Guitar Player Magazine review

The Stylus Pick

By Tom Mulhern

Separating gimmicks from tools is often a matter of perspective. Take the Stylus Pick, for example. It would be easy to dismiss it as a gimmick; after all, it's a pick designed to help you play faster. If you bought one of these out of a bin with no instructions, and you left the store with nothing more than a pick and a receipt, it would be easy to label this a gimmick. However simple the pick may appear, it is actually a well-thought-out device. It has a conical tip instead of a flat edge, so the point of contact with the string is extremely minimal, and therefore fairly free of friction. It comes with a 26-page booklet that outlines the underlying concept, explains how the pick should be used, and includes musical examples to turn you into an alternate-picking speed-demon. This assumes, of course, that you dedicate yourself to a rigid discipline of learning to use the Stylus Pick.

How does it feel? Once you get into it, you can easily see its potential. Whether it's due to the material or to the conical tip, the pick really glides over a string. Note, though, that the tip has a "shoulder," and if you dig too deep with the pick, it grabs the string after striking it. This can be used for a funk-style attack, but unless you are careful, you'll get this effect too often and the pick will actually slow you down. Once again, we're back to the necessity for dedication; like finger picking or any other technique, you can't get this under full control in mere hours or days.

There is potential for the Stylus Pick in the speed-demon's arsenal. It would probably also be a boon to mandolin and balalaika players who rely on rapid-fire alternate picking. If you're into blinding speed, the Stylus Pick is certainly worth a try. The price is just $9.95, which gets you two Stylus Picks and the instrctional booklet.

Manufacturer's response. Rich Acocella, Stylus Pick's inventor and manufacturer says, "The Stylus Pick is not only designed to help you play faster, it is a specialized device which is part of an overall method designed to develop speed and accuracy when alternate picking with any pick. The Stylus Pick is not meant to replace the conventional flatpick. The 'shoulder' is actually the threshold between minimum and maximum resistance. It is its job to stop you when you gauge too low. Memorization of this threshold facilitates more confidence and more accurate gauging of any pick. Remember, the Stylus Pick helps you along when you're right, and stops you when you're wrong.

Mike Ihde, vice-chairman of the Guitar Department at Berklee College of Music, states, "I have observed a marked increase in the speed and accuracy of my students who use the Stylus Pick. No matter what level a student is on, the Stylus Pick has increased their ability to execute shorter picking strokes with more control and less wasted motion. And, the Stylus Pick is truly the ultimate MIDI guitar pick, as it allows for an incredibly accurate and uniform response from a MIDI guitar. The Stylus Pick is highly recommended." The Stylus Pick is the first and only training device that you use on your guitar while you play. It complements all high-speed courses. The Stylus Pick is patented and is currently the world's most effective method of developing high-speed alternate picking techniques.