Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Using my Blue Chip TD60 for first time

:joy::joy::joy:

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Hah! There is a serious difference to me. Just finished the first service. It’s a keeper.

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I bought a TD60 a month ago and it works well with my guitar. I thought it was a bit thick for the mandolin so I bought a TD35 at camp and love it…been using it ever since.

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I know it’s hard to justify a $40 pick, but when professionals lean towards a product (without being a paid endorser), there’s probably a good reason.
I also have a $10 ProPik thumb pick which I like a lot. Brighter sound than the Blue Chip, but not quite as good a fit.

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It seemed hard to justify when I bought it…. Had some $ to burn… but after two services today, it is totally a justifiable purchase. Don’t know the mechanics of it all, but my guitar tone was HUGE.

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It’s a massive change in tone, I simply couldn’t believe it the first time.

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Yeah, It’s a slow and unpleasant death, but death is inevitable so you may as well choose this one

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Into my second week with my Blue Chip pick. I am sold. I went back to to several older picks and I can’t stand them! This little gem is a permanent fixture for me now.

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I love my TP60-1R. It’s, in a word, perfect for me. I liked the Primetones almost equally as much as the CT55, but they don’t touch this one.

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Same here…I have a td-60 butuse the TD-35 for the mandolin all the time. I really like it!

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As an aside, I believe that the texture on a Blue Chip is very similar to the purple Dunlop turtle picks – but the tone is COMPLETELY different. I find the purples to have a sharp-ish edge that causes a clicky/trebly overtone.

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I don’t think I’ve ever used a Dunlop pick. When I finally got serious about playing/learning mandolin I just bought whatever pick looked like a good deal. I had never even heard about Blue Chip picks until I joined @BanjoBen. I bought a TP-60, mostly to see what the hoopla in another thread was all about (and the fact that Sierra Hull recommended it) but find it a bit stiff for my playing. While at BBCs @CabinCamp I bought a TD-35 which my instructor Penny Lee thought might be a bit thin; I actually liked it a lot more than the -60 and used it for the whole camp (lots of playing) and ever since. The -60 is great for my guitar and I agree with you on the tone…amazingly good tone from both and I love the lesser amount of pick noise.

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I could go on and on about picks – what a funny little thing to think about with my “spare cycles.”

Many years ago, I was very fortunate to be turned onto the importance of thick picks (thank heavens!) because I found thin picks to really hold me back. Since then, it’s always been 1.4+. The BC’s are the first picks that seem to disappear in your hand when playing.

This thread inspired me to order a TD60 from the shop, so keep it up!

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This is the magic stuff right here!
Mr g

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The 60 is THE GAUGE! :boom: Although I personally like the TP shape better.

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Tell ‘em I sent ya!

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My TD -60 came with some personalization (name) and a motto (Pick On!). Hopefully if I drop it a a Cabin Camp someday someone will say, “Hey, is there a Ron Mele here? I got your pick!”

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With blue chip, I think there is something with the composition of material. The composite material might be copyrighted. It kind of tries to isolate the grip and the sound produced. It muffles the tone a bit. I also feel the sound is diffused, or spread evenly, through the pick that no matter how you hit it, it still gets you a balanced, good tone.

If what I suspect is true, that is what makes it different.

That makes sense to me. I have noticed, as someone whose hands sweat when they play, the sweatier my fingers get the “grippier“ the pick gets. It doesn’t get sticky, mind you, but I’m able to grip it without it sliding around in my fingers. I feel that it makes my guitar louder, probably because of the thickness and beveled edges perhaps? All I know as of this moment is that I really truly for the first time as a guitar player in my 40+ years of playing that a pick can make a difference when I play.

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Yeah… If not for @Flatpickin_Libby’s post, and @Michael_Mark’s link for the appropriate size, I would not have bought this blue chip pick yet. I too was glad that I did it and I’m still. Bevel could make a difference, but mine is not beveled though. The pick is thick but it is lighter at the same time for its thickness! I used to work for an aerospace product manufacturing company. They make composite material that is lighter than aluminum but stronger than steel that they use in aircrafts. That’s what makes me wonder something in the material that makes it stand apart.

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