I live in Argentina, play a Stick and learned about Dragonfly about a year ago.
Like others have said, I don't think it's a knock-off, it's its own thing. Commercially it doesn't compete with the Chapman Stick;Dragonfly is not a threat to Stick enterprises whatsoever.
If someone in Argentina is thinking about buying a Chapman Stick, that means that person is within the small minority in the country that can still afford one, and they will get one. People in Europe and in the US have no dimension of the economic situation in Argentina. And anybody looking for a stick won't settle for other tapping instruments because the Stick is very unique. My point is it doesn't hurt SE sales haha! And likewise people interested in tapping instruments in general in Argentina might go for the Dragonfly and that's great.
If people didn't like to try new things, there wouldn't be a Chapman Stick.
Emmett's vision was great and I'm so happy it happenned, but it never would have happened without a spirit of innovation. You can't stop that as long as you don't harm other people's ideas. A knock-off tries to copy and ressemble the original at a lower price and cheaper materials, that's not the case here. Dragonfly's have other features as Mark pointed out.
If you love your stick that's great, but that doesn't mean there can't be anything that's just as good, better or simply different. By the way, if you ever tried inventing something new, you know it's not easy at all.
I can however understand some people's chagrin related as far as why it was posted here. Maybe it shouldn't have, I don't know, I leave that one to the moderators

Rock and Roll man.
I'm over it.
Knock yourself out. Good luck. If i could spend the time and energy to create an instrument, I would, if dragonfly was in nyc i would go play one, maybe even buy one.
Things become better when people try to change them, they take ideas and make them better, that is evolution.
Some things are timeless. Not all things need change.

Back in the day, when something worked you left it alone. Today you have to make it better, sometimes it helps sometimes the old way was better, it's up to the person using to know. There are many different opinions as to what is better, or what is functional, or what maybe not as good, but still gets the job done. All people have their go to tools. Who is to say your tool is no good, if you get the job done.
You can make music on anything. Rubbing two sticks together makes music. I wish dragonfly well. I harbor no resentment.

Peace and love all around brother.

Thanx for this JRJ. I remember the pre-crash days and the individual in question. I also remember that before the days of Stickist, pre-crash or otherwise, this individual (let's call him "X") would mail out flyers to anyone who visited a certain forum and/or expressed interest in the Stick. I had a few of those mailers myself. They seemed innocent enough at first as they advertised used, refurbished or modded Sticks, soft cases (not offered at the time by Stick) and an assortment of Stick/tapping related stuff such as strings, straps, cables, etc. It all seemed to be on the up-and up. But in fact "X" was passing themselves off as sort of an "authorized" Stick rep. If memory serves, "X" even offered his own tapping instrument designs as an alternative to the Stick. As we know, Emmett sets up every Stick personally before they leave his shop. He has played EVERY SINGLE STICK in the world to this date. It is a point of pride and assurance that you will get the best playing experience. Having someone else do this ("X"), and to a used Stick which may have unforeseen issues, puts the integrity of Emmett's design in the hands of someone whom may not know what they are doing and may not have SEI's best interest at heart. If the end user receives and improperly set up Stick then the experience is not what was intended by Emmett, that buyer now has an experience that they relate to Stick Enterprises and not the individual ("X") he purchased it from.
Emmett has never made it a practice to slam that person on forums or his site. He isn't that type of petty person. He took legal action and the personal high ground and has remained there.
In a free market where craftsman can be inspired to, pay tribute to, improve upon, and yes, flat out copy others ideas and trademarks, I think that the important thing to remember is that Emmett himself was inspired to follow through on his own visions that were surely fueled by his own inspirations. Emmett does his own thing without prejudice.
Within the confines of copyright law and in the spirit of creation, shouldn't we embrace and celebrate the impact of what Emmett has done instead of discourage and slander others who choose to follow in his steps? Those with no integrity will fall by the wayside and time will test them. Emmett has inspired musicians to play in a new way, it should stand to reason that he has also inspired luthiers to do the same.

Have any of you guys heard Rodrigo play his acoustic Dragonfly 10-string?
He makes that thing sing.....and he does too.

Sounds great. The bass/baritone notes have some real character to them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

It made me think of Bob C’s Acoustick, but with those nylon strings, the tone is more like a classical guitar.

Does anyone know how it’s tuned, i.e. the notes.

I think it’s.

=======================

[ F Bb Eb Ab Db | F Bb Eb Ab Db] @ < fret 1
——————————————



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

.......................When common sense pins the tail on the donkey no one asks the horse for hay .

.................................................................jRj
.................................................................*j*
..................................................................~

I'm not sure how long ago "back in the day" was. But the piano has gone through a lot of changes since Christofori's first instrument. And the changes didn't only happen in the last hundred years. Heck, the Imperial Bösendorfer is over a hundred years old.

I think the Dragonfly looks awesome! (Names corney tho) I really really don't understand the elitist attitudes some of y'all have about competition to the Stick, competition is always a good thing for consumers. The Stick is the #1 tapping instrument in the world and has been for the past 40 years, I really don't think it's gonna be dethroned anytime soon.
Not to mention, the Dragonfly in particular is acoustic and takes (from what I can tell) nylon strings. Stick Enterprises doesn't even make an acoustic tapper, I don't count the Acou-Stick because there's only one in existence and isn't commercially available.
As a guy who aspires to build musical instruments for a living I find elitist arguments like the ones in this thread demoralizing.