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The AttakPik Artist Roster — Players Who Sound Different

May 2026 6 min read Michael DePietro

 

// THE ROSTER · MAY 2026

Players who sound different.

From Devin Townsend to working pros worldwide. Meet the artists who chose engineered picks over the standard flat shapes everyone else is still using.

By Mike D. · May 12, 2026 · 8 min read
175K+ Customers
4,300+ 5-Star Reviews
70+ Countries

Last week we published real dB measurements across all 19 picks — one of them hitting +21 dB above the flat pick baseline. One slice of the 2,000+ recordings in our archive. That's the data side of what we do. This is the human side.

We didn't go chase celebrity endorsements. The roster grew sideways. Devin Townsend found us because his producer had our samples on the studio bench. Andy Ferreira, who teaches at Musician's Institute in LA, plays them across every session genre you can name. Sam Christ found us through a friend in Indonesia. Show N Tell are tracking traditional heavy metal in the US the way it should be done. Toki Ward orders his own picks and hands them out to fans at UK shows. Ben Counsell discovered us, became a Stealth 2 loyalist, and uses the same pick for 8-string chugs and Sunday morning ambient. None of it was a marketing plan. It just kept happening.

The roster spans six continents and every genre I couldn't have planned for. What follows is six of them, and what they reach for when they pick up a guitar. The rest are at the bottom — click any name to read their story.

// FEATURED · SIX PLAYERS

Six players, six reasons.

Devin Townsend
01 / SIGNATURE
Canada · Metal · Producer

Devin Townsend

Strapping Young Lad · The Devin Townsend Project · Empath · Lightwork

Devin found us by accident. He was working on a record with producer Garth Richardson, and Garth had a few of our samples on the studio bench. Devin picked one up, and something clicked — he'd been trying for years to get Dunlop to make a pick that did this. Now one existed. He emailed us the same week.

So we built him a signature. Triangular plectrum, 1mm range, three playable tips — one altered using our patented tip technology to give him a brighter, grittier edge when he wanted it. The other two stay clean. One pick, three voices.

His album Lightwork was the first record he tracked with it.

Read Devin's full story →
Andy Ferreira
02 / SESSION GUITARIST
USA · Session · Educator

Andy Ferreira

Los Angeles · Musician's Institute · Born in Brazil

Andy is the kind of player a city like LA needs more of. Honors graduate from Musician's Institute — one of the top contemporary music schools in the world — where he now teaches the next generation of working pros.

His day job is everything. Rock, metal, blues, fusion, funk, pop, country, gospel, contemporary christian. Sometimes in the same week. Sometimes in the same day. SoCal session work demands a kind of versatility that makes most "what's your style?" questions sound silly — the answer is "what's the gig?"

That's why Andy matters to us. When you play this many genres for a living, your gear has to behave on every single one of them. Picks that work for one style and fight you on another get cut from the kit. Andy made the cut.

Sam Christ (SCWXYZ)
03 / GEAR REVIEWER
Indonesia · Blues / Metal · Reviewer

Sam Christ

@SCWXYZ · WTC Worship · Sam Azareel · formerly Animatronix

Sam won the 2023 AMI Awards — Indonesia's official music awards — for Best Blues Production. That's a producer credit, on a production-of-the-year award. Then he became an official artist for PRS Guitars, DiMarzio, Valeton, and NF Acous.

But here's the thing about Sam: he's been busting gear myths and posting honest reviews on Instagram since 2017. His following trusts him because he's been wrong before in public, corrected himself in public, and gone after sponsored gear with a level of skepticism most reviewers won't touch.

When his test piks arrived, he kept reaching for two specifically — the Stealth Radium and the Ambush. Said the Ambush had a "really unique sound on acoustic guitar." He's planning a video series in Bahasa Indonesia so his audience can dig in. When the most trusted gear reviewer in Indonesia picks up a pick, he tells you exactly why — or exactly why not. We're proud he picked us up.

Read Sam's full story →
Show N Tell
04 / TRADITIONAL METAL
USA · Traditional Heavy Metal · Independent

Show N Tell

Founded 2019 · David Rodriguez (gtr/vox) · The Ritual Has Begun (2024)

Founded in 2019 by guitarist/vocalist David Rodriguez, Show N Tell are doing the kind of traditional heavy metal that doesn't get made the easy way. A 3-song demo earned them traction in the underground scene. Their debut full-length, The Ritual Has Begun, came out in 2024 through No Remorse Records.

Then they did something interesting: they went independent. Not because the label deal fell apart, but because they wanted full control of how the next chapter got made. That's a band that knows what it sounds like and isn't willing to compromise to get it.

Traditional heavy metal isn't a nostalgia genre when it's done right. It's a craft that demands real songwriting, real riffs, real conviction — and a pick that gets out of the way. Show N Tell make that pick our problem to deliver, and they pick the right ones.

Ben Counsell
05 / RANGE PLAYER
Canada · Instrumental Metal · Producer

Ben Counsell

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan · Stealth 2 player

20+ years on guitar. Started in blues and rock, moved through emo and post-rock, and ended up in modern aggressive instrumental metal. Low-tuned extended-range guitars, signature Auroratone pickups, the kind of low-tuned chugs you tape leads and melodic riffs over while not taking yourself too seriously.

What we love about Ben is the range. He uses the Stealth 2 for everything — crushing 8-string riffs, ambient swells, and open chords at church on Sunday morning where he serves as associate pastor. One pick, completely different jobs, no swapping out. That's an honest endorsement: the picks survive contact with how he actually lives.

Ben produces, mixes, and masters everything himself in a small home studio. Husband, father of two, lifter of heavy objects, and a guy who treats a melodic riff and a worship lead as the same craft.

Read Ben's full story →
Toki Ward
06 / WORKING PRO
UK · Metal / Blues / Rock · Educator

Toki Ward

Onion Mash · Manchester · Producer · Guitar teacher

Toki's a Manchester guitarist, producer and teacher with 15+ years of recording and live work. Currently in Onion Mash — a band that, by their own description, mashes classic rock, metal and prog elements into something that doesn't fit any of those boxes cleanly.

The reason Toki gets featured here: he's the kind of artist who orders his own picks and gives them away.

A typical email from Toki looks like this: ten Devin Townsend Earthtones, ten Stealth Flex 1.3mm, a Stealth Thick-to-Thin pack — ship them to Manchester. He'll be giving them out at his next run of UK shows. Players are finding AttakPik through Toki at gigs we'll never play, in cities we don't market to, because someone with a working knowledge of the picks is putting them directly into their hands. That's not endorsement. That's evangelism.

Read Toki's full story →
// MORE OF THE FAMILY

And the others who chose us.

Daryl Tomas
Daryl Tomas
Craig Simas
Craig Simas
Jake Childs
Jake Childs
Kaelen Sarakinis
Kaelen Sarakinis
Oppression
Oppression
Ray Anton
Ray Anton
Brandon Brodzinski
Brandon Brodzinski
David Charlton
David Charlton
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Don Hinshaw
Don Hinshaw
Cesar Ash
Cesar Ash
Origami Summer
Origami Summer
Tyler Dowd
Tyler Dowd
Chris Kalafus
Chris Kalafus
Des Farr
Des Farr
Ricky Armellino
Ricky Armellino
Julian Oyanedel Santiesteban
Julian Oyanedel Santiesteban
Thomas Polychuck
Thomas Polychuck
Keith Dover
Keith Dover
Justus Hajas
Justus Hajas
Renzo Dasso
Renzo Dasso
Andrew Caico
Andrew Caico
Pennyhill's Regret
Pennyhill's Regret
Jacob Rozmajzl
Jacob Rozmajzl
Brian Goss
Brian Goss
Hector Rivera Santoyo
Hector Rivera Santoyo
High Fells / Nick Smith
High Fells / Nick Smith
Jorge Salas
Jorge Salas
// SHOULD YOUR NAME BE HERE?

Apply to the Artist Family.

We don't have a follower count requirement. We don't care if you're touring or recording in a bedroom. We care that you care about tone — and that the picks help you sound like you, harder.

Apply now →
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