Guitar Pick Shootout, Apollo, Bluechip, & Tortoiseshell 🥇🧪🥊
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Testing begins on the Jimmy Edmonds D-18 Shawn Brock signature model, with Apollo at 2:28, Bluechip at 2:58, and tortoiseshell at3:29. The second round of demonstration occurs on the Young Guitars D-28, begining with Apollo at, 4:06, Bluechip at 4:50, and tortoiseshell at 5:32. Looking for the perfect guitar pick? It has been sometime since we have done a shootout, and here we have an Apollo casein pick, vs a Bluechip TAD 45, vs a vintage tortoise pick. In the interest of full disclosure, I tried to get the bevel exactly the same on all three of these, thus what you receive from the manufacturer may be slightly different, and require sanding by you, or playing, to break it in. For additional information, or to browse and purchase one of these great picks, please visit:
www.apollopick...
#Apollopicks
#Acousticguitarpicks
#Tortoiseshellplectrum
#Customcaseinpicks
#Bluegrasspizks
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Testing begins on the Jimmy Edmonds D-18 Shawn Brock signature model, with Apollo at 2:28, Bluechip at 2:58, and tortoiseshell at3:29. The second round of demonstration occurs on the Young Guitars D-28, begining with Apollo at, 4:06, Bluechip at 4:50, and tortoiseshell at 5:32.
Honestly Blue Chip sounds amazing
There is something to be said for liking what you like lol. 🤠 unfortunately for me, I like too many things lol.
The Young is like a laser beam and the Edmonds is like an atom bomb lol. Hearing more bass with the bluechip. The Apollo and shell are a little dryer and more crisp. Love and own all the picks you demo'd, great stuff.
Brother as always, it is a pleasure when you take the time to stop in. I reckon we all need all of these lol. 🤣 someone called the credit card company and tell them we are on the loose lol.
My own testing shakes out like this: 2 guitars, both mahogany D18 types with 3/4 necks - a 1935 Martin D18 and a PreWar company D2018. Three picks - tortoise, Apollo casein and BlueChip. All stiff bluegrass style triangles that suite my flat picking style. My assessment is guitar differences need to be matched with pick type, mood and room. That's why I choose between 2 guitars and 3 picks. Tortoise tone is the darkest, softest. Apollo casein is also softer and darker, not unlike tortoise. BlueChip is brighter and louder. I mix and match as dictated by the variables mentioned above, using the BlueChip most and the tortoise least. Because tortoise absorbs moisture and heat it is not always suitable in certain situations. Enjoyed your testing here and all the good comments.
Man you sure have some sweet instruments there, and good taste!
Love this video ... In order of preference on both guitars to my old ears; Apollo, Tortoise and Bluechip. Both fine sounding dreads and as always, great picking...
Thank you very much my friend. We almost have the same order, the Bluechip starts to sound a little muddy on lead picking to me, when compared to the others. 🤠
I've got a bunch of different picks. But the main 4 i use are Grey Jim Dunlop 73mm, fender tortuga heavy, D'andrea 71mm, grip lock pickboy with a cross on it 75mm. Over all my favorite is the grey nylon Dunlop for over all playing.
Man I still have a bunch of those old gray ones like you are talking about. Some of them go all the way back to when I first started playing in 1990. I still use them on electric a bunch.
To my ear the genuine tortoiseshell sounds best followed closely by BlueChip. I’ve owned several Wegan, Apollo, ToneSlabs, and probably more I am forgetting to mention. I like BlueChip the best for feel and tonality. They’ve definitely found the perfect formula. I still don’t think it sounds quite as good as my favorite tortoiseshell picks, but it’s darn close!
Isn’t it amazing, you would think after all this time that we could find a man-made material that hands-down would beat tortoise all day long, but we haven’t, at least in my opinion lol. I still find it amazing how different shades of tortoise have different tonal qualities as well.
@@ShawnBrockMusic If only we could find a way to grow tortoiseshell in a lab.. surely there’s a mad scientist out there that plays guitar. 😂
@@Tyler_Wilson I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that before lol. I mean, they are growing food in a lab, growing precious stones in a lab, why not shell? They can leave the food to the farmers. The way it should be. 😃
Buffalo horn ,and real tortoiseshell is my absolute preference for most acoustic guitar applications. It is all a complicated nuances of each individual guitar. Type and guage of strings,nut and saddle,and bridge pin materials. Type of sound board and internal braceings. Sometimes i have a preference for ultex rhino picks,it is a good material. I use the rough side of a small circle of velcrco stuck on the face of my picks. The fuzzy side of the velcro sticks to my pick guard. My pick always has a home in a strategic place for quick access to hybrid pick,finger pick ,or straight flat pick.
Man, I think you are trying to tempt me lol. You know, I have not tried a pick made from Buffalo horn yet; I’ve tried bridge pins, but not a pick. Sounds like something I need to do. 😃
I loved your guitars first and foremost! Wow those are both exceptional! The bluechip was the most balanced to my ears but maybe because I prefer its deeper low frequencies. Thr Apollo sounds a bit brighter and the tortoise shell had a brighter slight shimmer. Almost like hearing. D41 instead of a D28. Really cool comparison. Thank you
Gary, I really do appreciate it sir. I am very very fond of both of these guitars, as well as the makers of them. It sounds like you and I have the same assessment of sound on each of these picks.
Hi Shawn.The Apollo was a lot brighter, which I prefer, on your D18 and the other two muddier and sounded identical.On the D28 all 3 sounded the same.I'm glad I gave it a good listen straight away before you mentioned Norman Blake or else I'd have been totally biased.
Lol NORMAN is hard to beat man! This one wasn’t one of his signature picks, but yeah, it could definitely create a bias for me as well. This is a plectrum that has absolutely grew on me. So much so, it is at the front of my keychain pick pouch. 😀
I had the same perception. For this recording, I prefer the clarity of the Apollo. I own a BlueChip TAD and it fits my style well. I always use the rounded edge because I want more fundamental punch and it knocks any undesirable treble sharpness off the unwound strings. But I'll be interested to give the Apollos a run out.
Apollo for what I hear and prefer. Now the challenge is know what shape that you like it in? They are cheap enough to order many shapes just to find out. But they are excellent. Thanks for another great video Shawn. Cheers from Canada.
Hey Tom, from what I can tell, this one is the F shape. Not that I prefer the larger triangle, I just generally have to use them because of trying to keep fingernails for classical guitar. He definitely has some great shapes, and a big selection of them. I need to get more lol! I do appreciate you taking the time to stop in Tom!
Apollo pick sounds good! I'll try a couple. Of course, that d18 of yours would sound good with one cut out of a plastic lid.
I recorded this video about two weeks ago, but had several guitars in front of it that needed to be posted; the Apollo is more broken in now, and man I really do dig this thing a lot! I did a little shaping to match the bevel on the other pics, but nothing is like actually playing one for a while, and I tell you, this thing is very impressive now. Thinking I will start using them on all of the videos very soon.
Unfortunately, hard to hear differences through UA-cam processing, but I think the Bluechip's attack gives you a touch clearer response. Not sure though. Great vid!
Hey Steve, I sure appreciate you watching man, and sharing your thoughts!
i think the sound is close but the blue chip wins you play better with it to maybe
I appreciate it, but don’t know if I play better with anything lol. I think my best playing is when I am playing air guitar lol. 🥹
Forgot to mention my strings are always 13-56 bronze 80/20s.
I’m pretty fond of 80/20 myself, but they don’t suit all of my guitars; some of them just seem to do better with phosphor bronze for me.
I just bought a 12 pack of Dunlop 2.0's, mainly because they never break. Swore by them for years. The new Tusgq picks are interesting, nice ring. I do need to explore them more. All something that we sort of consider to be of peripheral importance. But only when you are on the back porch. I have played tortoise picks from Manny's NYC, but that was so long ago I can't even deal with a comment. I was a happy stoner kid. If you drop any pic in a soundhole you should be banned , not green or sustainable... or something, they said.
Man I have used that purple 2.0 mm and 1.5 mm on mandolin for so many years that I can’t count them. I never favored them on Guitar though, they are a little thick for my style of rhythm playing. You are right though, no way on this earth are you going to break one of them lol.
Any idea about the longevity of the Apollo picks?
Well, I certainly wouldn’t be an expert on the subject, but I have been playing this one steady for a little over two weeks, and it isn’t showing anywhere yet. By this one, I mean the casein that was in the video. I also have one made from Peek, that I will do a video on in a couple of weeks. That is a type of plastic which sounds like the most durable thing in the world, at least as far as man-made material would go. When you drop it on a table, it has a very glassy sound like tortoise. I have had other casein picks, and the longevity of them has seem to be better than most of the commercial plastic picks.
Shawn, The BC is TAD45? not 42? Is that Apollo 1mm or 1.1mm or 1.3mm? Is it the Apollo TS Casein pick shown on his site maybe shape F? It has the best articulation (clarity) of the picks you demo'd and sounds virtually like a TS in the pick sound attacking the strings..Pretty Impressive.. I would also like to try one like the one you had made by Nick..By the way, great playing as usual and great sounding guitars.
Hey Bill, yeah the BC is a 45, one you traded me in fact. The Apollo is right at 1.2, that’s why I used the 45, as it was closer and thickness. I’m not sure about the shape of the Apollo, I just asked if he could make something near the TAD shape.
@@ShawnBrockMusic Thank you Shawn, I looked up his available shapes and compared them to my TAD48 and TAD50 size and the Apollo F shape is nearly the same as a BC TAD..I would bet Nik used the F shape since you requested it to be near the TAD shape. A 1.2mm mics out at .047" thick, a 1.15mm mics out at .045" thick.. so I would bet he made a 1.15mm (.045") thick for you to be nearly the same thickness as your TAD45 BC. Can you verify the thickness of that Apollo for me (.045' or .047")? .I assume that Apollo has the right hand bevels like the BC TAD45. With all that said, I really liked and was impressed the sound/tone of that Apollo you demo'd.
@@billdedrick1914 man it is closer to .45 and .44 looks like.
@@ShawnBrockMusic Hi Shawn. I had sent an email to Nik about it, he sent back that it was and A shape (same as a TAD) 1.3mm (.051") , with right hand speed bevels..It sure sounded brighter and clearer than the BC TAD45..Must be in the material and/or bevels I would think..
@@billdedrick1914 I did alter the bevel on one corner to make it like these others, which have been played a bunch. When I took my measurements, I was more concerned with the bevel than the thickness in the center.
I like apollos plastic material. Gives the same full sound I got from a tad 55 but a lot lighter in my hand. I’m a hack though compared to you and a lot of the guys in the comments so ymmv
Man, there is no way you are a hack any more so than I am. 😄 Hack should be my middle name lol. Yeah, I have one of the picks you speak of, and will be doing a video on it in a couple of weeks.
Tortoise shell all day then Apollo and I can’t get on the bluechip bandwagon
Old habits are hard to break for me as well man lol. I wish I had played this Apollo for a couple of weeks before recording it, it sounds more like tortoiseshell than it did in the video. I understand how you feel regarding Bluechip, I have a great deal of admiration regarding the durability of them, but the sound hasn’t ever quite suited me.