Hi folks, i'm new to this forum, and a new owner of an ns stick.
What a beautiful instrument! I would like to thank Ron who I purchased it from.I appreciate the input and the way you handled the whole transaction. What a great packing job for shipping by the way!
Also Ray for your input about playing the stick. I'm sure i'll have more
questions! The question I have right now is about the setup. I put on new
strings, and lowered the action as low as I could and still be able to pluck
and not get that clacking sound. But what I noticed is when tapping from about frets 5 up, you only need to tap pretty light to get a good sound.
But when I tap from frets 1 through 5, I have to hammer down on the string pretty hard to get the same volume. The neck looks straight, and
the strings are just clear of the zero fret at the end of the neck. Is
this the nature of the beast, or am I missing something. Since I have
never tapped before,its very different to me. I learned to play bass in a
traditional way, like when you have your pinky finger holding down the note, all your other fingers are anchoring the string behind it. Maybe
it will just take a little time to get used to playing it. Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The instrument is very stable so the neck should be nice and straight. Personally i never noticed any difference with the lower frets except for the fret right over the damper which even on my Grand Stick which takes a touch more energy to sound. If you feel the strings closer to the damper need more energy to sing one thing you may try is to raise the nut screws a quarter turn and see if that makes a difference. Just remember exactly how much you adjusted them so if it doesn't make you happy you can put them exactly where they were before the adjustment.

There's a learning curve, especially when you TWO hand tap. So take your time and get the know the instrument. The tuning may be comfortable to you but having an instrument set up for two hand tapping is a new world. Enjoy your journey! And as always ... ask all the questions you have.

I'm with Ray on this one for the most part, but I always found the 1st fret a little tougher to get punch out of while tapping, especially on the 7th and 8th strings. I just used a little more attack than normal.

Setting up with the NS is so easy that you can play and configure the action in a variety of ways. The side saddles are brilliant. I would always make sure the truss is adjusted properly first though.

Hope it helps.

Same thing with a Stick - the farther away form the middle of the string, where it vibrates the widest, the more the "dynamic" or sound level of the string is reduced when you tap it.

It's pretty much the same on all stringed instruments. The string just moves less as you get closer toward the end, where it is "anchored", either by the bridge or the nut.

Randy

Thanks everyone for the input. I can see allready it will take some time
to get used to tapping. I did take it to rehearsel at church the other night. Played it like a bass and everyone loved the sound. Coming from 4 string having the low b is taking some getting used to also. But i'm enjoying the journey. My wife says she can't wait until I play as good as the guy on the video (Don Schiff)! I can't wait either!!