Greg has marked one of his Sticks, on occasion, with fret tape in a way that SPLITS his instrument in two. In other words, he put fret tape to place his markers on his melody side in the typical way, making for an F# at fret 12 (string 5 in Classic, or string 4 in Baritone Melody), and on his bass side, he placed the fret tape 2 frets up. In your case, you could still have a G note (on string 6) at the first marker, if that's what you'd like to have, by putting your marker 2 frets back. If you've really gotten used to having that G at the second marker, this could be helpful if the new tuning is really throwing you off on the bass side.
You can do whatever you want with your fret tape!

"Crime scene yellow" - he-heh!

Looks awesome and the markers look great too! Congrats!

Looks really good. Just 2 thoughts, I wouldn't wrap the tape around the back of the neck (I'd cut it off flush,) and I'd suggested adding the last "missing" fret marker.

Thanks ALL,

Yes Luc the idea of split markings appealed to me from Greg's video, which is what persuaded me to have them do my Stick with no markers. I am still imprinting chords on my brain, so I am going to adapt to the idea of the fret marker at the A chord, just so that when I play other railboards I'll be calibrated.

I wrapped the tape around because my earlier attempt had them coming loose and muting the outer strings, but I'll give it another go, flush would be better.

And, yes I just realized I need to put the highest marker on, thanks!

Brad, I need some tax write offs this year and am hoping to use that as an excuse (with my wife) to purchase a new Stick sometime in 2015. I'm considering either a Railboard or an SB8. The Railboard looks amazing but the SB8 could be more easily used in the bass player role in my band and on bass gigs. I already own a beautiful Graphite Grand 12 string tuned MR which is why I'm not quite sure where I want to spend my money. So as a person who owns a wood Stick and a Railboard I have a question for you.

Except for the fact that your Railboard is brand new and perfectly set up, is the experience between playing your older Stick and the Railboard drastically different or is it a similar experience, just on a newer instrument? If the actual playing experience isn't much different I may go SB8, but if it's a "different world" I may go Railboard. What are your thoughts?

Please pardon the interruption, but why not get a Railboard tuned to 10 String Dual Bass Reciprocal™?

Interesting suggestion Rob! (edit) Thinking about it however I'd still want to be able to play more than bass. I don't think DBR would go up high enough for what i believe my need would be in that situation. I'd want to be able to play "guitar parts" as well as bass if i used a Stick in my cover band. If i got a Railboard I think I'd want traditional Stick tunings (MR) and i probably wouldn't use it in my cover band. Still, I'm open to ideas/suggestions right up until I pull the trigger!

Sorry I have no insight into comparison of Stick vs SB8. But, I can tell you the traditional wood Stick is a different playing experience than the Railboard. It is thicker of course, so some might find that to be a pro or con. I think I like the thinner feel of the Railboard, and the fact that my thumbs can ride in the groove on the back instead of balancing on the beveled edge of the wooden instrument, just a different thing.

I also want to use Stick as bass role, which is why I pursued the heavy gauge strings. I will probably try them on the Railboard too eventually after I get more oriented to it. The Railboard feels a lot more uniform to my touch and the spacing of the strings favors my fat fingers. As a piano tuner for many years I find the Railboard to be a little better in terms of intonation than the wooden Stick.

It is amazing how much difference you can experience with new strings, heavier strings, different tunings or experimenting with how the Stick sits on your belt or your lap. Audio effects, high quality headphones, sitting on a bench at a comfortable height and finding ways to orient the instrument to favor your left hand.....are all things that can impact the experience and connection you get with it.

So, I have no hard core opinion either way, but for me heavier strings, deeper bass and the lower range of notes seem to resonate.

The thing that grips me about the Stick is the fact that I can touch the strings and have that immediate interaction, using phrasing and articulation to communicate musical feeling, instead of having to use speed and complexity. As a jazz pianist for most of my life, I have strived to hear and play all manner of complicated harmonies and tensions. Some of that comes from Berklee / academia / intellectual circumstance and some from jazz "peer pressure" where complexity rules.

In contrast, playing simple chords on Stick has a satisfaction that is infectious. I've only had that feeling on a few choice concert grand pianos after hours of laborious work to get them tuned and voiced to the point where I felt 'connected' to the hammers and strings. For the most part, the piano has too many interferences in comparison. I've taken to using layers of keyboards and left hand bass with multiple volume pedals to approximate what I hear in my head. All of that is possible on the Stick with very little technology required. ....but I ramble....sorry.....

You might also try and attend a Stick seminar where you could get a chance to play the different models. It may be that you could use a combination of heavier strings and audio effects to give you that deeper bass experience. I've decided on this as my route and although the Stick may not completely replace the fat electric bass bottom, it comes close enough and along with the harmonic options it is a more than fair trade off.

You should try to play the different types of Sticks so you can answer for yourself. I found that the 12 strings overwhelmed me for example. Maybe after I get accomplished enough on 10 string that will change. But I'm happy as a clam to play 10 strings, with bass, harmony, rhythm and melody where I get to touch the strings and can carry it anywhere. For me its a new start and I'm rediscovering what I love about music.

The Stick's timbre has a stronger fundamental frequency component than does bass guitar, and most Stick tunings go almost as low as a bass guitar's open fifth string. It is likely that your perception is due to (at least) one of two ridiculously common problems: bass experience speaker cabinets which feature bumps around 100Hz (to sound extra fat) at the expense of low frequency response, and Stick experience with more "honest" speaker cabinets which have poor low frequency response.

Thanks for the reply Brad. I do hope to attend a Stick gathering someday, seems I'm always gigging when they are held. (Which for a working musician isn't a bad thing) In regard to my question as to the difference between the wood Stick and the Railboard, i think you answered my question. Thinner, different feel, NOT the same experience. I understand the difference things like strings, set up, positioning etc. makes with the Stick. Sometimes the difference is profound. I'm not accomplished on the Stick considering the amount of years i've owned a Stick (I put it away for several years and frankly almost sold it) however I'm back and am loving playing my Stick. I'm not considering moving away from 5th bass tuning. The SB8 consideration stems from the idea i could use it in my cover gigs and handle "traditional" bass lines without reinventing the wheel. However if i bought one I'd still own and play my Graphite Grand with MR tuning. I'm just trying to figure out for myself if the next purchase should be a Railboard with traditional Stick tuning or perhaps an SB8 so I can play Stick in both of my worlds. The SB8 for my cover band world and my Graphite Grand for my Stick world.

I won't be ordering for many months so i have time to come to a decision. Thanks for your thoughtful reply and sorry if I derailed your thread!