Greetings. I’m a new NS Stick owner. Very impressed with the design, and I’m learning to tap.

I want to work with an alternate tuning: the tuning used for U8 guitars — BbFCGDACD. I ordered a set of their U8 strings, but I’m having trouble getting the last two up to pitch. The C is .011 and the D is .010. The C especially keeps slipping down as I tune it up. Any suggestions?

Relatedly, could someone tell me the sizes for the Allen keys, especially the one for adjusting intonation at the bridge? I have a pair, but neither seems to work for the intonation.

And..this place is pretty quiet. Are people hanging out on some social media forum now? Or are there just not a lot of NS stickists on the internet?

Thank you.

You'll see folks here from time to time, possibly everyone is out playing or simply enjoying life ??
I just got back from a nice two hour kayak trip, but your question is a good one, perhaps Emmett will provide some insight here.
I've also run into some problems with tuning my 10 string Ironwood, there is just no way I can bring up the highest pitched string to it's proper tuning, god knows why - so I have it tuned like the string in the # 3 position and it works.
What's weird is today I was tuning up my M.Megatar, to essentially Grand Stick tuning - well, sort of [bass side 5ths starting with C, melody side 4ths starting with B sharp maybe ?? i forget...] but the M.M. turned right up like nothing, and the strings are way way different than the gauges on my Stick - which are Stick strings.....
Where I'm going with this is the Sticks are [to my knowledge anyway...] set up with specific tuning's in mind, unless set up differently - and I believe with the Sticks [probably your NS/Stick too..] proper gauge is very important.
I just now looked up U8 because I am not familiar with them.
On the S.E. website - there are all kinds of tuning schemes listed, is what you are looking to do listed there as well ??
Good Luck, Welcome... and hopefully somebody has the answer which you are looking for.

If those thinner strings are slipping, it must be at the nut where they are secured by screws adjusted with a hex wrench. Make sure the string is centered so the screw contacts it well and make sure the screw is tight. Just don't tighten it so much that you cut the string.

Although I have all the wrenches, I don't know the sizes.

Do the NS Sticks have a locking nut set up ??
I've always wondered how they work....

Thanks for the welcome! I am just learning my way around the instrument (bassist for 39 years, guitarist for 5, so I have an idea but I'm relearning touch and expressivity).

I have to say, the headless design is sheer brilliance. Balance is perfect, the tuners at the bridge seem somehow more precise, and the strings don't need much in the way of stretching out.

The strings go through a little hole in the headstock and then you tighten a small screw. I'm going to look in there, as one idea I had was wrapping the string a couple times (on small strings, you're normally supposed to do a few winds around a tuning post on a guitar). There's restringing video on YouTube, George, if you're really curious.

On the advice of the person who sold me the strings, I'm going to pick up a few single steel guitar strings so I have some to break as I experiment.

Still need to know the hex key sizes, so I'm hoping for a rescue. I have some at home but none seem to fit the bridge, and I only got two with the stick (one does the truss rod and the other the tuners).

For the bridge I’m measuring 0.140” for the intonation screws, and 0.125” for the height screws. Whether they ar metric or English I’m not sure. I recently moved and my tools are all over the place. My metric kit is buried at the moment in my car, and my small cheap metric and English kit is at work.

Here is what I have for the hex screws, measured in inches.

bridge height 1/8"
bridge intonation 9/64"
truss rod 5/32"
nut string locking 1/8"

JES, assuming you bought the Touch Guitars 'light' set (the only set they do currently), the 2 highest strings are at a high tension for thin plain steel strings. I guess this is making them more prone to slipping in the clamps (but note i do not own an NS Stick).
On their Facebook page they explained it is to maintain a good volume on the plain steel strings.

Calculating tensions using the Kalium Strings tension calculator, using the closest Kalium gauges, results in this approximation (tensions in pound-force):

Bb– .106 roundwound/tapered 21.6
F – .079 roundwound/tapered 27.1
C – .059 roundwound/tapered 34.8
G – .029 roundwound/tapered 20.5
D – .016 plain 14.7
A – .012 plain 18.6
C – .011 plain 22.1
D – .010 plain 23.0

For a single region tapper i feel a fifths tuning is excellent, as 2 hands positioned next to each other efficiently and comfortably cover the required 7 frets.

My personal preference for a single region tapper tuned in fifths would be for 7 strings in all-fifths, for a little more downward range and to remove those inconsistent (but interesting) small upper intervals.
AbEbBbFCGD
With 8 strings i would probably choose to add the Fripp/Crafty minor third on top and shift everything down a minor third.
FCGDAEBD.

Thanks everyone. I finally heard back from Stick enterprises and they are sending Allen keys, but it turns out my missing one is the 9/64".

I'm actually enjoying the u8 tuning. For the actual music I want to play, the low C is a good starting point, and the DACD at the top leads to some interesting chordal possibilities. I am slowly starting to experiment with gauges. I felt the .105 got too inharmonic too fast so I'm now trying. .110 (Daddario) and will go to .120 if that doesn't work. For the top I'm at .0095 and .010. I'm curious if a more balanced tension Kalium set might also yield consistent volume, but we shall see.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the solution to my problem, which is to tune the high strings a full step lower than what I intend them to be, stretch them out, tune them again a whole step lower, and leave it overnight. Then I can "finish" the job in the morning and it's fine and stable. At least, that's the theory. We'll see.

Next up will be messing with the high EQ frequencies on the EMG preamp. I feel it's a bit on the pingy side for me, though to be fair, it's a Wenge neck, so it's going to have a focused tone.

I'm trying to be "good" and practice touch style only on it, but the temptation to strum and use my right hand to play sometimes is too much. Seems like it's made for switching and combining techniques.

I think i've just made the connection, you seem to be the 'JES' on Talkbass i have been discussing fifths tunings with

I read on Touch Guitars' FB page that they plan to also sell a 'medium' string set with 'slightly heavier bass gauges', apparently a .110 for Bb.
Their strings will be optimised for tapping and likely be more flexible than bass strings. Their .110 will also be taperwound unlike the D'Addario .110 bass strings.

One thing i don't like about the Touch Guitars 'light' set is the .060 C, you can see from the tension data it is very much tighter than the adjacent strings, seems inconsistent with the whole set, and seems unnecessarily tight for a tap guitar.
The progression .030 .050 .080 would result in a gradual increase in tension across those 3 strings. Even a .055 C would be a big improvement.