There has been a long discussion about Blue Chip picks over at Mandolin Cafe. I was intrigued enough to order one, so I thought I'd share my impressions with you guys. It's hard to get excited about a pick, but mandolin players are, well, picky.

Blue Chip picks are made from some kind of high-tech ceramic that is used in microchip manufacturing. A 10"x10"x1" sheet of the stuff costs something like $1600. It's got a lot of interesting properties. It's very rigid at thicknesses as slight as 50/1000's of an inch. When polished, it feels quite slick across the strings but not slick to the touch. And it will supposedly hold its edge through years of playing, and it won't wilt if you run it through the laundry a la TorTis picks.

There are a few things that have stuck with me as I've tried this pick. First, it is very fast across the strings. For mandolin this makes it easier to get the "tremolo" effect. Second, the pick seems to impart more energy to the string for the amount of effort used. I seem to get more volume and tone from less effort. Third, the tone itself is very natural considering that the material is either ceramic or contains ceramic material. It's not overly bright like picks made from horn or stone.

I haven't tried the Blue Chip with my SC D-PW yet but I have high hopes for that as well.

The guys who make them own a machine shop near Knoxville, TN and sell them only through www.bluechippick.net via PayPal. I had a long conversation with the owner after I got my pick, and he seems to be a good guy who had a good idea and wants to see if anyone else cares enough to lay out $35 for a single pick. I'm satisfied, considering how well the pick performs and the fact that it should last a long time. No financial interest on my part!

My 2 arrived 2 days ago. I got the 1.14's because I prefer heavier picks. I got a "C" tri-cornered and a traditional teardrop shape.

When I opened the package, they had the appearance of a 35 cent pick. I felt that I might have been skrod (plural projunctive tense).

I was surprised at how they seem to glide over the string with no drag. Excellent tone and feel. Even though they are shiney, they weren't slippery.

Being an engineer during the day, I decided to take my nail files to the teardrop pick to imitate a speed bevel. I have 4 grits of files to even out, smooth, buff and polish the speed bevel/knife edges that I put on all my picks.

This is the 1st teardrop pick that I liked using the blount corners like many prefer to do.

I prefer a Tor-tis "C" medium over the Blue chip tri-corner on the MT mandolin for tone. Tremolos were easy for each.

They should call them chocolate chip or "cow chip" picks since they are brown and not blue.

Is it worth the money? Few things are.
Is it a good pick? Yes it is.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: El Jefe,

I like this pick better after 3 days of comparisons. It seems to be quick to respond and good for rhythm and flatpicking

I recently bought a 1.0 mm tri-corner Blue Chip pick. I have had it for about two weeks and I haven't been able to put it down. Very natural-sounding, its alot like tortoise shell but with less clickiness. It glides off the strings and thus is very easy to play. It also doesn't slip off my fingers like many picks tend to do.

I am very surprised to say that this brown, unassuming, dog-ugly thing has become my go-to pick. I have multiple ts picks, Wegens, Red Bear, and seemingly thousands of plastic picks of all kinds. The Blue Chip is the one I reach for first.

quote:

Originally posted by guitarpath:
I have multiple ts picks, Wegens, Red Bear, etc. The Blue Chip is the one I reach for first.

Glad to save you storage space on those ts and Red Bear picks you won't be using any more! Need my address?

B