Blue Chip picks

[Howard]

I have the RedBear, Dunlap ULTEX, Wegen Bluegrass, ULTRA COOL and others. Does anyone that has tried the Blue Chip picks have any thoughts?

[Mark Parchment]

I've used TS, Red Bear, Tortex, and Wegens. I'm currently using a triangular Blue Chip. I like it. I'm not sure I buy the claim that it sounds just like TS, but it produces a very nice sound, feels good, and wears practically forever. I spoke with the guy at Blue Chip a couple of weeks ago at the Spartanburg SC Guitar Show where Blue Chip had a booth. He was trying to sell me a pick. I took my Blue Chip out of my pocket, held it up, and told him I already had one, they were supposed to last forever, so I didn't need to buy another one. He thought that was kind of funny, and asked to see it. He told me it had more wear on it than any Blue Chip pick he'd ever seen. That really wasn't much, and was probably more a comment on my bad pick position than the pick. He cleaned and polished it, and we talked awhile. His last name is Goins. He seemed to be a very nice guy and somebody who believes strongly in his product. An interesting side note is that I thought Blue Chip picks would be blue, but they aren't. They are sort of a rust brown color.

[Stefan Jadefjord]

Matthew Goins sure is a nice guy. I have a couple of Blue Chip picks and I like them better than any other pick on the market. I played a with Wegens before and I really like their tone but the Blue Chip is so much more comfortable to play with and I think the tone is better also. No picking noise and they glide off the strings so smoothly you almost can´t feel it.

My favorite model is TP1R-40. It´s slightly larger than a regular teardrop pick (the TD model) and it has a very good speedbevel.

They are worth the 30 dollars for sure. As long as you don´t loose it, it´ll last forever. I have three TP1R so I guess I´m set for life! :-)

[Mark Parchment]

Mine is a triangular 50 and had no bevel on it when I got it, although I've eventually worn a speed bevel into it (the wear Matthew Goins alluded to). He was asking 35 dollars a piece in Spartanburg. I suppose once you buy a pick that lasts forever there's no reason to remain up on current prices! ;-) I suspect I'll probably lose it, though. I seem to have an annoyingly persistent habit of stuff like that ;-(

[Derek Shultz]

I have a TAD 60 Blue Chip pick. I like its bright tone and the low amount of friction it has on the strings. On the down side, my pick didn't have a speed bevel (I just looked at their site and the pictures seem to indicate this may have changed) and the grip is way too slick for me. The tactile issue makes the pick almost unusable to me, so the positives pretty much get swept under the rug.

If it helps, I find Red Bear picks a little slick too, even the newer ones with the holes (plus I've had two break, and I play the Heavy thickness).

Right now my preference is the Wegen TF 140 or the GP 250.

[Mark Parchment]

Derek,

While i visited with Matthew Goins at his booth in Spartanburg he cleaned and polished my pick with something. It was noticeably more tacky feeling when he gave it back. He said polishing it periodically helped with the slickness problem. I don't really understand why, but it appeared to be the case with mine. I'd suggest you drop them an email and see if you can find out what he used. I mentioned Blue Chips were supposed to last forever, so I'd probably lose it. I did, a couple of days ago. I had absolutely no idea what I did with it. I found it in the driveway this afternoon. Evidently sometime over the weekend I pulled it from my pocket with my keys and it fell into the gravel by the car. If I ran over it, it doesn't appear to have hurt it. Neither did the continual rain we have had the last several days.

[Derek Shultz]

Mark,

Thanks for the heads up on the polishing. It would be worth a try, because the slickness is something that seemed to increase over time, and I do like the tone and speed of the pick.

Also, I lost mine too. It was pretty frustrating until my wife found it under the sofa. Too bad they can't make them in DayGlo orange.

[Christopher J. Davis]

I like Wegens (1.22 tri-corner) and Blue Chips (1.6 tri-corner). I think that different situations warrant a different pick, for the subtleties of tone difference. (You don't eat steak for EVERY meal, do you?) For a situation with two guitars, definitely Blue Chip, but in a band I like the Wegens more.

[Stefan Jadefjord]

I made a new group for Blue Chip fans! Come join!

[Howard Band]

Howard Band here. I've tried them all. And, Red Bear and Wegens are great picks. But, I've settled on Blue Chip. I play the tri corner 40 (about 1 mm I'm told). They are expensive, but worth trying.

[Steve Hart]

I've been using Blue Chip for three months now and REALLY like it!

[Shawn Corley]

Ive used Red-Bear,Blue Chip, and Wegen........I prefer the Dunlop Ultex 1.14.......Hell of a lot cheaper!!!! It's all about the tone and attack of a player....Ive seen alot of good pickers that could not draw sound out of a guitar.... A 40 pick is not going to make you a better player.

 

[Peter Dollard]

My teacher played with a match book cover one time and put me to shame.... admittedly this was a long time ago but it brings to mind the emperors new picks: the mind has as much to do with playing as anything else. In a blind test a really good guitar player could fool anyone. I am not against new and even expensive guitar picks but with me it isn't the be all end all just cause you paid twenty dollars for a pick. New strings hell yeah but picks I don't know past a certain point it is all about manipulation of our desire to have the newest the "best"....