I've played the cello for most of my life but I'm looking into getting a Stick to try something new. Dresden640's thread answered a lot of my questions regarding which model and tuning I should look for as a beginner. I have a few more questions before taking the plunge.

1) I'm leaning towards a Railboard with Baritone Melody tuning as my first Stick. Medium gauge strings were suggested in the other thread. How does the gauge change the sound or feel while playing?

2) Is the difference between closed- and open-gear tuners purely aesthetic, or is there a functional difference?

3) If I need to bring the Stick with me on a plane, will the soft case be enough protection as a carry-on? Have you had problems bringing instruments on board?

4) For the amplifier, will any guitar amp do? I live in an apartment and I might need to use headphones for practicing at night.

5) I'm definitely getting some instructional books and videos. Is there anything else that I will need to get started?

I appreciate any other advice you can give to a beginning Stickist.

Welcome,

I'll try to answer as best I can:

1. It's a nice balanced feel, not too slinky, not too stiff.

2. purely aesthetic

3. I travel with mine all the time, but I don't bring another carry-on (just a small backpack)

4. With the Railboard, you might be better off getting a small mixer with phantom power. You can run this into any amplification system, even small powered speakers. Get one with onboard reverb and a headphone amp, you'll love the sound. Something like the ZED6-FX.

5. a tuner

Thank you for the advice Greg! Your Youtube videos are part of what inspired me to start down this journey. Noted on the mixers, it does look like they'll be exactly what I need with minimum fuss.