Charmed Life upcoming model preview and impressions...

[DHillshafer]

Hello all,

I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to “beta test” a soon-to-arrive model from Charmed Life Picks. I am told that this new model is made of a new, unique material so I’ll give the performance breakdown without divulging too much. Here are the details…

Tone: Brilliant, defined, full projection. Much like the Brown Series – like turning up the “tone” knob on your guitar. I think this one is between .9 and 1.0mm thickness...

Pick noise: Less "click" than a nylon of comparable thickness. Would work great as a studio pick in addition to stage and circle.

Feel: Great grip texture, very smooth transition from string to string. Feels kind of like a Dunlop Gator Grip. Much like the Brown Series – this pick has great flex while retaining full tone (even on light strings).

Overall: Another wonderful model from the mad scientists at Charmed Life. Brings an exciting new premium option to the industry for demanding tone-hunters. I’m sure this one will make a name for itself very quickly. I hear it will be available later on this year.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Charmed Life Picks - I'm just a regular, non-famous dude who plays guitar.

[mr. beaumont]

Very interesting...generally, I can't get on with anything less than 1mm thick, which has been the only thing preventing me from trying a charmed life so far. I might need to check this out further.

[Goat Mick]

If it's the same "stealth" model I've been using for a while, it is an awesome pick!!

[jaymarsch]

I have also been a beta tester of these picks and I find them as DHillshafer has described. I have compared it to both the Charmed Life tortoise and their brown and this new material sounds to me as right in between the other two materials in terms of brightness. I like the way all of these picks feel in my hand and how they move across the strings. They are beautifully finished and the customer service is outstanding.

For anyone who is still looking for a pick that sounds and feels great, you might want to check these out.

Best,
Jayne

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Very interesting...generally, I can't get on with anything less than 1mm thick, which has been the only thing preventing me from trying a charmed life so far. I might need to check this out further.

I have a couple of CL tortoise material picks that are between 1 and 1.2 mm so you might send Scott an email and let him know what you are looking for. He can tell you what is possible in terms of thicknesses available with the various materials that he is using.

Best,
Jayne

[mtcross]

I also find that the Charmed Life Tortoise picks play a bit thicker than they really are. I used the TAD 50 when I was using Blue Chip, but I find with the Charmed Life Tortoise I can use a thinner pick with all the results and more.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by DHillshafer

Hello all,

I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to “beta test” a soon-to-arrive model from Charmed Life Picks. I am told that this new model is made of a new, unique material so I’ll give the performance breakdown without divulging too much. Here are the details…

Tone: Brilliant, defined, full projection. Much like the Brown Series – like turning up the “tone” knob on your guitar. I think this one is between .9 and 1.0mm thickness...

Pick noise: Less "click" than a nylon of comparable thickness. Would work great as a studio pick in addition to stage and circle.

Feel: Great grip texture, very smooth transition from string to string. Feels kind of like a Dunlop Gator Grip. Much like the Brown Series – this pick has great flex while retaining full tone (even on light strings).

Overall: Another wonderful model from the mad scientists at Charmed Life. Brings an exciting new premium option to the industry for demanding tone-hunters. I’m sure this one will make a name for itself very quickly. I hear it will be available later on this year.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Charmed Life Picks - I'm just a regular, non-famous dude who plays guitar.

Daniel, nooooooooo! I already have too many orders!

Thanks for the review on the new stuff. Folks, there are more than a HUNDRED industrial plastics that never been made into guitar picks. That's a real number. Blue Chip just scratched the surface ten years ago. We've had prototypes in the field for almost a year now on this new material. I have several dozen people playing these, with about 90% excitement level. I move cautiously and slowly though. It HAS to be as good as our other three lines or it won't happen. We may be the only pick company in the world that doesn't make things just to make money -- we make things that have to PERFORM. You know the neon acrylic baubles out there that are all the rage? Wanna know why they're promoting them so much? Their material cost on those is less than ten cents a pick. Ten cents. And many sell for up to $15.00. I would NEVER do that. I'll close my doors first. It's kinda like what Steve Jobs did: build the best mousetrap, THEN decide how much to sell it for.

sm

[DHillshafer]

Originally Posted by mtcross

I also find that the Charmed Life Tortoise picks play a bit thicker than they really are. I used the TAD 50 when I was using Blue Chip, but I find with the Charmed Life Tortoise I can use a thinner pick with all the results and more.

On that note, I absolutely LOVE my new Charmed Life Tortoise: only $25 and sounds oh, so good. Between it and the Red, I have a hard time deciding which one is better. I give the edge to the Red because it is so pretty to look at but, ****, if they don't both sound astounding.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Just an FYI, the new series will sell for the same price ranges as existing lines. And we WILL be making thicker models in this series, eventually. What would everyone like to see from us? I'm pretty set on new models, but always open to suggestions. Let me say this though: We are only interested in core models. Only standard teardrops and tris. I'll tell you what, folks: If you're interested in starting a flatpick company, you're an absolute FOOL if you don't study closely what Dunlop is doing. There's a reason they own, like, 80% of the world market. I see so many horrible and ugly picks out there made out of some pretty awesome materials. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. So many of these companies make what they want to make, not what their customers want to buy.

sm

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Very interesting...generally, I can't get on with anything less than 1mm thick, which has been the only thing preventing me from trying a charmed life so far. I might need to check this out further.

I also prefer thick picks - at least 2 mm. Like everyone I started guitar life with the Jim Dunlop thin nylons. When I took up mandolin several years back I gradually went thicker and thicker. I now prefer thick picks on guitar as well. For the same reason I never use the blue chip picks I've bought - they're just too thin.

[Mr Fingers]

Can't say I understand thick picks at all, which is one reason why the Charmed Life line is so appealing. I've played with numerous ritzy picks at various thicknesses over 1.0, swayed by the fact that the makes themselves promote the heavier models. Sure, they're precise, and I sort of get it for jazz, but the absence of feel and the tone loss are serious drawbacks for me. I started looking up the pick choices of the players I really like, and find that hardly any are using picks thicker than 1.0 So thanks to CL and others who are focused on what works rather than pursuing the fad of massive picks. As for acrylics, the markup may be unconscionable, but some of them are excellent, high-performing picks. I highly recommend V-Pick Razers for electric.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Daniel, nooooooooo! I already have too many orders!

Thanks for the review on the new stuff. Folks, there are more than a HUNDRED industrial plastics that never been made into guitar picks. That's a real number. Blue Chip just scratched the surface ten years ago. We've had prototypes in the field for almost a year now on this new material. I have several dozen people playing these, with about 90% excitement level. I move cautiously and slowly though. It HAS to be as good as our other three lines or it won't happen. We may be the only pick company in the world that doesn't make things just to make money -- we make things that have to PERFORM. You know the neon acrylic baubles out there that are all the rage? Wanna know why they're promoting them so much? Their material cost on those is less than ten cents a pick. Ten cents. And many sell for up to $15.00. I would NEVER do that. I'll close my doors first. It's kinda like what Steve Jobs did: build the best mousetrap, THEN decide how much to sell it for.

sm

Now I'm wondering what I'm missing. I still play the same Fender Heavy 351s I've used for years. Am I the only one?

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by DavidE

Now I'm wondering what I'm missing. I still play the same Fender Heavy 351s I've used for years. Am I the only one?

Maybe nothing, maybe something. This tone thing is so subjective. After all of the trial and error with guitars and strings and picks, at some point I do just have to choose and then get on with playing the music!

Best,
Jayne

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

I also prefer thick picks - at least 2 mm. Like everyone I started guitar life with the Jim Dunlop thin nylons. When I took up mandolin several years back I gradually went thicker and thicker. I now prefer thick picks on guitar as well. For the same reason I never use the blue chip picks I've bought - they're just too thin.

For the record, we have blanks in-house for all our red and tortoise models above 2.0 mm, even 3.0 mm. I tell people this all the time and nobody ever calls. We're too busy these days to add more models. I just put our #1 selling model on hiatus till I catch up on orders. But we DO have thicker blanks on the shelf.

sm

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Mr Fingers

Can't say I understand thick picks at all, which is one reason why the Charmed Life line is so appealing. I've played with numerous ritzy picks at various thicknesses over 1.0, swayed by the fact that the makes themselves promote the heavier models. Sure, they're precise, and I sort of get it for jazz, but the absence of feel and the tone loss are serious drawbacks for me. I started looking up the pick choices of the players I really like, and find that hardly any are using picks thicker than 1.0 So thanks to CL and others who are focused on what works rather than pursuing the fad of massive picks. As for acrylics, the markup may be unconscionable, but some of them are excellent, high-performing picks. I highly recommend V-Pick Razers for electric.

As I believe I stated above, a lot of pick makers appear to make what they make for three reasons: 1) Profit 2) Profit 3) The products they themselves play. In my view, these are the worst three reasons to be in the pick business, or any business for that matter.

When I was looking at this industry and saw that almost every serious pick maker stopped at 1.0 mm thickness I said, "You've gotta be kidding me. That's where the market STARTS." I myself rarely play below 1.0 mm, but I'm not making picks for me, I'm making picks for YOU. No one was making serious picks below 1.0 mm. Nobody. There are MILLIONS of players in that market segment. I'm not a marketing genius, but it was so OBVIOUS. And now I have so many orders I'm on the verge of pulling down the site till I catch up. Dumb dumb dumb.

One other thing, apropos of this thread. When I saw that the two most recognized brands in the boutique pick business had been using the same material for ten-plus years and had not diversified into other materials I was STUNNED. I call this either stupidity or complacency, or both. They left the door wide open for some little podunk operation like me to come in and get a toehold in their market. In fact, funny story: A major plastics rep told me he was thrown out of the shop of one of these companies for even SUGGESTING he consider a second material. Dumb dumb dumb.

I am not a genius. I've made a lot of bonehead mistakes. But now, as my Dad used to say, "I'm busier than a one-armed paper hanger."

thanks, everyone,
scott