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I've been curious about these picks for a while and I've got to say, they're pretty cool...
I was out in Texas for work and on one of my music store visits I noticed their selection of Blue Chips and asked all of the standard questions you might ask about expensive picks. The crew at the store all used them personally and were kind enough to let me try out their personal picks that they've been using for years. None of the picks had any sign wear on them.
I typically use Fender heavy celluloid 347's and love their tone but hate how they wear down and get scratchy sounding. To my ears the Blue Chips have a very similar tone but they really don't wear down! I usually throw away a pick after every gig and from an environmental/wasteful standpoint it really bugged me that that became my habit.
Feel-wise the Blue Chips almost have a wet feel to them when they come in contact with the string, if that makes any sense. They kinda just glide across with hardly any pick noise. I've noticed my hands are less tired after several hours of playing too because the pick isn't fighting the string.
Based on my local music stores price on picks for this to make financial sense I need to not lose this pick for 105 gigs... That might be hard but given the cool feel the pick has when it hits the string I wouldn't be too upset if I lost it half way through.
If you were on the fence about trying them out I really encourage you to give them a shot. I'm using the TD 60 right now and have no complaints.
Cheers,
PeterLast edited by petermelton; 09-12-2016 at 01:11 PM.
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04-14-2015 07:37 PM
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I felt foolish buying my first one over 2 years ago. I mean, $35 for a pick? Really? But resistance was futile! I soon bought 2 more. Since then I've gotten 4 more as holiday gifts. I rotate them randomly. None of them show any signs of wear. I figure I now have a lifetime supply! Mine are the Jazz 60 (1.5 mm) model: Jazz III shape, perfect bevel, feel grippy between my thumb and finger but slippery on the strings. I use them exclusively on my archtop (roundwound 12's). Attack is very smooth; tone is clear and full.
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Yes! BC Jazz 50's and 60's are the bee's knees for mees...
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I will never use another pick now that I have tried Blue Chip picks.
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I'll have to try that jazz shape. I used to use jazz III's so I could probably get used to it again fairly easily. I wish they offered a 347 shape but it looks like they don't do custom orders.
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The Blue Chip TPR-40 has been my only pick for the past 7 years, it comes closest to the tone and feel of the tortoise shell pick my teacher made for me many years ago.
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I start using the TP 50 after trying all kind of picks. I don't think I will find something better.
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I've been using Jazz 60 for about 2 years. The best money I ever spent.
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UK price: £38.00 GBP.
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I'm with you. I bought a gross of D'Andrea extra heavy 347s a few years ago and am very happy with them, but I'd spring for a 347 Blue Chip in a heartbeat. I don't understand why they won't make that shape. AFAIK, it's pretty popular with jazz players.
Originally Posted by petermelton
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Note: Not available on Amazon.
Maybe they will have one at the guitar show.
Here is Julian Lage talking about it.
BlueChip Picks | The perfect connection to your instrument.
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Great picks. Luckily, I like my D'Andrea's better, and i can get 30 of em for the price of one unobtanium Blue Chip.
I had one though. I sold it. Selling a single pick was the weirdest thing I've done in a long time.
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I'm very interrested in a blueChip pick, but i can't decide wich one yet , so i need some advice guys!
i will mostly use it for an ibanez GB10 flatwound 0.12 for mostly jazz , fast bebop lines (i'm still learning though)
i think i want to avoid very pointy picks in the style of III.
what models do you think will work for me , as i can't afford testing 'em all !
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Not Blue Chip but the Red Bear Styles D and A are pretty close to a 347. Originally Posted by FourOnSix
Also, on the cheaper side, D'Andrea has the 347 in Formula Delrex, which I believe is Delrin. I don't know if they're the ones you use. I mention it because Delrin is very durable and it sounds close to the BC material IMHO, and it feels just a little different.
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The only way I'm paying $35 for a pick if it comes with Margot Robbie.
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The pick will look better, longer. Jes' sayin'. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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Ahhhh...! A Zombie guitar pick thread!!! Really since you asked, I'd suggest the Blue Chip Kenny Smith 60... a good size without the pointy-ness. They worked great for me... but I've been seduced to the pointy side - BC Jazz 60.
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It always bemuses me that some guys will pay $5k+ for a guitar but balk at $25 for a pick. A single set of TI Swings cost that much!
I use Wegen Trimus picks myself. 3.5mm on my Teles and 5mm on my Guild and Gypsy. Blue Chip picks are too thin for my tastes.
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Never tried BC but as far as wear goes, Dunlop Ultex does not wear and has a great tone. I've got a friend who uses John Petrucci picks and he says they don't wear at all. He gave me a few but I find them a few mm too big for me. Both are worth checking out if you don't want to spend $35 - $75 on a single pick.
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I have been using the same brasilian agate pick for 31 years now. Once i lost it for about three months, found it again in a drawer into which it it obviously fell from the top of my desk without me noticing. Originally Posted by petermelton
By now it has become a unconscious habit to always know where it is. When i bought it in 1985 i would never have believed it to be possible to last that long.
edit: ..... i must have played over two thousand gigs with it.Last edited by JazzNote; 08-21-2016 at 04:01 PM.
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I have 3 BC 100 picks that cost me $75 EACH. They are made out of a Dupont thermoplastic meant to be used as aircraft engine bearings.
They don't wear out, have a soft non-clacky tone, glide off strings smoothly but I found I prefer a celluloid 0.75mm pick! Lose 100 and the cost is the same.
So, chacun à son goût.
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I play about 50/50...50-percent fingerstyle, 50-percent with a pick (or a pick and fingers like Danny Gatton and some of the ex-banjo guys do--I started out on banjo as a kid).
For my picking chores, I started out with the very typical Fender 351 pick in acetate (fake tortoise shell). I stayed with that pick for years until I switched to the Gibson jazz style pick for about 25 years. Then I gradually was won over by my flatpicking buddies. One of my former students is the only person ever to win multiple Galax National flatpicking championships, the Doc Watson championship, and Wayne Henderson Championship (plus he won the super-WH when they took the ten Wayne Henderson winners and had them compete against each other). His name is Scott Fore. Scott always used a pretty big, stiff pick. This moved me in that direction.
Gradually, I worked all the way over towards the kind of pick that the Gypsy/Django guys use. Acetate (tortoise is illegal) 351 style picks in the 3.5mm-5mm thickness range, with a beveled tip to make the pick glide through the strings really ended up doing the trick for me.
A number of companies make a pick like this. The Blue Chip is a great pick. The Dugain is another--and is the one I use.
I don't see why anyone who uses a several thousand dollar instrument and $30 strings would balk at the expense of a pro quality pick. As the flatpickers and Django-ologists have long known, this is where tone production begins.
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Yeah, but if I lose Margot the way I lose picks, she'll be gone long before that happens. Originally Posted by ah.clem
The pick will look better, longer. Jes' sayin'.
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Ive been using Blue Chip picks for 5 years now and they are absolutely wonderful. I currently use a Jazz 50 and Large Jazz 50. Worth every penny in my opinion.
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Originally Posted by Tom Karol
i have some of these picks - no longer use them. i'd be happy to sell them on at reasonable prices. i have three or four probably - including two of the 80 - the thickest and insanely expensive jazz one.
just saying...
great picks
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