Talk me out of buying this

[Rev. Rye]

I may as well include a little story of a somewhat extravagant gear purchase I just made.

As many guitarists know, back in the olden days, picks were made out of tortoiseshell. They were prized for their sound, feel, and look, which remain nigh-on mythical to guitarists to this day. One key problem arose, though: it involved the killing of a hawksbill tortoise, which is a critically endangered animal, and I'm inclined to believe that I could live a long and full life and still never see the day where it becomes simply endangered. Needless to say, manufacture is illegal, and whether made before it was illegal, or made illegally, you have to pay far out the ass for it, with prices for genuine tortoiseshell picks regularly reaching the triple figures.

While, of course, many pick manufacturers have found plastics that mimic tortoiseshell on varying levels like (in order of increasingly reasonable mimicry): celluloid, Delrin/Acetal/Tortex, and Ultex. But, of course, there's a limit to it. However, some brave souls have discovered that casein (a milk protein), can, if treated with the right chemicals and moulded into the right shape, can make a pick that not only mimics tortoiseshell better than any of those three major plastics I've mentioned, but, can, if maintained properly, last for years. There are a few pick artisans who have created picks from this, like Red Bear and Blue Chip, but I zeroed in on one made by John Pearse called The Fast Tortoise (Medium Gauge)



Of course, there are two major drawbacks with the pick: first is it's expensive. I bought mine for $9.50. For a single pick. Yes, I am well aware that you can buy a big pack of normal picks for that price. Then again, it lists for $12 a pop, and Red Bear and Blue Chip are actually a lot more expensive. It's also apparently fairly high-maintenance, since Red Bear advises rubbing some oil on their picks to protect them from finger moisture and they recommend storing it away from things that could potentially cause it to fracture. Then again, they also say that, with all that in mind, a single, well-maintained, regularly used, casein pick can potentially last for years. I'm not sure about the hype, but at any rate, I decided to give it its day in court (and its own little ring box for storage), and ordered it.

http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/jopefatutogu.html

And, for those of us who think, "Dude, just get some regular picks. They're a lot cheaper, lower-maintenance, and you probably won't worry about them breaking" Well, I decided to do that, too. I ordered a 24-pack of Ultex Jazz III 2.0's, and a 6-pack of regular Ultex Jazz III's.



Combined, those two packs of 30 cost $10.78, not much more than the $9.50 Fast Tortoise. Compensating for the 10% discount I took and shipping, I spent a little over $20, and I'm pretty sure I'll be set, picks-wise, for a long time.