Some people will pay .35 cents, some will pay $35... What are you willing to spend on pick?
If there's a high likelihood the pick will enhance my technique, tone and volume then I think $35-$40 is probably the ceiling within my means. Anything higher than that then the ramifications of losing it end up being financial as well as tonal
I've paid the $35 for a Blue Chip pick, TD-50, bought it about three years ago. I've never regretted this purchase. The pick has a way of pulling the tone out of the guitar like no other pick I've used, including the real tortoise shell (bought a couple of those in my day also). I've had it about three years and the wear on it is just barely visible. Should be good for another ten years. Only pick I use on my guitars but don't care much for it on the mandolin. I use a Dunlop 1.14 on the mando. When it comes to my music, I buy the very best that I can afford at the time, I use only Elliott and my original McKinney Tony Rice capos.
What The ....
Golden Gate...around a Buck on e-bay does it for me.
I have a blue chip and couldn't be happier. I figure it is no different than someone spending alot on a bow for violins, cellos, etc...
I have been researching different materials for making picks, and it is amazing how expensive some of the picks are vs. how cheap the materials are to buy. I have been considering buying a sheet of TIVAR1000 and working with someone to CNC some picks out of it. I can get the sheet shipped to my house for $60, and if I pay $100 to have my pick design cut out, I can get 650 picks for $160.
There is another guy selling TIVAR picks and is charging $25 each, so a batch of 650 would yield $16,250. Subtract the the $160, plus $7 for little ziplock bags, $20 for business cards in each bag, $100 for envelopes, maybe $400 for postage and your left with $15,563. The only work having to be done is to finish sanding each pick to remove sharp edge which is maybe a 1 weekend project, and then the next weekend pre-bag all the picks with business cards. Throw in some money for a website, some marketing at some bluegrass festivals, etc... and your still looking at a VERY hefty profit.
Not that I have looked into this kind of thing at all...
My answer to this question has changed over time.
Under a dollar - Early on in my learning, I saw no point in paying more than 50 cents. I felt no pressure to play a 'recommended' pick, or to emulate anyone else's style or habits. I was in this stage for 10 years.
$5 - A few years later I tried out a couple of picks that famous people use. "Hmm. They like this one, I'll give it a shot. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me." I trained myself to like those picks because I trusted their judgement/advertising. I didn't see any real benefit to paying up to $12 for a pick. I'd reach into my collection and play what I had in my hand. I played in this stage for 5 years.
$35 - Blue Chip. I figured I'd splurge and try it out as an experiment. Possibly it would be a waste of money. If I liked it, it would be expensive. I was blown away by a pick for the first time ever. Wow. Passages I could not play fast enough were now not a problem. It was the first time that the friction of the pick on the strings was just right for me. For me, it is as close to perfection as I have experienced. Other picks now are awkward, catch on the strings wrong, and otherwise slippery. I will not play any other pick. I've been enjoying BC picks for about 5 years.
I have a fiddle and it costs more than $35 just to get it re-haired. I've played mandolin with a piece of plastic I found on the ground or a cut out of a piece of someone's plastic id. So free is an option. When I hear someone play, I don't judge it based on the pick they use. I learned from my middle phase of chasing down what other people play that it might just be hype and advertising and sales. There are plenty of expensive picks that don't do it for me.
In answer to the thread question... I'd pay what it takes to have a pick that works for me.
I bought two Blue Chips and have enjoyed them very much (lost one, darn it). Still have the 50 3R with three different points.
Probably will never buy another (though never say never) since I found "Papa's Picks" at 1/3 the price. http://www.guitaradoptions.com/papas_picks/
These are made from casein with the same properties as tortise shell. They are every bit as good as the Blue Chip picks (IMHO) except for the fact that they are somewhat smaller. I like the medium-heavy and heavy weights.
So, my current price threshold for picks is around $15.
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Like everyone, I got a bunch of picks. I do like my blue chip; but to me it's not enough better than the Wegens, GG, and Tortex etc. that I've always played on to go to any special lengths to get more. The price isn't that big a deal to me; none of us can be pursuing this work/hobby/avocation to try and save money. My current favorite pick is a great big thick Dunlop Americana that a fellow cafe member sent me to try. The tone is fine, but the volume is way more than any other pick I've used. Whenever you think picks cost too much go out and price some fiddle bows...I know guys who spend more on their bows than most of us spend on our instrument!
Probably less than £1. I've tried many picks over 45 years and gave my two Wegens away... they were good but not the best for me. The picks I prefer now are Dunlop Ultex, followed closely by Japanese Kasho celluloids. For a few things I use an old TS pick I've had for 30 years and I quite like the Pro-Plecs that are included with Jazzmando strings.
If I thought it would significantly improve my playing, I'd pay a lot. In my case, the money would be better spent on lessons.
Living’ in the Mitten
Pay for a pick? Who pays for picks? Why would you pay for a pick when they're so easy to swipe?
OK, I'm kidding! Guys! Geez!
I'm in the 35¢ camp. Seems to me I was seeing them 2-3 for a buck. Maybe the Dunlops I like - 1.5mm or 2mm - were about a buck. But I never have seen the point in spending more than that for a piece of plastic, however high-tech they claim to be. Certainly not on spec. Which is not to say I didn't enjoy that Wegen for a year, though that was mostly because it was of a similar thickness and also big enough for a solid grip - plus the little holes helped there - but it was a gift. Sad to see it go (no idea how I lost it), but I just dug out my good old Dunlops and I'm back in action.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
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I will assume this a legitimate question, and not an instigation to an innevitable lock down.
I will restate the question:
Are you willing to spend one tenth as much, ONE TIME, on something that enhances your tone and playability, as you would willingly spend to set up your mandolin properly.
Are you willing to spend a quarter as much, ONE TIME, on something that enhances your tone and playability, as you would willingly spend MONTHLY on lessons?
Are you willing to spend a tenth as much, ONE TIME, on something that enhances your tone and playability, as you would SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR on festivals?
Are you willing to spend as much, ONE TIME, on something that enhances your tone and playability, as you spend on Netflix EVERY MONTH?
Are you willing to spend as much, ONE TIME, on something that enhances your tone and playability, as you blow at the diner ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH?
Are you willing to spend as much, ONE TIME, on something that enhances your tone and playability, as you spend EVERY WEEK on cigarettes, whisky, waffles and ice cream, Batman Comics or other indulgences of dubious long term value?
Paid $35 for real T-shell and have not regretted it. Love the sound and feel.
You don't have to give up waffles and ice cream entirely. Just once.
And I am not sensitive to the argument that you lose your picks, so its more of a consumable than a one time expenditure. Just stop losing them. You don't lose cell phones, remote car starter buttons, mp3 players, or other small losable expensive items. Not twice you don't.
I am pretty sure I have never spent as much as a dollar on a pick, but I don't know that my playing warrants spending any more than that.
Of course that may mean I don't have any business responding to this thread.
Bill Snyder
Right, it does require an attitude adjustment if you're used to buying inexpensive picks by the bag. I made that transition after trying my first expensive pick, a Red Bear, and then later settling on a Blue Chip model. One learns to develop consistent habits in pick storage and handling, to avoid continually losing picks. Sometimes it takes losing one or two, before that kicks in (it did for me).
On the other hand, I don't think the more expensive picks ever completely lose their "consumable" status, due to the small size. All you have to do is accidentally drop one through the boards of a deck at a dockside restaurant, for example. And even picks like the Blue Chip suffer some wear and change of texture at the picking surface.
I've owned four Blue Chips in the last few years. I lost one due to carelessness (before getting my "pick management routine" down), and sold off another one that wasn't the right shape for me. I now keep two identical ones in rotation as my main and backup picks. Due to the wear cycle, I think I might be on a program of buying a new one every two years or so, unless I find a way to restore the original bevel (a subject for another thread). That's a small price to pay.
When you buy a $35 pick, it's amazing at how well you are able to track it suddenly.
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I was a pick loser as well for as long as I could remember, until I got a couple of Blue Chips. Somehow you always seem to know and care where they are. BTW regarding the OP's question, 40 bucks. Like everyone else when I first heard of the 40 dollar pick thought 'thats crazy no way' until I tried one. 40 times better than an ultex? Nope, but the law of diminishing returns is something we just deal with as musician's.
JeffD, I don't know anyone that plays mandolin, so no I have never tried a high end pick.
Bill Snyder
Gee whiz, Jeff! I never really thought of it before, but context can be a real buzz kill! I mean, if you put almost any kind of expenditure in the right context it can be made to seem justifiable. For instance, the $200 I sweated over paying for a used amp paid for itself in a gig and a half, but if I had paid twice as much and gotten a new one I wouldn't be having the problems I have been with it (maybe), and that would have paid for itself in three gigs. Which out of a lifetime of gigs isn't that much. Right? So a pick that costs as much as a steak dinner for yourself and the SO is justifiable if it lasts you years, as it works out to not so much per year. Right? Like that Wegen I mentioned. I was planning to get years out of it, owing to its hardness and size, which would have meant a long time for it to wear down and be unusable. Until I lost it, of course ... Oh well!
Then again, when I dropped the amp off at the store for the repairman to give it the once-over, they had a little dish of odds and ends picks there for whomever/whatever, including a Dunlop 2mm mandolin pick (I guess - one of those small ones). I left that, but helped myself to a couple of Fender guitar picks, one heavy, one extra heavy (possibly - lettering is worn off). These should last me the rest of the decade, maybe the rest of my life, and the price was so right. With the money I saved I might just treat myself to a lobster dinner, never mind the steak!
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I've spent $50 and felt it was worth, I do have several BC picks. I dunno, it's all very subjective. I do lose one once in a while and it's a pretty big bummer with the expensive ones.
PJ
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