Brian Goss is a New York City-based session and touring guitarist whose credits include work with members of Guns N' Roses, Television, and The Misfits, New York punk acts The Noise and Warzone, and singer-songwriter Simon Felice — with whom he's opened tour stops for The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons.
He was also the first guitarist to run hands-on clinical tests of the Attak Pik, working directly with founders Mike and Mark through the initial R&D process. We sat down with Brian to talk about what he heard, what surprised him, and why he thinks the tone is in your hands.
What were your initial impressions when you first played the Attak and Ambush?
"They remind me of the Snark clip-on tuner — every guitarist has one now, but 10 to 15 years ago they didn't seem to exist. I remember playing with the picks and thinking: is it possible that no one ever thought of this before? It's a whole other approach, affecting your tone with a pick. Before, I always thought of a pick as just an accessory."
— Brian GossWhat did you think visually, when you first saw how different they were?
I was intrigued by the mathematical aspects. They weren't in some random new shapes — they were designed mathematically with an idea as to what the shape would actually do and cause. My first inclination was to wonder if the new shapes could hinder my playing in some way. But after playing with them for a while, I completely forgot about all that.
You forgot you weren't playing with a flat pick?
Yeah. At the beginning, coming from playing with a regular pick, I wondered if it would feel obtrusive. But it doesn't take long for it to feel like a new normal.
How did you approach the testing process?
When Mark and Mike first contacted me, they had spreadsheets and lots of different picks. They wanted me to play and record with them all and write down comments. So in the beginning it was quite scientific. But things really took shape for me when I let all that go and just started playing with and enjoying them.
Was there an "aha" moment?
"After playing with the new picks for a while, I went back to a regular pick and it sounded dull by comparison. That was the moment. A flat pick didn't have the same bite or attack — no pun intended. They were what I'd been playing with my whole life, but it was no longer the same. That's when I could really hear the different tones. Especially the Attak and Ambush models."
— Brian GossDid the tone difference hold across different setups?
A lot of players think their tone is the result of their amp and instrument. And they're right, to a certain extent. But I've come to realize it's mostly the result of a musician's hands. The tone is in your hands and fingers — and these picks in your hands accentuate that theory.
Mostly Gibsons — a Les Paul and an SG — with 10-gauge strings. "Slightly on the heavier side. Most people use 8s or 9s." The picks he tested most extensively were the Attak and Ambush models.
Who do you think finds these picks first?
The shredders and death metal players might love them right away. The tone chasers will literally have fun playing with them — as I certainly did. Let's see if some kid from somewhere gets a couple of them and uses them to do things that no one had ever thought of before.
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