Official Luthiers Forum!

Back about a year ago a friend called to tell me that a woman in California had been busted for selling real tortoise shell picks. Well, I got a call this afternoon from the person who had originally supplied the story. They said that today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat was carrying an article on the woman, who it turns out I have indeed known for a few years, although wasn't aware that she was dealing contraband tortoise. She's Chinese and living in the states, and travels to China frequently on business as an importer of violin and guitar making parts and materials. Very cute and petite, but also a hard-ball business woman. A quick search just now found it on the paper's website at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20 ... hell-picks. He also says that once Ms. Song was video-taped selling some picks at a West Coast bluegrass festival, her home business was then raided while she was away on a trip to China, and besides finding a lot of tortoise the federal agents also confiscated her computer which had files on everyone she'd sold picks to. She was supposedly buying them in China for about $.27/each, then reselling for $7.00.

As even this sketchy newspaper article recognizes, a more or less effective argument can be made for salvaging and recycling old antique items such as boxes, bracelets, and combs (especially if damage has ruined their collectible value), but it's another issue entirely if the material involved has been recently taken from endangered turtles which were swimming freely only a short time before. In practice, the law doesn't necessarily recognize the difference, primarily because once an artifact has been converted to picks it becomes impossible to prove those picks came from antiques and not raw back plates.

Wow, my name is on her computer as well because I bought bone nuts and saddles from her and currently need to order more. For the record though, I have never owned a tortoise shell pick. Too bad though as she is a nice lady.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

I prefer the environmentally accepted approach to tortoise shell, I simply use the whole tortoise and then let go back in the water when I'm done play'in. We should all do what we can to recycle.

Cheers

Kim

I'm with Kim 100%. She supplies quite a few places with nut and saddle blanks.

The poor turtle probably has to grow new fingernails and toenails by the time you're done with it.

David Warther, on ebay, has been a great source for bone.

http://myworld.ebay.com/warthermuseum&s ... X:SELLERID

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https://soundcloud.com/jeffreylsuits/he ... -runnin-13

I'm curious, does anyone know of a good alternative to tortiose for pick material? I like a bigger, triangular shaped pick (hang on to it better) and I also like a very stiff pick. I've not used nor owned a tortise shell pick in over 20 years.......but I've never found anything that worked as well. With tortiose, even large picks are thin and stiff so they work great.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

these are probably the two most popular replacements for real tortoise shell picks.... - Justin

www.redbeartrading.com
www.bluechippick.net

"Pluck and release" You may be on to something there.

Wow -- this is a bit of a surprise for me as well. I've purchased bone from her several times. As to a good replacemet pick, I'm partial to the Dave Grissman's 'Dawg' picks -- available from Elderly for under a $1.50.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

I love to tell my tortoise shell pick story. (please, not again grandpa, we've heard it a hundred times!)

In 1973 me and some Navy buddies were in San Antonio, and wandered into one of those old time big music stores, sold everything from grand pianos to ukeleles. I walked up to the counter, a tall glass affair with fine classical guitars inside, and asked the fellow behind, who was wearing a white long sleeved shirt, black pants, and a red cummerbund, "do you have any genuine tortoise shell picks?"

I had never seen a genuine tortoise shell pick, but as I was just getting involved with playing bluegrass and heard they were the pick to have.

He turned around to a row of thin, red felt-lined drawers, a big stack of them, and pulled one open, and brought a tray of picks, maybe a dozen, of different shapes and colors. "How much?" I asked.
The fellow consulted another older man, and turned to me and said "three for a dollar"

For some reason I picked out seven.

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008907949110

Wow, that just sucks. Christie is great. I have bought bone from her on multiple occassions.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

This is indeed normally the case, however on the upside, it has been my experience that most turtles are in fact much faster pickers than I. For those snappy bluegrass tunes, one only need give them a bowl of strong coffee to slurp before picking them up and whispering in their ear that they have hair on the ass, they will generally go like buggery then.

Cheers

Kim

It's funny, you hardly ever see Chuck, the Duke of Pearl, then you see him twice in one day!

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008907949110

Hi, David! Yes, the old Dukester is definitely out here lurking in the shadowlands, but just haven't been spending money traveling to any guitar shows for three years while financially recovering from buying back Larry Sifel's half of the business after he died in May 2006.