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Hi Everyone,
The heavenly Hamlett quest continues! This time, it’s in the form of a pick-off. I play the same series of licks with 11 different popular picks. It resulted in two favorites for me, but I’ll keep that quiet so as not to influence your opinion!
https://youtu.be/vCFthkF2ERc
No. 1 is the Blue Chip. No. 2 is the Golden Gate. Overall not much tonal difference between the lot but that may be due somewhat to the picking and strumming selection you offered.
I hear yah, Hudmister. I think that’s a result of the recording device I’m using and not being able to feel the instrument while trying the picks. I can say that in person there were notable difference. I also tried to vary the picking to give a broad scope, including single notes, double stops, and chopping. It wasn’t possible to get into entire songs due to the amount of picks.
Interesting choices by the way! Neither were mine, but I can see the link between the two. :-)
I think the Blue Chip was the most mellow sounding. The others sounded pretty much the same to me. Thanks for doing this.
Hey, can you turn that thing down!
I listened with studio grade headphones and that is an amazing mandolin you've got there. Who needs a scroll? It's scary to think what it will sound like in a few years.
I wonder if John has gotten any new orders due to these short spots you're posting?
I kinda liked the darker pics: Pro Plec, Dawg, and Golden Gate. Blue chips always sound good.
Golden Gate Clown Barf picks are having their moment. I actually think they are good picks for the money. Might be worth trying one. I'm also pretty interested in a Hense pick but they are harder to find. I guess obsessing about picks happens more when you're happy with the mandolin you have.
That Hamlett chop packs a punch though!
Wegen M150 black is my current pick, though I do like the V pick Saga, Blue Chips of three different shapes and recently bought a couple of GG clown barfs of my own! They are a great pick for little money. Dan
Pro Plec and Blue chip are my favorites :-).
I like the ProPlec and the Dawg picks best and the Primetone 1.5 guitar shape right there with them.
I thought you sounded best with the first and last ones you tried (Pro-Plec and triangle Prime-Tone), especially on the little melodic run 3/4 of the way through each sample. I weighted that part the highest in my evaluation.
Honorable mention to the unbeveled Wegen but the articulation on the melodic run wasn't as clean as the Prime-Tone.
Thanks Everyone,
I appreciate your interest in this thread very much. It's interesting learning about your preferences.
I've landed on the Golden Gate 1.5 guitar pick and now have a triangle-shaped Dunlop Primetone 1.5 that I love. I'm thinking the Golden Gate is like any celluloid pick though. Is that true?
I took the plunge and ordered a Blue Chip CT-55, so we'll see how that stacks up with the Primetone. Honestly, I', hoping I won't love it, lol.
One thing... it's fascinating how different picks work for different instruments. My Hamlett is incredibly responsive, as in I don't need to dig in much at all to get the tone I'm after. As a comparison, my old, lovely Weber Fern required a heavy hand to pull its wonderful tone, so I often used a Dawg pick to soften the heavy attack.
I'll have a Blue Chip, Wegen, Primetone review in a few days. Oh, and D/Addario XT Medium/Heavy strings are incredible.
I’ve been away from playing mandolin for a long time but my CT55 had been my favorite pick back then. When I recently started playing again I cycled through all the picks I could get my hands on and am really loving a Primetone 1.5 triangle (3 for $5 from Amazon!). Even more than the CT55.
Then a couple days later I saw this thread and you were getting a really clear sound with my new favorite. I await hearing you play the CT55.
PS I use a thinner Wegen (TF120 I believe) with my guitar but it sounds smaller on my mandolin than the thicker options.
Kevin, thanks for posting; I'm deferring watching until I get to some better speakers, but will get to it later tonight. I keep coming back to my CT-55 and TAD-60 (I'd been a CT-55 guy until my wife got me the 60-1R for Christmas) with my Wegen TF-140s a close second. The 55 is my favorite on my Rigel CT-110 and the 60 is pairing well with my Kelley A-5. But, I've been playing around with several others the past few months just out of pandemic boredom if nothing else. Have tried a V-Pick, a couple of Gravity picks, the Clown Barfs, and a couple of other random guitar picks I've picked up along the way. It's really amazing how bright the Gravity picks are; they may be my new jam/festival picks, cuz they really cut and they're not as expensive as the BCs. I also like the Clown Barfs (and they're easy to find if I drop one), but they've really shone on my Yairi D-18 copy for some reason...
Anyway, enjoy the journey!
Brent, glad to see you back, man!