Something I came across while looking for Stickists for my list.

The (masked!) player/poster calls this a Chapman Stick, but I'm not convinced...



Superficially similar to a 12 string Grand, but...

Square top headstock (which went out about a year after the first Grands, long before ACTV-2™ became an option).

No sign of a Stickman plate on the headstock.

Touchboard wood is different from the rest of the beam.

Odd detail at the block end of the frets - maybe dual truss rods, accessed from the front?

Odd block, a bit like an ACTV-2™, but no printing on it, no stereo/mono switch, and (I think) only 2 controls

No sign of an SE '3D adjustable bridge' (which came in at the same time as the first production Grand Sticks)

The SE history does mention "First three Grand Sticks®" a good few months before "First commercial production of Grand Sticks", but surely even a prototype would have an oval Stickman plate, and the pickup block then would have been Stickups (though other blocks can be retro-fitted).

Does anyone recognise the instrument &/or player?

Someone specifically asked him in the comments and he said he had it built by a luthier. So no. Not a Stick built by S.E.

As @HectorHellion responded 7 years ago: “it is a stick built by a luthier. thank you”

As per GP, not built by S.E. Hector mentions that he plays Chapman Stick on his website, no vid's or pix thereon.

Thank you. I missed that question - asked by Flint Blade.

"Chapman stick- Celtic Music" seems like an odd video title all round since the music doesn't seem particularly "Celtic" either (to me or to at least one of the people in the comments).

Fine playing nonetheless...

A lot of people like to call any tapping instrument a Stick.
Then we loyal true Stick players get very particular about it.
I had a guy excitedly tell me about his "Stick"
showed it to me and its a 8-string Ibanez. Not even Stick-like in its shape.
Shrug. I give people a lot of grace and try to just live and let live.
Pick your battles.

It's a lot like people constantly mistaking the Stick for a sitar.
One guy last night kept telling me how much he likes the sitar. I thought he was just talking about sitars for fun. Finally at the end of the night he says "dude Why didn't you tell me it wasn't a sitar??"

Indeed. In a way it's good that he acknowledges the Chapman name; it would just be a little nicer still if he'd used something like Chapman like Stick or some such to make it a bit clearer.

The instrument obviously plays well (& is played well) & uses some interesting ideas.

Definitely best to pick your battles, as Flint mentioned. It's also okay to at least acknowledge what makes the instrument unique and to (ever so gingerly) educate them without making them feel like they are unintelligent. They are probably a fabulously talented musician that may not be aware of the origin of the instrument.

In every case, these three elements unequivocally belong to the Chapman Stick / Stick Enterprises / the inventor Emmett Chapman.

1. Ergonomic ascending 4ths / descending 5ths tuning
2. Dual mono operation (not stereo)
3. Single beam (no Jimmy Page SG double neck)

This is also sure to quell any sort of digs or references to "Touchstyle" being around before the Free Hands methodology. That statement could earn me some shade, alas.

Free Hands folks can get a little bent when the term "Stick" is thrown around because they may not entirely be aware of the sheer amount of effort that goes into creating just a single Chapman Stick or how much time and effort was put forth towards the enterprise. For that reason, I try to use the full term "Chapman Stick" when referencing it.

Likewise.

I'm active in several 'musicality' forums & when I'm 'evangelising' ( ) in those or other places I try to use the full term at least once in anything I write.

....So the thing comes up again....anyway, the player is Hector Hellion, that's a pseudonym...for Jan Laurenz....Jan claimed to have sold his stick to a no name player, just Hector Hellion...who in turn is said to have developed this level of tapping skills in a legendarily short time...Bullshit, Jan tried to make his name big for some time, but it went probably too slow for him.... I suppose he then developed the feint with Hector Hellion, a reboot so to speak....Hector is masked, and it's clear why, Jan doesn't want to be recognized....he wants to come out big and fast...the stick also has to be hidden, because otherwise there's the danger that Jan will be found out...crazy story, isn't it, but I'm pretty sure that's how it happened....how I know that, just compare the game, the music, the style etc. of Jan with Hector.... the result can only mean it's one and the same person...years ago I posted this in an abbreviated version on the french stick forum where I'm a member of the forum under the same name....my remarks at the time didn't go down too well...never mind, statute of limitations is statute of limitations...and Jan is allowed to do anything Hector does and vice versa, that's perfectly ok...just a pity that Jan's career was apparently more important than music, with a bit of patience he could well have earned his place....