I love it.
My favourite picks are Pickboy carbon ones with a pot leaf motif raised up off the main body of the pick. They have a great sharp point, are easy to grip with the raised motif and are rock solid. Unfortunately they’re also hard to find 
So now I just use standard Dunlop 500s - .96mm, they’re solid without being too thick (hate flimsy, thin picks) and are available everywhere. But they don’t have a great point and they wear down really quick. So I had to buy lots of them, good thing they’re cheap.
When the Bluechip pick buzz started I laughed out loud on the Mandolincafe board at the idea of a $35 pick.
I went back a few weeks later to publicly eat my words - most embarrassing. Those picks are a revelation.
For bluegrass I use Bluechip or Dawg. For ITM and folk I use much thinner orange or yellow Dunlops.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:
…the “Splectrum”.
Well, thank you very much for not mentioning where you found these.
You won’t find 'em under that name, likely. I came up with it myself, but I just did a Google seach on the off-chance and it looks like someone smarter is already using it for usernames, etc, so I probably can’t register it. Just do a search for “Diva-fabulous guitar picks” or something.
Dude, I wouldn’t be seen dead…
“Splectrum”, huh? Reminds me of the old Clown Barf Fender picks.
My vote is for the John Pearse “viscolloid” picks. I like the Studio Mediums, the ones with the weird offset shape and the black printing. However, there’s no sense in claiming that there’s the “one true pick” out there - what pick will respond the best to your playing will depend on your guitar’s resonance, scale length, string gauge, your body geometry, your right-hand quirks, your left-hand quirks (do you use more or less left hand when you flatpick a tune? makes a big difference), and mostly, what you’re looking for in a response.
The only thing to do is to try every pick, and hang on to the ones you like. Eventually, you’ll find one that works, and then you can use that one.
I thought this thread was worth resurrecting
when I found this new product:
Which allows you to punch your own picks
out of any thin material without traveling to
that special music store.
I’m getting one just for funsies. What shall
I punch first?
Punch a pick out of your credit card. No! Your driver’s license!
The Credit Card is pretty obvious. I have
some useless ones sitting around. I bet
the raised numbers will provide a bit more
grip…
I wonder if I could punch a pick from my
DL just right so it has my picture on it…
\yikes.
Boy would I like one of these. I would go on a mission to find the thinnest pick and never come back. You are going to be the coolest among your friends for quite some time.
In case people didn’t see me mention these on my Tone-Gard posting…
A guitar playing buddy steered me to V-Picks:
I got two from Elderly for around $7.50 which is 'WAY more doable than $35 for a Blue Chip. I can’t imagine a better mandolin pick. I’d recently been using Dawg or Golden Gate picks (big, fat, round) and Vinni (the V in V-Pick) recommended the Large Rounded as the nearest in size and shape. They make about 80 models in all, thick to thin, pointy, rounded, etc. Even glow-in-the-dark! Plus, the acrylic material has natural non-slip properties. The picks are glass smooth, but they simply don’t rotate between the fingers the way my Dawg picks did. Take a look.
Wait, am I getting that right? “Over 80 models ranging from .75 to 11.5mm.”
Why not just strum with your shoe?
Seriously, I’ve been using a Blue Chip for a long time now, and it’s still by far the best pick I’ve ever played. The video of the V-pick suggests that I might like it just as well, as it has the same special property: once warmed up, it gently sticks to the skin, and doesn’t travel. It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t used such a pick just what that means. It makes a HUGE difference.
I really love the non-slip aspect of these V-picks.
Since you don’t have to squeeze the heck out of the pick to keep it from moving around, you have much more fine control of your picking. Less fatigue too.
I hope to try a Blue Chip some time, but for nearly 1/10 the cost, I’m happy with V-picks for now.
For playing backup guitar I use a red .50 mm Dunlop Tortex pick with light-ish strings - 11-53. I, too, had a hard time with tension in my right hand/arm holding on to the pick.
After playing a 3 to 4 hour gig my right arm/hand was pretty uncomfortable.
Several years ago I started using a cheap cake of violin rosin, (scratch into the cake and rub my index finger into it until it powders) to keep the pick in my hand. All of my right arm problems went away.
The advantage of the Dunlop Tortex pick is that it will wear out before it breaks. Or you’ll lose it before it wears out. They’re really tough.
I tried many other pick designs to see if they’d work better for me, but the thin Tortex and the rosin technique is what I’ve stayed with.
This is for a more shredded chord centric backup style. For ITM the thin pick is perfect for me. For flat picking I have to use a much thicker pick.
(The only issue I have is when I put down my guitar and pick up my flute, my right index finger can be a little sticky - but I just think of it as unique articulation.)
You might like a product called Gorilla Snot (seriously, that’s the name). It’s a paste rosin that evaporates away and doesn’t leave your fingers as sticky as solid violin rosin.
Since this is an old, revived thread that has mentioned tortoise shell picks and the Mandolin Cafe, I’ll mention this for new readers. Should you visit the Mandolin Cafe, know that the subject of tortoise shell is a strictly forbidden topic. For those who might desire natural shell picks, please reconsider. Putting aside any arguable and dubious advantages, and even though many picks today are supposedly made from pre-ban antique shell, as long as there is a market for the material there will be poaching. The Hawksbill tortoise is an endangered species, yet even today there are poachers caught every year. Their primary product is guitar picks.
I just tried the V-Picks (got the Acoustic assortment). The things I like is that they don’t move around in your grip and the tone is good and bright. However, they have an annoying amount of pick noise (the sound of the initial contact of the pick hitting the string). So it is back to using a Blue Chip for me. (They don’t move around either, have a bit better tone and not nearly so much pick noise.) I know they are expensive, but you just have to always wedge it back in the strings and it will last for many many years. On a per year basis, they are very good value - just take care not to lose them. I can see why electric guitar players would like the V-Picks (since the pick ups would not hear the pick noise, I think.)
Check out Vinnie’s video on v-picks.com where he addresses the issue of pick noise. It IS a manageable condition.