Greetings everyone! Been lurking awhile here and recently posted a couple times but thought I'd pop my head up to say hello.

Long time guitarist and bass player who's always had a great love for the Stick but, for one reason or another, never got around to getting one. Until now, of course!

2 weeks ago I rang up SE and spoke with Yuta. "Any used Sticks, by chance?" Surprisingly enough she said 'yes!' and we spoke for awhile. I told her I'd give it some thought, then a half hour later called back and made the purchase. No more excuses and no more waiting, lol.

The experience of dealing with SE couldn't have been better. I called 3 or 4 times during the transaction, and Yuta answered each time and wouldn't let me get a word in until she got her notepad, haha. An email confirmation was sent right away. After a little tune-up by Emmett, the Stick arrived. A 10-string rosewood with the ACTV-2 module. #1748. Apparently I'm only the 2nd owner. The only issue is that the melody side pickup has some wear from heavy playing on the D string? Cambria called to confirm my info and let me know that it was shipped. Pros all the way. Yuta and Cambria, if you're out there, thanks a billion. Truly.

My music is along the lines of experimental/ambient/electronic. I play guitar/bass/synth via my Motu --> MacBook --> Ableton Live; doing a lot of live looping. I'm an FX junkie and tend to process my sounds to the point nausea, lol. I hope to incorporate the Stick and play the pure beautiful tone that comes naturally, as well as mangle it up. I know many of you on the forum eschew nearly all effects, so I hope you'll forgive me in advance for the sacrilege.

I never formally studied guitar or bass. With the Stick I'm hoping to change that. It's a daunting instrument, to be sure. I can get a pretty nice two handed bass groove going, but the rest is nearly a mess. Thinking of getting Ultimate Stick. Maybe Chris' Stick eLessons. The problem is that all the instructional stuff seems to jump quickly from 'These are the strings' to 'playing Bach with 2 hands and one foot while standing on your head', lol. Any advice out there? What's the best way for a complete n00b to start out?

Well, thanks all. This forum has been invaluable.

Welcome from a fellow new Stickist!

Try some lessons by Skype with Greg. There's a thread about them in the Stick Method forum.

- Dan

Where are you at in West Michigan? There's a few of us around the Ann Arbor area that meet at least a couple times a month at Oz's Music.

>>Thinking of getting Ultimate Stick. Maybe Chris' Stick eLessons. The problem is that all the instructional stuff seems to jump quickly from 'These are the strings' to 'playing Bach with 2 hands and one foot while standing on your head'<<

The Ultimate Stick DVDs are very graduated as far as lesson info. It truly starts at the beginning and accelerates slowly. Endorsed by Good Housekeeping.

SA

Heya. I'm in Holland. No Sticks for miles around, lol.

Yeah, I've gathered that there's a nice, small group of Stickists in Ann Arbor. Had a quick chat with Steve (Oz) last week. I'm going to try and make it down for one of your meetings. Very cool.

Cool, Steve. I placed my order this week and I'm looking forward to the DVDs.

That might not be true - the music store in downtown Ludington at one time re-sold a couple of Sticks in that area - I happen to walk in there one day wearing my Stick shirt and the owner asked me if I played one.
Bad thing is, I've discovered a couple musicians that own Sticks but never play them.

Keep an eye on the announcement section, typically we have some sort of event or seminar every year. I'll probably meet up with Steve this week and see what's going on - are weekends better for you?

I just got back from Australia, attended the Bob Culbertson seminar while I was over there. During that time I believe one more Stick player may be staying back in Ann Arbor again.

Sticks in Ludington! Nice. Perhaps this isn't a tapping wilderness after all.

Be great to catch up with you folks and demonstrate my ham fisted playing first hand.

Was out of town and offline for a while and just saw this today.

Michigan has actually been kind of a hotbed. Lots of players. Some active. Some not. There's a guy named Bob Schrum in Grand Rapids that you might consider contacting. Send me a message offline and I'll drop you his email address.

As Steve pointed out, there are the get togethers at Oz's. I've been out a couple of times but not nearly as often as the Steves. But with our visiting UofM student from overseas back in town (Akin), we'll likely have some sort of a performance session in the next 2-3 months.

I'm a stick noob in Windsor. How can I get on the OZ mailing list? I'd sure like to visit one of the monthly seminars