Open mind, open wallet, about Blue Chip picks

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hank - The string brand/gauge + pick type,are the 2 main ingredients in determining how our mandolins ( or any other 'picked' string instrument) will sound. Our 'personal input' is how we play with any combo. I want my 3 mandolins to be able to cope in a band situation,despit not playing with any other musicians regularly,i want them to be ''ready to go'' when i do. To that end,i've tried several string brands & gauges & none worked for me until i took Big Joe's advice & tried the DR brand & what a total revelation they were. Even so,the Wegen Bluegrass picks still sounded 'muted' to my ears. As a banjo player,i know full well what it takes to compete (or try to) with one of those animals, & it wasn't until i took somebody else's advice (another Cafe member), & tried the Primetone picks,that the whole thing came together. The 1.3mm thick Primetones worked superbly well,but i decided to go for some 1.5mm thick ones & they work even better on my mandolins. So,right now,i've got exactly what i've been looking for.
All mandolin makes,being different,will respond to any given brand of string/gauge in a different way = obvious. So it's up to us to try things out for ourselves. Two of my UK Cafe member friends tried the DR's out to see if they liked them (what other way is there ?) & one sent me a one word e-mail back - "WOW !!" - he's still using them.
Another UK Cafe member friend,has a glorious Heiden "A" style on which he'd installed Thomastik strings when i first played it. I was decidedly underwhelmed by the tone & volume. He switched over to J74's & it sounded better,but with the current DR MD11's on it,it's a whole new mandolin. I have DR MD11's on my Ellis "A" style & it sounds wonderful. The only other string that i've tried that sounded as good (but without the 'punch' that DR's have), are the GHS A270's that Cafe member Willie told me about.They have to be one of the sweetest toned strings around. No wonder they're Tom Ellis's 'go to' string.
Sorry to have diverted the OP's original topic,but it pays to experiment. There is no ''one size (make) fits (suits) all'' when it comes to strings & picks - but we all know that,
Ivan

[DavidKOS]

Hank - The string brand/gauge + pick type,are the 2 main ingredients in determining how our mandolins ( or any other 'picked' string instrument) will sound.
.....it wasn't until i took somebody else's advice (another Cafe member), & tried the Primetone picks,that the whole thing came together. The 1.3mm thick Primetones worked superbly well,but i decided to go for some 1.5mm thick ones & they work even better on my mandolins. So,right now,i've got exactly what i've been looking for.
All mandolin makes,being different,will respond to any given brand of string/gauge in a different way = obvious. So it's up to us to try things out for ourselves.
.......
it pays to experiment. There is no ''one size (make) fits (suits) all'' when it comes to strings & picks - but we all know that,
Ivan

Exactly so, no "one size fits all" for mandolin indeed.

First, do you play a traditional European flatback or bowlback design or a carved top post-Gibson? That sure makes a difference in choices of gear.

Next, do you prefer a pointed or round tip pick? and then the strings......

Those are the biggest places for mandolin paths to diverge.

Primetones, eh? One more pick to try.

ORDERED SOME

[bbaker2050]

I'm a big fan of the Primetones and the Wegen 140s.

[SincereCorgi]

I don't play much Bluegrass but a 3.5mm pick should only be for gypsy jazz guitar, and only for those that like REALLY fat picks. I can play happily with something thinner!

I love my white Wegen 3.5 for swing/gypsy guitar (no pickup) and I use it for bluegrass, too, since it's in my pocket already. CT55 is my mandolin pick, but I used to use a Wegen 140 or so. I'm starting to doubt my convictions, though... one of my students let me try a thinner Wegen and it sounded really good.

[k0k0peli]

I haven't tried most of that fancy stuff but I recently acquired a bag of Dunlop 207 Jazztones (on advise of a member here) and a couple of sculpted buffalo-horn picks of the same thickness, according to my handy micrometer. The Dunlops are louder than the bisons and click less. Do folks here think Primetones beat Jazztones?

[Bob Clark]

Do folks here think Primetones beat Jazztones?

I don't, but Primetones don't do it for me. Others love them, though, and I can certainly understand that. But again we get to the combination of player, mandolin, strings, musical style and pick. What works for one won't for another. Primetones just don't work for me.

That said, in addition to the BC I mentioned earlier, and the Jim Dunlop celluloid heavies (especially on my A/N flat-top), I like Proplecs quite a bit, the ones JazzMando sells. On the other hand, V-picks don't work for me.

It all comes down to the individual. In some ways, that's what makes it so much fun (and so much fun to post/read about).

So have fun with it!

[hank]

After my last post I paddled out into the cyber seas on my Google surf board in search of answers to my plucking questions. Dodging the abundant sales flotsam I drifted to the revelation that a pluck from a narrow hard plectrum will excite the upper harmonic more than a broad soft plectrum. The shape of the tip is important because it determines the width of the plucking part. This is why the rounded tip dawg picks of softer plastic sound darker than the more pointed very hard Blue Chip CT55 or thick pointed tip jazz style plectrum.
Ripe with plucking knowledge I hung ten on the gigantic cyber tidal wave of string choices. The internal dampening of the string material was the essence of the matter. Lighter gauge strings being easier on the fingers have a brighter sound but produce less volume and sustain, and may not bring out all the resonance and tonal richness that your mandolin can produce. Tin or chrome plated high tensile strength spring steel is the standard for unwound strings and the core of wound strings. The harder the wound wire the brighter the tone with bronze alloys favored for their strong projection and balanced tonal range. Flat wound strings generally have longer sustain with less ring than round wound strings with descriptions like"clear,brilliant, woody or non metallic tone with less punch or projection". Ivan's favorite the DR strings use Rare phosphor bronze windings using compression winding with descriptions like"crisp, warm, standout"(projection?). One of my favorites, Sam Bush Monel wound strings produce a dryer more woody tone that isn't as bright as bronze and bronze alloys.
In conclusion I am convinced that I absolutely don't understand everything I know about whatever it is I'm talking about.

[DavidKOS]

a pluck from a narrow hard plectrum will excite the upper harmonic more than a broad soft plectrum. The shape of the tip is important because it determines the width of the plucking part. This is why the rounded tip dawg picks of softer plastic sound darker than the more pointed very hard Blue Chip CT55 or thick pointed tip jazz style plectrum.
.

I much prefer the full-range tone color of the sharp point. Those high harmonics are where the mandolin lives tonally speaking, and it's characteristic of the traditional Italian mandolin.

So the Blue Chip TAD 35 arrived today.

Initial impression - excellent flatpick, nice feel and intrinsic sound, meaning not much pick noise, and seems to be a fine pick for use on my jazz archtop.

It's a bit thin for Gypsy jazz but would work if needed, but it a slam-dunk for regular jazz playing.

Not bad on the mandolin, either.

Is it worth 35 bucks? That will be determined by how well it wears. I can wear down a pick easily if the material is too soft. this looks like it will last a long time, so we'll see!

So far, I'm very pleased but not yet convinced there are the "best" picks ever.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Hank above - "In conclusion I am convinced that I absolutely don't understand everything I know about whatever it is I'm talking about.". Join the club buddy !.
From Bob Clark - " Primetones don't do it for me". No single brand/shape/thickness of pick will suit all mandolins/strings/players - why should it (they) ?. Some folk on here swear by Dawg & Golden gate picks & similar rounded,quite thick ones,but they kill anything resembling tone & volume in any of my 3 instruments - so be it !. By trying various strings/picks,i've found my favourite combo. as others have for their instruments. Very often,it's only when we meet other players with ''different'' combos. of strings/picks,that we begin to question whether we're quite right in our own choice. I was convinced that my Weber pick (it came with my Fern) sounded great until i tried a Wegen Bluegrass pick belonging to a friend. Again, i was certain that the Wegen was 'the best' until i tried a Dunlop Primetone pick ( i'd changed to DR strings at this time) & right now it's exactly what i've been looking for. I'm probably putting my foot firmly in my mouth here,but i can't see any other pick coming along to make things even 'better',& yes,i have tried BC picks. Maybe the best part of all this,is that for the first time,i'm not tempted to try any other combo. I think i'll make the old Porter Wagoner song ''Satisfied Mind' my theme tune,
Ivan

[k0k0peli]

I think i'll make the old Porter Wagoner song ''Satisfied Mind' my theme tune,

Actually it's by Lee Hayes of the Weavers. But I digress. Different picks for different situations. I love my Dunlap 0.038 picks because they're the lightest, thinnest around, just right for practicing at night without waking anyone, and appropriate for the banjo-mandolin in non-confrontational situations. (I still have the felt pick Grandpa used on this banjolin at night.) But I find the picks I cut from credit cards are a bit light.

[DavidKOS]

Anyone ever try these Clayton Stone picks? So far these work for me for gypsy jazz guitar. So do other picks...the Wegen has not arrived yet.

Anyway the Clayton Stone pick comes in several sizes up to 3mm, I'm using 2- 2.5mm ones. They're cheap - like a 6 pack for $2.99.

http://www.steveclayton.com/sstone.php

They have a grip molded in - usually I'm not happy with that but this one works. So far they seem to wear well, and have a pleasing attack but nothing extreme.

I haven't heard Clayton mentioned much during pick discussions.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From k0k0peli - "Actually it's by Lee Hayes of the Weavers". It may very well be,but of over 2 dozen versions of the song,the one that was a hit (sort of) even here in the UK,was by Porter Wagoner,in the same way that ''It's Nice to Go Travellin' " is a 'Frank Sinatra song', despite being written by Sammy Kahn & Jimmy Van Heusen,
Ivan