Hi everyone!

After something like +7 years of listening to and watching stick players on the internet, finding the NS/stick and reading through this forum and even sending an order of the NS/stick by mistake on my smartphone (quite an embarrassing story for another time). I'm at the last stretch of the journey to buying an NS/stick of my own.

But I have some questions that I haven’t found answers to yet and I thought maybe you folks on the forum might have some knowledge of. Just trying to get everything clear in my head so that the ordering will go as smooth as possible.

1. Coming from mainly playing guitar I would feel more comfy tuning this from low to high pitch: EADG CFAD. I've read here on the forums that some think the long scale length makes the higher strings feel a bit weaker in tone. Is that so or might it just be a question of finding the right gauge string for the job?

2. to my understanding the NS/stick today is built with a 36 inch scale length. This sounds massive to me who on the guitar side (Read 6 string bass tuned E to e) played a 30" Shecter Ultra Vi and on bas a 34". For the tuning I'm after I'm thinking maybe making it a 34" would work better for me? especially since ease of play and ergonomics has become very important to me due to injuries from practicing way to long and writing papers while not keeping good posture a couple of years ago.

3. Bamboo neck vs Wenge? I live in the north east of Sweden were the weather shifts between the extremes of dry/humid +-30degrees Celsius ( I think that's about -22F +86F) and although I take good care of my instruments stability and functionality is always something I look for in gear so witch should I get?

4. Do any of you have a photo of or know where I can find photos of how the walnut body with darker ebony stain or darker cherry stain?

5. I know they have put a lot of thought into designing these instruments and here I am kind of "backseat driving" on the design of it to fit my own needs even though I’m no luthier. I'm almost starting to feel that I might be overthinking this.

Since I've been talking a lot about lengths and ergonomics I guess it would be appropriate to include some data on my size as well.
I'm 182cm tall (that’s about 5.9foot I think?) and folks say that I have average size hands.

My greatest thanks to any info to clear my head further so I can feel even better about this future purchase.

It's so exciting to hear about people about to take the plunge to the NS/Stick! We are always looking for new brothers/sisters...

I hope I can help with your answers. Please check out the NS/Stick channel on Youtube... (shameless plug )

1. I came from a 5 string bass background so it's a little different than your situation. I think there are two things to think about. 1) If you are not planning on playing open strings then the tuning of the string doesn't really matter... 2) if you are playing open strings then experiment... but not too much.
When I got my NS/Stick I played with the standard tuning for a bit but I was still coming off of having the G string on the bass. So I tried EADG GCFBb. I wanted the G string on the bass side for some snappy tones but then lost the heavy lower notes. In the end I really didn't care for G on the bass side. So I went back to traditional. But then I was finding that there were many tunes I was learning that used the open EAD notes and playing them on the 5th fret was cramping into the melody side a bit so I now tune a 1/2 step down so I can tap the low EAD. But I stopped there because each experiment kept me from advancing. So I guess adjustments are okay but keep the experimenting to a minimum...

As for the tone of the higher string I really don't have much to compare to since I came from bass but I love the tone as is with the recommended heavy string set.
As for "guitar" tuning I know couple guys who like it and thrive with it. For me it breaks the pattern of fourths so it confuses me...

2. The scale length is 34". At least that is what it says on http://stick.com/instruments/ns/
There will be some strange fingering and there will be some adjustment but nothing should hurt. Don Schiff mentions some of the left hand chord tapping as "claws"... I hear about people with injury going to stick and loving it because of the ergonomics is so much better than guitar. Where are you located? Maybe there is someone close to you that can let you play theirs.

3. I am the wrong person to ask about bamboo vs wenge... I have the Wenge neck and love it! But I have very little playing time on bamboo but Don Schiff loves it. My next NS/Stick will be a half fretless with bamboo neck. My opinion is that whatever you get you should love it and make it your own sound...
As for neck stability... that shouldn't be an issue either way. Adjusting the truss is so easy and you should get comfortable with it pretty quickly. Nothing to be afraid of. (I have a video of it on the NS/Stick youtube channel. I want to make an update to it but in general the video is still good info.)

4. I don't have a stained stick so I can't help with pics but all the bodies I've seen have been amazing. Gary Jibilian can probably help you the best on this. gary@garyjibilian.com

5. I think we all overthink it... Once you get it you will be in love with it. If you aren't, you have welcome to send it to me.

It sounds like you are about the same height as me. I think I have average hands. Not big but not orange hair buffoon small...

Let us know when you order your NS/Stick.
Looking forward to hearing your adventures!

Hi seestick, The NS is a great instrument! Yes. From the guitarist perspective in contrast to "the bassist",
tuning in "Guitar Intervals" you preserves all of your known chord shapes and scales. If you go
the next step (which I do ) then add two capos just behind the fifth fret with
the idea in mind that you want the NS to be like an eight string guitar. Here is Emmett's
diagram:

http://stick.com/instruments/tunings/8/ ... intervals/

Scroll down to the picture of the NS fretboard and notice that at the fifth fret the tuning is "D Standard" (EA)DGCFAD.
This is fine and interesting in the 'guitar-ish' way, but still a little low imo, and I wanted a more guitar like feel as far as string tension so I brought it up a whole step to Standard EADGBE at the fifth fret (with capos), the two extra strings varying:
B-A or A-D or B-E (assending)...

"It's Alive, It's Alive" I mean it's a guitar .

Good luck with your new adventure.

jRj
*j*
.~

Hey yeah, I know your channel! I'm certain I've watched every video on there. Really great stuff and I hope that you have more coming in a not too distant future.

Really good to hear about the scale length being 34" I must have gotten things mixed up with the other sticks or something.

The last couple of years I’ve been going to town on two hand tapping and I’d say I have a solid foundation on the technique at least for guitar. And from what I have heard about the playability and setup possibilities of the NS I’m thinking this instrument is a logical way for me to go. ofc there will still be a learning/adjusting curve but still.

I live in Umeå, Sweden. Have never seen anyone around here with even a chapman stick although my girlfriend did see Per Boysen (Awesome player!) busking with a stick in Stockholm when she was visiting some friends but to my knowing he plays grand stick and SG-12.

I’ll make sure to send Gary a message. Thank you for all the help! Hopefully I will be able to put down the order this month. Best case scenario they have an NS that I like the look of in stock. One can always dream, right?

When I got my first NS in 2004, I tuned it BEADGBEA. A couple years ago I sold it back to Emmett and bought a new one. On the new model I really took a liking to the standard straight fourths tuning, and still play it that way to this day. The previous tuning was a big hit with guitar players that I let try it out. Same tuning as a guitar except there’s an extra string above and below. I recommend keeping the low B because not many bass guitars with a low B sound as good as the NS. Going with a higher tuning you lose a really unique feature this instrument offers.

This is for sure!
That low B string really comes through nicely on the NS. And that is with tapping. Plucked is great too!

I have been studying the diagrams a lot these last weeks. They are a great tool!

I was kind of hoping to be able to transfer some of my own songs writen on guitar to the NS without having to play super high on the neck so that's why I asked about that specific tuning. But keeping it in the original tuning and adjusting how I play the instrument might be smarter since it's kind of a new instrument and all. Might be a fun arranging exercise to.

Thanks for the helpful input everyone!

In my experience, the NS Stick is more of a tapping bass than tapping guitar in terms of scale and feel. I have a cheapy Steinberger set up really low with a hair band acting as a damper when I want something more like a tapping guitar.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I see what you mean by it being more of a bass then a guitar. Honestly that's fine by me.

I love those guitars!
I own one to and it's great. Super easy to adjust and stays in tune like a champ. I started to sketch on a project where I planed to somehow put two of those together close to each other. Kind of like making a cheapish sg12. xD

Lots of good comments here about the NS/Stick. My own thoughts echo many here:

1. Woods.
Wenge is wonderful. But Bamboo is Beautiful. The stained ash and....there's a bunch of really cool woods and coatings and toppings and fireburst stuff for the NS/Sticks. They get to be purtier than the rest of the Stick family. I went with black wenge stained black and I love Lord Vader. Go with whatever looks the best to you and you won't go wrong. Man, I love the purty NS/Sticks. Like purple!

Dyed Purple Sunburst
http://garyjibilian.com/


2. Tuning.
I also have straight 4ths tuning with the low B. It is the superior tuning for me, being that I hate irregular "guitar tuning" and much prefer the straight 4ths. (But I like MR on the Railboard and mirrored 4ths on my Rosewood Stick.) I love playing two hands side by side and down in perfect unison and the exact same fingering. Down two frets, over two strings, and bam! there's the octaves.

3. Bass
I have to say that I think of the NS/Stick as more of a bass with an extended range. If I really want to shred on the melody side, I'll pick up Rosie (Rosewood) or BSR (Blue Sapphire Railboard), and rock it out. But again, I can riff with two hands in parallel and the melody side plays just fine. I just like the medium strings on my other Sticks, versus the high strings in heavy gauge. I should really use heavy on the bass and medium on the melody side. Anyone else played with that, 2 different gauges?

4. Low B string rocks. And sounds great plucked or tapped, or played exactly like any other bass guitar. Don Schiff is the master at doing all of those and more all at once on the NS/Stick.

5. Skydiver Dean's YouTube channel for NS/Stick rocks! I need to watch the truss adjustment video again. The one for starting NS'ers is good too. Also check out Gary Jibilian, as was said. Someone please help me find Russel's NS/Stick page, too. That also rocks.

Best of luck! Do it!

--Steve Sink