Jeff's and Michael's idea is a good one if other options aren't available to you. In the early days Emmett taught Free Hands to many guitarists before they had Sticks. The action just has to get really low, and the tension a little looser.

Tapping on guitars doesn't give you the same physical sense you get as your hand reaches over the board the way it does on a Stick. Being able to open up your hand that way allows the player to use different kinds of movement, energy and leverage. It makes it much easier to involve the hands and arms in the process.

Because the fretboard is so large on a Stick, you have much more freedom of hand movement, so it can be a a completely different sensation.

Thanx for all of the advice guys, but as I often do, I go ahead and dont listen anyone...lol...im not getting the skeletone....but I did find a guy locally named kevin siebold of a company called krappy guitars that has some really nice tappers....im having him build me a 12 string tapper...with the options I want....ive seen and heard some of his instruments and I was impressed...the final tally $700 bucks....
This way I dont have to play someone elses sloppy seconds and im not breaking the bank.
As far as the technique....im not worried about it,ive been tapping with 8 fingers on guitar for years...I'm a metal guitarist after all...lol
Thanx again...I'm sure ill have more questions in the future.

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Hey Jackvicious,
I bought a krappy and i believe we were trying to acheive the same thing. To be able to get into the tapping world the affordable way. It is a nice instrument but lets say that 9 months or so after owning it i purchased a new chapman stick. And all i can say it was well worth the upgrade. The krappy did allow me to learn what the whole process would be like but a huge problem with them is they dont have an adjustable truss road or nut. They sound quality is a night and day difference between the two. The action on the chapman stick makes playing so much easier. There was a point when i was playing the krappy that i got very frustrated with playing and was thinking that i just couldnt get good at tapping. But in reality when i bought the chapman stick my playing changed drastically. With having the fret rails instead of guitar frets made tapping the string so much easier. And also about 4 months into owning it the guitar frets started to come out of the fret board. Which this problem wont happen with the stick because the frets are actually layed into the fret board. The pressure the krappy requires to tap a note is like 5x harder than the stick. And when it comes to the craftsmanship of the build the krappy looks great in pictures, but in reality it is very poor. The wood ws poor quality with the smell of lauqer, th pick up covers were cracked, and you could see parts that look like they were sanded in five minutes with the grain all scratched up. I understand there is a price gap between the 700 and 2300 but it definately shows. I am not trying to bash the krappy but just figured id give you a warning because ive been there and done the same thing. I was so excited when i found out about the krappy because it seemed like every review i found was good but in reality it wasnt. I mean for 700 dollars i bought one and it got me to the point that i knew i wanted a chapman stick. So thats a good thing that came out of buying it but if i could go back i would have just bought the stick. Noiw i have my krappy sitting in my room unplayed for about 1 year with my stick getting played everyday. Here is a picture of the krappy i have and the stick i have. Hope my post will maybe help with decision

If you're worried about getting someone else's "sloppy seconds", you might consider a used Stick from Stick Enterprises. From what I hear S.E.'s used models get the full rebuild treatment and play almost as good as new, plus they come with a warranty.

http://www.stick.com/instruments/used/current_used.html

Just save your $700.00 and put it toward a pre-owned Stick from SE....There is NO such thing as sloppy seconds in regards to Chapman Sticks... sloppy seconds is in your own mind... GOOD LUCK!

Tapping definitely benefits from a really easy to maintain low action and a flat board. Coming from the perspective of someone who is sometimes asked to teach players on cheaper instruments, I usually decline, since I have no way of knowing whether they are going to have a pronounced bow in them, or if the frets are lifting. Fret lifting even happens on really expensive tapping instruments with conventional frets. If you think about it, you are basically whacking the top of the fret over and over, it will lift out eventually and you will have to pay a luthier for a fret job. As you pointed out, Emmett solved this problem many years ago with Rods, and then Rails, but older model Sticks also have conventional frets. A used Stick bought from SE with the jumbo bass guitar frets will have had any needed fretwork already done, and by the most experienced shop around.

All the things you posted made me cringe, but they are what I've often expected would be the case. So thanks for the info. The sad reality is that people who don't know any better will think the instrument they have is good enough, not knowing how much easier it can really be.

Maybe you should offer a good deal on your old instrument to Jackvicious

Really,why would you buy anything called "Krappy" ?

My current Stick is a used XBL model and it was set up as well as my two previous new Sticks.

If you really want to tap ,get a Stick. You can always sell it for what you paid for it .

I'm glad someone posted their experience with the Krappy Tapper. I had been thinking about getting one before I got the Stick I have now. I'm glad I made the right choice.

JackVicious: You reveal yourself with every post.

"Sloppy seconds." Wow.

Go away, signed, endorsed, bored guitarist.

Wow....ok....i wont post on this board anymore