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Having lost my Blue Chip I would say that Pro Plek is the way to go. They sound great and you won't cry if you lose one.
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12-28-2018 09:29 AM
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Not sure if you will like this or not but I have my pickups far from the strings -you may need a more overwound PU or pickup that is still full sounding - nearly decked.
If I pick hard you hear the articulation - very soft it's almost like the tappers/legato players even picking every note.
And pick noise is much lower.
So lowering pickups a little might be good- I like lower noise picks too.
'Isn't that cheating ?' Making you sound better than you really are ?
Absolutely....I put in my ridiculous number of hours ..you can tell ...but why make it harder?Last edited by Robertkoa; 01-30-2019 at 12:09 PM.
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I'm a little late to the party, but I have a suggestion that I'm surprised hasn't yet been proposed: the Dunlop Prime Tone Sculpted Plectrum 2.5.
I've been on the quest for thick picks that don't click for years. Along the way, I stopped at Dunlop Jazztone 207's which were great, but the rounded corners turned me off a bit, then the Dragon's Heart Pure pick. The Dragon's Heart was made of material very similar to that of the Blue Chips, and while the material and the 2.5mm thickness felt great, the size was just a touch too small for my liking.
Finally I came to the Dunlop Prime Tones. The advantage here is that the material is wonderful in that it doesn't click, and the size is a standard teardrop so that if I want to experiment with other thicknesses and materials there won't be much of a learning curve.
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In the meantime I have changed the Dunlop Jazztones 207 to Fender 346 Extra Heavy. The Jazztone 207 made a lot of clicks since I changed to 13 flatwounds.
Originally Posted by Musgo Real
Same here, I also use the Dunlop Jazztone 207 in size L. No noises or clicks. Paid 4,60 Euro for a pack of six.
Will try the Dugain Acetate, too. Thanks for the tip, mambosun.
The Fender 346 don´t make any noise or clicks and produce a very warm sound. The large rounded triangle pick provide three edges to use and also you can get them for a reasonable price.
Last edited by Musgo Real; 02-21-2019 at 12:44 PM.
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If you come across this one, I think you should give it a try:
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‘‘Tis got me to thinking about the PRICE of quality picks/plectrums. I’m really thinking about buying a 1.0 mm sheet of acetate and cutting my own.
Acetate: Sheets
delrin: Large Selection of Acetal Delrin Sheets In Stock and Cut-to-Size
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I've made picks from old CDs, and they make decent picks, but it's a lot of work. I would stack a half dozen or so CDs, clamp them together, and cut the shapes out with a jeweler's saw, then finish and polish with files and sandpaper. But in the end it was more work than it was worth to me. But if you're really frugal, it's a cheap way to get a lot of picks. I still have CDs sitting around that contain obsolete software. I'm really glad those became obsolete themselves.
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I like the D'Addario Acrylux Nitra picks. They are 1.5mm and come in either jazz or standard shape. They are made of a combination of acrylic and nitrate. The Acrylux Reso picks are brighter and made of acrylic only. I have tried many other heavy picks including Big Stubby, John Pearse Fast Turtle and a few types of Dunlops. I wound up preferring either D'Andrea Pro Plecs and Dunlop Primetones. Experimenting with these new Acrylux picks, I could hear less clicking with them compared to all the other picks. They have a nice dark tone. They are not expensive, $10 for three picks.
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Nobody tried the Fender Tru-Shells?
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Hi all, long, long-time lurker, this would be my first post.
I just tried the new Ibanez Elastomer picks. The feel and tone was a surprise so I wanted to pass this along.
For years I have used a politically-incorrect vintage biological material (PIVBM) for picks. I recently tried a Blue Chip pick because I've been curious for a long time. To me, it feels and sounds identical to my PIVBM picks but Blue Chip picks aren't as thick as I like.
Last week I bought a set of three Ibanex Elastomer picks for $6.95 off Amazon, again out of curiosity. They're available in soft and hard...I liked that they are as thick as 2.2mm, so I ordered this.
This pick was a surprise. To my ears it sounds like I am finger picking. You can't get these to chirp if you tried. I've swapped back and forth many times and, again to my ears, it has a very soft sound like you're using your fingers. And that's using the hard version. Now I'm really curious what the soft version would sound like.
I like the triangular shape but the Ibanez triangular picks are huge. I will probably file/shape these down to size this weekend.
No affiliation with Ibanez, just passing it along for the pick junkies pursuing the holy grail.
Cheers,
Jon
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Jon,
Welcome, long-time lurker. The picks look interesting and your review is compelling. I went ahead and ordered a pack. Thanks.
GT
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FWIW, Blue Chip picks come in thicknesses up to 0.100" or 2.54mm. Certainly not cheap at that thickness, but all you need are many pictures of dead Presidents.
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The Blue Chip picks are great. I rate them right behind Dugain acetate.
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what about a regular fender extra heavy? That's what martino used on all the early albums. I don't hear any chirp here:
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I did a series of boutique pick reviews on the prsforum a long time ago, there's a ton of stuff out there. I came across a pick that I have found to have a pretty smooth attack. I love the thickness, the material, the edge design, the controllable attack, and overall tone, BUT I TOTALLY HATE THE SHAPE. So much that I ended up getting some plastic putty to augment it, in fact it ended up custom to my hand & a little better performing for that. Depending on how you hold a pick it may not even be an issue, some might even prefer it, but I didn't.
Anyway, it's my main pick just for it's tone and playability, tested Blue Chip, Red Bear, V pick, Winspear, Gravity, & more, but I liked the tone of this the best. I actually own a couple pre-1960's real turtle shell picks, so that's what I hold the tone standard to, Red Bear & Dragon came closest to my ears, and Blue chip & V pick had the best playability (although slightly chirpy).
Dragon Heart picks
(*I am not affiliated with this company, just a review)
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Pro plec
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I was at JoAnn fabrics today to get burgundy felt and saw these horn buttons and thought to myself “that might be able to turn into a good pick”. So I bought it and cut it in two and shaped them. But they clicked worse than my tortex picks. I think for now I’ll stick with those or just use my thumb.
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I've tried horn picks, and bone picks, and I don't like them much. Plus all sorts of other materials, both natural and synthetic. I haven't found any natural materials that I can live with.
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we all get so caught up in equipment sometimes but when I studied with Pat Martino, he was using fender extra heavy. I don't recall ever hearing chirp from that. Is there a need for a boutique solution?
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It is a gear forum, so I suppose unpacking the fine variations of picks fits best here. Originally Posted by jzucker
There seems to be considerable variation in what sounds chirpy to a given player.
Some of the suggested picks here are major chirp machines in my opinion.
Maybe we hear chirps differently, or maybe there actually is a different chirp-o-sity from one player to the next while using the same pick.
Most find that Pro-pleks are extremely un-chirpy. But they also can be too rounded at the high end for some.
The Dunlop primetones sit really interestingly between the classic Fender and the Pro-Plek on the international chirp scale (ICS). So that might be just the ticket for someone.
Maybe Pat Martino just chirps less that others regardless of the pick.
Funny that in the late 70’s he was promoting the old “Min’d” picks make of stone. Those were the chirpy-est things ever.
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In my view, chirp comes from striking an already vibrating string. Some players have a style of damping and playing very clean notes on non-vibrating strings. Others have a very fluid style, especially in chord-melody, where you are constantly picking already vibrating strings.
I think this is where much of the varied views (on the chirp-o-meter) of a given pick originate.
Fun thread. I want to try those Ibanez picks.
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Pat Martino plays semi hollow guitars, and they are good enough for him, so why play archtops?
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Not to be a wise-a__, but... thumb. A mellow, click-free sound. Worked great for a guitar genius we all idolize. On a ballad, works for me too.
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Yeah, thumb is great for some things. However, if you've been playing all your life with a pick, it's going to be a real challenge to get any speed up. Thumb + finger/s? Still working on it. Meanwhile, the Dunlop Jazztone is working for me - I even glued one to a thumbpick. Still working on that, too. Wish I had more time.
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Thanks PT for explaining the chirpometer. I've been scratching my head about this thread since it started, and now you explain I can imagine it. Maybe I've even heard it somewhere......In my view, chirp comes from striking an already vibrating string...
Must really be a thick/hard pick thing. I never used anything but fender medium 358. By the gross. Totally expendable. Never had a reason to change. Guess I'm kinda out to lunch when it comes to picks.
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Take a nickel and play some quiet chord-melody. I think you will hear some chirp just as the nickel strikes an already vibrating string. Originally Posted by ccroft
Now imagine (or actually do it) playing an Eb on the G string, then going up to F.
If you slide up and pick the F you may hear a chirp with the nickel. If instead you lift your finger, then re-fret at the F note, the vibration is damped. You will likely hear less or even no chirp.
I am not at all criticizing any playing style. I am just contemplating my opinion of why some players have a lower ICS rating with a given pick than others.
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