Hello everyone!

After some time researching, i always kept my interest in a 12-string Chapman Stick and the 12-string Railboard by it's tuning and possibilities compared to the 10 stringed version. The "most available" for me right now is the 10-str Railboard (but aiming for the 12-str) and i got some questions (open for everyone to answer or give insights!).

1) Users of 12-string Railboards, how are your general experience with it? How does it compares with other sticks (10-string Railboards, wooden Sticks)? If a user of a 10 string-Railboard that has experience with a 12 string Stick wants to contribute in here, i would also be interested to hear!

2) How much does heat influences in the Railboard in general? I live Brazil, where there is a HIGH oscilation in temperature and humidity, so it's a great concern for me carrying a instrument to different places.

2) A (more direct) maintanence question: as a guitarist, i know my way to research a problem when it happens with a wooden instrument and recognize if i can fix it or not. However, with the Railboard, it's a whole different perspective for me.

If, for example, something happens to the frets, as markings/scratches in the alluminum that influences the sound emitted by the tapping, what is the best way to fix it? I'm aware that sending to Stick Enterprises is the best answer, but if there's no other option besides sending to them, i would like to understand better about their ways to fix the frets or anodized alluminum body, as this specific information is something that i didn't found in my research.

If there's something in your experience that you would like to bring up to someone who is still choosing which Stick to buy (or, as i should say: still deciding how much of a debt i should be to get one...), i'm very eager to hear!

P.S.: I'm still new to the posting dynamic of the forum, so i'm sorry if i don't respond immediatly or if i posted this on a wrong topic!

Repairing a musical instrument is normally beyond the scope of most musicians. There are some exceptions.

Most people have never seen or heard a Chapman Stick or Railboard. The wait times for new instruments are relatively long. I was lucky enough to purchase two of these instruments at a price that I could afford.

- It takes time to learn a new instrument.
- Don't miss out on an opportunity to purchase what is available to you.
- These instruments are an investment.
- They give you and others pleasure.
- They have a high resale value.
- When you decide to resell your instrument, you will get most of your money back.

Hello !!

You mention the tuning possibilities - the huge difference between a wooden Stick vs a Railboard - is that the frets on the Railboard are shaved down for the tuning one selects - and the shaving can be big time, like scalloping the frets, and - well, this applied to me, as I ordered a Railboard 8 set up in a manner where all the strings were in order like an electric guitar, as opposed to having the heavy strings running down the center.

Well, because I chose that particular route, I can't tune it any other way, because of the severe shaving of the frets - God knows why that is being done in the first place.

The wooden Sticks - unless you are having the old Ironwoods with the screw slot bridge and nut details - the sky is the limit on how you want to set them up, and re-tune as your heart desires.

Everything else which you mention, I cannot answer.

Regarding the debt required, here's a different way to look at it:

In the past, I have ordered two Sticks from Stick Enterprises, one was used, one was new. I told them to take their time, and besides the initial deposit, I kept on occasion sending them additional payments - so when the time came to pay for the instrument[s] in full, it was not painful at all to do so, since most of it was already paid off.

Buying used on say Reverb, I personally have had real good luck with that with two Ironwoods and an NS Stick.

Regarding learning the Stick, I come from playing electric bass, and since the early 90s I've tuned in 5ths C G D A so the Stick tuning was not that foriegn to me.

If you are a guitarist, it would be C G D A E G [ D A E G is also a real wild tuning for electric bass !!]

Where I am going with this, is if you are interested in a Stick that will be tuned in fifths/fourths it's good to see if you can play in fifths with a regular instrument first - although many Stick players use the regular 4ths so that may not even be a consideration for you.

As far as tapping, the best I can do is like two fingered piano, but my 8 string StickBass, I play just like a bass guitar and it's loads of fun, while my Railboard 8 I tend to tap more with on.... that instrument has a LapDog installed as well.

I dont know if any of this helps, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

Cheers, and Good Luck with the path you choose to take.

Remember: playing a Stick won't happen over night, and I personally view it as a journey for life as opposed to something you can walk away from, because maybe it's not working the way you want it to just yet.

I have both traditional grand sticks (wood) and a railboard grand. The Railboard is much more heavier than a wooden stick. I does have a different sound, which you can hear in a post from Greg Howard where he goes over the sound of the new RB pickup. In the past, I had some 10 string sticks. The 12 string grand gives you a broader range. I can't speak to whether the heat affects the RB because I don't play outside in the Arizona heat. For major adjustments, I always send my stick back to Stick Enterprises, however, I never know when I will get the instrument back.....could be several months, or a quick turnaround. I have more than one stick, so it is not a problem of being stickless. One last thing. The RB seems to stay in tune, especially since I use heavy gauge strings. I don't recommend heavy gauge strings; medium give you better articulation, and are easier on the fingers. I'm too lazy to change the gauge of my strings....plus, it gives my fingers a workout.

Hello Sean,
....First of all, welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your decision to try the Chapman Stick...
...The Chapman Stick has a reputation for being particularly expensive, but a good quality instrument always has a price, whether it's a saxophone, violin, guitar, double bass, etc.etc.etc.. With most instruments there is a low price sector so that you can get in at a reasonable price. With the Chapman Stick this does not exist, you are forced to enter at the level of the professionals with the known consequences for the price.....

...You have already received some very good answers as I see in the forum, especially from WerkSpace....
- It takes time to learn a new instrument.
- Don't miss out on an opportunity to purchase what is available to you.
- These instruments are an investment.
- They give you and others pleasure.
- They have a high resale value.
- When you decide to resell your instrument, you will get most of your money back.

I would say it like that myself:
- These instruments are an investment, but when you decide to resell your instrument, you will get most of your money back, because they have a high resale value.
- It takes time to learn a new instrument, but it give you and others pleasure.
-> Conclusion: Don't miss out on an opportunity to purchase what is available to you.

....You see very easily, WerkSpace is spot on, I can only agree....

...The repair of sticks is a thing of its own, but a stick is very robust in concept, much more robust than a guitar, for example, because it actually only consists of a board. If you handle it decently, as should be natural with all musical instruments, there will never be problems in the feared direction. So all musical uses are unproblematic, if you go hunting, to war, or such things, then leave the stick better at home, as you would do with your guitars....
...by the way you can find a lot of videos from Greg Howard about maintenance and adjustment of sticks....

....12string or 10string?....I started with 10string because that was the original for me and I wanted to go the way the sticks were developed. Later I added a 12string...well what I can say about it, 12string is too big for my hands, but 10string is optimal. I can play an octave on the piano, a ninth if necessary, but decimals, that's too much....but actually it doesn't matter whether 10 or 12, both work identically, because the playing technique is the decisive factor...

...tuning?..in principle there is only one tuning, namely the bass side tuned in fifths and the melody side tuned in fourths. The difference is in the relation between the bass and melody sides. There are three main variations, Classic, Matched Reciprocal and Baritone...Classic gives the largest range whether 10 or 12, a whole tone less on MR and a fourth less range on Baritone. But Baritone has a larger overlap range, the notes that occur several times..... look at the tunings which are shown on the homepage of SE very thoroughly....

...and by the way, I'm using MR for all of my sticks.....

good luck and have fun while choosing and deciding

Balt-A-Sar