BlueChip pick expierience

[gatornavy]

I know there are several threads already, but... I just had to rave about my BlueChip. I have a lovely hand selected Martin D-35 build around 2010- she's amazing. I took her on a 6 month deployment with me and got along with her just fine finger picking and using Fender standard medium and EJ Dunlop jazz picks that I usually use on my CS Fender Strat. I decided to wing it and buy a BlueChip TAD-1R 50 pick to have waiting on me when I got back home. I was excited to get back home and use my new pick. My guitar got lost somewhere in Greece for about 9 days when I flew out but the airline found it and I got it back yesterday. I broke out my new pick and wow!!! What a difference. At first I didn't get what the pick was all about when I checked it out without my acoustic. It seemed pretty ordinary. It makes a huge difference though. Took me a day to get used to it, but it's SO worth it. Tone and play-ability beyond what I expected. I can't stop playing and my fingers are nearly worn down to the bone. Best $35+ shipping I ever spent.

[Rosewood99]

I had one but sent it back for a refund. It was good but not $35 good. I went to gravity picks which were 85% as good (to me) as Blue chip but only $5. Can't argue that they are good, just that they aren't worth the price (to me).

[David-NJ]

Originally Posted by gatornavy

I know there are several threads already, but... I just had to rave about my BlueChip. I have a lovely hand selected Martin D-35 build around 2010- she's amazing. I took her on a 6 month deployment with me and got along with her just fine finger picking and using Fender standard medium and EJ Dunlop jazz picks that I usually use on my CS Fender Strat. I decided to wing it and buy a BlueChip TAD-1R 50 pick to have waiting on me when I got back home. I was excited to get back home and use my new pick. My guitar got lost somewhere in Greece for about 9 days when I flew out but the airline found it and I got it back yesterday. I broke out my new pick and wow!!! What a difference. At first I didn't get what the pick was all about when I checked it out without my acoustic. It seemed pretty ordinary. It makes a huge difference though. Took me a day to get used to it, but it's SO worth it. Tone and play-ability beyond what I expected. I can't stop playing and my fingers are nearly worn down to the bone. Best $35+ shipping I ever spent.

Holy good gosh, $35 a pick? Does it bring you the paper in the morning or something?

"I don't usually use a pick, but when I do, I use a Fender Medium."

[CyberFerret]

They're nice picks... Even better when you get this neat little free wooden box to store them in...

[David-NJ]

Originally Posted by CyberFerret

They're nice picks... Even better when you get this neat little free wooden box to store them in...

Everyone I know loses picks at about the same rate duffers lose golf balls. Not a small number. Is this for real? What the heck is wrong with a normal pick?

[Grinning Boy]

Originally Posted by gatornavy

I know there are several threads already, but... I just had to rave about my BlueChip. I have a lovely hand selected Martin D-35 build around 2010- she's amazing. I took her on a 6 month deployment with me and got along with her just fine finger picking and using Fender standard medium and EJ Dunlop jazz picks that I usually use on my CS Fender Strat. I decided to wing it and buy a BlueChip TAD-1R 50 pick to have waiting on me when I got back home. I was excited to get back home and use my new pick. My guitar got lost somewhere in Greece for about 9 days when I flew out but the airline found it and I got it back yesterday. I broke out my new pick and wow!!! What a difference. At first I didn't get what the pick was all about when I checked it out without my acoustic. It seemed pretty ordinary. It makes a huge difference though. Took me a day to get used to it, but it's SO worth it. Tone and play-ability beyond what I expected. I can't stop playing and my fingers are nearly worn down to the bone. Best $35+ shipping I ever spent.

I'm with you Gatornavy. I use a thumbpick and ordered both sizes individually to find the right size. When I returned the one they gave me a full refund including shipping!

That little pick beckons for me to come and play. It's a tremendous development in acoustic guitar playing (I actually play nylon string). It may take a little while for your ears to come around to its nuances but once it clicks in there's no going back. I love it....glorious tone!

[David-NJ]

Originally Posted by Grinning Boy

I'm with you Gatornavy. I use a thumbpick and ordered both sizes individually to find the right size. When I returned the one they gave me a full refund including shipping!

That little pick beckons for me to come and play. It's a tremendous development in acoustic guitar playing (I actually play nylon string). It may take a little while for your ears to come around to its nuances but once it clicks in there's no going back. I love it....glorious tone!

Come on, are you guys being facetious? A pick that improves tone? Better than raw fingers (that ALWAYS sounds best to me, especially on nylon-strung guitars). When I dumped finger/thumbpicks and started using my fingers long ago, the tone and everything else improved immeasurably. I remember I read an article about my hero Leo Kottke ditching them to great effect, and read an interview with my other hero Robben Ford saying he came around to hardly ever use a pick when playing electric, and I pretty much stopped using picks on anything, and became a lot more toneful in the process. A lot more! With much much better control of timing and dynamics. Plus I guess I now save $35 each time I don't lose a pick.

Honestly, I love you guys but I think you are slightly off-kilter.

[Mooh]

Welcome to the Blue Chip Brotherhood!

I haven't lost one of mine yet, been using the same one since December. Great equipment.

It's way easier to justify and rationalize the expense of the Blue Chips than it is to justify and rationalize the use of too much fossil fuel, recreational drugs, booze, and gambling. Pick your poison!

[CyberFerret]

Originally Posted by David-NJ

Everyone I know loses picks at about the same rate duffers lose golf balls. Not a small number. Is this for real? What the heck is wrong with a normal pick?

I've had these Blue Chip picks for around 3 years now. Take them to gigs and everything and never lost them. I've still got other picks that I've bought 10 years ago. I did lose one v-pick down the side of the couch once, but I know it is there, and when the couch need re-cushioning, I will get it back...

Nothing wrong with normal picks. But I guess if you consistently hurl an object 200 yards away from you into long grass, you may lose the occasional one. I just don't tend to do that with my picks unless there is a particularly annoying member of the audience at the back of the room... But I usually hurl it hard enough that it embeds itself in their forehead like a shuriken and I can easily recover it from their unconscious body later...

[Fat Otis]

I've used a blue chip to try a few guitars in a store, and I came away with two conclusions:
1. The blue chip doesn't add any pick noise. There is no plasticky tone at all.
2. This means you only hear the guitar tone. A poor quality guitar would likely sound very "dull" because there is less of a percussive nature to the strum.

While I hate standard plastic picks, I've had great success with the dunlop gels (despite the too-bright colors). I get the extra heavy (yellow), and I've been very pleased for the low price. It seems like a similar material to what gravity pick uses, based on having played both, but I cannot verify this. The dunlop gel similarly doesn't have a lot of pick noise.

When I tried out different thicknesses of picks, I tried some cheap Claytons in each size. Mistake. They all sounded like plastic to me.

[rmyAddison]

Originally Posted by David-NJ

Come on, are you guys being facetious? A pick that improves tone? Better than raw fingers (that ALWAYS sounds best to me, especially on nylon-strung guitars).

Noooooo..........

they are fantastic picks. I have 5 (different sizes and thickness), had them for years and they are wonderful.

I'm surprised you can say "a pick that improves tone", absolutely, different weights and different materials, very good bevels.......adds up to better tone and playability.

Plus what does a comment about raw fingers on a nylon string guitar have to do with pick selection?????

Everybody I play with uses Blue Chips, lifetime players, guess we all think a pick can improve tone.................

[Bluemonk]

Originally Posted by David-NJ

Come on, are you guys being facetious? A pick that improves tone? Better than raw fingers (that ALWAYS sounds best to me, especially on nylon-strung guitars). When I dumped finger/thumbpicks and started using my fingers long ago, the tone and everything else improved immeasurably. I remember I read an article about my hero Leo Kottke ditching them to great effect, and read an interview with my other hero Robben Ford saying he came around to hardly ever use a pick when playing electric, and I pretty much stopped using picks on anything, and became a lot more toneful in the process. A lot more! With much much better control of timing and dynamics. Plus I guess I now save $35 each time I don't lose a pick.

Honestly, I love you guys but I think you are nuts. The guys who claim that Adi tops sound materially different are only slightly behind you $35 pick guys in the queue for the insane asylum!

I don't have a Blue Chip pick, but I would gladly try one if they made them in my preferred size and shape. What is so nuts about spending $35 for a better playing experience in terms of tone or feel?

Are you being facetious in suggesting that because you feel you get better tone with your fingers, that will be everyone's experience?

[CyberFerret]

Originally Posted by David-NJ

Come on, are you guys being facetious? A pick that improves tone? Better than raw fingers (that ALWAYS sounds best to me, especially on nylon-strung guitars). When I dumped finger/thumbpicks and started using my fingers long ago, the tone and everything else improved immeasurably. I remember I read an article about my hero Leo Kottke ditching them to great effect, and read an interview with my other hero Robben Ford saying hardly ever using a pick when playing electric, and I pretty much stopped using picks on anything, and became a lot more toneful in the process.

If you noticed an improvement in tone by switching from pick to fingers, why wouldn't anyone else notice an improvement in tone by switching materials which their pick is made of?

What works for you or you heroes may not necessarily work for the next player. This is quite simply not a 'one size fits all' world.

As far as I know, no kittens are maimed in the production or use of these picks. I haven't seen a correlation with Blue Chip pick use to the rise in child starvation in third world countries either, so I am not sure why I see people get so emotionally discomfited that they need to post in here voicing their displeasure...

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by David-NJ

Come on, are you guys being facetious? A pick that improves tone? Better than raw fingers (that ALWAYS sounds best to me, especially on nylon-strung guitars). When I dumped finger/thumbpicks and started using my fingers long ago, the tone and everything else improved immeasurably. I remember I read an article about my hero Leo Kottke ditching them to great effect, and read an interview with my other hero Robben Ford saying hardly ever using a pick when playing electric, and I pretty much stopped using picks on anything, and became a lot more toneful in the process.

Notice any difference in tone between fingernails and flesh? why wouldn't pick material, flex, angle and whatnot have an effect on tone?

A friend of mine sent me one to try out: a Blue Chip TD-40. And I so wanted not to like it.

But I do. And I am primarily a fingerpicker.

TW

[David-NJ]

Originally Posted by Bluemonk

I don't have a Blue Chip pick, but I would gladly try one if they made them in my preferred size and shape. What is so nuts about spending $35 for a better playing experience in terms of tone or feel?

Are you being facetious in suggesting that because you feel you get better tone with your fingers, that will be everyone's experience?

No no, I respect you all, this just caught me by surprise. I had no idea that there were any such things on the market.

I went to their web site, and they sell $75 jazz picks! Never heard of jazz picks being different but I guess those subtle II/V changes require a different sort of pick than the good old I/IV/V picks.