this issue came to mind lately:

why isn't the stick is built the other way around?

bass strings on melody side and vice versa.

i mean that way you basically plays the same positions but ALSO
hands will never cross and you will have more range:
more highs on Bass and more lows on Melody

your thoughts?

Interesting point Boaz, I think there was one player at StickCamp " uncrossed " Maybe Andre?

Bruce-looked back at the the Stick Camp pictures - it does look like Andre is playing that uncrossed way (i thought he was left handed at first-because the stick is lying on his right shoulder)

Greg - tnx for your detailed response
those are great points you brought up

have you (or any other) tried at one point playing uncrossed and got to the conclusion that the best way is the other way around ?

Seems talking about different persons
LG g

Pardon my stupid response, but couldn't you just 'uncross' when you need to? I was kind of messing around with it a bit and even with hands crossed I could pretty much access any note I wanted on either side....

But I think it's easier to get high notes on the bass side if my left hand is underneath/below the right. I think that the uncrossed way works pretty good to get notes from the 4th fret to the nut on the melody side if one is working with the bass side kind of in the same area...?

Unless there's another way?

off course you can uncross whenever you feel like,
but the way i'm talking about is keeping the same position playing the same chords

For me, personally, uncrossed is really really hard... Different sensibility in both hands leads me to a lack of control of the sound if I'm playing with the left hand on the melody side... Plus, I totally agree with Greg: the ergonomics are perfect if I play crossed, but it gets impossibly hard to play the 1st string with the left hand. Maybe it's just different for different people but I've tried it and it doesn't feel good to me. Wich is not to say I don't use it in certain songs when I need to: I do, but as another tool, one that allows me to do something I couldn't any other way. But that's just me. If I were you i'de try it: listen to your body, it will let you know everything you need to. I always decide based on that... I definitely should write something one day, on this body/instrument relationship. I think people don't realize how important it is.
Cheers


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André plays the Classic Grand Stick tuning but his hands are all over the board, like Bob's, any sector of the fretboard becoming active with orchestration, counterpoint and thematic lines.

I apply an imaginary cross to the fretted playing surface. It's centered at the 9th fret along the board and between the string groups across the board. Any hand can be at any of the four sectors, including RH melody at the lowest pitched frets ("behind" the LH accompaniment), and even including LH melody at the highest pitched frets (ungainly to look at but there's a big orchestral payoff).

Then there's the basic technique and posture (the fallback position), where the LH plays the longer vibrations at the wider spaced frets and the RH plays more in the guitar range.

If you choose to relegate each hand to its nearest set of strings as you approach the board, you might as well have a double-neck tapping instrument. I did build one for a customer some years back. Two SB8s attached to a body, a 16-string Stick.