Acorn Amplifiers is seeking funding for its ingenious pedal design
(Image credit: Acorn Amplifiers/IndieGoGo)
Guitar picks are funny things – one minute you’ll be merrily strumming along, and then your plectrum will simply vanish from the face of the earth. It’s an equally tricky conundrum for stage professionals, whose enthusiastic onstage shredding can result in a runaway pick.
In such situations, it’s usually either a desperate scramble to save the slab of celluloid, or a humbling rummage hoping another will miraculously turn up – and that’s only if you remember to bring your pick tin with you to the gig in the first place.
Well, Acorn Amplifiers has launched a crowdfunding campaign for something that might put an end to such problems and make pick swaps that much easier.
Meet the Guitar Pick Dispenser pedal – an ingenious utility unit that does exactly what it says on the tin: it dispenses picks with the stomp of the switch.
A prototype has been fashioned ahead of a full production unit, which would be created depending on the financial backing the brand receives to help develop further prototypes and refine units.
At the time of writing, $6,596 of a $10,000 goal has already been raised, and we imagine it won’t be long before that target is smashed: Acorn Amplifiers' demo video has been viewed more than half a million times, and the company has been inundated with requests to release the Pick Dispenser.
The demo video showcases just how handy this pedal could be. There’s nothing flashy about it: just a sole footswitch that ejects guitar picks from the upper slot when pressed. Consider us sold.
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(Image credit: Acorn Amplifiers/IndieGoGo)
With interest ramping up, Acorn Amplifier has laid out its plans for the future, which include putting the pedal through “a barrage of cycle testing so that we are sure we are providing a super robust product that can handle the abuse that comes with being on a pedal board, studio desktop… whatever.”
The company – which also built a Josh Homme-aping, Peavey Decade-inspired preamp pedal – says it also has ambitions to make the pedal available by the end-of-year holidays, meaning it could be here in time for Christmas.
There’s a way to go before Acorn gets there, though. “Testing, testing, testing” will ensure its robustness, while there’s still the small task of making it affordable for fans.
There are five levels of support available on the pedal’s Crowdfunder page. The first two – Video Shoutout ($10) and PCB Swag Pack ($25) – offer social media shouts and an array of collectibles (including a business card that can be used to make a one watt guitar amp).
The rest are concerned with the pedal itself, with the base rate for the pedal currently sitting at $60.
It’s probably worth noting there’s the argument to be made that the Pick Dispenser will take up valuable real estate on a pedalboard, and might force players to sacrifice a stompbox to fit it in. Having said that, the Guitar Pick Dispenser Pedal looks like a worthy addition to any ‘board, so excuse us while we start rearranging our rig.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
