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Thread: Outrageous Price of Picks

  1. #26
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    "Perceived Value" - if you think it's worth it then buy it & enjoy it,if you don't - then DON'T,
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  2. #27
    Registered User Tom Sanderson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    A couple days ago, a friend showed me a Blue Chip pick the he had just purchased. We compared it to a old T shell pick that came with a guitar that I bought a few years ago. They sounded identical in tone. Not similar, identical. I'm so impressed that I'm buying one.

  3. #28

    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim2723 View Post
    To heck with picks, I want to know how Dan ate lunch at the golfcourse for only $6.50!!!
    Sounds to me like a $4 beer and $2.50 tip to the cute Beer-Cart girl.

  4. #29
    Registered User Miked's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Hanson View Post
    A thousand dollar pick won't make you sound like Bigmon or the Dawg, you cant buy talent.
    No, but for $35 you can improve the tone that you pull from your instrument.

    I don't think Bill Monroe fussed too much over picks. I remember reading where someone asked him what type of pick he used and he pulled one out of his pocket and said "This kind". No particular brand, just one he had found under the car seat. No disrespect to the father of bluegrass and I revere his music, but I bet his tone would have improved using a BC pick.
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  5. #30

    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    A brave man to say Bill Monroe could have sounded better. I suggest he would sound like he did no matter what pick he used, as would David Grisman.

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  6. #31
    Kelley Mandolins Skip Kelley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall View Post
    "Perceived Value" - if you think it's worth it then buy it & enjoy it,if you don't - then DON'T,
    Ivan
    Well said! I like my Bluechip and consider it worth every penny!

  7. #32
    Registered User Charley wild's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Of course everybody LOVES their Blue Chip pick! Who's going to spend $30 on a pick and say they don't?!!

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  9. #33
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim2723 View Post
    There's no way I could afford these boutique picks. When I finish a show, picks are scattered on the floor like autumn leaves. I'd be bound to loose $100 worth a week. If someone were to supply me with them for an endorsement, sure, but otherwise, I got a living to make. I buy picks by the gross. Seriously.
    Man, next time I'm up north, I've got to go to one of your shows. I'm not much on Irish music (but beer, yes), but I can dig the excitement, danger, and possible destruction. I'll just have to be careful not to get too close, so I don't get hit by flying debris! Mandolin Destroyer and Pick Thrasher. Are you sure you're not really Pete Townshend?
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  10. #34
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim2723 View Post
    There's no way I could afford these boutique picks. When I finish a show, picks are scattered on the floor like autumn leaves. I'd be bound to loose $100 worth a week. If someone were to supply me with them for an endorsement, sure, but otherwise, I got a living to make. I buy picks by the gross. Seriously.
    Well don't scatter them on the floor. My personal experience and the experience of many is that when you buy a high end pick you don't tend to scatter it.

    Ease of scattering is a habit enabled by the low cost of replacement.
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  11. #35
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Hanson View Post
    A thousand dollar pick won't make you sound like Bigmon or the Dawg, you cant buy talent.

    Dave H
    No, but a $30 dollar pick may improve your tone as much as a $120 dollar complete set up.

    Seriously, if you are willing to spend a bit on a set up, to improve the sound, why wouldn't you spend about a quarter of that for a similar improvement in tone.
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  12. #36
    Destroyer of Mandolins
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

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  13. #37
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Charley wild View Post
    Of course everybody LOVES their Blue Chip pick! Who's going to spend $30 on a pick and say they don't?!!
    Have you tried 'em? The blue chip and the red bear picks do give a measurable change in tone over a gibson heavy or the like.

    Objectively verifiable, measureable difference in tone.

    Whether that change is in the direction you like, or whether it is worth the money is of course your call.
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  14. #38
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    I heard that people spend more than $30 on a festival. What is up with that? I mean a pick will last a lot longer than a weekend.
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  15. #39
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Some folks remind me of a buddy of mine who complains about the cost of drinks at the bar. Hey, they don't serve alcohol at the bank, what made you think you can save money at a bar.

    If you have tried the picks and they are not to your liking, I respect your decision.

    If you haven't tried the pick because it costs $30 bucks I have to wonder. You could have saved ten or a hundred to a thousand times as much if you didn't buy the mandolin. Especially the second mandolin OMG.
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  16. #40
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Do these high-end picks come with a hole so you can attach them to a retractable belt-clip key chain?
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  18. #41
    jbmando RIP HK Jim Broyles's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Hanson View Post
    A brave man to say Bill Monroe could have sounded better. I suggest he would sound like he did no matter what pick he used, as would David Grisman.

    Dave H
    Not to hijack the thread, but this is the kind of statement which drives me nuts on this forum. There are plenty of recordings in which Monroe's tone leaves me cold. Grisman's tone on that Eastman from Bernunzio's in that video is pretty bad, too. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that of all the "greats," Grisman's tone is consistently the worst, to my ears.
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  19. #42
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Personally, I haven't tried them because all the ones I've seen advertised are far too thick for me. I play 0.5mm Clayton acetal rounded triangles. I did the suggested route of trying cheaper thick picks to test the waters, but I've never liked the feel or the sound. Then again, I'm an Irish player and feel that the thick pick sound is more Bluegrassy. It's all personal choice, of course.
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    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

  21. #44
    Registered User Ignatius's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Broyles View Post
    In fact, I'd go as far as to say that of all the "greats," Grisman's tone is consistently the worst, to my ears.
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  22. #45
    Cafe Linux Mommy danb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    I've been making my own lately, gives you a little more freedom to get them just right. I can't seem to reproduce the process at will, but I'm batting a little over 500 anyway
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  23. #46
    Registered User Charley wild's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD View Post
    Have you tried 'em? The blue chip and the red bear picks do give a measurable change in tone over a gibson heavy or the like.

    Objectively verifiable, measureable difference in tone.

    Whether that change is in the direction you like, or whether it is worth the money is of course your call.
    No, and I won't unless somebody lends me one. Seriously, Jeff, it's question of price versus value to me. For $30 I can buy 90 Fender heavy or extra heavys. I'm 68 years old. I ain't going to live long enough! I use all three sides. I'm using the same pick I have used on my Tele for at least five years. In fact the rounder it gets the better it becomes for the mandolin. So it boils down to: Fender=30 cents, Blue Chip= 30 dollars. Is the Chip going to make me sound that much better? I don't think so. ( I don't mean that in a wisea** way). THAT is the operative sentence. "I don't think so". To drone on here, Jeff, if I won the Powerball I wouldn't buy a Lloyd Loar. Seriously. Does a Loar, any Loar sound that much better than an Ellis, Nugget, etc.? I don't think so. In fact I'd buy that F4 with the long neck in the classifieds!! (I HAVE to quit looking at that thing!!)lol
    Having rambled on here I'll close by saying my posts are respectful to everyone's opinion. I'm just poking fun. You all spend your money just the way you want! I don't want anybody telling me how to spend mine!

  24. #47
    Cafe Linux Mommy danb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    These kinds of threads ("some type of mandolin or accessory is expensive...") usually divide into the following lists of folks:

    a) There's no mandolin so bad or pick so lousy that it would make famous player XX sound bad, therefore by extension the mandolin/pick/strings/accessory is not worth it

    b) Good equipment is worth it and helps any player sound better

    I personally fall into camp "B", though find that the problem of "is thing XX any good" is a lifelong pursuit to determine. I don't have the cash for a Loar, but I know they make a good player sound better. Same is true of a lot of mandolins that are a heck of a lot cheaper too, good isn't tied to price but often good costs more than bad.

    Anyway, picks are pretty cool. I'm looking forward to a material with the right type of slipperyness that can out-tortoise tortoiseshell too, and I'm constantly making small adjustments to the thickness/shape/type of pick I use if it seems to make a difference.
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  25. #48
    Registered User HaveMercy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    Give Golden Gate picks a try. They're about $2US apiece and they definitely bring out that woody tone in most mandos.

    That said, I switched to Wegen picks about a year ago for more volume. Handmade from Kevlar. $2US doesn't seem unreasonable.
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  26. #49
    Registered User David Hansen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    The sound generated from a pick is pretty subjective. I have yet to hear someone say: "Wow he sounds fantastic he must be using a Blue Chip Pick." or a Wegan or a Red Bear. The fact of the matter is that no one but you can tell the difference. That being said I have a Blue Chip and a bunch of Wegan's and I like the way I sound when I use them.
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  27. #50
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Outrageous Price of Picks

    I have recently discovered picks made from horn ( water buffalo? ) cost $ 2.25 each, I like them alot. I also bought a couple of Golden Gate picks and those are good too. I reshape them and taper the thickness then polish them to suit my playing. Years ago I thought I had found the perfect pick so I ordered a gross of them. Lost every one!
    Last edited by Charles E.; Aug-01-2009 at 2:33pm.
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