the string kind of falls off the pick, generating a higher pitch. It's largely a matter of area of contact between pick and string, affected by both the shape of the tip and the profile of the edge. If you have a favorite pick that's been in use for some time, check it for a bevel on the edge. Compare the tone of this worn pick to a new one of the same. The beveled, worn edge will have a high frequency edge to it that the new, more rounded profile edge will not. Edge shape, edge profile, thickness and material all play a role in acoustic tone.
Buc McMaster Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 You are correct, Dave. My bad. 0.060" is about 1.5mm. I didn't do so well in math!
Jeremy Morton Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I am getting ready to pick up a Blue Chip. I have an old Tortoise pick that I would love to compare to. As of late I have been using thicker picks and have been really enjoying it. I will chime back in once I have played with a Blue Chip. JM
j45nick Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I am getting ready to pick up a Blue Chip. I have an old Tortoise pick that I would love to compare to. As of late I have been using thicker picks and have been really enjoying it. I will chime back in once I have played with a Blue Chip. JM Jeremy, we'll really appreciate the input of a professional ear on this! I was amazed at how much difference the pick makes. As much difference as strings.
livemusic Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Do you guys like the Blue Chip? I must try one. Just this year, I have gone to heavier picks after using thin nylons for a few years.
Jeremy Morton Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Jeremy, we'll really appreciate the input of a professional ear on this! I was amazed at how much difference the pick makes. As much difference as strings. I agree that changing picks makes a huge difference in tonal color. In a two hour gig i will change pics between almost every song depending on the tune i am playing. I have heard that the Blue Chips do not wear very much. I am currently using the white and black pickboy Jazz picks. Both are quite thick, I believe black 1.25 and white 1.5 The black barely brightens things up but still keeps the warmth there. JM
retrorod Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Do you guys like the Blue Chip? I must try one. Just this year, I have gone to heavier picks after using thin nylons for a few years. Not too sure about the Bluechip. Have not tried yet. I DO like a THICK pick though...'coustic or 'lectric...
Joe M Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Probably the best thing to happen to me in a while has been the "Traveling Pick Pack" over on UMGF. If you don't frequent the site, you should. One of the members put together a pack of just about every kind of pick imaginable. You put your name on a list and, when your turn comes up, the pack is shipped to you. You get to keep the pack for 3 or 4 days with the only stipulation is that you pay postage to ship it to the next player on the list when your time is up. When I received the pack, I was floored by the number and variety of picks in it. I never did count them but there had to be more than 100 picks. Many I had tried but there were also many, like the Blue Chip, that I hadn't. I was a blast using all these picks I had heard about like the Blue Chip and Red Bears and countless others. Because of the pack, I asked for a Blue Chip for Christmas, since I still couldn't justify spending $35 on a pick. After using Fender and Gibson mediums forever, it has been an adjustment to the Blue Chip. But after playing it pretty exclusively for the last month or so, I find that my old picks are too bright sounding. Are they worth 100 times more than a "regular" pick?? Maybe not, but they sure are something very unique. If you've got the coin, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Plus, as long as you don't lose it, it'll last forever.
onewilyfool Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Does anyone have a tortise shell pic they don't want????
retrorod Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Probably the best thing to happen to me in a while has been the "Traveling Pick Pack" over on UMGF. If you don't frequent the site, you should. One of the members put together a pack of just about every kind of pick imaginable. You put your name on a list and, when your turn comes up, the pack is shipped to you. You get to keep the pack for 3 or 4 days with the only stipulation is that you pay postage to ship it to the next player on the list when your time is up. When I received the pack, I was floored by the number and variety of picks in it. I never did count them but there had to be more than 100 picks. Many I had tried but there were also many, like the Blue Chip, that I hadn't. I was a blast using all these picks I had heard about like the Blue Chip and Red Bears and countless others. Because of the pack, I asked for a Blue Chip for Christmas, since I still couldn't justify spending $35 on a pick. After using Fender and Gibson mediums forever, it has been an adjustment to the Blue Chip. But after playing it pretty exclusively for the last month or so, I find that my old picks are too bright sounding. Are they worth 100 times more than a "regular" pick?? Maybe not, but they sure are something very unique. If you've got the coin, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Plus, as long as you don't lose it, it'll last forever. Thanks for sharing... The "Traveling Pick Pack" is an interesting concept. Would be cool to develop it for the Gibson Forum also. Would be best to have a U.S. version and an internaional version. Would keep the cost/time of shipping down as well as avoid USFW regulations involving shipping some materials outside the USA. The Surfpick is one of my favorite 'alternative picks'. I ordered a couple when this guy was just beginning and selling them on Ebay only. After much abuse (Ya'll have no doubt seen the results of my technique ) I broke one of my surfpicks. I would love to try some of the above-mentioned picks before deciding to 'invest'... Surf Pick
blindboygrunt Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Thanks for sharing... The "Traveling Pick Pack" is an interesting concept. Would be cool to develop it for the Gibson Forum also. Would be best to have a U.S. version and an internaional version. Would keep the cost/time of shipping down as well as avoid USFW regulations involving shipping some materials outside the USA. The Surfpick is one of my favorite 'alternative picks'. I ordered a couple when this guy was just beginning and selling them on Ebay only. After much abuse (Ya'll have no doubt seen the results of my technique ) I broke one of my surfpicks. I would love to try some of the above-mentioned picks before deciding to 'invest'... Surf Pick aww man , thats another one ! dont ship out of USA though :-(
retrorod Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Thanks for sharing... The "Traveling Pick Pack" is an interesting concept. Would be cool to develop it for the Gibson Forum also. Would be best to have a U.S. version and an internaional version. Would keep the cost/time of shipping down as well as avoid USFW regulations involving shipping some materials outside the USA. The Surfpick is one of my favorite 'alternative picks'. I ordered a couple when this guy was just beginning and selling them on Ebay only. After much abuse (Ya'll have no doubt seen the results of my technique ) I broke one of my surfpicks. I would love to try some of the above-mentioned picks before deciding to 'invest'... Surf Pick An interesting chain of events happened within an hour or so of posting this reply with the Surfpick link.... I recieved an email from Ra, the maker of the Surfpick. He remembered my purchase and is sending out a replacement for my broken pick...Gratis! Apparently, his web tracker sourced my post on the Gibby Forum. Talk about "Customer Service"... :) I use the 2MM standard pick that he offers. Believe me, this wood is tough. My pick did not break on the tip edge but rather on the back corner, where I shouldn,t have been strumming it anyway...I was simply working on my 'technique... :o I hope that some of you try these picks and enjoy them as much me! Rod
jedzep Posted February 12, 2012 Author Posted February 12, 2012 An interesting chain of events happened within an hour or so of posting this reply with the Surfpick link.... I recieved an email from Ra, the maker of the Surfpick. He remembered my purchase and is sending out a replacement for my broken pick...Gratis! Apparently, his web tracker sourced my post on the Gibby Forum. Talk about "Customer Service"... :) I use the 2MM standard pick that he offers. Believe me, this wood is tough. My pick did not break on the tip edge but rather on the back corner, where I shouldn,t have been strumming it anyway...I was simply working on my 'technique... :o I hope that some of you try these picks and enjoy them as much me! Rod They're wooden?! Don't you find them a bit click & clacky? (apologies to Tom and Ray)
retrorod Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 They're wooden?! Don't you find them a bit click & clacky? (apologies to Tom and Ray) Not a bit! Yep, made from Lignum Vitae. They are not flexible and would take some getting used to, if you don,t already use a thick pick...Jes' Saying.... Check the website...
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