ToneSlabs

[millring]

Don Stiernberg is touting their excellence. Anyone here tried one yet?

www.elderly.com/products/toneslabs-tear-drop-1-2-mm-right-hand-bevel-flatpick?variant=41954578464959

[drlj]

I have more picks than can be found in the entire state of Arkansas so the possibility that I would drop $45 on another is nil.
I have a few Blue Chip picks but the pick I am using the most right now is this one.




D’Addario sent me three of them for free. I think they sell for $12 for three of them.
Free was a good price but I would buy these.

[Russell Letson]

And I thought my Wegens were an expensive indulgence.

Shouldn't there be a hole for the lanyard/wrist strap that prevents them getting lost in mid-gig?

[Marshall]

toneslabs.com/about


Nothing is said about what the material is. Only that it's like Tortoise Shell. The picks are pretty thick. 1.2mm. I have played "mediums" forever (about .78 thick) so nothing thicker has the balance of flexibility and stiffness I'm used to.

That being said, I have tried other fancy schmancy picks like; Bluechip, Charmed Life, Prime Tone, and casein materials. And none of them give me the clarity of celluloid. But celluloids get nicked everytime I play, and they wear down quickly. So I hunt for alternatives. Prime Tones at about $3 each are pretty good. But I'm finding Dunlop ULTEX to be the best and they are cheaper yet. And they don't nick or wear down. So I bought a bunch.

[drlj]

May 25, 2023 8:04:45 GMT -5 Marshall said:

toneslabs.com/about


Nothing is said about what the material is. Only that it's like Tortoise Shell. The picks are pretty thick. 1.2mm. I have played "mediums" forever (about .78 thick) so nothing thicker has the balance of flexibility and stiffness I'm used to.

That being said, I have tried other fancy schmancy picks like; Bluechip, Charmed Life, Prime Tone, and casein materials. And none of them give me the clarity of celluloid. But celluloids get nicked everytime I play, and they wear down quickly. So I hunt for alternatives. Prime Tones at about $3 each are pretty good. But I'm finding Dunlop ULTEX to be the best and they are cheaper yet. And they don't nick or wear down. So I bought a bunch.

I think I have a hundred or so Ultex picks. They have the Rhino on them(everything is so political). I will look thru my stash and, if I have 78s, I will send them to you. Mine may be 1.00s or higher. We will see. I also have some Prime Tone but probably heavier ones. I tend to like 1-1.5s.

I use a BlueChip most of the time or the new acrylic one I posted. I have a bunch of Red Bear that I forgot I have.
I think a lot of it is hype. Expensive picks aren’t necessarily better. What your hand and ear like is better.
I have some picks made of horns from Texas Long Horn steer. I have had those since the 70s. I paid $3.00 for them when picks were 3 for a quarter.
Picks seem to show up at my house on their own. I have so many I may melt them down and make a chair out of them.
I would drop $45 on a lot of things, but not on a pick.

[epaul]

I like soft picks. I don't want clarity, I need obfuscation.

[Marty]

Tone s'mone, $45 picks? What a racket.

Besides LJ, who is the poster child for gullible*, how many of you have bought expensive picks that got used only until the next WizPick came out?




* I'd take a shot at Bill here but he rarely uses a pick and he's far too cheap to buy a $45 pick.

[Shannon]

May 25, 2023 8:36:51 GMT -5 Marty said:

Tone s'mone, $45 picks? What a racket.

Besides LJ, who is the poster child for gullible*, how many of you have bought expensive picks that got used only until the next WizPick came out?




* I'd take a shot at Bill here but he rarely uses a pick and he's far too cheap to buy a $45 pick.

I use my Wegen picks nearly all the time these days. They are not nearly as expensive as Blue Chip or similar picks, although they are more expensive than Ultex and Prime Tone picks. If I couldn't get Wegen picks, I would be perfectly content with Prime Tones.

I have one Blue Chip. I like it fine, but do not find it to be a big deal compared to my other picks.

[drlj]

May 25, 2023 8:36:51 GMT -5 Marty said:

Tone s'mone, $45 picks? What a racket.

Besides LJ, who is the poster child for gullible*, how many of you have bought expensive picks that got used only until the next WizPick came out?




* I'd take a shot at Bill here but he rarely uses a pick and he's far too cheap to buy a $45 pick.

Them’s fightin’ words, bub.

I like Blue Chips because they are smooth and quiet. The acrylic picks are, too. I use them every day.
I got a lot of my picks free. 3 Bluechips were gifts. I won a pack of 4 Red Bear picks years ago. I bought a couple.
As far as the plastic ones are concerned, they represent 55 years of accumulation. I would imagine many of them were freebies, too. I know very little money went into them.

I still use the Dobro clear thumb pick I bought in about 1968-I have 3 left- and the same National fingerpicks I have had for at least 25 years. Unless you step on them, metal finger picks don’t wear our.

I don’t jump from glittery object to glittery object. I buy and use what I like.

You may not have noticed, but I said 2 times I would not buy a $45 pick and that I thought a lot of it was hype.

[John B]

I have a ton of interesting and weird picks. I bought something from just about every brand on www.djangobooks.com. Even a funky bronze one like this:



But lately I've been playing with these. They look goofy but they're really comfortable to hold and they come in skinny sizes like Marshall likes. Made by Fender.

[epaul]

Them’s fightin’ words, bub.

I like Blue Chips because they are smooth and quiet. The acrylic picks are, too. I use them every day.
I got a lot of my picks free. 3 Bluechips were gifts. I won a pack of 4 Red Bear picks years ago. I bought a couple.
As far as the plastic ones are concerned, they represent 55 years of accumulation. I would imagine many of them were freebies, too. I know very little money went into them.

I still use the Dobro clear thumb pick I bought in about 1968-I have 3 left- and the same National fingerpicks I have had for at least 25 years. Unless you step on them, metal finger picks don’t wear our.

I don’t jump from glittery object to glittery object. I buy and use what I like.

You may not have noticed, but I said 2 times I would not buy a $45 pick and that I thought a lot of it was hype.

Ok, so you're clear on the picks. What about your drawer of Ralph Lauren "Signature Series" mens' fashion briefs at $62 a pop?

[drlj]

May 25, 2023 9:43:13 GMT -5 epaul said:

Them’s fightin’ words, bub.

I like Blue Chips because they are smooth and quiet. The acrylic picks are, too. I use them every day.
I got a lot of my picks free. 3 Bluechips were gifts. I won a pack of 4 Red Bear picks years ago. I bought a couple.
As far as the plastic ones are concerned, they represent 55 years of accumulation. I would imagine many of them were freebies, too. I know very little money went into them.

I still use the Dobro clear thumb pick I bought in about 1968-I have 3 left- and the same National fingerpicks I have had for at least 25 years. Unless you step on them, metal finger picks don’t wear our.

I don’t jump from glittery object to glittery object. I buy and use what I like.

You may not have noticed, but I said 2 times I would not buy a $45 pick and that I thought a lot of it was hype.

Ok, so you're clear on the picks. What about your drawer of Ralph Lauren "Signature Series" mens' fashion briefs at $62 a pop?

I wear those daily and the free cologne I get with purchase makes me smell like a Hollywood starlet.

[PaulKay]

My preferred solution now is the Fred Kelly Picks: Delrin Teardrop Regular Guitar Picks Medium

These are thumbpicks holding a flatpack. What I like is the versatility. It is a really good thumpick as thumpicks go.
But I can also grab the pick with the index finger and you have a flatpack for strumming or lead lines or a hybrid pick to fingerpick in a hybrid style.

The single biggest advantage is it holds on to your thumb so it is very stable. The index finger doesn't really have to be involved in "holding it" as much as stabilizing for up picks. And the pick is loosely attached to the thumb wrap. It can slide in and out, so you can choke up on the pick.

[Marty]

You may not have noticed, but I said 2 times I would not buy a $45 pick and that I thought a lot of it was hype.

Sorry LJ. No I didn't but the Poster Child shot was just too good to pass up. Mr. Billiam was, as always, first choice but he doesn't use a pick very often. Besides that you already admitted to having a rather large collection.

I have a collection of odd picks, brass, steel, just weird picks. Show me yours and I'll show you mine.

[Cosmic Wonder]

May 25, 2023 9:45:18 GMT -5 drlj said:

I wear those daily and the free cologne I get with purchase makes me smell like a Hollywood starlet.

LJ, think you misspelled harlot.

Mike

[Marshall]

May 25, 2023 8:36:51 GMT -5 Marty said:

Tone s'mone, $45 picks? What a racket.

Besides LJ, who is the poster child for gullible*, how many of you have bought expensive picks that got used only until the next WizPick came out?

I’m a sucker for picks (amongst other things). I’ll try most anything. But I’m pretty much done with pick searching. Like LJ, I’ve got bins full of fancy, mostly celluloid, picks. I lose too many to fall in love with a $45 pick.

“Rhinos”. Yup this is my choice du jour. I never thought of the political implications, but that’s kinda cool too.

[Shannon]

It is a lot cheaper to have a fascination with picks than with pickups, isn't it, Marshall?

I have to fight the urge to get obsessed with finding the perfect pickup or pickup/preamp or whatever. You can pour a bunch of money into that hole, and there is no perfect solution anyway.

Picks? If $45-50 is the most you might spend, I don't see much harm.

[Marty]

May 25, 2023 11:45:03 GMT -5 Shannon said:

It is a lot cheaper to have a fascination with picks than with pickups, isn't it, Marshall?

I have to fight the urge to get obsessed with finding the perfect pickup or pickup/preamp or whatever. You can pour a bunch of money into that hole, and there is no perfect solution anyway.

Picks? If $45-50 is the most you might spend, I don't see much harm.

For $45 I could buy a lifetime supply of my black Snarling Dog .88mm

[Dub]

May 25, 2023 8:36:51 GMT -5 Marty said:

Tone s'mone, $45 picks? What a racket.

… how many of you have bought expensive picks that got used only until the next WizPick came out?

As we all know, tone is a somewhat mystical concept on any specific guitar. It can vary based on string selection, attack (force, point of contact, etc.), tool (bare finger, fingernail, pick, etc.), ambient temperature and humidity, and on and on. Still, I spend quite a bit of time thinking about, and experimenting with, ways to achieve the tone I want for various situations. I’m probably not unique in this regard. I’d rather play two notes that have the tone I want than a complex passage that doesn’t.

To that end, I try various strings and picks in an effort to understand which choices please me most. Each instrument has a way of choosing its own preferred strings if you let it. There isn't a particular brand or weight of strings that suits every instrument best. The same is true of picks. I own four or five BlueChip picks and use all but one of them regularly. These are the second best bricks I’ve ever used and I’ve probably tried most. The best picks I’ve ever used were genuine tortoise shell but I quit using those in the early 1970s.^*

Still, if I come across a pick that I find more sonically satisfying without sacrificing comfort and usability, I’ll at least give it a try. I probably won’t be trying the ToneSlab picks. Not only because of the price but because when I listen to the pick shootouts on YouTube they seem to produce a slightly more treble tone. I am physically unable to become a lightning fast picker so the improved definition made possible by the ToneSlab picks would be wasted on me. One does what one can or, as the Disney owl said in So Dear To My Heart, “It’s what you do with what you’ve got.”

I like the Fred Kelly BumbleBee thumb picks that Paul references but only on my Telecaster. They are too light for my Dreadnoughts. I’ve learned that, for thumbstyle work, a thumb pick needs to have a short blade. My current favorite thumb pick is the John Pearse small white one (the same one that LJ likes) but I cut them down so the blade extends about 3mm past the flesh of my thumb. Thumbstyle guitar requires one to keep the bass strings lightly muted while playing so a long-bladed thumb pick just gets in the way.

I also modify my BlueChip flat picks. I cut them down to a smaller shape which I find easier and more comfortable to use.

I have quite a few Wegans and Red Bear picks and a ton of various Fred Kelly picks. I’ve moved away from FK thumb picks for the most part because I get a better sound with the John Pearse. YMMV

I do like the little blue Fred Kelly jazz picks. I can’t remember what the material is. They are easy and comfortable to use and, like the BlueChip picks, I don’t hear any string noise.

I don’t like light gage picks but that is because of the way I play. If I was a rock n roll power strummer, I’d probably use lighter gage picks.


^*As I’ve posted before, I had a carefully selected collection of tortoise shell picks that were stolen backstage one time while our band was performing. I didn’t have the time and energy to go from shop to shop in Chicago trying to replace them and I’d also become concerned about the status of the sea turtles used for tortoise shell stuff.

[millring]

May 25, 2023 8:04:45 GMT -5 Marshall said:

toneslabs.com/about


Nothing is said about what the material is.

One of the reasons I'm curious.

I don't flatpick much these days. I basically use two different picks -- the blue chip (which is, for me, the best I've ever used for several reasons -- not the least of which is that they don't slide around in my finger, despite the fact that they are glass-smooth. I'm sure it's a chemistry thing) and the urine colored dunlop (which also doesn't slide around in my fingers).

But when Don Stiernberg recommends something, I'm inclined to investigate.