I am fine with my disposable picks! I probably won't last more than a couple years myself so why bother with the "forever" pick (Trademark)!! Besides, neither Blue Chip nor Red Bear make one in my thickness (0.60 mm, TWICE the thickness of Carlos Santana's preferred thickness of 0.30 mm)!!!
I totally get the thickness thing.
The reason I like the Blue Chip picks isn't that they last forever, actually. That's a side benefit. The BCs hit the string and it sounds...warm. It's a really lovely sound. That's the main reason I like 'em.
Also, the material seems to glide off the strings really fast and the material doesn't get the pick hung up going from one string to the other due to a lot of friction. That makes me feel I'm playing precisely and more in
time.
Did I mention time? OK, then, it's time for a digression!
Note: This digression is entirely optional, and will only be on the test for extra credit.
So let's take a break from pick tone discussions, and talk about the element of
time in music.
Let's face it, if a player has a great feel for time, can play in it, play with it, manipulate it..hey, that's golden. Give me a tool that helps me stay in, or manipulate musical time and I'll give you all the music you don't care about, but the sh!t WILL be played in time.
I'll grant you, certain theoretical physicists opine that time is an illusion. Kids, I'm fine with that, if theoretical physics one's boat, and who knows, maybe they're right.
But when it comes to
music, time is a pretty f#cking important illusion! I dunno about you, but when I'm playing or writing music, I like to play in and/or with time.
On the other hand, there was John Cage. He was into aleatoric chance to create music, and of course there's that famous piece, 4' 33", where the musicians just sit there and don't play, and the audience contemplates the sounds of the environment.
I'll bet it was pretty hard to get a lot of airplay for that tune. My tunes get played on TV. John's don't. I win.
So yeah, I need the element of time in my music. If a pick helps, great. I'll spend $1,000 on a pick if I have to, in order to get that whole wuzza-wuzza-time-vibey-thing going and...
"Les, time's up for this post. OK? It's time to go back to your ward at the asylum. Come on, be cooperative, let's go."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes, It's time for your wuzza-wuzza-time-vibey-thing meds."
"Do I have to wear the...jacket?"
"I think it's best."
