Hey everyone, new member and soon-to-be stickist

I've always been enthralled by stick playing and have decided to get one and learn. I'm a keyboard/synth player with very little guitar, so I'm not sure what to buy that would complement my keyboard experience (in terms of tuning and markings a'la stick.com) I'm thinking of the 12-string grand WITH midi pickup, but I'd appreciate some learned thoughts and guidance on what to get.

Thanks again, I'm excited to start sticking

Hi krhen,

your background sounds very similar to mine when I got into the instrument. The extra overlapping range of the Grand is nice, but there's also something satisfying about the simpler surface of the 10-string.

There are many more 10-string Sticks out there on the used market. I'd suggest you try to find a used one with the more recent feature set (adjustable truss and and bridge so you can experiment with tunings if needed). Then consider your options for what would be the ultimate instrument for you down the road.

MIDI is fine, but since you are already a synth player it won't add anything to your learning the method,and may become a distraction.

Just my two cents.

hi krhen,

welcome aboard. sounds like you're as ready to jump in as i was just 2 months ago!

first off, you'll be AMAZED by the guidance and insight you will come to know on this site... offered by everyone from the top professionals and teachers to the inventor himself (B sharp). this group of guys and girls are in a class of their own.. just like their sticks.

my previous experience is also very similar to yours and i asked the same questions you posted. i received more support than you could imagine. when i first read your post, i was psyched to see an almost mirror reflection of my own start up at almost the same time!

a not so small (HUGE) advantage we both enjoy is a keyboardists "mental and physical separation" of what each hand is doing. really nice to have going in...

just as a head start on top of greg's "2 cents" (worth MUCH more!) ... search/read at least my first two posts. (titled never to old in ny and almost there) the helpful responses made my decision fun and easy to make with confidence. final build is a 12 string grand, dark bamboo, pasv4, black hipshot tuners, black pearl linear inlays, classic 6+6 tuning, medium gauge strings, midi (gk3) on melody side and gr-55 synth. stick is being built right now.

think, take your time and choose your own best direction. but HURRY UP! we gotta learn how to play this thing!! synths and sticks (and a million cords) all over the stage. my grandson wants to roadie. thank goodness.

=o) jimi

You're going to love it! I started out last year and found that a lifetime of guitar playing didn't really help much when wrapping my brain around the Stick. What Jimi says is spot on, your keyboardist's "mental and physical separation" of what each hand is doing will soon make your Stick fly in your hands. I also have a background in wind instrument playing, but that's monophonic instruments that are all about teaching both hands to become part of one motion. Piano, harp, kora, like the STick, needs a multitasking brain to conduct your hands as independent collaborators on the fretboards.

I think that guitar playing helps a lot, in that you are used to playing notes in multiple locations.

It doesn't help of course with the two handed playing.

I'm lucky that I had quite a lot of experience with piano as well as guitar..

Thank you everyone for the fantastic input.

On the MIDI side i'm thinking layers of sound is all.

I started filling out the order form but stuck once more on the tuning - that's where I'm stumbling. Maybe I'm making more of it than I should be, and know I can change it up, but just want to get as close as possible to what I want out of the gate

That's true. But learning where on an instrument you find the notes could as well be done "as homework" before you start out practicing. More difficult though to teach the brain to direct both hands so that each hand can be used independently. That's where guitar playing experience won't help, but piano/harp etc does.

When I started playing the Stick, after many decades of guitar playing, it really amazed me that my right hand needed just a a week to catch up with my left hand. So much for skills spilling over from a guitarist background I'm not sure that can all be explained by being right-handed. Learning the Stick is very different from guitar playing.