Half the fun is the journey and you'll get plenty back if you want to re-sell.

There is no extra cost for the crazy.

Hey! Cool thread, lots of really good questions. I am going to share a few of my opinions some of them you might find useful, some not. Hopefully one way or the other it all adds up to helping you find your way...


1. I have some friends who play guitar and they tell me I'm crazy for spending "that kind of money" for a Stick. They say I should get a cheap guitar see how I like it before I "dive in". However, my dream is to play tap-style. My gut feeling is that learning guitar would be counter-productive to learning Stick afterward. Am I right about that?

Well, I am thinking that maybe your friends are "half" right. I'd also say that your gut feeling is "half" right too... Having any kind of musical knowledge and playing ability is only going to help in my opinion, but having to "wait" to play via tapping until you have learned guitar is ridiculous I think. If you want a Stick, get a Stick. It's not a guitar, it's it's own thing. Sure, there are some similarities, but honestly if I could go back to while I was waiting to get a Stick, the "preparatory" practice I would be focused on to get me "ready" to start learning a Stick would be on a keyboard. Lots of separate, yet simultaneous things... You COULD get a guitar, set it up for REALLY low action (REALLY LOW!!) and investigate Stanley Jordan, Steve Lynch, and Jennifer Batten. Joe Satriani has a tapping thing that he does on practically ever album, Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai too, but it's just not the same as Stick playing. Stanley Jordan would be the closest...

2a. I have read that Stick is very hard to learn. I've also read that Stick is "not as hard as it seems" to learn. (and by that I mean Stick or Stick-like instruments in general) Which is it? What I've read has always been comments by guitar players. Would Stick be easier to learn for people who didn't play guitar first? I know Greg Howard came at the stick from a keyboard, and he did OK. How hard is it compared to a woodwind or brass instrument?

Well, if it was "easy" everyone would be doing it, right? I guess it depends on what level you want to do it at, and what your goals and expectations are. Anyone who plays the instrument at Greg's level has put in a gross amount of time and energy practicing, playing and performing. Yes, there are things you can do to optimize your learning and streamline your advancement, but at the end of the day, I'd say it's no easier or difficult than any other instrument but you HAVE to get a learning strategy that works for you, and goals that coincide. Just an opinion.

2b. I don't know anybody who owns or plays Stick, and as far as I can determine there are no instructors around here (Indianapolis). I will primarily be learning from books, videos, experimentation, and perhaps the occasional Skype lesson with an instructor far away. Is that a reasonable expectation/goal for a beginner?

Ahh yes, there aren't so many folks out there playing the instrument, and a lot of varied levels of expertise. Have you considered Skype meeting some of the folks on the forums here, FaceTime or other video chats? Tons of different experiences, and a lot of ideas that might help get you going?

3. Will I need two amplifiers? IE one for the bass side and another for the melody side? Are there practice amps that could take both bass and melody inputs? (I may never need anything more than a practice amp. I may never play for anybody's benefit but my own.)

Need two amps? No. But I like two amps, separate processing for each side- I just do. A lot of different tones, and the bass and melody side are each unique so I like to treat them as such. That's just me, though. Depends a lot on what kind of player you end up becoming. (Sky is the limit) Roland JC120 is a great example of a dual input amplifier... Lots of guys use a mixer/PA, or interface to computer...

4a. In my research I found Krappy Guitars, and I see they make some relatively inexpensive tap-style instruments. I haven't found any instructional material that's specific to Krappy guitars. If I save money by buying a Krappy, could I learn to play it using Stick books and videos?

4b. Will a Krappy guitar take the same tunings as a Stick? If not, I assume learning material would have to be transposed before it was useful. That would be an added complication.

4c. Krappy Guitars say that they won't offer any tech support or help you set it up or anything like that. Are they serious about that? (I assume they are.) That could be a problem for me, and it makes me lean back toward a Railboard just for the support - at least 3rd party support like this forum.


Well, yes - you can get a "krappy" to be set up for whatever tuning, and yes you could use the same learning materials and all that, but here's my deal: If it says it's Krappy, it probably is.
I know that A Stick is the apex predator of all tapping instruments (OK, there's the Harpeji, but I think that is more of a keyboard) If you are going to buy a "Krappy" then maybe save yourself some cash, m and buy a nice Strat and set that sucker up to be a tapper - at least you will have some warranty and control in the setup of the instrument. Plus, a Strat can be resold. A "krappy"? meh not so sure.

Buy a Stick, Emmett and co. bend over backwards to help you. The forum will help you. Everyone in your audience will be amazed at your weird instrument. Your PRO-LEVEL, DESIGNED FOR TAPPING, custom instrument. Buy a Stick. Buy a Stick. Buy a Stick.

5. On the Railboard order form it asks what gauge strings you want. How can I know what's best for me to start with? Should just start with Medium?

Medium sounds great! Know that a Railboard can take any tuning (I know, I tried a lot of them out hahaha) but there IS an interesting resonance that seems to happen with RMR. Sounds really cool! Anyways, I have owned 3 Sticks, and they are all extremely playable - the only problem I ever had with the Stick really was with my own inability/lack of talent. lol Can't be good at everything, I guess!

So yeah, I can't wait to hear what you do! Good luck!

Bruce....listen to your wife!!!!! It's all good. You're going to be happy with your decision, old or new, whatever tuning. Can't wait for you to join us!!

Wow, you people are so great. I thought I was done with responses several days ago, because I stopped getting email notifications. I came back to read other stuff and found more info!

Thanks so much for the encouragement.

Dave, you went with the RMR tuning. A lot of the instructional material I've found uses Classic tuning. Have you found that to be a problem?

I’m not Dave. But I do have a RMR Railboard and Free hands, and the answer is I don’t think it matters. RMR and classic have the same melody tuning (so patterns are identical) and bass tuning is just a whole step away (almost identical).

Also, most of the instructional material in Free hands (at least) uses fretboard patterns that are independent of position (so relative tuning doesn’t matter). They also tend to split the bass and melody sides apart for illustrations

Fundamentally, I think you’re just going to have to take the plunge or borrow one for a while, otherwise you’ll never get your own answers to these questions.

Dave, you went with the RMR tuning. A lot of the instructional material I've found uses Classic tuning. Have you found that to be a problem?[/quote]

Hi Bruce, I am Dave, and its what mcgrahamhk says above. At first I was a bit confused, thinking I was going to spend hours transposing the instructional material, but when it finally clicked where the notes are on bass and melody sides, and how the shapes rather than the fret positions are what matters, I stopped worrying. I was overthinking the problems. I suppose if you want to sight read the notation in example pieces you'd have to adjust fret positions, but for me its simply spending more time on the instrument that cures all!

Don't be too surprised at the vibrant support you get form this forum! Wait till you ask about gear for the Stick!

Can y'all explain to me what you like about Raised Matched Reciprocal tuning compared with Classic tuning on your Railboard? I'm speaking from ignorance, but it looks less versatile to me since the bass can't go as low as with Classic tuning.

In this thread people have said RMR sounds better. Why is that? As I understand it, the RMR tuning does nothing more than shift the placement of your left hand up a couple of frets. Why/how does that modify how the instrument sounds?

Does it maybe have to do with string tension?

One of the things I love about Emmett's designs is how easy it is to experiment with tunings and different string gauges. Because he makes instrument that are designed to accommodate so many different tunings, his hardware has to be easy to adjust. No other builder has an adjustable nut, for example, so you have to either modify or replace your nut just to see if you like the new tuning.

And of course the easily adjustable truss means you can keep your action optimized for tapping all the time...

Tapping is much harder with a bad setup or an uncooperative instrument...

I was the one to raise my Matched Reciprocal (MR) tuning by a whole step on my bamboo Ten-String Grand in 2012. With our first production run of "Railboard" Sticks in 2013, I started advocating this higher tuning (RMR), recommending it to new players.

From the records in my setup log, there are now 143 Railboard owners with RMR tuning but only a few dozen hardwood Stick owners with this tuning. It was the timing of these two innovations that lead to the association of RMR with Railboard.

I'd recommend it for any 10 or 12-string Stick out of any neck beam material. The advantage is in the strings, i should say the lower bass strings, which are correspondingly thinner per the whole tone higher pitches, thus capable of a lower setup bass string undersides to Rail tips and easier to play (less "excursion" in their vibrations). They're more like the rest of the strings with more balance between bass and melody sides.

The lower bass notes are IMO more "audible" and rewarding to player and audience. My left hand gravitates (levitates) to the lower pitched fretted region toward the headstock, where the thinner gauge bass strings sound and play nicely. (On The Stick, sorry to say, up is down.)

Yes, I lose a whole step (from lowest C to D) but it feels like gaining more bass for less bass ("more with less" being one of my guiding design principals from the start).

What else? The whole tone higher pitch "rejuvenates" my sound. I'm younger again, and speedier too. Now that's advocacy!