The Prodigal Blue Chip

[mr. beaumont]

So I bought a Blue Chip pick when the hype was high years ago...actually 2. I liked the first one, so I bought a smaller, pointier one, which was more like the shape I was using at the time.

I didn't like the pointy one as much, and soon after, I lost the "standard shaped" one in my house. So I said screw it, I'm not meant to use expensive picks.

Fast forward about 5 years...moving all of the furniture out of my back room to paint and...underneath a very heavy desk...the Blue Chip. It came home.

Sat down with it last night and put it through the paces.



My ears must have changed. I think it's awful. Thin tone, overly bright, and clicky. Back to my Pro-Plecs.

[einarcc]

As someone who has been Blue Chip-curious for a long time, but can't quite bring himself to buy some, this is exactly the kind of content I like to see

[mr. beaumont]

I tell you what, after the post office calms down from Christmas, ill start a Blue Chip pick exchange if folks are interested...ill send it to someone, use it for a week, that person sends it to someone else, etc...that way folks can try one before dropping $35 on a 1.5mm thick piece of plastic.

Somebody will like it, it's just definitely not my bag.

[sgosnell]

"Overly bright" is not something I've ever heard from a Blue Chip, in fact the opposite IME. Sometimes I wish for just a little more brightness. I have several, from 40 to 60, different shapes. Some sound better on different guitars, but none sound very bright. The thicker the pick, the thicker the sound, but even the 40s are far from bright. YMMV.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I tell you what, after the post office calms down from Christmas, ill start a Blue Chip pick exchange if folks are interested...ill send it to someone, use it for a week, that person sends it to someone else, etc...that way folks can try one before dropping $35 on a 1.5mm thick piece of plastic.

”Flat Stanley” is a great idea and a generous offer, Mr B. For those who never read Flat Stanley to their kids, it’s a series of children’s adventure books by Jeff Brown. Stanley Lambchop was a child who survived being flattened by a falling bulletin board. He and his parents discovered that he could have great adventures like slipping into a room unnoticed through the space under the locked door or being mailed to exotic places in an envelope (OK - the first one was written in 1964, when it was still fine to drop an anvil on Road Runner’s head and scare the cr@p out of children).

A group of us from timezone.com (a watch forum I’ve been enjoying for years) did that with one of the first modern inexpensive digital watches several years ago (I.e. not your father’s Casio). Stan’s value when new was the same as the Blue Chip’s. Our Stanley’s odyssey began with a friend who’s the mayor of a small town out west. Each of us sent him on to the next person on the list and added a note describing our thoughts about him. And we each took him on a local adventure to highlight and document his visits to our homes. My wife and I took him out for a cheesesteak.

We could each use the pick on a gig or while playing a favorite tune on a favorite guitar. We could archive our impressions in a sticky thread, including audio and video clips from those who can and would make them. I’m game if others are. I’d start it, but my best picks are 6 for $4

[mr. beaumont]

"Overly bright" is not something I've ever heard from a Blue Chip, in fact the opposite IME. Sometimes I wish for just a little more brightness. I have several, from 40 to 60, different shapes. Some sound better on different guitars, but none sound very bright. The thicker the pick, the thicker the sound, but even the 40s are far from bright. YMMV.

Certainly wasn't the way I remembered it sounding either, but I'll do a back to back demo with the Pro Plec this afternoon if I get a chance.

I think material far trumps thickness hen it comes to darkening or brightening the tone. The brightest, shrillest pick I ever heard was a 3.0mm "Big Stubby."

I will definitely "Flat Stanley" this pick if folks are interested in 2022.

[nyc chaz]

I agree with this 100 percent.I too have a 1.5 mm jazz style and it is anything but bright.The best thing about blue chip is that it has less pick noise and are pretty much indestructible.For people that like Blue Chip you should try Dunlop sculpted picks.They feel much the same as a Blue Chip and have a better tone in my opinion.Also they cost only a fraction of the price and there are no concerns about losing it.

[whiskey02]

For the first time in my 60 years, I just two weeks ago took possession of a $3.99 12 pack of Fender celluloid heavy picks. I search no more. My acoustics archtop fitted with .13 Martin retro monel strings and I could not be happier. I’ve tried as many as the rest of you lot except for the $$$$ ones.

[ikusan]

I suppose any other pick will sound bright if your ears are used to Pro Plecs. In my experience those are the darkest sounding picks out there.

[WilliamScott]

Okay, while reading this I realized I had both a Pro Plec 1.5mm and a Blue Chip 60 in my pocket so I tried a direct comparison. For me, the Blue Chip has less pick noise and is easier to play. The Pro Plec is less smooth and seems a bit louder with equal amounts of force. When the strings fight back against my playing, I feel it more with the Pro Plec. During the comparison I found myself preferring the Blue Chip. That said, I play with the Pro Plec much more often and I know I will continue to do so. YMMV

[Spook410]

You're lucky. My favorite pick is one of their thick triangle $90 models.

To me a Blue Chip is good at everything. Not too bright. Not too dull. Just clear. Also like the grip and the way it glides over strings. Fortunately they are also very durable so I still have all but the one I lost. I acquire them through Christmas and Birthday lists.

[jaco]

Funny, my favorite pick now is the one that's in my reach. Kinda like Bourdain's favorite beer was the one that was local and cold...

[citizenk74]

As someone who has been Blue Chip-curious for a long time, but can't quite bring himself to buy some, this is exactly the kind of content I like to see

[citizenk74]

"The Case of the Prodigal Plectrum" from the unpublished works of Dr. John Watson.

A brief but gripping tale. "It's no Odyssey" - The Evening Standard

[Spook410]

"The Case of the Prodigal Plectrum" from the unpublished works of Dr. John Watson.

A brief but gripping tale. "It's no Odyssey" - The Evening Standard

Not to nit-pick.. but that seems plucked from thin air.

[Klatu]

The most money I've found in public was a $20 bill that I found on a carnival ride many years ago.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Not to nit-pick.. but that seems plucked from thin air.

So that would be chicken picking?

[CharlesR]

My ears must have changed. I think it's awful. Thin tone, overly bright, and clicky. Back to my Pro-Plecs.

Jeff, maybe yours have a speed bevel? The round bevel ones are more close to the Pro-Plecs tone.

[mr. beaumont]

Here's the demo, as promised/threatened.

[citizenk74]

Oh man, Jeff! That little mahogany box has such sweet tone! Pick, schmick! It's all good!

[mr. beaumont]

Oh man, Jeff! That little mahogany box has such sweet tone! Pick, schmick! It's all good!

Thanks! 5 months on and I still adore this guitar. Took me almost 30 years of playing to find an acoustic guitar i could actually bond with. Kept looking in the wrong places...

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

We been had. The Blue Chip is brown????

(Fine guitar playing, though!)

[mr. beaumont]

Seriously, anybody want to try this pick?

[sgosnell]

What model is it? I have several Blue Chip picks, but I'm willing to look at something different.

[mr. beaumont]

Its a TD 60. By looking at pictures, it's a "speed bevel"