D'Addario Accessories Chris Thile Signature Casein 1.4mm Mandolin Pick 2CA7-01CT

Large (ish) pick for use with a mandolin. I am enjoying this pick although it is very hard to give any kind of objective review. The material used for the pick is Casein which I guess justifies the price. It has a smooth texture and very nicely beveled edges. Feels like a quality piece of kit. It is bigger than a standard guitar pick and at 1.4 mm is quite chunky/stiff though not as big as some of the jazz guitar picks I have used. Feels very nice in the fingers and moves over the strings well. I have not recorded back to back with other picks so don't know if it has changed my sound at all.

Well designed and well made. very pleased.

Pricey - but great pick. I can hear the notes without string click. Easy to hold. Improves tone and fluidity of playing.

It's a great solid pick, nice density, bevelling is good, it's fast an accurate with a bright tone. I'm comparing to the various Bluechips I've played over the years, and real TS. I play flatpick/bluegrass style and I guess I hold my pick pretty hard. After it's first outing at a bluegrass jam (the delivery arriverd just before I left) I noticed the pick had slightly deformed around the shape of my thumb from my pistol grip style. It had been in the instrument case other than when used. In some ways this makes it more comfortable, but it is worth knowing and I note people claiming the tips bend, this is entirely consistent with my experience. It's not going to be my go to pick, but it is interesting from a scientific perspective. If you're going to spend >£30 on a single pick it probably shouldn't be this one, get a Bluechip instead.

Great picks. Worth 5 stars. Warm tone, not too dark, not too clicky or chirpy. I treated myself to one for playing jazz on an archtop, but ultimately not for me. I find the triangle a bit too big (bigger than the Dunlop Primetone triangles) and it's a bit too thick for fast playing. Good for slow ballads perhaps. Have found Dunlop Jazztone 304s, ProPlec small teardrops, and Fender 551s pip this to the post. But each to their own.

The pick went concave after being stored in my pocket pick carrier for one month. Dunlop pick in the carrier was fine, at 1/10 the price. BlueChip pick is perfect and indestructible. Casein decided to curl in at all of the points. At $29 this is ridiculous. I will try to flatten it with heat and pressure, but there is no reason why a pick at this price level should warp from what is far less than normal use!

Really nice in the hand Great size with a beautiful curve so it sits snug with no movement even after playing for a long time

Plectrum is only OK and not worth the price..... It's only in my opinion

Well-balanced, good grip, great tone. Highly recommended.

🎉🎉🎉

Das Plektrum hat sich innerhalb von 2 Tagen durch Feuchtigkeit gekrümmt. Ich habe sehr gute Acht gegeben, hat nichts gebracht.

First of all, it's speed beveled right handed. If your lefty and play with your pick pointed towards the headstock , you're ok. Otherwise...not for lefties. Ok..anyone complaining about the pick warping, disregard. This pick is made of casien. It's made from milk curd, I think, and they mix formaldehyde in there, I believe....but the point is, this is not thermoplastic. If you hold it the same way every time, it will warp, but it's the same pick if you just flip it over. It has 3 identical corners. Your thumb pressure will straiten it out again. I use this pick for guitar. It's articulate and gives a nice tone, not fat , or what some people might call warm. A warm pick to me, is dull sounding and you can't hear what you're playing. This pick gives a nice articulate tone and at the same time the speed bevel is just right..not too pointy. I don't get stuck on the strings. Another thing about casien. Don't get it wet and don't stick it in your pants with your keys. You'll get a broken pick. If you didn't know, this pick is stiff, at 1.4mm. I like stiff picks, and this pick seems just right. It's the size of a Blue Chip TAD. One last thing. I read some comments that is not as bright as a Blue Chip. I don't know which size and shape Blue Chip they are talking about. I have Blue Chip TAD picks in a several thicknesses. My experience with Blue Chips is that they have that "warm" dull sound that I don't like. I gave 4 stars on durability only because it is casein. I've had it two months and it still is like new. It wears very slowly , if at all. But not being some indestructible thermoplastic, I figure that eventually something will happen.

I bought this pick in February 2023 and I'm writing this in December 2023. I played my mandolin with it through about August. At that point, I switched to a Toneslabs FS Darth Tone 1.2mm and I'd been using that pretty much exclusively until about a week ago. Before I go further I'll just acknowledge that pick choice is super personal and everyone's mileage may vary here. A lot of reviewers talk about the fragility of this D'Addario pick. Sure, perhaps it's more malleable when exposed to warmth. I regard this as a feature, and I like the way this pick conforms slightly to my thumb. Maybe this pick is more brittle than a BlueChip. I don't know. I store mine with my instrument, and I don't keep it in my pocket. I've dropped it a few times but it hasn't broken. If you have a habit of carrying your picks in your pocket, and aren't willing to chance that habit, then this may not be the pick for you. As far as tone, compared to a BlueChip, I have only ever tried out a CT55. I noticed a slight difference in tone but didn't really have enough time with the BlueChip to really decide which I liked better. Compared to the FS Darth Tone, I have to say the Darth Tone wins on that front, with caveats. The Darth Tone creates a darker, sweeter tone. However, this D'Addario gives my mandolin an edge which cuts through the din of a jam session very nicely. I think the Darth Tone is probably better in situations where you are amplified or mic'd up, but this one is better for jams. This pick needs a little maintenance. It wears down slowly. I use one of those 4-sided nail file/buffer thingies, based on a recommendation by mandolinist Nate Lee in one of his videos (he was using the Darth Tone, but same principle applies here). I really, really love the feel of this pick in my hand. There's just something about it, but I just love it. I love the way it is curved, I love the bevel, I love the feel of it across the strings. I like it so much that I've decided to put the Darth Tone down for a while and move forward with this one for the time being. I recently tried it on guitar (steel string), and now this is my favorite guitar pick, too! I may buy another just so I can store one pick with my guitar and one with my mandolin.