How many times have you been out there in the old woodshed and said to yourself; “Self, what I really need here is an Isotropic Carbon guitar pick. I wish somebody would come up with one of those.”
Well, thanks to the folks at Obbligato, Inc., your long wait is over!
Obbligato, Inc. releases the world’s first Isotropic Carbon guitar pick with tone and feel that is very reminiscent of true tortoise shell. The patent pending design is made from a very fine grain carbon not well known outside of the medical community.
The standard shape is .022″ thick and is so precise you can feel the strings. The Black Diamond surface is smooth to the touch yet will not slip or rotate in your fingers even when wet. The Black Diamond Picks ship complete with a protective carrying case and care instructions.
Tested for over two years playing with steel and bronze strings on a wide variety acoustic and electric guitars and show zero wear…even under 4X magnification. Unlike metal picks, Black Diamond does not prematurely wear strings before they go dead.
Hmmm…kind of hard to tell from the picture but, if it will make play faster than Al DiMeola (let’s hear it for another great Italian!), I’m in.
But, wait..that’s not all! These cats at Obbligato are coming out with some real outside-the-box ideas. Digital modeling? Plenty of that going around but, how about “Analog Modeling”?
Obbligato, Inc. releases Turnstyle, the world’s first 100% analog guitar modeling system that installs directly into any Fender® Stratocaster® Guitar and most similar guitars. Obbligato’s patent pending design uses three magnetic coil pickups, top-grade components and a convenient rotary switch to enable consumers to seamlessly switch between a who’s-who list of single-coil & humbucker tones within a single guitar. Turnstyle offers a significantly lower-cost alternative to most digital processor guitars…
…”Turnstyle was designed to be completely stealth in appearance and to operate in a performance setting, making it instantly second nature to switch between sounds during the middle of a song without missing a note or having to look at the controls. Over a decade of development went into turning a cluster of toggle switches into a single rotary switch and standard 5-way selector without resorting to relays, silicon or batteries” — Turnstyle Design Team
Turnstyle replaces the consumer’s pickguard assembly instead of their guitar, completely analog, requires no batteries, and provides instant access to 15 top guitar tones.
Not having plunked on any of the gear firsthand, I have no clue whether these guys are actually innovating or just relentlessly tweaking. Either way, Obbligato looks like an outfit to keep an eye on.
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