Hmm frets.

I have an idea for a better intonation fret. I'm not sure if anyone has previously thought of it, it seems obvious to me but... Pretty sure no one has developed it. I'm not sure it would be stable as a standard fret. However, using a similar system of installation to that of a fret rail I think it would work just fine.

Maybe the appeal of immediately available cheaper tapping instruments is being overstated.

I just looked at TT's eBay page and there are only 4 feedback ratings for instrument sales on
there for the whole past calendar year, and not one of them is for his latest even cheaper model.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=megatar&ftab=AllFeedback&myworld=true

Maybe I don't understand how eBay works...

Well, Jeff was *trying* to keep the thread on-topic.

I guess I had originally intended this thread to be more of a "dream/future feature request" thread. The whole "Cheap Tapper" dialogue is valuable, but would be better served in it's own thread, so I started one here:
http://www.stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3731

For something a little ridiculous, how about a dual scale instrument.
Long on the bass side, and short on the melody side.
It would be a little... awkward looking. Definitely something that you could not do on a strumming instrument... unless you add additional necks.

Some crazy ideas:

1. String damping controlled during playing

Individual string damping controllable via the thumbs at the back or sides of the Stick or perhaps via the strap attachments. Sometimes I want the open string to ring, sometimes not. Player-controllable damping (while playing!) would be great, though it would add complexity and cost beyond (I think) most players' interests.

Even a single damper (across the entire neck) dynamically controllable by the player while playing would be useful.

2. Hollow Stick.

A "stressed skin" approach to building the instrument would make the Stick lighter and offer a more "acoustic" tone. An opening at one end might mate with an optional resonator chamber (a la sitar) to change the sound/overtone/sustain characteristics.

3. Whammy

A dynamic tuning mechanism controlled either by the thumbs or perhaps by the strap attachments (for that "whole body" experience) would be fun.

A Stick with a Novax fanned fretboard, like Charlie Hunters guitars

Since Stick players don't have to use the area above the pickup housing much, I wonder if there is potential area of exploration in pickup development where magnets are located both below and above the strings (or maybe along the lines of the Rickenbacker horseshoe pickup)?

I wish you could adjust intonation and string height without having to de-tune the string and remove it from the saddle
a hybrid bridge, something like the N/S has? But obviously smaller

Pickups above the strings like this...

These have me wondering what a cnc'ed aluminum Stick would sound like (or weigh).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVVB2OfbBUY[/youtube]

I don't buy it, either. I got mine from SE in '93 for 800 and some change. It was a flawed instrument, with a small crack on the headstock, epoxied and repaired as if nothing ever happened. Those 800 bucks were like 1100 or so today. I dare say you could get one if you really wanted. If you get it and don't like it, you can sell it NO PROBLEM on ebay, as many people do. I've never, EVER done a search for CHAPMAN STICK on ebay and not seen one. They get posted, they get sold.

I don't think we need cheap tappers just because they're cheap. I'd love to see more good ones, but I don't understand the "affordability" thing. Good instruments are for good musicians. I had 15 years as a bassist before I bought the stick, and the leap was easy because of that experience. Standardization will absolutely ruin the consistency of quality that Emmett has achieved.

K