Blue Chip Thumb Picks on Lap Steel????

[Doug Anderson]

Curious if anyone uses Blue Chip Thumb picks on Lap Steel? If so, which model do you prefer?

Many folks seem to love them for dobros but I have not heard much about them on lap steels. They are expensive ($40) but folks say they last forever. I broke my current thumb pick in under 2 months on my dobro. Also, folks say they are more comfortable. I kinda start to hate my current thumb pick after about an hour of playing.

[Rick Aiello]

I use the JD Crowe version … the resonator one was too long for me …

[Bill McCloskey]

I use them for Pedal Steel. Always liked the feel.

[Michael Kiese]

Aloha,

I went down the thumb pick rabbit hole years ago when I picked up Chet Atkins fingerstyle on guitar.

I've tried everything out there, Red Bear, Blue Chip, Black Mountain, all the Fred Kelly picks.

When it comes down to it, I don't like the "Shark fin" contours that most thumbpicks have. I don't like the needlepoint profiles either.

Also when it comes to essential gear, I want something that is readily available and moderately priced so that I can stock up on it. The worst thing that can happen is that you don't have any backup picks when it's stage time.

Ultimately, I settled on the Fred Kelly Bumblebee Thumbpicks. They're made out of delrin, and I get a good tone out of them. I use the Extra Heavy Jazz profile shape, which is very similar to a Dunlop Jazz III pick.

Whatever plastic they use on the thumb wrap is very good. I have big thumbs, so I just take a lighter and heat up the yellow plastic thumbwrap. That makes it pliable. I widen the grip, and then douse the pick in cold water. The wrap then keeps that new thumb opening size.

That itself is a handy feature.

I've tried doing that with the Shark Fin profile Dunlop Thumbpicks. You take a flame to that and it immediately catches fire and melts. haha.

To each their own, but all things considered, I highly recommend at least trying out the Fred Kelly Bumblebees. Very comfortable. Feels just like a guitar pick. And at $15 for a 3-pack on Amazon, they don't break the bank and are widely available.

https://www.amazon.com/Fred-Kelly-Picks ... 106&sr=8-3

Enjoy!

[Rick Aiello]

I’ve had mine for over 15 years … not a mark on the blade. It’s polyamide imide (Vespel) … extremely expensive

[Nathan Golub]

For a few years I was playing a lot of fingerpicked acoustic guitar and dobro. I was using the BlueChip JD Crowe thumbpick for both and it sounded fantastic. The only issue is the blade placement of the BlueChip is back further than the Dunlops I use for pedal steel, for the way it fit my thumb. That difference was throwing me off whenever I used the Dunlops on psg, so I started using the BlueChip for steel guitar as well. On electric instruments I don't hear as much of a difference between the BlueChip and plastic picks like Dunlops, so the switch to the BlueChip for pedal steel was based on having a consistent blade placement. I've since moved away from dobro, and went back to Dunlops on pedal steel...really it was mostly because I didn't want to buy more of the JD Crowes to have as backups in case I lost one.

I still use BlueChip flatpicks on any acoustic instrument. They're great, especially for bluegrass music. If I ever go back to dobro land I'll be using their thumbpick again.

Here's a photo for refence...

[Michael Kiese]

That's the type of dunlop pick I was talking about in my comment. Avoid flames at all cost. Highly flammable, lol. It'll catch fire and immediately melt, sticking to anything it touches.

I figured that out the hard way when I was trying to heat it up to widen the thumb wrap.

I wonder what they're made of.

Regarding the comment of the Blue Chip pick placement being different than the Dunlop, I experienced that as well.

What I like about the Bumblebee is that you can adjust the position and orientation of the pick. It's always right where I want it to be.

[Greg Forsyth]

I have the resonator Blue Chip thumb pick and use it on all my steels. It was an impulse buy ($35 festival price) at the WVMF in Winfield. Bent to fit 1st time and it's the only thumb pick I've ever felt highly comfortable using. Gives a very warm tone to the notes. I've been using it for almost 2 years it's still in new condition. Highly recommended.

[Chase Brady]

When I bought my Adams square neck flattop (used), there was a Blue Chip thumbpick in the accessory compartment. I eventually sold it. I prefer both the sound and the feel of the delrin Fred Kelly Slickpicks. I've also tried lots of boutique flatpicks, even made my own out of old galalith poker chips, but I eventually went back to cheap delrin Clayton Black Ravens. Guess I just like the sound of delrin. To each his own.

[Jeff Bell]

I have the resonator Blue Chip thumb pick and use it on all my steels. It was an impulse buy ($35 festival price) at the WVMF in Winfield. Bent to fit 1st time and it's the only thumb pick I've ever felt highly comfortable using. Gives a very warm tone to the notes. I've been using it for almost 2 years it's still in new condition. Highly recommended.

This my experience, as well. Have had it 8 years at least. I have the JD model and use it for reso, weis and lap steel. Very durable.

[Douglas Schuch]

I bought a Blue Chip to use on my dobro because I was wearing out the softer Dunlops, and the harder ones (Ultex) were very uncomfortable. The blue chip was so comfortable, and I get the same tone from it as I do my metal finger picks, so I started using it on pedal steel, so I bought another one! I have no intentions of ever going back to the basic ones.

I don't play my lap steel very much, but now, whatever I play that needs a thumb pick, I use the Blue Chip.

[Mark Eaton]

I have been using the BlueChip JD (Crowe) Reso picks in Large for the past 13 years on both dobro and lap steel. It's all I ever use. I started out with the narrower Reso pick but soon switched to the JD, It feels like it keeps your thumb closer to the strings.

Some of you might remember when Jerry Douglas for many years had a forum on his website, and no doubt there are fellow members here from those days. When BlueChip first hit the market Jerry got a hold of a couple and posted about it on his forum on Sept. 17, 2009. I archived his comments over on the Resohangout Forum a number of years ago, and I may have even shared his comments here on the SGF in the past. He's not an actual endorser, and here is what he wrote about BlueChip that day. He uses them for dobro and lap steel, though over the years sometimes he plays lap steel with no picks.

In the quote below he is referring specifically to dobro, not lap steel -though I have seen him using a BlueChip on lap steel as well.

"I have never used a thumbpick like this ever before. Always shied away from any metal banding and multi-material picks until now. I saw some of my friends moving from tortoise to these picks and that got my attention. Usually, I wear out a pick, Zookie, Golden Gate, Slickpick, National, I've tried everything, in one hour of playing. I have been using the same Blue Chip JD(Crowe) thumbpick for more than a month. Through the Elvis Costello tour where we played at least 35 songs per night, and all shows since. I have never had a pick long enough to actually form a relationship with it in the way guitar players I know, Dan, Tony, Bryan can have. This stuff is incredible and has better tone and moves across the string in a way plastic never will. I am amazed! They are costly I know, but see what you think if you get the chance to try one. You better get two. I haven't bent the pick in any way since I first picked it up and slid it onto my thumb (I wear a large). I have used two picks since May 20th. Usually I would have gone through at least 20 Zookies by now and had to get use to slight changes in each one. I'm finished with that. My hat is off to Matthew Goins at Blue Chip. Now I'll get down off my soapbox."



One of the key comments above from Jerry that hit home with me all those years ago was how it "moves across the string in a way plastic never will. I am amazed!"

[Douglas Schuch]

Mark, I must have run across your posts of this in the past, as I remember Jerry Douglas being very keen on these picks and their feel and durability, which helped me pull the trigger on my first one. So thanks for posting (and reposting) his comments!