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Sure! But the usual way to do a Flat Stanley is to make a list of the recipients and send it / him with that list to the first one, with instructions for each to send it on to the next person after using it and posting impressions on the forum. A picture and/or brief story about his adventure is strongly encouraged. I’ll probably take Stanley Pick to the club, buy him a beer, use him for the show, record it and post a tune with a picture of him trying to pick up one of the waitresses [ahem: pick…….up].
Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
These days it may sit better with people to use the PM system to send addresses, rather than include them all on an openly circulated list. If this plan makes sense to others, I’ll be happy to start it. I’ll PM my mailing address to you, get Stan first, and await a PM from the next person on the list with his or her address. If you’ll keep the list and let each of us know who’s after us, we can get the addresses ourselves when we’re ready.
Or, if that’s more than others want to do, I’m happy to try the pick and return it.
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12-22-2021 02:33 PM
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Oh, that's exactly my plan...was hoping for a bunch of "yes, ill try it!" responses. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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You have to smoothen the edge on the BlueChip!
I too dislike that scratchiness from a new BlueChip. The speed bevel is a tad sharp for my taste, and requires some buffing.
I'm using the 3M Flexible Polishing Papers for this (real handy for fret polish etc too), and for smoothing every month or two (when the pick start to get uneven from wear). 600 and then 1200.
The BlueChip really has the slickest and most durable material of any pick I've ever tried. Wegen is not too far away though, and makes shapes that is more to my liking, so I'm using them instead (they also sound way too scratchy before getting some polishing love).
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$35 for an unfinished pick?
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I've never felt the need to do anything to a Blue Chip except pluck guitar strings. I've never found one with rough edges, and I have 7 or 8 of them. Thanks, Jeff, but I have a TD60 and I know what it sounds like. Bright and scratchy is not at all my experience, but I obviously haven't tried that exact pick. I have 3 different 60s, and they're all rather dark, in fact too dark for some guitars, but perfect on others.
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Well, I'd like to give it a try! Put me on the list!
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+1. I have 3 that I use every day, and have never felt the need to mod or adjust any of them. Originally Posted by sgosnell
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Hah...nah, but they're obviously not to your liking as is. You don't adjust things to your liking? Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
And picks get worn. Nails get worn. Clothes get dirty
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Totally, the thicker they are the darker they are. The 40 and 50 work well for me, and the 50 is noticeably darker. I've never had any scratchiness, or even a sharp edge, on ones I've had for a few years. Originally Posted by sgosnell
I"m a happy user, they are the best I've found by far. I might feel different if I was gigging and losing them all the time.
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Before I started playing archtops, I had a decidedly bluegrass-ish approach to playing my dreadnoughts, although I also occasionally played them with fingers.
After I discovered Bluechip picks, I never went back. I have a number of them, and each flat-top guitar (at one point I owned 5, 3 of them dreads – all high end Martins) had one in the strings, ready to go. The sound I got from those picks – straight from the factory – was perfect, and they were so easy sliding over the strings. I never dropped one, either – they seemed to stay between my fingers without being sticky. And I didn't mind paying $35 for a pick to play a $5k-and-up guitar.
I kept using them when I discovered archtops several years ago. But I tried a new kid on the block – an Apollo pick, touted by a thread on TheUnofficialMartinGuitarForum – not expecting anything, really, and knowing I could always find someone to give it to. I didn't like it as much as the Bluechip on my last remaining dread, but it was a revelation on my Eastman archtop (lately my go-to guitar). It brought out a lovely clear tone, with less treble than the Bluechip (on the Martin, the BC doesn't accent the treble as much as it seems to on the Eastman). It is especially sweet when playing the Eastman unplugged.
And naturally, the Apollo is even more expensive than the BC, if you can believe it.
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When I'm in the mood for a jazzy fattie, I've been using Dunlop 477-207 Jazztones for a few months and like them a lot. Even after the most recent price hike, they're $16 for 36. If Blue Chip Stan impresses me, I'll go the extra dollars - but it'll have to be a fine perfomance to up my ante to 36 times the price of a 207.
They're not my favorites for blues. I use a white 1.14 Jazz III (478-114) for that.
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Hi,
For about two years now I've been experimenting with many different plectra for Jazz playing and I'm getting very close to setting on a main pick for tone when strumming and solo playing. I'm currently using an Acrylux Nitro 1.5mm Jazz pick recommended and reviewed elsewhere on the forum. Really good pick though it cost me £12 for a 3 pack. I also discovered Dunlop's Delrin 500 PrimeGrip 2mm, a '351' shape pick but the tone is lovely and warm and mellow, what I'm after. Bought a 12 pack for £6. I modified one the other day by using a Dunlop Jazz III (651 shape) as a template held in a hand vice and trimmed and cut it with utility knife and filed it.
Awesome result!
I cannot justify spending £32 on one pick. Commercial hype one feels?
I have D'Andrea Pro Plec 1.5mm 651 Jazz picks on order, a 12 pack for £14, Stringsdirect.co.uk. I'm looking forward to trying these.....from reading the reviews these are awesome and seem to be many players preferred choice.
There is no such thing as THE best pick for Jazz. It's all subjective and down to personal feel at the end of the day.
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I would be terrified of losing it.
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Honestly,i don't get all the angst over $35 for a pick.I know people who spend more than $35 a week on a coffee and danish in the morning or a pack of cigarettes.I'm not some Blue Chip fanboy but they do have less pick noise,have less friction on the string and they last forever.Dunlop sculpted picks feel very similar and sound better to me but they do start to wear.When playing acoustically,i have a bunch of cheaper picks i use for their tone.Playing electric,i tend to use the Blue Chip where the tone is altered by the tone knob or amp and i can get just a little better glide on the strings.Maybe the Blue Chip is only 5 to 10 percent better feel wise but i have known people who will spend thousands of dollars for that 10 percent better guitar or amp.
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Originally Posted by nyc chaz
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I just dug my bluechip picks out again because I've been playing my GB10 a lately which is a bright guitar and wondered if the blue chip would sound any better on it. It's brighter! So I was going back and forth between the blue chip, and actual celluloid d'andrea (.96mm) from 2010 and a plastic planet waves 1.0 pick. After a while, I noticed how much less drag the blue chip pick had and I thought...Man, this alone is reason enough to use it. But then I looked down and realized I was playing the planet waves, lol.
So bottom line, I think the bluechip is a gimmick. It is nice because it's pre-beveled and doesn't wear a lot but so what? A regular pick wears in after about an hour and in a couple weeks ends up with a custom bevel according to the angle I use it at. Of the 3 picks, the blue chip was the brightest, followed by the d'andrea. The plastic planet waves had that dark, pat martino tone...
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Blue Chip is not a gimmick. They even have a patent for the use of Vespel (a DuPont Polyamide if you care about such things) in a guitar pick application. If you check the price of the raw material it's made out of you'll quickly decide it makes more sense to buy one from them than to do it yourself.
I have found their workmanship to be flawless. Never had to polish one. Spec's are as advertised. Functionally they quickly form a good grip as the plastic heats in your fingers while the plastic, they call it self lubricating.. it's used for heat resistant bearings, glides over strings better than anything else. They have a nice balanced sound. Less bright than acrylic. Brighter than celluloid or something like a rounded Wegen. I use different picks for different guitars but for an electric archtop (L5) they are my favorite pick taming the brightness a bit while still provided good definition.
They are expensive. Music is an expensive hobby. And there are alternatives. The V-Picks Pearly Gates material (plastic blend, not all acrylic, not sure what all is in it, $5 pick) works well for a similar sound (my ears, ymmv). Really great all round well made pick. While Gravity Picks' traditional gold series has comparable durability, slickness over strings, and grip ($25 pick) but is quite a bit brighter to my ears. Like acrylic but without the clicky attack. Good alternatives but I'll continue to use Blue Chip for their balanced sound and how they feel connected to my fingers while gliding over strings.
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Blue Chip picks sound different from each other, depending on the thickness and the shape. The thick ones with the holes in the center are the darkest, IME, really darker than I like, so I don't use it much, even with bright guitars. I've experimented with several different shapes and thicknesses, by adding them to my wish list and providing that to those who asked what I wanted for Christmas or my birthday. Not so expensive as a gift, even with personalized engraving. That often comes free around the holidays. I'll be looking for a teardrop 35 next, probably the last one I'll need.
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Their patent is not defendable IMO. The material they use is a Dupont product - Vespel(R) Parts and Shapes | Trusted in Extreme Conditions Originally Posted by Spook410
Cutting a shape out of material would be a very difficult thing to defend. Anyone can file a patent. The true IP is dupont's in this case...
One description I read suggested that it'd be like someone making a tire out of vulcanized rubber and then filing a patent on vulcanized rubber tires...
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Originally Posted by jzucker
Internet search says it was granted in 2019. I don't know why it was defensible or if, in fact, the several references to this are fully accurate. Not planning to make a research project of the hows and wheres. Still, and for now, as far as I can tell it appears the patent was awarded.
As for materials and IP.. I'm sure it's more complicated than, 'you can patent something made out of steel even if you didn't invent steel'. But maybe not. I've only ever applied for one patent (that would have belonged to my employer, Lockheed Martin) and that took a long time, a rather long write up, and never did come to pass. Pity. Would have liked the plaque.
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Here is the patent.
Here is some advice about good and bad patents.
Fill your boots.
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FWIW, I'm a big fan of Blue Chip picks.
But they're not all I use.
YMMV:
Instrument - Pick
Eastman AR403ce Archtop - Blue Chip Jazz 60
Godin Montreal Premiere Semi - Blue Chip Jazz 50
C. F. Martin 000-28 - Blue Chip IBJ 55
Gibson J-185 Rosewood - Blue Chip IBJ 55
Vagabond Travel Guitar - Wegen Big City Jazz 1.8
Fender Mustang PJ Bass - Wegen Bluegrass 1.4
Eastman MDA315 Mandola - Wegen Twin 2.5
Gold Tone IT-250R Tenor Banjo - D’Andrea Pro Plec 330 1.5
Vega ’67 Wonder Plectrum Banjo - Gravity Sunrise Big Mini 1.5
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Matching picks to a guitar in the same way we match string type and gauge has always made sense to me. That and changing picks because of mood, sun angle, and horoscope. I've no explanation for why something that sounded good yesterday needs modification today. Thing is, Blue Chip seems to always be a safe choice and starting point. Originally Posted by Tom Karol
And I left out a favorite: most anything made of casein. Though I have trouble finding large and thick enough. Asked for some off of Etsy as Christmas presents.
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I find I match the pick, guitar, strings, and sometimes the relative humidity. A BC TD35 is consistently perfect for my B&D Silver Bell-style tenor banjo, but that’s the only instrument for which I don’t vary the pick. I have a TD45 which often works well on my OM-21 with Retros, but not so well on my Epi Devon. There I’ll use 1.5mm Dunlops most often. Sometimes casein sounds better on a given instrument (especially mandolin); sometimes various Fenders, Dunlops, whatever. My point is: I think it’s unrealistic to expect one pick to work well all the time.
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One pick certainly won't work for every guitar for every player, or even for one, for the most part. But changing picks can make a rather dramatic difference in tone, and even if the pick is $35, it's still cheaper to try a few than to try changing pedals, or amps, or guitars, or almost anything else. If one pick isn't perfect, try another, you won't break the bank, or your budget. I've never understood buying picks by the gross. I couldn't use that many in my lifetime, and having so many identical picks makes no sense to me. I can understand having a gross of different picks, of different shapes, thicknesses, and material. I probably have that many, mostly unused, but they were acquired slowly over decades. I don't think I've lost more than a half dozen picks in my entire life, and that's a pretty long time. The most I've ever bought at once was a pack of Fender Heavies, probably 8 or so, and I still have all of those, AFAIK, mostly stuck in different places for use if I lose the one I've been using. I still need a BC TD35 and large jazz35, and with luck I'll get those at Christmas.
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