Hi Iony and welcome! One thing that really sets the Stick apart is the use of different pickups for different groups of strings. I'm amazed that no 8-str guitar dev has digged into this idea because all the high-gain metal guys on 8-str guitars complain that it is so difficult to amplify and get both the fast and focused low throbs and a musically singing high notes lead tone. I'm assuming the only way to get there would be to use different pickups and two channels or two amps - two times four strings on its own pickup group.

I play out every day as a street busker with an SG-12 and use just one delay pedal with straight notes on the bass side and triplets on the melody side. Many times people stop by to comment that my instrument "sounds like an orchestra". Yes, itt sounds huge but it actually isn't much, only just the fact that everything is so well balanced on Sticks - tone frequencies from the bottom to the top as well as the intonation of pitch.

As we have discussed previously, some brilliant pickups have been developed which work quite well: the problem is that they are running what are effectively bass guitar signals into a tube guitar amp and guitar speaker concurrent with electric guitar signals. In a high gain tube guitar amp, which such guitarists typically use, that is not likely to work well at all.

Rob, I have a 9 string guitar and it sounds great through all of my amps. When run through a unit like the AxeFX it really shines. I, like Per am pretty surprised that Ibanez hasn't devised a stereo/split output for it's extended range guitars. I actually rewired my RG9's pickups to be on separate outputs and have their own volume and tone control. A lot of bleed, and the stock Ibanez pickups are not great; The Seymour Duncans really clean it up, and the instrument needed a good setup. (Pegasus and Nazghul, Sentient, etc) But again, a good amplifier can handle the extended range. Does it sound like a bass? No. Is it infringing on bass player territory? Yes. It is just the next evolution of the instrument. One does have to tweak, and fiddle to get a good tone suitable for playing without too much mud. animals as Leaders, Meshuggah, etc etc.

I still remember all the crying about how '7' strings were infringing on bass player territory... You know, waaaaaay back when Passion and Warfare came out?

Yet guitar players have been downtuning and adding strings steadily... If it sounds like music, it probably is regardless of what you are playing through. No rules, ask EVH... he broke 'em all...

Anyways, a thousand bucks gets you into extended range guitar. Customized extended range axes like the Chapman Stick or whatever else is out there is pretty pricey. Let alone how you set up your playing and studio rig.

Speaking about guitar tone and string length I just want to throw in this that I discovered quite recently and found intersting: If you put a lefty neck on a normal righty guitar body you get better tone in the lower strings (due to higher tension) and a better playability/response in the thinner strings. I just did this to a vintage style strat and was amazed by how much better I like it that way. Again, surprising that so few guitar designers are drawing on this.

Not to be confused with fanned fretting, this only deals with how the string tension is distributed over all of the strings length. Even the part between tuning peg and nut plays a role.

This is way reversed headstocks have been so popular for roughly 30 years. My prototype would have had a reversed headstock, but I got a really good deal on an otherwise identical normal neck.

None of that contradicts what I wrote.

I am not talking about rules: I am talking about making new kinds of amplifiers which reflect how guitarists have evolved their playing. Ask Randall Smith, Mike Soldano, or Reinhold Bogner whether they think that is meaningful work.

I have a 105 gauge string on my Guitar and it is tuned to low c and has a pretty loose tension on my guitars 28.2 inch neck. I don't feel comfortable playing that lowest string through my voxtv4 practice amp so I have to practice playing through my swr working pro 12 bass amp. But when I get a stick ill be able to use both of these amps, yeah.

Hi guys I ordered and payed for a railboard it should be shipped at any moment, Yay!