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Post by bellyshere on Mar 27, 2024 7:54:12 GMT
So I saw on another forum people banging on about £50 plus guitar picks and how it makes your tone next level. Can’t remember the particular brand. Surely this is utter nonsense? Thoughts?
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Post by Onechordtrick on Mar 27, 2024 9:34:19 GMT
They were probably Blue Chip picks?
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Post by bellyshere on Mar 27, 2024 10:34:16 GMT
They were probably Blue Chip picks? That’s the ones. |
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 27, 2024 10:41:40 GMT
They were probably Blue Chip picks? That’s the ones. If you put Blue Chip into the search facility there'll likely be a few threads on these and similar premium priced picks - I'm sure I remember a few folk having experience of them. keith |
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Post by bellyshere on Mar 27, 2024 10:43:03 GMT
If you put Blue Chip into the search facility there'll likely be a few threads on these and similar premium priced picks - I'm sure I remember a few folk having experience of them. keith I smell snake oil, like fancy speaker wire making your hifi sound better. |
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Post by delb0y on Mar 27, 2024 10:43:51 GMT
There was a thread on here a while back and, IIRC, some of our esteemed colleagues were tempted, and were going to report back. I wonder if Blue Chip do a thumb-pick? Although, at the rate I get through thumb-picks (they become loose, and thus no good) I wouldn't want to pay more than a pound or so for a pick. :-)
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Post by bellyshere on Mar 27, 2024 10:46:16 GMT
There was a thread on here a while back and, IIRC, some of our esteemed colleagues were tempted, and were going to report back. I wonder if Blue Chip do a thumb-pick? Although, at the rate I get through thumb-picks (they become loose, and thus no good) I wouldn't want to pay more than a pound or so for a pick. :-) When I used to use picks I’d always lose them. Just watched a few videos about them. I’m not having it. |
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Post by delb0y on Mar 27, 2024 11:01:22 GMT
Over in the bluegrass / flat-picking world a lot of very good players swear by them. I suspect you have to be of a pretty good standard to be able to benefit from what these picks offer (although I've no idea what that is).
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 27, 2024 11:09:46 GMT
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Post by bellyshere on Mar 27, 2024 11:19:23 GMT
Over in the bluegrass / flat-picking world a lot of very good players swear by them. I suspect you have to be of a pretty good standard to be able to benefit from what these picks offer (although I've no idea what that is). Ah that wouldn’t be me then. How come Norman Blake and Doc Watson were such great flatpickers without a £50 pick then? |
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Post by Wild Violet on Mar 27, 2024 12:23:10 GMT
Ah that wouldn’t be me then. How come Norman Blake and Doc Watson were such great flatpickers without a £50 pick then? Norman Blake liked to use tortoise shell picks which were readily available at that time, nowadays buying a vintage tortoiseshell pick would cost you far more than a Bluechip if you could even find one for sale. Most of the new expensive picks are man-made versions of tortoise shell. I have a couple of the faux-tortoise Papa's Picks. I'm no great player but there is a noticeable warmer, richer difference in the tone when using one of the Papa's picks over my usual Ultex or Brain picks. I much prefer using the Papa's picks but rarely take them out of the house because I couldn't afford to replace them if lost. |
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Post by bellyshere on Mar 27, 2024 12:33:22 GMT
Ah that wouldn’t be me then. How come Norman Blake and Doc Watson were such great flatpickers without a £50 pick then? Norman Blake liked to use tortoise shell picks which were readily available at that time, nowadays buying a vintage tortoiseshell pick would cost you far more than a Bluechip if you could even find one for sale. Most of the new expensive picks are man-made versions of tortoise shell. I have a couple of the faux-tortoise Papa's Picks. I'm no great player but there is a noticeable warmer, richer difference in the tone when using one of the Papa's picks over my usual Ultex or Brain picks. I much prefer using the Papa's picks but rarely take them out of the house because I couldn't afford to replace them if lost. I just can’t hear a slightest difference. They might feel better to hold or use but I doubt most people could hear a difference against a cheap pick. Maybe I’m just on one today. Somebody was on about rubbing oil on your strings to make them sound better earlier as well and I got a bit triggered about the picks as well. |
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Post by malcolm on Mar 27, 2024 13:17:33 GMT
If you put Blue Chip into the search facility there'll likely be a few threads on these and similar premium priced picks - I'm sure I remember a few folk having experience of them. keith I smell snake oil, like fancy speaker wire making your hifi sound better. They are excellent picks, made from a very expensive material, whether they are worth it to you is a personal matter. I prefer a heavy Wegen pick or a caesin pick, but I do have a Blue Chip and would never use a cheap pick now. Doc Watson and Norman Blake probably used tortoise shell picks which are now unavailable. Also, as you mention it, hi quality speaker cables and headphone cables do make a huge difference to sound quality. I think perhaps you are having a bad day. 😀 |
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Post by bellyshere on Mar 27, 2024 13:22:01 GMT
I smell snake oil, like fancy speaker wire making your hifi sound better. They are excellent picks, made from a very expensive material, whether they are worth it to you is a personal matter. I prefer a heavy Wegen pick or a caesin pick, but I do have a Blue Chip and would never use a cheap pick now. Doc Watson and Norman Blake probably used tortoise shell picks which are now unavailable. Also, as you mention it, hi quality speaker cables and headphone cables do make a huge difference to sound quality. I think perhaps you are having a bad day. 😀 We’ve opened a can here. Basic cables against slightly better have a difference yes. Paying £2000 for speaker cables and you need your lid looking at. Hifi heads are worse than guitar tone heads. |
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Post by delb0y on Mar 27, 2024 13:27:08 GMT
Over in the bluegrass / flat-picking world a lot of very good players swear by them. I suspect you have to be of a pretty good standard to be able to benefit from what these picks offer (although I've no idea what that is). Ah that wouldn’t be me then. How come Norman Blake and Doc Watson were such great flatpickers without a £50 pick then? It wouldn't be me, either :-) I think those guys, along with many others, would be great with any pick. But maybe (I have no idea) had they also had a Blue Chip pick they'd have been even greater. Who knows? Maybe it's all in the mind, but that little psychological boost maybe the way to get an extra 1% from an already brilliant musician. Maybe it's not all in the mind and these picks really do make a difference - if only one has the ears to hear it, or the fingers to take advantage of it. I certainly don't have the ears - hell, I can't even tell what chord I should be playing half the time, and not long ago I recorded a flat-picking piece with each of my guitars and afterwards I couldn't hardly tell one from the other. I do tend to subscribe to the school that's it's (almost) all in the fingers. But there are players with great ears who undoubtedly can tell the difference. Of course, that then begets the argument if the audience doesn't have equally great ears then how do you get across that extra 1%? I recall once I bought a Yamaha Pacifica telecaster style guitar as back-up to my Strat. That guitar had the fastest, easiest playing, neck that I'd ever come across on a guitar. I could play things on that guitar that I couldn't play on any other before, or since. But I sold it anyway. I don't have a quick enough musical mind to take advantage of such a speedy guitar. But there are some that do. And I guess a speedy pick would be good for those guys, too. I'm 80% thumb-pick now, but I won't be buying a Bluechip @ $40 !! Derek |
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