Whats up people....my name is jack,im am 36 years old, been playing guitar for 27 years...been signed and endorsed.....and now im bored with it....lol...
Been wanting to get into tapping for years.....i dont know if im going to like it, and i dont want to spend an arm and a leg for a new stick......the chapman stick i would buy with the options i want is like 2500 or better.....i dont want to buy used because im a freak like that...it has to be new...i was looking at the zentapper....but it is getting slammed by everyone.....i was talikng to the guy who makes the skeletone tapper....he said he can make me one for 750 u.s. Which includes the case and shipping....but its the same tapladder design as the zentapper.....
Help!!!!!!!!
Whats a good tapper to buy for a reasonable price.....or should i just break my habits and wait for a used stick to pop up and start that way
Thanx much

Sorry - I'm not directly answering your questions about Zentappers & such, but...

I would not have any reservations about buying a used Stick (as long as you feel the seller is reputable).

They are very durable instruments and hold up very well. The only issue you may have is that a used one could not have the best action/set up, but that is easily correctible with all of the various articles/videos that Greg Howard has posted.

I bought a used one off this forum 4-5 years ago and have never regretted it. It was only 6 months old - the seller just didn't have time for it. I probably saved $400-$600 off the price of a new one and I had it in 5 days.

Quite a few people might reply very nicely and in a PC manner; I will simply hit you with truth in six words: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

Cheap is always cheap for a reason. "An arm & a leg" is a relative term; when buying a new Stick, you're getting the real thing and the original, made by its inventor; to me that's worth a lot.

A cheaper instrument is no bargain if it sucks. YOU MUST KEEP THIS IN MIND... especially if you're planning on undergoing a radical musical life-change like this.

Get over your neurosis and get a real Stick.
Just get one that's fairly recent; the really older ones won't have all the really adjustable items on it (bridge & nut). They'll still be very very good, but if you're really anal about that stuff, then you won't be happy.

I don't say this so bluntly to be mean. I just figure there's no reason NOT to tell you in plain terms how it is.

hey jack,

as a former zentapper owner, all i can suggest is save up until you can get a stick (new or used) IMHO, money spent on anything else is a waste.
if then you decide tapping isn't for you, at least you won't have any regrets. selling your stick will be easy as pie.

i used to think sticks were expensive. now that i own one, i think it is worth so much more than it costs.

jimi

There have been some great points made already, I just want to clarify something. All of the Sticks out there made since 1975 have height-adjustable bridges, though only instruments made since 1991 have fully intonatable bridges, to accommodate any tuning the player desires. On instruments without the intonatable bridge, you can only use certain tunings, but those are the most popular Stick tunings. You also have to use light gauge strings.

Every Stick made since 1982 has a height-adjustable nut, and many instruments made before then that have made it back to Emmett's shop also have this retrofitted. I don't know why other builders don't offer adjustable nuts, but none do.

The most dramatic change was the adjustable truss rod, introduced in 1989, and used on all hardwood, bamboo and graphite instrument made since then.

This allows you to use heavier gauge strings and tunings that involve more tension, while still being able keep a flat instrument profile. A flat board is a big part of an easy tapping experience. The adjustable nut and easily adjustable truss rod are unique features to the Stick design that make tapping easier.

So, if you buy a used Stick that was made since 1991, you will have an instrument that will accommodate any tuning you want, and that can have low action that's easy to maintain.

You can find out when these and other design features were introduced on this page:

http://www.stick.com/history/timeline/

Here is a video about how the truss works:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx8LQS7Et1g[/youtube]

If you do end up buying an older instrument, the adjustable truss can be retrofitted:

There's an article about that pocess here:

http://www.stick.com/articles/ericsstickretrofit/

Hope that helps.

Emmett has some used instruments right now: http://stick.com/instruments/used/

The pollycarb I personally would recommend as a good learning instrument and the one Emmett
has right now is apparently set up with MIDI. I think you will pay a bit more for a used one
from S.E. but you know it will be prefect .

Also on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-String-Chapm ... 500wt_1327

This one is cool because it has the PASV-2 active pickup. A little more rare
than the Stickup but has an adjustable tone control.
Four days left .

`J`

Jack - you might be surprised that you are close to a Stick player that might sit down with you and let you try their instrument. Of course, if you are anywhere near the Southern California area, I would be glad to let you try one of mine (although it's not for sale =] ). BTW, JRJ - how is 12'r working out? Just got your 10-string suited up with full Bari medium gauge and LOVING the medium gauge strings you recommended!!!

Welcome to the forum
Here are my 2 cents:
Start saving for the instrument you want; you can get a second hand instrument for a good price with some patience and luck (I bought an ADG for 650usd from ebay a while ago and it's a very nice instrument).
In the meantime start tapping on your guitar, it's good enough for Stanley Jordan In a rock guitar context check out what Daniel Péroine does.


Good luck, Daniel.

Tune your guitar down a step (maybe 2 if the strings don't get too loose) tune it in straight fourths, start tapping with your right hand. This will give you some idea of what the melody side of a (Grand) Stick is like to play. You may wish tie a sock or a fluffy washcloth around the neck at the nut to dampen open notes. This is NOT as good as a Stick, nor will it sound as cool but it will reflect the fingerings required of the right hand for Stick play.

If you buy a used Stick and take good care of it there is almost no monetary risk since you can likely sell it for as much as you put in.

before I played Stick, a good friend, amazing bassist and guitar maker Martin Keith had made me an electric guitar. It was standard 6 string but he had lowered the strings so that the pickups would "pick up" tapping style, since I had started tapping out melodies on guitar at that point. I was holding chords with the left hand and tapping out additional voicings with the right (finishing each tap with an upward pull to sound off the prepositioned note held with the left so each tap was a two note possibility). It helped make me wrap my head around the whole idea of tapping. Of course the stick is made for this approach but this exercise certainly helped. If you check out "Morning" on my Leviathan album, the whole tapping theme is on guitar while the lead is Stick. Hope this helps.
heres a link to the album, just click on "Morning "
http://michaelbernier.bandcamp.com/