Hi Pal,

When I started the only printed resource was Emmett's Free Hands. I'm still amazed at all the great stuff in this book. Not everyone who can play can teach, and not everyone who can write can play (and vice versa). Fortunately for us, this book is not only full of excellent well-written musically-relevant exercises and explanations of how the method works, Emmett's also a really inspired and informed player, and the lessons are based on fully-realized musical concepts.

If you're going to take the time to study someone's ideas on how to play, listen to their music and see if there's something in it you'd like to draw upon. What I like in Emmett's playing is the clear understanding of harmony and how it relates to the technique itself. There is fire in his right hand, the freer hand. The hand that makes the method what it is.

What I like in Bob's playing is the connection to the guitar's musical devices he brings, without being hung up on guitar techniques.

What I like in Steve's playing is the confidence and daring to play music that has a conventional basis on an unconventional instrument. And his sense of fun.

Ron Baggerman is an exciting player, and with him it's the ability to take the song and make it his own through stylistic turns and phrases.

And I like Chris Crain's straightforward approach, without a loft of "fluff."

Before you invest any time into a method, check out the player and see where they are coming from musically. If it resonates with you, then dig in. If there's no substance behind the lessons, you might as well be eating fast food, you'll be hungry again soon.

This an interesting discussion, but it hasn't touched on the decision alternative I personally considered several years ago: Stick vs. Warr guitar.

I admit to having been initially attracted to the Stick, but the sounds (and aesthetic appearance) of the Warr nearly swayed me. It seems a much more versatile instrument for a guitar player who has musical ideas for tapping, Trey Gunn's playing for King Crimson really impressed me, and boy oh boy do the Warr's look cool!

And Warr guitars actually may be better for tapping + guitar techniques, but I don't know because I bought a Stick instead. Here's why:

Lighter weight
Simpler device
Less expensive
Better "support" (such as this forum)

I am very happy with the Stick as a vehicle for my music and have found that with an all-tube effects chain I can (finally) get the warm full sound from it that I prefer.

However, the ADG (Austin Douglas) guitar also made by Warr is intriguing. It is lighter in weight, simpler, and less expensive than a Warr, and appears to have some guitar-like characteristics, so might be good for a cross-over playing technique.

Would anyone comment about Stick vs. Warr or Stick vs. ADG from a player's perspective? I can find very little useful commentary comparing these instruments.

Well done Palamedes!

Even your choice of Greek legends name is (somewhat) appropriate. Palamedes - renowned for his cunning and the outsmarting of his opponents.
You have successfully wound up the normally gentlemanly Greg, elicited responses from Traktor and kept most of them chugging along with the odd 'feeder' question.

They respond - ALL of them - because they are passionate about what they do.

I guess I am a bit longer in the tooth than some here or have been an IT contractor for too long or something, and can recognise a wind up when I see one.

So, I think, time to call it a day on this thread chaps!!

Greycode

There are several of us long-toothed IT contractors here on the forum. Checking on the recent posts is one of my favorite breaks from coding. Now I'm going to enjoy my most favorite of all breaks and play some music.

-Eric (who's about to take his wife out for their anniversary)

Explain to me exactly how the Stick is a "simpler" instrument? Do you think there is something you can play on the warr that you can't play on the Stick? If so enlighten us cause I can do whatever I want on the Stick.

The fact that the Stick doesn't have a body attached at the end doesn't make it simpler. It makes it better. If you want to tap on something that looks like a guitar so be it, but know that the only value added is to your self image when looking at yourself in the mirror.

Looks, and to some extent, sound, are personal preference. But playability is not. And the only time a warr will play better than a Stick is if you're comparing a new warr with an older Stick with years of use.

The warrs sound ok and they play fine but the Stick is an outstanding instrument. In design and function.

Good luck to you
Tritone

JohnFredC,
The Warr... the Stick... having played both and studying with someone who plays the Warr exclusively now... I view them as different tools... Neither one no better than the other. Each offers different tonal pallets and one can develop. My teacher started on the Stick and moved to the Warr because he felt that the Warr served his needs in the musical direction that he was heading. He described them as just "different tools" I have owned 5 Sticks, and I came very close to buying a Warr last year. However, my biggest consideration in staying with the Stick, other than the quality, design and craftmanship was this forum. There are so many wonderful cats making music, and all for the most part are very generous with there energy and provide very useful information and tips on this incredible instrument. Greg, Steve, Bob, Tony, Trey and a host of others have elevated this instrument to new heights. One thing that is refreshing is the lack of ego.

Best Regards,

Randy

Actually to kind of reply to the "simplier" question. I own a Grand Stick and an NS Stick. The NS Stick has strings spaced far apart compaired with the Grand Stick and the neck angle is different because of the way it's worn using a strap. This makes the NS Stick more flexable as an instrument but not as good as strictly a two hand tapping instrument. It's a compromise.

Warr guitars use a strap rather then a belt hook so I could see a person thinking a Stick is easier to play because at least in my opinion (Using the NS Stick as a point or reference) the way the Stick is WORN on the body makes it easier to two hand tap. I don't know about Warr guitars but the string spacing may be different then a Stick too ... so there are a few reasons a person may think one is easier to play then the other regardless if the tuning and playing technique is the same.

Hi John,

What makes one instrument appeal to people more than another? I think it all comes down to sound and playability. Before I ever worked for Emmett, I was a player with a musical career to think of. To play the "best instrument for me" would naturally be my goal. So out of curiosity, I tried out the Warr when it first came out (1995) and have tried several since then (they belonged to students in private lessons, or at seminars as recently as 2007) so I think I have a pretty clear picture of the instrument. I guess it never "moved" me in the way The Stick does.

What you say about The Stick being a simpler device is really true. Emmett has optimized every aspect of the instrument specifically for tapping, so when I try an instrument that has "additional ambitions," I'm always struck by the compromise involved. For the player, the setup is everything, and Emmett understands fretwork for tapping like no one else, to the point where he redesigned the fret to optimize it for the method. Other builders are still using conventional fret technology, which means even if the setup is really good, it won't stay that way forever, because frets lift and wear. Without an optimal setup, each note requires more work from the player. Tapping is really a mental exercise (or at least it should be). As an embodiment of a new playing method, Emmett's instrument is truly simple and optimally functional. Nothing plays like a Stick.

I've always been able to get the kinds of sound I wanted out of The Stick, from airy and articulate "acoustic" sounds to phat and heavy bass and overdriven and distorted leads. The sound of other tappers never moved me, it always seemed too "dark," without the clear articulation that is so important (to my ear) to having a broad timbral pallet. Since tapping relies on each hand to make complete musical statements, I want all of the character of the notes to come through. If the pickups emphasize things too much one way or the other (boosting bass/lacking highs, etc.) then the real energy of the vibration is lost. I've never experienced that with the Stick. I want to hear the string strike the fret, I want the energy to come back to me (this is also influenced by the setup). The Stick gives me that. Nothing sounds like a Stick.

From an ergonomic perspective, having a body pulls the neck forward, which makes some aspects of left-hand technique I really love very difficult. This is even true for the NS/Stick. The way the instrument is worn becomes very important to playing. I felt this as a player, but I really came to understand it as a teacher. By having the fretboard leaning back toward the shoulder, the left wrist can remain unbent virtually all the time, and the player can also easily see what's going on. From the guitar and bass player's perspective, this isn't an immediate benefit, because they don't really understand how tapping differs from other instrumental techniques - until you've really got it working it's hard to know. Nothing feels like a Stick.

I realize that my opinion in this matter isn't unbiased. I work for Emmett. But I played his instruments long before I ever did that. I believe in what he's doing because I know as a musician that his method works really well because his instrument works really well.

There is a lot of hype associated with other tapping instruments. If they really were "better" than The Stick I think you would have seen many more Stick players decide to take them up over the years. The vast majority of the skilled Stick players who were around when these other instruments became available in Stick tunings, just after Emmett's tuning patent expired, are still Stick players. They came from all sorts of musical backgrounds and played everything from bass and guitar to keyboards, drums and horns before deciding the Stick was the instrument for them.

So I never wonder if I just found the perfect stringed instrument for a left-handed keyboardist who likes to dabble in rock, jazz, free improv, etc,. The Stick's appeal is its own and it goes beyond musical genres and other instrument's playing techniques. It's truly something new under the sun.

If your goal is to have an instrument that bridges tapping and conventional guitar and bass techniques, then I think the NS/Stick has much to offer, mainly because it is the only one where the damper can be retracted instantly to allow the use of open strings.

About the "sound" of different instruments---

The harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick was one of the greatest musicians and musical scholars of the twentieth century. He said he'd wasted half of his life looking for an instrument with the "perfect" tone until he realized that the pleasure of music resides in the distribution of pitches in time...the performance. As for the "tone", our ears tend to adjust.

That said, I can still recommend the Stick over other makes for its simplicity and flexibility. It's a classic design.

Hi,

Thank you, Pal, for posting and articulating your beginner's thoughts so well! I can't tell how helpful this thread has been to me as I'm looking into picking up a two hands tapping instrument (doing a little pilot test tapping here with a modified electric guitar to prepare my right hand for this new instrument). My my main concern is to expand the tonal range in harmonic improvisation and be able to play orchestrations in real-time while also working with altering tempo as an important variable. I started out with guitar and learned alto flute, tenor sax and EWI on the side. For a couple of years now I have played a lot with live looping "as a meta instrument" in order to improvise multi part music. My favorite "sound source" instrument for that is the alto flute and I like the challenge of duplicating its monophonic sine wave like tone into creating chords. For bass notes from the flute I use electronic looping tricks which may sound cool but isn't really "playable" as an instrument. But I gradually grew bored with not being able to play the tempo in a fluent way, as loopers can't do ritardandi the way you want to play them. So this is what kicked me into researching Sticks, Warrs and Megs. With a two hand tapping instrument you can keep more musical parts running live, not having to put some parts into slaved electronics.

First I thought the half fretless NS would fit me best, since I own a fretless guitar that I love to play, but now I understand that it may not be as good for me as a Grand with the classic tuning. The wider tonal range is really number one on my list and it seems the NS actually is a different animal. I'd love to own both, but I can hardly afford one to begin with.

Then there is the tone factor. I can't say I like a lot of the Stick tone usually heard on recordings. I guess I would prefer to roll off quite a lot of the high end of a Stick to fit my taste. I would also like to play it with two amp channels and swap amp patches to alternatively apply different electronic processing to the both sides of the instrument. This seems possible with both the Stick, the Warr and the Megatar, so that's no deal breaker for me. As far as YouTube clips can tell it seems the Warr offers a basic tone the closest to where I like to go. But they are so expensive and heavy! And doesn't look as cool as the Stick (even though looks comes last on my requirement's list). When listening to Jan Laurenz I noticed that the Megatar really doesn't sound bad at all (I had falsely assumed it was "crappy" by quickly eying the advertisment at Megatar.com). Given my bad financial situation I think that a Megatar with a "classic stick" tuning would be my best bet for starters. I don't move into two hand tapping for the playing as much as for the music it will allow me to create live. When I get rich I can always pick up a Grand and an NS fretless ) (or maybe I should order them now so I can receive them at once when it gets there... just kidding)

I'm still quite fresh in this area so please tell me if you think I ought to look closer at something that I might have missed?

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EDIT (a month later):
I just want to add, for the record, to this my early n00b post that I finally made up my mind. After watching all the two hand tapping videos on the internet and reading almost everything here and on the tappistry forum I ordered a 12 string grand stick.