When Penguin Publishers contacted me and asked if I would read and write a review of Gary Marcus’ new book, Guitar Zero, I was delighted because I’ve always said that I’m about “All Things Guitar”. I’m not a big reader of non-fiction and I guess I was blinded by my naïveté. The book is less about guitar than it is about the science of the mind. Dr. Gary Marcus is a professor of psychology at NYU and director of the NYU Center for Language and Music. He was on a Sabbatical from teaching while writing this book. That should let anyone know something about his real desire to play the instrument. A sabbatical is an extended vacation for the purpose of studying or writing a book. Something most of us couldn’t afford to take. So, it wasn’t his desire to learn the instrument as much as it was his desire to write a book about his experiment. I can’t really believe that he was that serious about learning the instrument. He says it took some doing to learn the “Staff” and claims that the top line of the treble clef is a “G”. Maybe this was a typo but the  [ Read More ]

If you are interested in winning an Aspri Reverb you only have until midnight tomorrow (January 31st) to sign up. If you’re not familiar with the Aspri Reverb then I would encourage you to read the article I wrote at the first of the month; “Introducing the Aspri Reverb”. You can read that HERE. If you followed the directions and contacted me you should have received a reply email with the activation code to enter the draw. Once that was completed your name was added to the list. Here is another opportunity for you to get your name in the hat. Click on everything that applies and for each available entry I will add your name one more time. Spread the word and thanks for visiting Pickstroke and Aspri Reverb!

Congratulations to John Lindsay of Pennsylvania! He is the winner of the Digitech Hot Head guitar pedal. John, I will send you a tweet and if you will e-Mail me your address I will get this in the mail to you as soon as possible! There were 38 entries for this drawing! Thanks everyone for visiting Pickstroke and check back tomorrow to enter our last giveaway of January before the GRAND PRIZE drawing!

This week I’m giving away a Digitech Hot Head distortion pedal. Someone gave this to me several years ago and I’ve never used it. It’s still in the box and taking up room on my shelves so I thought I would just give it away on Pickstroke. Here is what DIGITECH has to say about it: The axiom “the right tool for the right job” is something musicians live by and strive to find. For those looking to get the high-gain crunchy tone of a driven stack whether you are playing straight ahead rock-n-roll or higher gain modern rock, you have found your tool. If you are looking for a little grit or you want your amp to sound like a full stack, the Hot Head pedal is the right tool for you. DigiTech delivers all this tone packed in a rugged metal chassis with standard dual outputs (amp and mixer) as well as giving you low and high tone controls so you can shape your tone to exactly what you are looking for. The Hot Head is the right tool for the job. But don’t take our word… plug in and find out why everyone agrees! You can also  [ Read More ]

Congratulations goes to ….

Chris at Gravity Guitar Picks has created a great product. Guitar Picks can be a blessing or a nightmare. There are so many thicknesses, shapes and materials to choose from. I once had a guitar teacher who insisted that I use a hard jazz pick which he said would help me develop speed and consistency. I couldn’t use it. I need a larger thin pick. From the website: These picks are made out of sheets of cast acrylic. They are then laser engraved and cut out into the individual picks. Next is to grind and polish each pick one by one. Thats basically it. Acrylic is a fun material that comes in lots of colors and thicknesses. Look through our variety of shapes and thicknesses to find the pick that is perfect for your playing style. In addition to shape and thickness, each Gravity Pick is available in a Mini, Standard, and XL size. Our goal is to create guitar picks that will truly enhance your playing experience. These handmade jewels are crafted one at a time with great care and precision. This revolutionary guitar pick looks, feels and plays above and beyond what is currently on the market. If  [ Read More ]