Anybody on this forum own a Krappy tap guitar? I've been thinking of commissioning something N/S Stick like but not sure if I should take the plunge... I'm interested in the "Fat-o-Caster", it looks cool and super mod-able! Opinions please?

http://www.krappyguitars.com/touchstyle.html

Click on the "MANIFESTO " and read the MANIFESTO area content. For people who don't care about quality (?).That why their = KRAPPY. I have higher quality equipment in my shop than theirs. Contact Stick Enterprises and order.

I've already got a stick, I was interested in a Krappy because it's cheap. I was thinking of getting one just to mess around with, doesn't look too hard to fix up and improve. Would be cool to experiment on and have as a "beater" tapper.

I do not own one, but ...
I get the impression the 'Manifesto' text is somewhat orientated towards the more punky guitars. The tappers are probably a little more refined, and the refinement probably varies according to your order and the money you spend.
There are some reviews and high quality photos at the tappistry.org website, generally people seem fairly happy for the low amount of money they paid.
"Our instruments are built for frugal people who aren't very concerned with regard to quality ...", that is different to 'don't care about quality'.

Okay here are my 2 cents. It all depends upon how you want to play the instrument, and what you expect out of it. If you want to play two hand independence with crossed hands? I wouldn’t ever bother with anything other than a Chapman stick. Emmett design is pure genius giving access to every note on the instrument, with great tone and low action. If you don’t mind a limited range with not much access to all the notes the Kappy should be fine.

And I don’t mean this in a snide way at all. If you want a serious tapping Instrument with the best design for playing, and you want to really work on serious music you cannot beat a Chapman Stick....... even with more expensive tappers, the design of all other tapping instruments really limit you access to the upper frets.

Brett

I don't want one, and have never tried one (or seen one, for that matter)...I've bought three Sticks from SE (one of them is on a UPS truck somewhere in California headed my way as I type this ), and there's a reason I've stayed with Emmett's instruments. Just the same, though, I think the site is kinda fun...I like the goofy tone of it, and that the guy clearly doesn't take himself too seriously.

However it also sounds as though he's all about giving you whatever you want to pay for, hence the manifesto verbiage...pay for cheap, get dumpster-dived parts. At the same time, though, this is from their pricing page:

Stick level quality, consistency, and innovation? I doubt it. I'm only suggesting that you consider that maybe your comments are a tad mis-representative.

This is getting bumped big time.

Bad press is as good, if not better than good press.

I want to press my strings on the instrument that was created for the tuning concepts Emmett devised.

If you want to learn Free Hands, developed by Emmett Chapman, with the 4ths fifths tuning, then you can only buy a Chapman Stick.
I cannot imagine a krappy guitar is going to sound as good as the Stick.

People do not realize the evolution, or the engineering involved, in creating Emmett's vision. I consider him a master luthier, musician, inventor, and engineer.

The Chapman Stick was created, to match an idea of strings across the board using two hands freely, and comfortably, one two three four, or more instruments can be invoked, if played properly

If you're serious about tap and hold free hands method, or if you just like to make music, the Stick is the way to go.

You can buy the cheap shit twice, or you can buy the good shit once.

Frustration is knowing that you, not the instrument is at fault.

This is a sore subject for sure.

I may be an elitist Chapman Stick prick, but I don't think so.

I don't mean to offend anyone,. Buy what you want, and then buy the real thing, if you want to play that way..

Jan Laurenz could get good sounds out of a hair brush if you gave him one. Stick, Megatar, Warr, Krappy; doesn’t matter. That man shreds on all of them.

As far as the original point of the thread, I do agree there is no substitute for the Stick. But if you wanted a “beater” or something to experiment with, it looks like you could do worse than the Krappy. As for me, give me the Stick or nothing at all.

It is in my opinion that the NS Stick is the most advanced string instrument ever conceived. At the same time though, it's custom made and the price reflects this. When I go in a music store I like variety in brand selection, even if it's just the big brands, I like having options. I like having options in price too, I don't always want to drop 2 G's on an instrument. Sometimes I wanna buy a cheap bass with with stock pick ups and misc. features I'm not used to and would like to try. What I'm getting at is as a consumer I like competition, I wouldn't wanna live in a world where only one manufacturer made basses, same holds true for the Stick. It's good for the instrument too, it forces Emmett and company to always try and innovate to stay on top of the food chain.

At the end of the day a Stick is a Stick, a Warr is a Warr, a Megatar is a Megatar, and a Krappies a Krappy. We're all one big tapping family! Lol


...I doubt Emmett would ever greenlight a Stick shaped like a Strat or a Carl Thompson anyways