Small grippy Primetone triangles

[MediumMando5722]

Been enjoying these a lot lately. I have both the grippy and smooth ones, think I prefer the grip. Mine are all 1.3, so I’d like to try the 1.4 and 1.5 variety. I also think I’m gonna have Michel Wegen make me a few TF-140s this size.

[lenf12]

I've been liking the Primetone rounded triangle 1.5s a lot for the past year or so, the grippy ones with the RH bevel.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Zach Wilson]

Oddly enough, I first tried the smooth, triangular Prime Tones and loved them.

Next I tried the grippy ones with the raised lettering and didn't like them all. Different sound and feel. It sounded.... more punchy with more high end (treble). Both are speed beveled and close to the same thickness, if not identical.

I do use them when playing bass in my rock band, however.

I like Wegen TF120 over everything I own... including a BC.

[MediumMando5722]

I like Wegen TF120 over everything I own... including a BC.

Michel makes a good pick, no doubt about it.

I agree the grippy picks are indeed brighter. Also think the opaque picks compare favorably to BlueChip, which I also love.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Zach - I use the Primetone 'teardrop' shaped picks. I have 1.3mm / 1.5mm /2.0mm ones in the 'smooth' & 'grippy' styles, except for the 2mm in which i only have the 'grippy' ones. The smooth & grippy picks do indeed have different 'tones'. I find that the smooth ones are a tad 'softer' than the grippy ones,maybe because the edge bevels are smoother. They're the same material,but in 2 different forms - sheet for the smooth, & as the 'grippy' ones are moulded,the material would be suitable for a hot moulding process.

You're correct on the 'thickness' aspect as well Zach. The smooth ones,being made from sheet,are pretty spot on in the thickness. The 'grippy' moulded ones are a tiny bit over the stated thicknesses - that might be the cause of the 'extra brightness' ?. Having noticed the 'difference',i used my micrometer to measure them.

I prefer the slightly brighter 'grippy' ones,maybe because my 73 year old ears have lost a bit of their upper frequency response,but,the 'smooth' ones are still very good indeed. I bought the 2mm ones to see if they'd give me a bit more power than the 1.5mm ones,they did,but they killed any decent treble on my mandolins, & the G & D strings were very 'muddy',
Ivan

[Doug Brock]

I like the grippy semi-round 1.3mm so far (after playing a 1.5mm Blue Chip for the last few years). I bought a couple of other Prime Tone styles this weekend (though I didn't realize I was buying non-grippy versions) but after some experimentation ended back with the grippy semi-round 1.3mm style. I prefer the feel of the grippy picks and the semi-round 1.3mm just sounds good with my mandolin. Fun to experiment, and nice to have a variety on hand.

[Tavy]

Another prime tone convert here - really nice picks

[Johnny60]

The dark brown, non-grippy (ie smooth) large triangle 1.5 is a great pick. You can pull a lot of tone from one of those.

For the last year or so, I’ve been using a Blue Chip TP60 most of the time, but those PTs are seriously good picks.

[Lord of the Badgers]

Just ordered 1.5 rounded triangle grippy ones. I'd been using 1.4 but it's all thomann had
Long time primetone lover. Had a BC but fell prey to brown pick dark carpet syndrome - an expensive loss... Never again for that reason plus PT are a lot cheaper to replace!!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Rob - Myself & a friend of mine did a back to back tone comparison using the very pick that you've just ordered (mine), & his similarly shaped/thickness BC pick some years ago. If there was any difference,i couldn't hear it, & my friend thought that there were only subtle differences.The comparison was done using my Ellis "A" style & his Heiden "A" style. Any slight differences were possibly down to how the 2 different mandolins/string brand/gauge reacted to the different picks - but isn't that what trying different picks etc. is all about ?. Both mandolins however,sounded excellent with either pick. I did find it a tad hard to realise that using a BC pick didn't produce totally 'awesome' tones from my mandolin,
Ivan

[MediumMando5722]

I don’t know if I hear a difference between BC and Primetone, but I certainly feel a difference. My TAD60 goes through the string smoother.

[Paul Busman]

I don’t know if I hear a difference between BC and Primetone, but I certainly feel a difference. My TAD60 goes through the string smoother.

Just out of curiosity, have someone with a good ear listen to you play with both picks. Don't tell them which you're using or let them look and see if they can tell the difference and/or have a preference. Report back to us here. I'd encourage anyone else to run this test too.

[sblock]

Just out of curiosity, have someone with a good ear listen to you play with both picks. Don't tell them which you're using or let them look and see if they can tell the difference and/or have a preference. Report back to us here. I'd encourage anyone else to run this test too.

Yes, a blinded test is the only really meaningful one, when it comes to sound!

Also, as Chris Bowman pointed out, there is a significant difference in the "feel" of a Blue Chip pick relative to the same-thickness/shape Primetone pick, irrespective of whether it sounds much different. To my mind, the BC pick comes off the string smoother and releases more quickly, and thereby allows me to play better and faster. So it's not just about the tone -- although it's also about the tone!

[Zach Wilson]

Just out of curiosity, have someone with a good ear listen to you play with both picks. Don't tell them which you're using or let them look and see if they can tell the difference and/or have a preference. Report back to us here. I'd encourage anyone else to run this test too.

I've done this test before using a Triangular Prime Tone 1.3 (going off of memory as the writing has worn off) and a BC CT55. I feel these are the two most similar.

The PT is way brighter (like adjusting your tone knob all the way up on an electric guitar) and "clicky-er" or punchy. The BC sounded fuller and more rounded (full on the low end and higher up the neck). The BC definitely glides through the strings more efficiently and is easier to hold (doesn't slip like the PT).

Also, preformed the "drop" test (stand up straight, hold your arm out and drop each pick on a hard, flat surface) and my findings were similar. The BC sounded "fuller" and last tinny when it hit the floor.

[MediumMando5722]

To my mind, the BC pick comes off the string smoother and releases more quickly, and thereby allows me to play better and faster. So it's not just about the tone -- although it's also about the tone!

Agreed on all counts. Whenever picks, strings, Tonegards, etc... are discussed, the default response involves the audience not being able to tell the difference. First off, we're not talking night and day tonal differences with any of these things, and a good player can pull a good-enough-to-make-the-audience-happy sound out of pretty much anything. Second, the feel gets ignored like crazy, considering how important it is. If the best sounding strings in the world felt like barbed wire, no one would use them.

[MediumMando5722]

Also, preformed the "drop" test (stand up straight, hold your arm out and drop each pick on a hard, flat surface)...

This is how I pick out mandolins.

[Zach Wilson]

This is how I pick out mandolins.

Haha!

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Paul Busman - ".....have someone with a good ear listen to you play with both picks. " Paul - That's exactly what me & my friend did when we did a 'back to back' BC / PT comparison. The ONLY conclusion that we came to, was that with either pick,the 2 mandolins sounded excellent.

From Zach Wilson - "The BC sounded fuller and more rounded ..". "Fuller & rounded" is how i describe the tone of thicker,more rounded beveled picks - for me that's 'dull'. In the context of playing with other musicians,i want a brighter,more 'cutting' tone. That's not to say that i want a 'glass hard' tone,simply a tone / volume that will project. For instance,i've tried the Golden Gate & Dawg picks,& the shape / bevel / thickness, kill any semblance of tone /volume of my own mandolins,but other folk like them = personal choice !,
Ivan

[Ron McMillan]

Just ordered 1.5 rounded triangle grippy ones. I'd been using 1.4 but it's all thomann had
Long time primetone lover. Had a BC but fell prey to brown pick dark carpet syndrome - an expensive loss... Never again for that reason plus PT are a lot cheaper to replace!!

GAK (Guitar and Keyboards) in Brighton stock a good range of primetones of different shapes and thicknesses. And if you don't want to order online, there's always TAMCO to visit a short walk away.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Ron - I bought all my PT picks from GAK. Does Trevor actually stock picks ?. If so,it's something that i didn't know,
Ivan

[Ron McMillan]

Hi Ron - I bought all my PT picks from GAK. Does Trevor actually stock picks ?. If so,it's something that i didn't know,
Ivan

Reading my post again, I can see that it was pretty confusing. TAMCO do not stock picks, but that wouldn't normally stop folk like us from going in, just to browse the best selection of high-end mandolins in Europe, right?

[Ivan Kelsall]

Spot on there Ron - Anybody in the UK wishing to buy a 'good' mandolin, well set up,really only has one option - unless buying directly from one of our excellent UK builders - TAMCO. You could go nuts in there trying to figure out which one's ''the best'',when Trevor has so many superb instruments to choose from at many different price levels,
Ivan
PS - How's the 'Travelite' case holding up ?.

[LongBlackVeil]

I definitely prefer the smooth ones to the grippy ones. The grippy ones are alot brighter sounding and dont have that smooth feel on the strings.

I actually prefer the smooth primetones to my bluechips. Ill hang on to the bcs but i wont be taking them to jams anymore and wont be buying anymore. The primetones are better in everyway but especially price

[Ivan Kelsall]

Maybe i should have been a tad more 'specific' in post #10 & got my facts right !. As my friend had his BC pick = smooth,i used one of my own 1.5mm PT 'smooth' picks when we did our comparison. I'd have expected my PT 'grippy' one to have sounded 'brighter',so not a fair comparison. As i said,we couldn't say with any certainty 'which was which'. 'Which' pick we'd 'Pick',would be down to personal preferences anyway,
Ivan

[Lord of the Badgers]

Reading my post again, I can see that it was pretty confusing. TAMCO do not stock picks, but that wouldn't normally stop folk like us from going in, just to browse the best selection of high-end mandolins in Europe, right?

Indeed. Always have a pick with me - I'm sure we're all the same. Makes me smile every time I meet other mandolin players.

A guy I know who's "rather good" (putting it mildly) had this thing of dropping picks on a table to demonstrate how good it was by the sound it makes. That was his rationale of choosing his white wegen over my primetone.

The fact he's like a zillion times better than me is of course nothing to do with it.