FINALLY!!! i got it!

[Azrael]

weeeeeheee! yay to me for i now got what i´ve been looking for the last year..

i got myself a 10 String Graphire ChapmanStick (Extended Scale) and oooh babe... this thing kicks some serious ass!

http://www.stick.com/instruments/instrumentpics/emmettgraphfront.jpg

for those who dunno what it is and how it works:

It is a tapping instrument that is tapped with both hands as seen in the picture. Sticks are available with 8, 10 or 12 strings. The strings (on my 10 stringer) are tuned as follows:

Melody
1 C# above middle C
2 G# down a 4th
3 D# down a 4th
4 A# down a 4th
5 F down a 4th

Bass
6 B below low bass E
7 F# up a 5th
8 C# up a 5th
9 G# up a 5th
10 D# up a 5th

So as you can see the lowest strings are in the middle of the fretboard while the higher ones are on the outside. the right hand taps mostly the Melodystrings while the left hand works with the Bassregisters.

It is a stereoinstrument - you can process each set of strings independently. The strings are at very low tension which makes it extremely easy to tap and very dynamic.

Check out the two videos from Greg Howard where he is showing what can be done with the stick - it is INCREDIBLE!!

http://www.stick.com/method

And now that i have the stick i am thinking about getting a Warr-Guitar too. Incase you have never seen it - here is a picture:

http://www.warrguitars.com/images/guitars/phazebrawide.gif

[trendkillah]

You're crazy! ;)

Good luck with your new toy!

[pstring]

Hope that guitar comes with a back brace and a truss! Have fun with that Stick and be careful not to poke anyone in the eye with it...................

[Incidents Happen]

holy crap. seriously, very cool.

[rockinfreak09]

what the hell is that thing?

[firemelody]

woah that's hella cool!

[PonyOne]

wow... that's pretty sweet... too bad tapping isn't my thing!

[Benoit]

May I take an order of Powermetal with a stick on the side please....

Please post a sound clip of your work with it Azreal, I'm anxious to hear that thing sing

[Joe R]

Man it sounds awesome...but it looks very hard to play!

[kingdavid]

Let's just say that the only stringed instrument I want to devote my time to right now is the normal guitar,assumong that thing can be called a guitar.
I've seen some strings from the orient,and generally speaking,those things look scary to play.Plus(perhaps an example of mental conditioning-brainwashing if you like)I don't see myself going on stage with that stick.
But hey,music is music.whatever you play,as long as you're having fun.
Speaking of which,some school of thought has it that we should dress to please ourselves,to make us feel good,as opposed to dress hoping to impress others.Is it the same with guitar playing(or anything else)?
Just a ka-thought creeeping thro' my mind.

[Azrael]

Originally posted by Benoit

Please post a sound clip of your work with it Azreal, I'm anxious to hear that thing sing

Will do buddy - but it will take me a bit to get a grip on it. Its realy easier than it looks - greg Howards is right - the tricky thing that i have to learn now is the right/left hand independency - once accaived (i assume by the end of this year) i wil for surte post some soundclips using the stick. Meanwhile kingdavid mgith get another brainwashing *LOL* ;)

[kingdavid]

I guess it's more of a thing of marketing than anything else.Actually it is marketing,coz you can't promote each and every instrument that exists on this planet,at least not to the same degree anyway.Some things just stand out,others don't(for the philosophers in here and in all of us,this is cultural colonialism,right?).
But seriously,a guitar is cool.REally cool.To play,to carry around.It looks good hung on wall.And slung over a shoulder.But that thing!Imagine seeing a guy walking downtown with that thing over his shoulders.What would you think?And be honest.That "there goes a musician".Or "there goes ..."OK,I won't finish that,it might look like I'm taking a swipe at Azrael(which I'm not-quick ditto:the guy that insists he isn't drunk is usually the drunkest;)).
Or maybe even our notions of what is cool and what isn't emanate from the marketing we get bombarded with.Go figure.All those "beliefs" we got,they're just classical conditioning(I think that's the term shrinks use).
Either way,long live the guitar.

[Azrael]

actually i just wanted to say that i have bought a cool instrument - and cool it is without any doubt! - and nothing more. Of course we all are conditioned to a certain extent, but i try not to follo fashion that much - if i did i just whould have bought another guitar.

[^Chacron^]

Surprised nobody's asked this already.......How much do those things cost?

[Dejan Sajinovic]

Sh*it. That´s pretty wild man. I think that Liquid Tension bass player uses somthing like that.

Write down when you learn how to play it and it would be cool if you could post some sounds.

How much did it coast?

[Dejan Sajinovic]

Is that you on the picture?

[Azrael]

*L* no - the dude on the pic is the inventor of the stick - Emmett Chapman. And you are right - Tony Levin plays the stick too (Bass in Liquid Tension, King Crimson, Peter Gabriel etc). "Sledge Hammer" would not sound that way without the stick.

The Stick is at about 1.600 to 2.500 USD. Mine was Second hand, but it is as good as new (infact it IS new) because the dude who bought it tried it for two days and discovered that he couldnt handle it. SO he sold it to me for a 1000 bucks. Big deal i guess.

and the warr guitar thing costs 4.600 USD.. so i think i´ll have to save a bit from now on *LOL*

I´ve worked on the stick today and it is realy incredible - the bass-sound is EXTREMELY powerfull - you can hardly get that sound and power with a regular bass. I worked on Bach´s "Chiaconna" and the first few attempts sounded great. I´ll keep on practicing and i´ll post some stuff as soon as i am a little more advanced on that instrument.

[kingdavid]

Originally posted by Azrael
...i try not to follo fashion that much - if i did i just whould have bought another guitar...
What you actually did(I think),was try something different,expand your horizons....
Now,that's cool.

[Azrael]

now did you see all those typos in my quote? *LOL* :D