Hello everyone, and greetings from sunny Perth in Western Australia.
(Special greetings to Wicher, DJoy and ElMac, my fellow sandgropers).

Thanks to a reddit link to Stickman's performance for Indi.com, I stumbled across the Chapman Stick a few months ago. Watching Bob Culbertson, Greg Howard, David Tipton and others on YouTube was fascinating. I love the concept of an ergonomic instrument, that looks relatively easy to sound notes on, but difficult to master.

Thanks so much to all of you at Stickist.com, for giving me enough information to decide to proceed with an order for a Plum Railboard, with RMR tuning and glow in the dark linear inlays. Given the recent slide in the Aussie dollar's value, this is a significant purchase. Especially for a musical novice - with no experience in guitar, bass, etc. I have used a keyboard a tiny little bit more than a decade ago, and a violin as a young child for a short time. (Where's a time machine to go and give me the Chapman Stick when I was eight years old?)

This will prove to be a crazy/brave decision once it arrives. Ordered it in early September, and Cambria has recently told me the batch of Railboards are due back from anodizing. I cannot imagine that it would take less than two weeks to set up a batch (assuming of 50) with pickups and stringing the various tunings. Given wooden instrument production and repairs to older ones, perhaps a month or two is a more realistic estimate?

Desperately avoiding buying a second hand rosewood grand or graphite beast to end the stickwait. (But you need a second one to lend out, or to use when yours has to be sent back to SE, or to try different tunings on. Plus they are collectors items, aren't they? - Begone foul temptation!)

That video on reddit was my introduction to the Stick as well, but I've been a musician for 30 years!

I ordered a blue Railboard (me too with the glow-in-the-dark inlays!!!), but also ordered a Rosewood 10-string off of Ebay, like the day after the video came out (17 August or so). I'm so glad I did, because I've been playing for two months now and I've learned an incredible amount already! I also put piano tape and violin tape on my Rosewood model to show me where the notes are, which I won't need to do or want to do for the Railboard.

I hate to wait, especially if it's for an indeterminate amount of time ("3 to 6 months, maybe longer, maybe shorter"). That would have driven me crazy.

Instead, I'm playing the hell out of the Rosewood and saying "Blue Railboard, take your time (so I can save up for you!)"

But let me not feed your addiction before it begins. They'll be here soon! And welcome!

Welcome and great news, another STICK here in Australia.
The plum Railboards looks fabulous.
Lots of good stuff going on here at Stickist, have too much fun when it arrives.
Cheers
B

Thank you very much, Steve. Is that an Ocelot, a Maine Coon or just crazy perspective in your picture?

Dear Bruce,

thanks for the welcome, this forum's friendliness is a big part of why I took the plunge on an unknown (to me!) instrument. Not too many Stickists in Australia yet, but give it some time and we'll start to change that.

That's Geo, a Bengal (which is a cross between the Asian Leopard Cat and an American Shorthair), who's not as big as the perspective makes him look. He's a purty boy, though. Cheers!

Hello Jolyon and welcome. It's great to find another Stickist in my neighbourhood. I have direct messaged you.
Cheers,
Simon

Dear Simon,

thank you for the PM, I will be in touch. Looking forward to seeing my first Chapman Stick in person.

Reading this thread reminded me of how kickass this forum is.

Gene,

your Free Hands Fridays are fantastic. Thank you so much for being an extraordinary member of this wonderfully hospitable community.