I tone picks

[Robert Mitchell]

Has anyone tried these new picks? Evidently Shawn Lane (BLUE HIGHWAY] has something to do with them,,supposed to be the NEW pick...see I tonepicks .com.
Like to hear about them...
Thanks

[keithb]

We had some discussion here: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ck-quot-I-Tone

I found the material to be quite stiff despite being fairly thin. It's an interesting pick, but I ended up going back to my BC in short order.

[Bob Buckingham]

This thread is interesting as a fellow dropped off a space age material pick at the music store Where i teach and I was given it to try. It is suppose to have the same specs as a BC CT pick. It is black and compares quite favorably with the BC with a small degree more drag that is not a problem. It is probably not a one of the picks in this thread but it is an exciting idea that competition for the BC picks is staring to happen.

[AlanN]

I tried one. Too thin for me and traded it away.

[Tom C]

Drop the BC on table. Nice tone. Drop the I-Tone, it sounds metallic. I don't think they are close to the same even though they may feel it.

[atbuckner21]

I have been on a pick journey for 3 years now, and I may have finally arrived at my destination. I can get in and out of the strings with more ease using the I-tone because of it's thinner design, but I can still get the volume I need. I love it!

[Phil Goodson]

This thread is interesting as a fellow dropped off a space age material pick at the music store Where i teach and I was given it to try. It is suppose to have the same specs as a BC CT pick. It is black and compares quite favorably with the BC with a small degree more drag that is not a problem. It is probably not a one of the picks in this thread but it is an exciting idea that competition for the BC picks is staring to happen.

This sounds like some of the stuff that the McCray people were developing about 2 years ago, booth at IBMA, ..... and then seem to have dropped off the face of the earth.

[Stephen Cagle]

I was actually given several of the McCray picks years ago and honestly they are still laying around somewhere in my tool shed. I was sold on Blue Chip years ago and honestly can't find anything that even comes close to them.

[MediumMando5722]

... it is an exciting idea that competition for the BC picks is staring to happen.

I think BlueChip is kind of the Gibson of premium picks. There will be alternatives, but the people who love them will continue to do so, regardless of what else is offered. That's not to say somebody else couldn't do something different that the BC users wind up preferring, or BC could really screw up and start making a shoddy product.

[mcgroup53]

I bought one (of COURSE I did, I buy everything - you should see the weird Gypsy jazz guitar picks I own!). Tried it on the Kimble last night and A/B'ed it with my TAD 40 BC. So far, I like them both. The BC seems to be maybe a little warmer, possibly richer to my ear. But the iTone definitely has an interesting tonal characteristic and a lot of snap. I like the thinness it offers, and it slides across the string beautifully.

Of course, everyone has a unique pick attack, angle, muscle tension, etc., so we all sound unique. What works for me probably doesn't work well for someone else. I need to have someone else play my mandolin with both picks, and to get an objective ear hearing my own playing with both to get an outside opinion.

The great jazz guitarist Jim Hall would bring an ashtray full of different picks, stone, plastic, shell, metal, and use them on different tunes to create specific sonic signatures he was hearing. Bryan Sutton does the same thing in the studio, I'm told. So maybe the iTone works great for, say, a fast bluegrass number, but no so well for a lilting Irish tune. YMMV

But at least initially, I think the iTone is a good product, offering something different from the "Gibson" of flatpicks, the BC. Room in the mando world for both, I'd say.

[Robert Mitchell]

Thanks to all for the comments,,thiInk I'll stick to my 5 yr. old TAD50 B.C.

[f5loar]

got one. I guess they only come one way in the itone 45 in creme triangle with beveled edges. It's a quality pick up there at the price of the Blue Chip. I felt a softer warmer tone. Held good but when you go back to BC 45 there it's not even close. It might do better for me on guitar.

[Crawz]

"I was actually given several of the McCray picks years ago and honestly they are still laying around somewhere in my tool shed. I was sold on Blue Chip years ago and honestly can't find anything that even comes close to them."

Stephen Cagle:
Would you be kind enough to be in touch with me about your McCray picks? I'm interested in these that you were given. Specifically, I'm after one or two more rounded corner mando shaped ones... that are 1.5 mm thick. This guy Adam's vanished. No response when I've rung him.

Thanks,
Crawz