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Thread: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

  1. #1
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    Default Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    This is the pick I use for guitar. The used one is probably about 7 years old. The new one is brand new.

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  2. #2
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Is that all original wear, or did someone (you) do some reshaping at some point.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD View Post
    Is that all original wear, or did someone (you) do some reshaping at some point.
    That's 7 years of hard pickin' , my friend.

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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    I cannot top that amount of pick wear on my BCs…
    Chuck

  5. #5

    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Nothing like that wear, but this is one of the older Blue Chips from before the model codes were engraved (it's the same as a TP50). Not my only pick, but it's gotten plenty of play time in the 16 or so years I've had it. Finally decided yesterday that the wear on the one tip I use had dulled the tone significantly. I couldn't even see how rough it was until I used a camera close up in the light. I polished it with sandpaper (800, 1000, 1500), then brown paper bag (2500 equivalent), then a little bit of dremel polish wheel with just a touch of polishing compound. Now it's better than new because it has my pick wear pattern that makes it a little less pointy and it glides right through the strings with that glassy polish. If I'd known what a difference it would make, I would've done it sooner.

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  7. #6
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jay View Post
    This is the pick I use for guitar. The used one is probably about 7 years old. The new one is brand new.

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    i suspect the short answer to the thread title is no, or at lest very few. congrats on playing that much.

  8. #7
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    My friend gave me his worn one. It started life as large triangle and after year or two of hard picking (I think 120+ gigs a year) the size between points was more like the smaller triangle. I guess cumulative loss of material could be roughly like OP's. I don't have a pic as I reshaped it to small triangle for my use when I got it.
    Folks playing with stiff wrist do wear them. It's plastic against rough metal...
    Adrian

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    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Nope. My oldest one does have some wear after all the years playing it, but one has to look hard at it to see it. Got that way from playing guitar about 10 hours a week for I would guess about 8 years. Maybe longer. Was given it by a friend not long after Blue Chip came onto the market.
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    I can’t top that but I wore the point right off a BC and put a bevel on it that didn’t have one..

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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by Luna Pick View Post
    congrats on playing that much.
    Thank you, thank you. Hoping to get some recognition from the Blue Chip corporation for this accomplishment or maybe a free pick.

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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    I sure can't, because I don't use a Blue Chip. But I have been using the same pick for about the same length of time - a Jim Dunlop 1.5mm - and it shows nowhere near as much wear. Now, I'll grant I probably haven't been playing as much as you, as I started with this pick toward the end of that band's lifetime. And slamming away on rhythm guitar (I'm assuming) is a good bit more traumatic for a pick than the delicate coaxing of a lead mandolin. But that is indeed an impressive display. I wonder whether the corporation would want to acknowledge your "achievement," as their marketing strategy and pricing indicate a desire to provide a long-lasting product. You never know; worth a try.
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  13. #12
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Yeah, I'd send that back. Obviously a manufacturers defect.
    No matter where I go, there I am...Unless I'm running a little late.

  14. #13
    Registered User Murphy Slaw's Avatar
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Man, I would have replaced it LONG before it looked like that.

    You got your money's worth.
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    If you search out papers on how insanely Vespel (the material they're made from) is, it's even more impressive. The stuff is really made for insanely harsh conditions.

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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw View Post
    Man, I would have replaced it LONG before it looked like that.

    You got your money's worth.
    Yeah, I know. Honestly, I think because it happens so gradually, I never really paid much attention. I was in total shock when I got the new one and saw how much it wore. I should also add that the new one is sooooo much better both feel and tone. So, yeah, lesson learned - BC's DO wear, and need to be replaced when appropriate.

  17. #16
    Registered User Mandobart's Avatar
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw View Post
    Man, I would have replaced it LONG before it looked like that.

    You got your money's worth.
    I think Matt Goins would be interested in seeing this pick. He'd probably swap you straight across for a new one.

  18. #17
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by blauserk View Post
    If you search out papers on how insanely Vespel (the material they're made from) is, it's even more impressive. The stuff is really made for insanely harsh conditions.
    Vespel is one of many engineered compounds used in industry. It's used as "soft" (as opposed to metal) seat material in many valves in my power plant that get exposed to steam, high temperature/high pressure water, high flow rates and radiation exposure. It wears out there too.

  19. #18

    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandobart View Post
    Vespel is one of many engineered compounds used in industry. It's used as "soft" (as opposed to metal) seat material in many valves in my power plant that get exposed to steam, high temperature/high pressure water, high flow rates and radiation exposure. It wears out there too.
    I designed it into a rather insanely harsh application: insulators and clamps in a (semiconductor) plasma reactor. Very much unearthly conditions. Never saved the scrap, though. Used rather large plates of the stuff. Wasn’t thinking about picks back then.

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  21. #19
    Registered User Murphy Slaw's Avatar
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD View Post
    Is that all original wear, or did someone (you) do some reshaping at some point.
    Looking again, this is an odd wear pattern.

    My picks always tend to wear the points down, making them more round.

    Strange, indeed.
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    Registered User Matt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by bradeasley View Post
    Nothing like that wear, but this is one of the older Blue Chips from before the model codes were engraved (it's the same as a TP50). Not my only pick, but it's gotten plenty of play time in the 16 or so years I've had it. Finally decided yesterday that the wear on the one tip I use had dulled the tone significantly. I couldn't even see how rough it was until I used a camera close up in the light. I polished it with sandpaper (800, 1000, 1500), then brown paper bag (2500 equivalent), then a little bit of dremel polish wheel with just a touch of polishing compound. Now it's better than new because it has my pick wear pattern that makes it a little less pointy and it glides right through the strings with that glassy polish. If I'd known what a difference it would make, I would've done it sooner.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Terrific job! I never would have equated a paper grocery bag with a grit level.

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  24. #21
    Registered User Erin M's Avatar
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    Default Re: Can anyone top this amount of Blue Chip pick wear?

    Well, that's impressive! I've got 3 BlueChip CT picks - I've only used one so far. It's got around a few places, so I'm surprised I thankfully haven't lost it. I only use one corner and have hardly any visible wear after 2 years. I guess I better practice more!
    "Flow, river flow. Let your waters wash down, take me from this road, to some other town." - Roger McGuinn

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