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Thread: Blue Chip Pick Slip

  1. #1
    Formerly F5JOURNL Darryl Wolfe's Avatar
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    Default Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Anyone have problems with these picks being more slippery than any other pick?

    I just sanded all of mine to get a bit more grip...maybe my technique is waning, but I'm all off a sudden having problems with them,,,,

    I love them, but just recently played enough to realize the situation
    Darryl G. Wolfe, The F5 Journal
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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    there's all kinds of things you can do for traction: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...-wandering-off

    There was a story about how Eddie van Halen and Les Paul met for the first time to jam and they both pulled out picks with sandpaper glued to them. Great minds and all that.
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  3. #3
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    I find them very sticky and easy to hold unless the environment is fairly cold, which means my fingers are dry and then it can be a little slippery. In neutral or humid conditions the smooth surface grabs better for me than most other picks that have roughed surfaces or bumps.

    Whenever it's cold and starts to feel a little slippery, I just lick my index finger and thumb, which makes a nice sticky contact against the BC surface. Your mileage or personal hygiene may vary.

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  5. #4
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Wow Darryl, This just started to happen to me as well! Was slipping last night at a jam, and I've been roughing one of mine up today!

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  7. #5
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    They can get slippery due to finger oils, when they do I wash them with soap and water. Makes them smooth and sticky just like new.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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  9. #6
    Middle-Aged Old-Timer Tobin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    A lot of people say that BC picks get sticky when warm, but I've never experienced that. I've always found them to be slippery in my hands regardless of temperature. But then again, I have sweaty hands, so I get that with almost everything. Sweat and natural oils in the skin will definitely make any smooth surface slippery. Even if you never had that problem in the past, it's possible that your skin chemistry is changing as you age, or with dietary changes, etc.

    I just make sure to keep a cloth handy for wiping my hands, and I wash them regularly with soap (before playing, and during playing as needed). You may also find that having a small alcohol wipe close by will be helpful to clean the pick off, as well as the parts of your hand that touch it. And I always play with the lettered side of the pick touching my thumb, hoping to get a tiny bit of friction there.

    If the conditions are such that I just can't seem to keep my pick from slipping, I switch over to my Dunlop Primetone pick (with the textured surface).

  10. #7
    Registered User Tony Sz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    I find that there are 2 things that help. #1 is that when you feel the the chip is a bit slippery, wash it with soap and water. The other thing that helps in a dry environment is to moisturize your hand! I rub in some moisturizer in the area that holds the pick, and problem solved. Really helps in the winter months.
    Tony Szczygielski

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  12. #8
    Registered User Hendrik Ahrend's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Darryl, I see what you mean. Moisten is something Monroe did frequently. But apart from that I found that problem only appearing with the larger picks, whick keep turning and slipping between my fingers. Note how some players with larger picks, most notably Chris Thile, hold their pick different from the Monroe way (the latter I prefer BTW). Anyhow, I went for the smaller BCs, TD (using the two rounded corners) and most recently the STP or even the tiny Kenny Smith model, and haven't had any problems since. I'm not even sure why that is, but I seem to be able now to "reset" the pick while playing.
    Greetings,
    Hendrik

  13. #9
    Formerly F5JOURNL Darryl Wolfe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Quote Originally Posted by Henry Eagle View Post
    Darryl, I see what you mean. Moisten is something Monroe did frequently. But apart from that I found that problem only appearing with the larger picks, whick keep turning and slipping between my fingers. Note how some players with larger picks, most notably Chris Thile, hold their pick different from the Monroe way (the latter I prefer BTW). Anyhow, I went for the smaller BCs, TD (using the two rounded corners) and most recently the STP or even the tiny Kenny Smith model, and haven't had any problems since. I'm not even sure why that is, but I seem to be able now to "reset" the pick while playing.
    Greetings,
    Hendrik
    Thanks all..I guess I'm not alone. I am using the CT's and TAD's

    The sanding and the obvious wash your hands seems to cure it for me
    Darryl G. Wolfe, The F5 Journal
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    the smaller BCs, TD (using the two rounded corners) and most recently the STP or even the tiny Kenny Smith model,
    Funny, size is in the hand of the beholder....to me, the KS60 is surely not tiny and is rather perfect for me. Compared to a CT55 or a large triangle, it is smaller but compared to what I had been using (Harley Allen's old ts), it is much larger.

  15. #11
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    I almost never experience slipping but on the occasion it happens, I just slightly lick my pick holding fingers and everything is fine. I only have to do that once when I start playing and that's it. I use the SR 60.
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  16. #12
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Same here. Lick fingers just as if am turning pages, that does it.

  17. #13
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    I have put those small round reinforcements on picks to help grip them, those little round things with holes in them that are used on loose leaf notebook paper to keep the holes from tearing out....I have also drilled small holes in some picks to help me to be able to hold them a little better..

    Willie

  18. #14
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    They seem to have some kind of natural material stickiness, which is restored with a little soap and water.
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  19. #15
    Registered User T.D.Nydn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    I lick my thumb also,,I not sure it's a stickyness, but it creates sort of an adhesion between you and the pick like more of a suction......

  20. #16
    Gummy Bears and Scotch BrianWilliam's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    I live in the mountains, use a CT55 almost exclusively, and very rarely throw a pick. When I do, I blame the beer

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  22. #17
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    At work we have some smooth material gliding over a smoother surface. It drags sometimes and sanding the surface breaks up surface tension. I always thought the reason BC picks were do grippy was the really smooth surface.

  23. #18
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Wilson View Post
    At work we have some smooth material gliding over a smoother surface. It drags sometimes and sanding the surface breaks up surface tension. I always thought the reason BC picks were do grippy was the really smooth surface.
    Same thinking here. It's counter-intuitive, since most people probably think a rougher surface grips better. But there is something about the contact of the rough skin surface against a super smooth finish like the BC that doesn't slip for me.

    Maybe it's the "gecko effect" of the ridges and indentations of the skin at a micro level adding a bit of suction against the surface, like a gecko's feet on a glass window. Geckos probably don't climb as well on a rough concrete wall. Might explain why licking one's fingers make it even stickier, like wetting a suction cup to help the seal. Well that's my theory for the day, and I'm sticking to it.

  24. #19
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Geckos probably don't climb as well on a rough concrete wall.
    But they save a ton of money by switching to Geico....sry, coudn't resist...

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  26. #20
    Registered User dwc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    It has been my experience that Blue Chips are among the stickiest picks I have found. I played over the weekend in a poorly insulated building when it was raining outside. Humidity was off the charts. My BC stayed sticky/tacky all night.

  27. #21
    Registered User Drew Egerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Definitely soap and water. I like to use my liquid dish soap. Especially if I've eaten something greasy.

    OK, OK. I've almost always just eaten something greasy.

    I will also just quickly rub the pick and my fingers on the couch or my pants for a quick improvement but washing is best. I laughed at that until I did it.

  28. #22
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    The BCs are the easiest pick to hold on to I've ever used, although it can get pretty slippery if it gets greasy. Soap and water takes care of the problem for me, too, but I haven't had to wash it often.

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  30. #23
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    +1) I take the pick with me to the WC, wash my hands and the pick with soap and water,
    and by removing the oils from my skin and what is on the pick, it is not as slippery.


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  31. #24
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    Maybe it's the "gecko effect" of the ridges and indentations of the skin at a micro level adding a bit of suction against the surface, like a gecko's feet on a glass window. Geckos probably don't climb as well on a rough concrete wall. ...
    I can't argue the science, but I have seen many many geckos on the sides of stucko buildings in the tropical Pacific islands.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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  32. #25
    Registered User sblock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Blue Chip Pick Slip

    +1 wash your pick.

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