Are they really worth it?

[pops1]

I used various BC picks for a few years, always getting a thinner one. The tack for hanging onto it is great, the glide off the strings is remarkable. Nothing has less drag than a BC pick. Sound wise if your mandolin is brighter, especially the G string then you will love this pick. My mandolin has a deeper sound and the BC muted the G string somewhat. I have since gone to Wegen 100. I have both the tri and rounded, it's as thin as they make and gives me more highs in my G string which I like. It does not make the plain strings bright, in fact they sound about the same as the BC. Most noticeable is the G string and it was the only down side for me. Wish they sounded as good for my mandolin as I love the picks and they are worth the cost. Wegens glide off the strings very well and I am liking the sound, maybe it's time to get another mandolin.

[Tobin]

I just don't get all the agonizing over the cost of a pick. How much did your mandolin cost? How much do you spend on strings? How much do you spend on accessories like straps, armrests, ToneGards, tuners, etc.? How much do you spend on going to festivals, or for lessons? Even the most expensive picks are a very, very small portion of the money we spend on our mandolin habits. It's not a big deal, y'all. If $30 for a pick makes you have a stroke, you chose the wrong hobby.

I have lots of picks, from ultra-cheap ones to ultra-expensive ones. The more expensive ones sound better and play better to me. Whether this is because of my brain conditioning my ears to believe that they should be better because of cost, I dunno. Don't care, either. They give me joy, and so it was money well spent.

[Drew Streip]

Fairly often I see picks for sale on the mandolin and guitar classifieds. Those babies are listed at anywhere from $9 to $30.

I use medium-hard picks from the music store, approximately $6 for 5, or something like that.

Are those picks for sale on the Cafe's classifieds that much better, that they're worth $9-$30? What makes a pick worth that much more?

Just curious.

Yes. No. Maybe. Depends on how you use it.

In the studio, I tested Blue Chip CT55 and Wegen TF140* back to back, and the studio engineer (knowing nothing about picks) liked the Wegen. Less pick noise. Tone is subjective, but I think it sounds warmer and rounder, which is perfect for our sound at that level of scrutiny.

On stage, I highly doubt anybody could tell a difference between the Wegen and BC (or a Dunlop Primetone, or any other 1.4mm triangular pick). Maybe between a heavy pick and a light one (stiff vs flexible), but not specifically due to the material. After accounting for room noise, sub-par mics, pickups, pre-amps, electrical hum, reverb, and distortion, I'd put the sound of the pick pretty low on the list.

But the feel is still important. I now prefer the general size and shape of a 1.4mm slightly rounded triangle. There are a lot of good choices, from $1 to $35, that suit my general playing needs. Coming from 15 years of guitar, I used whatever was nearby. The Primetone opened up my eyes to what my mandolin "should" feel like. But I can't say the Wegen or BC further revolutionized my playing.

[Bill Findley]

Don't think anyone's mentioned ProPlecs. Mike Marshall uses a 1.5; he recommends them to his students on Artistworks for getting a warmer tone. I use 'em especially when I've recently changed strings, until they settle in. Then, when the strings are less bright, I switch around between the ProPlec and a BC TAD 60. I don't worry too much about the stickiness of either pick because my biggest problem is gripping the pick too tightly. If I drop the pick once in awhile, I know I'm sounding decent.

[dang]

As others have said, try it.

Trust your own opinion, everyone else's is just heresay...


For full disclosure I have a lot of picks, tried almost all brands, always end up going back to my bluechips.

[Br1ck]

I finally got tired of reading all the BC threads and ordered a TAD 1R 60. It is a very good pick. It resides with my Silverangel. I like a pick stuck in the strings of every instrument I own. I don't think it is so good as to buy eight more, so everything else gets a Wegen Dipper, ranging from 1.2 to 1.8mm.

Since they have a money back policy, and at worse they sell fast used for around $25, you really have a very low risk proposition.

[Bob Clark]

Professionals might have a different point of view, but for me this is a hobby. If, for $30 or so, I can have many hours of entertainment trying out a different pick, learning to change the tone of my instrument and see what it can do, and in doing so become a better player, that is $30 well spent.

Many people have hobbies that cost a whole lot more, are less wholesome and entertaining, and cannot be enjoyed for a lifetime. Our little instruments are good for us on so many levels that I really think the $30 or so is not even worth worrying about (assuming the other bills are paid and the cat has enough to eat). These instruments really do pay us back in a lot of tangible and intangible ways.

That's my take on it. YMMV.

[Chanmandolin]

I love the Blue Chips. But I just started using these new dunlop picks and they blew my mind for the price. Less than $5 for a pack!

[MandoJason]

Sign up for the Travelling Pick Samper and see. http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...one-Interested

Hey there guys, already lots of great responses here...I'm in the camp that says YES...specific to blue chips- they are worth the price. Even a small piece of plastic in the music world is a tool. As many of us have learned over the years, take care of your tools! So, buy a $40 blue chip and put it away in the same place every time and don't lose it and you'll probably save $ in the long run. Once I bought a blue chip 3 years ago I havent used any other picks (even put away my gifted tortoise shell) and haven't bought any others. Blue Chips are great picks and you'll never regret spending the $ on fine tools if you take the craft seriously imo.
keep picking!

[NursingDaBlues]

Only if you believe they are.

Some mandolin players will willingly lay out $40 to $50 for Thomastik flat-wound strings. Even though some say that they last two to three times longer than other strings, they still must be replaced.

Some folks who play guitar will pay $30 for bone bridge pins.

Fiddle/violin players will pay anywhere from $50 to thousands of dollars for a bow.

Why? To get THE sound that they want. To squeeze out the very best tone from their instruments. To optimize their instruments’ playability and performance.

A lowly pick can be considered no different from any other attempt to enhance and develop a sound.

So, if you feel it's worthwhile, then an “expensive” pick truly can be worth it.

[HonketyHank]

Sign up for the Travelling Pick Samper and see. http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...one-Interested

Yup. This.

[Drew Egerton]

If everyone considered their time at X value per hour, I'm sure most of us have spent more than $35 worth of our time reading/posting about how picks aren't worth it.

Me on the other hand, I am usually reading at work, so I'm making money. I chose to spend some of that on several Blue Chips.

[Tommcgtx]

The only way you'll know is if you form your own opinion by trying one out. When I first saw posts about blue chip picks, I really thought people had lost their minds, or were just liking it "because they had to after spending so much money on it". Blue Chip has a 30 day no-questions-asked return policy, so I figured I would try it myself. I bought one, and I like the way it feels in my hand. I like the tone I get from using it. I like that it generates less pick noise. I don't remember when I bought mine, but it's been well over a year. I've tried other picks along the way, but keep coming back to this one, because I prefer it. You can read threads and opinions all day long, but nothing will substitute your personal experience. It may not fit your strings, technique, instrument etc., but you have 30 days to try it out. What do you have to lose really?

[Al Trujillo]

To be honest I abhorred the idea of paying $35 for a pick...but someone here pointed out the excellent return / no questions asked policy by BC. Didn't think I had much to lose so I ordered one and played it...and then I ordered another. I could have returned them but I liked them too much.

[jhowell]

The easiest way to find out is to sign up for the pick sampler that is floating around here. You can try a grip of picks. I found I like the Blue Chips the best, but as a senior on a fixed income, I use Dunlop ProPicks that I can afford to occasionally lose, and they do come in a pretty close second to my ears and picking hand....

[Spruce]

With the mandolin, for some reason, little things mean a lot. Everything seems to make a bigger difference, than with guitar say.

...a big +1.

I can use just about anything successfully on a guitar, but for mandolin it's gotta be a BC...
They just glide off the strings in a very pleasing way...

[F-2 Dave]

My TPR 50 works great for my Eastman and both of my Gibsons. My Collings seems to like the Wegan better. But, I do have a CT 55 that I have virtually no use for. Guess I'll just keep it and hope that the right mandolin comes along some day.

Are they worth it? I dunno. Maybe.

[mandocrucian]

These are the ones I prefer. Usually the white ones, cause they are easier to see when you drop them. Extra heavy, but Fender stopped making XH in that rounded triangle shape. I've still got a supply of XH, but Heavy will work

There's plenty to grip. Three points - one stays "as is", one gets rounded off, the third gets thinned out. Rotate the pick in my hand if I want something specific or the added treble of the thinner point. The edge between may also get file teeth - good for scraping tones/effects. But I also use the RH fingers - both the flesh and sometimes the back of the nails.

[Mandoplumb]

My TPR 50 works great for my Eastman and both of my Gibsons. My Collings seems to like the Wegan better. But, I do have a CT 55 that I have virtually no use for. Guess I'll just keep it and hope that the right mandolin comes along some day.
Are they worth it? I dunno. Maybe.

Honey, I've got to have that mandolin it goes so good with this expensive pick.

[LadysSolo]

I agree with the pick sampler idea. I too love Blue Chip picks, mainly because I hate pick noise and to me Blue Chips have less pick noise. In other picks, I use 0.73-0.75mm in general (thin to medium picks.) I use cheap picks if I am going to be somewhere I might lose a pick, I don't to lose my Blue Chips.

[soliver]

+1 on the Traveling Pick sampler... best thing I did on the first 12 months of playing



After buying a few that I had liked in the sampler, I ended up with a Blue Chip TAD 60 1R... good stuff for sure IMHO

[yankees1]

I have used many different shapes, thicknesses and brands of picks and Blue Chip picks sound the best to my ears ! Your ears may be different but the only way to find out is to try different picks

[bratsche]

If I paid $30 for a flat pick, I would definitely feel that it was the best pick I'd ever used. Otherwise, paying a 50X price premium for a small piece of shaped plastic, would seem to be one of my more foolish extravagances.
.....
Once I'd laid out 30 bucks for a Blue Chip or whatever, I would have invested a good deal of psychic capital it it being a quantum improvement over the regular pick I'd been using before.

Or, instead of praising the emperor's finery, one could be pragmatic about it and re-sell it, if it didn't meet one's expectations. (How else is it that so many pre-owned premium plectrums wind up in the Classifieds, anyway?)

I agree, though, that if one is really curious about Pick Brand W (short for "whatever"), the best thing to do is satisfy one's curiosity, or else the matter will always remain lurking in the back of the brain, nagging and saying, "But what if...?"

bratsche

[mugbucket]

Bought a CT55 one a few years back but it just stays in my pick pouch.
I'm so underwhelmed by it I've probably used it less than ten times in three years.

Love mine. Wouldn't mind a backup, I'll gladly pay the postage to free up space in your pick holder...

[Mandobart]

I've tried 2 BC's and they don't send me like everyone else. Not bad, but not as good as lower priced options. And I really like thicker picks (2.00 mm or more) which BC doesn't make. For a bright tone I really like Gravity picks. When I want a darker tone I like Wegen M200's or M250's. Both are less expensive than BC and sound and feel better to me.