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Post by delb0y on Mar 27, 2024 14:37:02 GMT
Been thinking about this, on the gypsy jazz stuff I, too, use a Wegen. It certainly makes me play more Manouche. So I guess there is something in different picks.
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Post by malcolm on Mar 27, 2024 15:59:43 GMT
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. To be fair, I didn't realise £2000 cables even exist, I suppose I must be thinking about the slightly better ones. |
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Phil Taylor
C.O.G. 
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Post by Phil Taylor on Mar 27, 2024 16:36:06 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. :-) That would be me I suspect. Haven't taken the plunge yet but I have birthday coming up.......  Phil |
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
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Post by colins on Mar 27, 2024 17:20:33 GMT
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. Ah, but the thing is that Wild Violet is playing the most superbly built, ultra responsive, guitar that benefits from the use of premium picks.  She is also an artiste of extreme talent and touch. Of course I have to admit to some bias here. Colin |
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Post by bellyshere on Mar 27, 2024 17:21:30 GMT
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. To be fair, I didn't realise £2000 cables even exist, I suppose I must be thinking about the slightly better ones. There’s ones even more than that. |
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Post by hughesy on Mar 27, 2024 17:38:06 GMT
I have a bluechip pick, a small triangle. It's very good both tone, grip and it really glides over the strings. It is better than similarly bevelled casein and wegan picks I have tried which are also expensive, but not quite so expensive. A have seen people favourably compare the Dunlop prime tone but I didn't like this much.
However...recently I have been using a dunlop flow pick 1mm and its very good. Perhaps doesn't sound quite as good the bluechip, but bevelled a little, it glides over the strings and feels very accurate for picking. And a lot less expensive!
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 27, 2024 20:37:50 GMT
To be fair, I didn't realise £2000 cables even exist, I suppose I must be thinking about the slightly better ones. There’s ones even more than that. I think the speaker cable issue is that, although there is a small but measurable difference between analogue audio signals carried through different materials, which might lead someone seeking the absolute best fidelity to seek out gold or platinum cables*, the premium manufacturers were anxious to retain their market share as set-ups swapped to digital, and fundamentally there is no difference in sound quality between any cable made above the minimum quality needed to get all the 0s and 1s through to their intended destination which resulted in a lot of misinformation floating around. * although, to be clear, anyone who could hear the difference without lab equipment probably has better ears and definitely has better speakers than I do. |
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Post by therealmichaelm on Mar 28, 2024 19:29:49 GMT
I have a selection of 6 pick on the go from 0.73mm to 2 mm. I can feel/hear a subtle difference, and I find strumming to be easier with the thinner picks but to be honest I'm not sure which one I prefer - probably the one that I haven't used for the longest amount of time!
Given the rate at which my carpet eats picks (where do they go?), I'm just too afraid to be spending £40 on one.
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Post by malcolm on Mar 29, 2024 12:07:02 GMT
I have a selection of 6 pick on the go from 0.73mm to 2 mm. I can feel/hear a subtle difference, and I find strumming to be easier with the thinner picks but to be honest I'm not sure which one I prefer - probably the one that I haven't used for the longest amount of time! Given the rate at which my carpet eats picks (where do they go?), I'm just too afraid to be spending £40 on one. Strumming is certainly easier with a thin pick, but for good tone and flatpicking individual notes a thicker pick is the answer regardless of the material it's made from. |
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Post by curmudgeon on Mar 29, 2024 21:03:13 GMT
I was "among" the bluegrass fraternity, when I first heard of Blue Chip picks.
like some here, I was convince that it was a scam aimed at those who will pay high prices for vintage and rare instruments (If they'll pay IRO £5000 for a guitar, mandolin banjo, then you'll pay £35 plus P&P for a "magic" pick.
I actively argued against them on the AGF and UMGF.
Someone sent me one. It was a large triangle 1 m/m.
It showed me the benefits of the 346 shape.
I bought every other large triangle pick, and tried to duplicate te polishing and "speed bevels.
I could reproduce these aspects. I could not reproduce the qualities of the BlueChip.
I gave in. Now I have a Bluechip pick for every flat top I own (apart from 12 strings) and mandolin.
I have bought some other high cost picks, non are as good, smooth, fast, clean as Bluechips.
I'm an old "flatpicker" who has morphed to a singer-songwriter, (and song pincher).
The only other picks that come close, and which I prefer for 12 strings and archtops, are Wegen TF 120 and 140s.
Bluechip aren't (now ) unique. Dunlop chased them quickly with the dull brown "Primetones", which are .... "OK" but don't have the feel and purity of Bluechip.
Bluechips do not "wear out" or break. Whilst tey don't admit it is is now widely known that the material they use is called "vespal" a composite designed by Dupont as a self lubricating wear free material for inaccessible gears and bearings (space, military, underwater etc.) It is ridiculously expensive, but BlueChip are an engineering firm that makes stuff like that, and just happened to be musicians as well.
I bought my first batch from them in 2012. They haven't put their prices up since then.
Do you have to be a "nerd" to benefit from them ? Probably?
Will ANYBODY benefit from them ? Probably not.
That's all I have to say.
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She is also an artiste of extreme talent and touch. Of course I have to admit to some bias here.
