Hello there!

I'm Randolf Arriola from Singapore (No we're not a part of or in China) It's a small island at the southern tip of Malaysia in South East Asia incase ur wonderin where on the world map.

This is me...

Since I was kid in the early 80's reading rave reviews in guitar player magazine and reading up questionably impressionable mind blowing interviews of Fripp and Belew and saw pics of Tony Levin with this enigmatic instrument, listening to import vinyls of King Crimson's Discipline among others... I knew that this was going to be an instrument (correction) The instrument for me! "One of these days!" I kept telling myself all through these years!

...and so it begins my own Stick journey!

Because the old brown vinyl plywood case was all dusty and cruddy with rusty hinges and the insides was lined with a towel and filled with totally disintegrated inner padding foam dust all over the stick, 2 broken high strings and seemingly one of the pickups working with lotsa humming noises when it was apparently last tested this stick was evetually sold to me advertised with fair warning as an old and abused beyond immediate playability musical instrument. I was originally planning to get a newer one but for so long now just needing so badly to see it, and get a feel of the stick and I just can'y wait no more... somewhat expecting much worse in my descision to shorten the agony of waiting I bit the bullet and got it. OMG! I'm actly getting a Chapman Stick! Yippeee!

For days I literally walked circles around the house anticipating the horror to arrive. Caught myself skipping when the I spotted the Fedex man at my door! Ripped the cartons open (quite carefully) and gasped as the grey black cloud of foam dust flew out as I was carefully liftting up the creaky lid of the old case... Family that was around shot nasty looks at me and together with the 4 cats almost ran away for good! Man, what drama and all because I wanted, I craved for a Stick, not anything else but the Chapman Stick!!!

After much cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning and maintenance work done by myself; brushing, vacuming every spec of crud out, reconditioning the wood, cleaned out the metal parts, polished the frets and cleaned out the whole pickup assy and pots and jack over the past week and resolving the strange intonation issues (posted in another thread, tanx to Paul, Greg and Emmett who helped) I'm blessed to discover what a beautiful hidden gem this #715 has turned out to be! I'm led to believe this beauty was previously rarely if not unplayed by it's previous owner/s. Not shy to say I was kinda teary eyed at this point.

Ok, I've so far tried the classic, matched reciprocal and mirrored 4ths tunings and do find myself immediately inclined towards MR.

I have the following questions for the reverent Stick Jedi Masters here of which I will be eternally grateful to if any anyone will be so gracious to heed my call and guide me to the rightous path to the light!

Q1. Flaps. Is it possible to install the modern dual adjustable nuts on my 715?

Q1b Is it possible for me to order the Flaps from SE to install it myself?

Q2. Fully Adjustable Bridge and Tailpiece. Is it possible to install the new bridge assembly on my #715?

Q2b Is it possible for me to order this Bridge assy to install it myself? I do anticipate some routing work involved which I'm prepared do so myself with some guidance of course.

Q3. Frets. The current frets on my ironwood are definitely not rods or rails. They look like standard frets but I'm not sure if they're nickel or steel? The frets look great and unworn. How much would it cost to upgrade the frets to either rods or rails (if that's possible)?

Q3b. If my current frets are of nickel type what type of make and set of stainless steels to replace the entire fingerboard myself?

Q4. Midi Pickup. Is it possible to purchase the pre customized midi pickup? has anyone here successfully installed these on their own?

Q5. Belt Hook and Strap with Strap Button. How much to buy these to install myself please?

More along the way....

Thanks Fellas!

Hi Randolf,

My first Stick was #695, so I can imagine your instrument pretty clearly. The bass strings are the same for MR, and you could probably use the fixed bridge for the MR melody strings and have good intonation, as they're only slightly thicker.

Most of the changes you have mentioned are pretty involved. I can't see any benefit in not sending the instrument back to Emmett to have him make them, as he's got a lot of experience reworking old Sticks, and he could see the "whole picture" very clearly. My suggestion would be to contact SE directly and ask them for an estimate based on what you want to do.

The belt hook would probably be fairly easy for you to replace (yours has a metal one, yes?), and replacement strap buttons are not a problem.

Maybe my answer seems like the easy way out. I applaud your desire to want to do the work yourself, but if your goal is to have th best setup instrument in the best condition for learning how to play, sending it to SE seems like the best option.

Hi Greg, I'm a fan of your music!
Tanx for replyin!

Yes mine's with a metal belt hook which seems just too low when i wear it on a belt. I'm currently getting acquainted with 715 using a borrowed weight lifter's belt (hah) to get it at a better height. Mine's also without the truss rod which is something I know I'll have to send over to SE to get it fitted eventually. The climate here's pretty humid all year round so I'm pretty surprised how resilient the neck's straightness is maintaining so far. I service guitars amps and pedal mods for myself and the locals so I'm willing and able to take on what's within my abilities especially when I know that 2 way shipping charges plus the total refurbishing costs may well reach the price of a new stick. I guess I'll get a clearer picture about it when SE replies soon.

Except for the replaced 1st n 2nd strings now strung with .008 and .009 I'm currently surviving on the "cleaned" original strings. The 1 step down MR tuning of the melody strings does lend a very nice feel and touch to taps, slurs, vibrato and bends which I'm currently practising my motor skills just trying to get may left hand used to the opposite 5ths and my right by randomly tapping double stops and finger bars to create and hear the various voicings. The sound of the string arrangement based on the MR tuning is incredibly rich! With just some fine adjustments of the overall height and pole pieces I love the original pickup as it is! Now to slowly work towards the 2 hands to coordinate.

I'm thrilled to think that if this old ironwood can feel and sound soooo good and inspire me to the current level I'm feeling I'm just excited at the thought of what the current day versions in bamboo or graphite with midi capabilities and all the necessary height and intonation adjustments can inspire. I'm a big fan of the instruments' traditional tones and also combined with other sonic textures via midi pickups and live looping on acoustic, electric and now the stick.

I've spoken with Yuta and have emailed her my thoughts and enquiries and await her reply soon before I commit to my 1st order from SE.

Cheers!

Q2. I've heard no. Because of lack of wood in that area.

Q4. Sure, SE sells the customized GK-3, just check their price list.

for all the other answers just call SE! They don't react to emails very often.

Good luck with your instrument!

Hi,

Emmett can set up and improve an older instrument to the point were it feels and plays like a new one. Apart from the setup, IMO the two crucial things you can do to an old Stick is installing an adjustable truss rod and a new Stickup.

Most of the other the Stick upgrades since the early 90's are really about making your life as a player "easier" i.e. adjusting the instrument and changing tunings, lighter woods, rails etc. However, none of the newer Sticks I've tried have convinced me that my older instrument is in any way inferior, largely because it was set up properly once and hasn't been messed with since!

If you really want rails, flaps, adjustable bridge etc. I would recommend selling the Ironwood (you will get a good price for it) and getting a newer model.

Cheers,
Andy

Bulwinkl,

Hmmm not enough wood as in impossible?

I recall reading another thread here of someone else's listing of refurbishing work done to his stick and ya it seems he didn't manage to get a mod to fit the new fully adjustable bridge assy onto his older fixed bridge stick. I think he got newer bigger saddle screws instead.

I notice that my 715's string ball end claw is a black metal bracket that's attached to the tail end of the body. I seem to find from most pictures of older sticks that the tail's ball end claw was actually carved out from the wood??? Can someone verify this?

It would be much appreciated if someone here with the modern adjustable bridge could provide me with the dimension of the bridge assembly's lenght from front to back of tail and also what's the depth of the body route that allows the bridge assy to sit on it.

Tanx!

Hey Andy,

Thanks for the reply. truss rod yes yes yes but I didn't realize Stickup would be part of the necessary upgrade?

Ahhh, sounds to me like you had yours done up so nicely. Did you have the midi pickup installed and the frets dressed or changed?

Regards

Fellas!

the Frets on my #715 is it nickel or stainless steel? how do u tell one from the other?

Tanx

Hi,

Sorry, I'll retract that - unless you're having problems with your older Stickup I wouldn't worry about it. BUT if you do end up sending it back to SE, it is something I would recommend, because the older ones I've heard tend to get a bit microphonic and noisy.

The older Sticks I've seen have jumbo style nickel frets. They do wear a bit after years of playing, but less so than on any bass I've owned. Rails are not directly interchangeable with jumbos, because they have a different shape, so I think you'd have to fill in the fret "gaps" with something before installing them. Not sure if anyone has had this done..?

How important an adjustable bridge/nut is really depends on how much experimenting you might be doing with tunings, string gauges etc. I've pretty much stayed with the same setup, so it's never been an issue for me. Guess I'm lazy...

I bought my Stick as a "refurb" from SE in 1999 and it was like getting a new instrument. I almost ordered a MIDI pickup with it, but have always been happy that I changed my mind. So much there without it.

Cheers,
Andy

Andy,
'was listening to ur music and i love ur tasteful and understated approach on the stick. u have a great way of making music with it without trying to emphasize the stick's inherent character in the front of the arrangement and the mix. very inspiring!

thanks for the reassuring advice for the old stick.