Bluechip picks are made out of vespel SP-1/polyimide/kapton plastic -- self-lubricating, usable at cryogenic temperatures up to 500 F. The material actually is very expensive. About half the cost of a Bluechip pick is the material alone. They are worth it, in my opinion. BC picks project a great warm tone. They glide over the strings. And, they last forever. Paradoxically, moisture helps improve their grip. Not only that, they can easily be re-beveled with a fine file and some good fine grit paper. I have re-beveled my Bluechip picks to a symmetric, finer-edged, Gravity-pick type of bevel -- for added precision and brightness. The finer-edged bevel lasts quite well. But, not as long as the more round-beveled edge that the BC picks are made with. The thicker picks just have more girth/depth in their tone. But, a finer-edged bevel will also bring back the trebles of a thinner pick. Why? I don't know. It is just what I have noticed. But, IMHO, the Blue-chip picks are better suited to Acoustic guitar and bluegrass flat-picking. They really smooth out a lot of the sibilant string noise caused by hard picking. They are also exceptionally great for Jazz and smoother-mellower tones and styles. For harder blues, rock, metal I have been using the Gravity Classic Gold picks instead. They are slightly brighter than the Blue chip picks. And, they have plenty of string-glide -- more than other picks -- but, not quite as much as the Blue Chip. Some of the string glide is lost to the sharper bevel. The Gravity Gold does have that great, solid, smooth, projecting tone like the Blue chip. The Gravity Gold is also higher priced -- but lower priced than the Bluechip. In both cases, Bluechip and Gravity Gold, I think the price is more than well worth it, tone-wise. They can add girth/depth/complexity/fullness/power to your tone in a way nothing else will. There is something special about being able to keep your trebles up and still play hard with a BC pick -- without being spiky or strident. If you need, or want, a slightly brighter sound try the Gravity Gold (it is an unnamed plastic alloy.) Ultex/polyamide is my next favorite pick material, particularly the Dunlop Primetone or Petrucci Signature pick. The Dunlop-JazzIII and the Herco picks are also very good. They are nylon, a particular type of polyamides, much more abrasion-resistant. Nylon picks can not be hand-beveled successfully. Eric Johnson, Joe Bonamassa, The Edge, Jimmy Page, Neil Young have all preferred the JazzIII/Herco-style nylon picks. However, if you prefer a stiff, heavy pick and just wish it would glide over the strings with more ease and have a more robust tone -- try Bluechip or Gravity Gold.
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