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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | An earlier thread on picks got me to searching the internet a while back.
Somewhere along the line someone mentioned tortise shell picks and it made me dig through tons of old crap to see if I still had one from the '70s.
Well, I was lucky enough to find it (didn't realise the value of it back in the day) and could not believe how much better it sounded than the "tortex" and other synthetic pics I was using.
So I begin my quest to find some other tortise shell picks but soon realised how ridiculously expensive they were.
Then I found a website called RED BEAR TRADING COMPANY that handmade their "man made" version of the tortise shell pick called TORTIS picks.
Anyway, maybe Masters Templeman or Pepiak could tell a difference but to me they sounded every bit as good as the real thing at a fraction of the cost.
Anyway, maybe nobody cares and truth be told I am rambling cause it's late and I have had a few too many relaxing libations, but what the hell.
If you love the sound of tortise shell picks but no longer have any or can't afford to pay the exhorbiant price for illegal versions, give the website a look see. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Dunlop Tortex sound pretty close to the real thing and not expensive. Nobody should be selling tortoiseshell picks unless they are old stock from before the hawksbill was declared an endangered species, which is pretty difficult to prove either way. I bought a ton of genuine tortoiseshell picks at the Shanghai show at couple of years ago. They were pennies. Totally illegal but the Chinese don't care. I've given them all away. |
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March 2005
Posts: 2791
Location: Atlanta, GA. | I'm suprised they didn't make soup outta them! :p |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Thanks for the tip, Stephen. I just ordered a Red Bear pick from one of their dealers. I let you know if they really sound any better the picks I buy by the gross. Seems like a lot of money for one pick. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Stephen, you might want to pick up one of these too. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | The tortis are great. |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | What do they $ell for?? . . . |
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August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | You can find them @ elderly
Edited |
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November 2005
Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | TWENNY BUCKS!?!? No thanks, I'll stick with my
Rhino horn picks. (gets a rise out the crowd every
time) |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by Waskel:
Stephen, you might want to pick up one of these too. |
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November 2005
Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I have some gen-you-wine Canadjun picks, classic plastic, made from the far flung tar sands of Northern Alberta that I could be talked into trading.
:rolleyes: |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I gave one of these Red Bear picks to Temp at the tour. Ask him about it...
I have two others and they are very nice. They don't wear-out and impart great string tone.
These picks are actually cultured as opposed to manufactured. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Well, Jeff, CWK2, and I all think they are great so no one else's opinion matters :D
Shut up Waskel! |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I have an old EKO 3-pick display card from the 1950s or 1960s which include the original picks. They don't appear to have ever been removed. I wonder if these could be real tortoise? |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
These picks are actually cultured Then what are they doing in Virginia?? Oh, wait. "formulated from a dairy by-product"... now it makes sense...
Originally posted by stephent28:
Well, Jeff, CWK2, and I all think they are great so no one else's opinion matters :D
Shut up Waskel! Eh. 1 out of 3. You're lucky Bill's opinion carries so much weight. They're still flippin' expensive picks.
And hard to find when you drop them on hotel lobby carpet, eh, Jeffy? ;) |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Professor, you should do a search and see what you could find out. Might be fairly valuable. |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | The new Tortis pick arrived. A medium with speed bevel. This little sucker is thick, much thicker than Fender mediums (my usual choice). It has almost no give to it. However, it doesn't feel thick when played, which might have something to do with the speed bevel. The tone might be just a tad darker as well. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I have found that the tone will vary greatly with these picks based on how hard or soft you play/strum. The variance in tone is what makes them so attractive to use in my opinion. |
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Tortise Shell picks