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Thread: $15 picks?

  1. #51
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Its all about the paraphernalia.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  2. #52
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Very good point Tobin, but, I know I would lose it! So, I'm just out the bongo bucks for the pick, tough.
    "Life's tough, even tougher if you're stupid" John Wayne
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  3. #53

    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by pickinpete View Post
    I dint like bluechip that much, but..To play devils advocate here.. 3 sets of strings will run the same amount and that pick will outlive 3 sets of strings ..... to the Nth power? NOT a big investment if you like em!
    And how about a half tank of gas? Up in smoke and we do that routinely weekly, sometime more without batting an eye and shell doesnt have a money back guarantee.

  4. #54
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Timbofood View Post
    I was speaking in very broad strokes there, folded path,
    Simply speaking, the effort for an accomplished bow maker is far greater than the making of a flatpick. The time taken to obtain proper materials for a bow requires time and expertise, pick material may take time to develop from an original formula but, once the formula has been proven, easily reproduced. Bows are individual and take time. The use of plastics, or any other supercooled liquids for a flatpick becomes a study in repetition not individuality, doesn't it? Just asking that one, not being snotty. Guess I am not being that simple in the statement, I will shut up now.
    I agree that it is the interface which makes them similar.
    No snottiness implied there, and I hope you continue the discussion. For what it's worth, I'm familiar with what goes into a good quality bow. My S.O. is a fiddler, and I live in a small town that seems to be a hotbed of bow-making. One bow maker in the $10k+ category has a shop down the street from my house.

    High-end violin bows are individual works of art, which -- along with disappearing stocks of the preferred wood species -- explains the price. However, the fact that picks are mass produced doesn't mean there isn't at least some design effort in the choice of shape, edge bevel, and material. Mass production and low price just makes it more affordable to continually try out picks and select what works best. I keep a bowl of different picks next to my pickin' chair at home, and I regularly try out different ones to calibrate my preference for a Blue Chip TAD40-1R. The BC always wins, at least for now. That's hard to do with fiddle bows, unless you're wealthy enough to keep a dozen or more high-end bows around the house. I've seen the drama, angst, and expense that fiddlers go through, when selecting a bow. I'm glad we don't have to deal with all that!

  5. #55
    Registered User grassrootphilosopher's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by terzinator View Post
    Chris Thile
    It took me a long time to think about "central time". Even people close to me sometime don´t laugh at my jokes. Originally I thought about something with centipede but failed to come up with something "T". Maybe centipedal transgression...
    Olaf

  6. #56
    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Crappy Timing

  7. #57
    Peace. Love. Mandolin. Gelsenbury's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    @JeffD:
    Thank you for your detailed and considered post. I don't disagree with anything (and therefore see no need to reply in much depth) except the overpricing issue. When I buy something, I try to act somewhat ethically and don't just go after the cheapest deal for me. The local economy, food miles, environmental sustainability, animal welfare and the support of small businesses are all considerations that I apply to my daily purchase decisions. I expect the seller to be considerate to me too, otherwise there's no deal. As a result, there is such a thing as overpricing in my mind. If a seller uses my need or desire to try to rip me off, I feel disrespected and recoil, regardless of the quality of the product.

    As previously mentioned, I know the argument about the cost of the raw material, so I'm definitely not accusing Blue Chip of any such practice. The issue with the Blue Chip picks is more about simple cost-benefit considerations.

    My birthday is 24 October. Everyone is quite welcome to give me a Blue Chip pick as a present. Otherwise, I'll buy one and give it a try as and when I feel that it will really help the sound of my playing. For the moment, there are still "plenty of other construction sites to take care of", as the Germans say. And Gravity picks really aren't bad at all.

  8. #58
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Often someone posts on the café because they want to move up their mandolin. I think we all agree that a a $1500. mandolin is better than a $500 one. (Yes, I know that picking better makes a big difference as well--perhaps even more.) Ditto for a bow. $1500 bow is going to be *much* better than a $500 one. (The difference might be less between a 20K bow and a 10K bow, but I won't have the experience of knowing.) However, you don't fiddle if you think that a bow isn't as important as a violin/fiddle. A bow is not just an extra. if you're going to fiddle my first suggestion is to spend more money on your bow than on your instrument.

    As far as picks, a $35 pick isn't that expensive even if your mandolin costs only ten times as much as a BC. If you don't like it, no loss.
    Do you have any advice for aspiring fiddlers?
    I wish I had some sort of new advice. It's sort of like losing weight:
    Don't eat so much. --Barbara Lamb

  9. #59
    Registered User mtucker's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    I've documented literally thousands of testimonials from women Blue Chip users and have yet to hear one of them ask ... 'do these picks make me look fat'? There must be something to them...

  10. #60
    Formerly "Porschefan" Stephen Porter's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by f5loar View Post
    PS: If you can afford to own and drive a Porsche you should be able to buy a $35 pick without a second thought. From one Porsche owner to another!

    Hi f5Loar,

    I meant to respond to this when it posted, but it slipped my mind. I really like Porsches--I think they are wonderfully engineered cars and I have a houseful of books, etc. That said, I'm probably not your typical Porsche owner: I went from bunches of VW's as a kid and young man and then took a test ride in a 914 and was hooked. I had two 914's, then I started with the 944's (911's for the most part were too expensive for me). I bought and sold about 14 different 944--mostly turbo's (951's) and S2's (my avatar is a '89 S2 with 28K miles on it--I shoulda kept that one. Had a Boxster S for awhile, but couldn't stand watching it depreciate and sold it too. Currently my daily driver is an '89 NA (normally aspirated) 944 the previous owner set up for autocross and is the best-handling car I've ever owned. Garage queen is an immaculate '88 928 S4 that I need to get rid of...it's a gorgeous but totally impractical car. I think I'm at the stage where a pickup truck and bunch of musical instruments would be fine.

  11. #61
    Site founder Scott Tichenor's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by f5loar View Post
    Well if you will do the search feature here for "blue chip picks" then up should pop about 66 pages of actual testimonials of how the blue chip pick saved their pee picking lives. These picks are not for the weak and misunderstanding. Nor are they for the cheap and "my glass is half empty" pickers either. These are for the real honest "geter' done" pickers that are serious about their sound and how a pick reacts and interacts with the approach as you attack the strings for maxiumn playabilty and tone. It will be the best $35 you ever spent for your mandolin ($15 if you can snag a used one but they are pretty rare).
    PS: If you can afford to own and drive a Porsche you should be able to buy a $35 pick without a second thought. From one Porsche owner to another!
    He keeps playing mandolin long enough he can tell war stories about paying $75 for one of those illegal picks and then watching people whine about paying half that price for one that almost won't ever wear out. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.



    20 years ago you could pay .25 cents for a cup of Ronnoco coffee, and MAN, was it... Certainly nothing like a decent latte you can get today.

  12. #62
    rock in rôle Paul Statman's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Santiago View Post
    ..These days I'm stuck on Blue Chips but they are expensive, but they don't break as easily, though the price was far more than $15 -- shipping was $5 just to put it in an envelope and mail it..
    I just have to see a broken one. Do you have a photo? I'm more keen to know how they break, and not as easily as what, I wonder.
    Last edited by Paul Statman; Apr-30-2013 at 11:06pm.

  13. #63
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by terzinator View Post
    Crappy Timing
    Unfortunately no pick helps you with that particular problem.
    Maybe hire Tony Rice to back you up, or practice with a metronome.

  14. #64
    rock in rôle Paul Statman's Avatar
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by terzinator View Post
    Crappy Timing
    A fresh set of plugs, points, and distributor cap along with a timing adjustment should set her right again.

  15. #65
    Destroyer of Mandolins
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    Default Re: $15 picks?

    Looks like FP beat me to the draw on the $10,000 bow. But that's still nothing. You want snobbish? In my other life I'm a pipe organist. You think $15 is a lot? You ain't seen nothin' son. And $10,000 won't buy an annual maintenance cycle. We sit around talking about Hillbilly wooden boxes with wire on them like they're real musical instruments. (Now THAT'S snobbish!)
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