Thanks David, @ImproviseForReal, that’s given me some ideas. I think I will explore it some more, it’s quite a pretty song and simple progression to work with. I’ll post anything new I come with.
For all practical purposes you need to be able to plug in @mem . It’s not impossible to practice unamplified. By coincidence, I did so yesterday as I was pushed for time, only had 10m & wanted to make the most of it - turning on my kit would only have taken a minute or so, but that would have been >10% & in such a short time I was only going to be doing some very basic things so I pretty much ‘played by feel’ with only the tiny acoustic sound. It’s not a thing I’d choose to do in any other circumstance.
The unamplified sound is so quiet that if I listen to the output from whatever I’m plugged into via headphones (which I often do) I can practice in the same room that my wife is in without disturbing her at all. Used acoustically my Yamaha ‘Silent Guitar’ is louder than the Stick. LOL!
What I plug into doesn’t have to be an actual amp. If I’m not in my usual room or if I want to be particularly ‘portable’ I can plug into my Zoom H4n handy recorder (which I’ll probably listen to via headphones).
Another point is that unless you use a special ‘2 into 1’ practice cable, you need to have 2 inputs available because the Stick has two feeds, one from the melody side & another from the bass side.
Some people use 2 amps. I use a MOD Duo-X, a wonderful device (amp modeller, effects, signal processor & so much more, in a remarkably small box) that has 2 inputs.
It looks like an interesting and challenging instrument. My preference is for acoustic instruments, although having said that I do have an electric piano(!).
From watching the videos, the sound can be very different depending on the equipment used. I’m sure you are having a lot of fun with it.
An electronic keyboard is a very practical alternative to a ‘real’ acoustic one!
Yes. You can use the full range of guitar effects & because of the two outputs each side can has a different signal path so you can get two quite different sounds at the same time. Personally, both with Stick & guitar, I like to keep things pretty ‘clean’, typically only using a bit of reverb & compression.
Some people, e.g. Steve Adelson, have a MIDI pickup fitted too. That adds a whole host of extra possibilities.
PS. Emmett made an ‘AcouStick’ for Bob Culbertson, but only that one.
The ‘Dragonfly’ is an acoustic instrument from a different supplier that was obvioulsy inspired by the Stick.
The Dragonfly has nylon strings. Here’s Rodrigo Serrao (who was playing Bach on a Stick in an earlier video) playing a Dragonfly.
I love that idea @ImproviseForReal . Thank you (again) David for all these wonderful ideas & insights. 
Oh, I like the Dragonfly! But let’s start a new topic to carry on a discussion🙂
Ok, back to The Rose …
I’ve been listening to a few different versions, and noticing elements I like from them. Two in particular I’m going to try
One is a repeating note (root/bass) or small chord on the beat. A lot if the arrangements start with this and continue it for the first verse at least.
The other is a small motif of 3231, repeating and I think changing with the underlying chord.