OK, has anyone ever tried to play with hands swapped with left on melody and right on bass? Since this is a completely new tuning/fingering experience to learn from scratch, why reach over to the other side of the board? Just askin'...

Some folks do that - some more than others - and probably everyone for special effect. But I think you wind up losing some of the benefits of the Stick's tuning and the way the chord shapes fit under the hands. Personally I just find it uncomfortable. But give it a try. You'll find that all the instructional materials support crossed hands though.

Have fun!

You may find a bit more thumb strain by not crossing. Not crossing does have the benefit that the hands are never in each other's way, but it just is not ergonomic for everyone.

That's another one of those questions every new player ponders. All I can say is that Emmett tried that along with every other variable and sorted it all out for us a long time ago. Every so often there is something to be gained from knowing how to do that. Watch this Bob Culbertson video at 2:12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZNna5LPN8Y where he does a 2 handed arpeggio thing. He'll pull that out once in a while when that's what it takes to play certain things. It's a handy skill but I wouldn't want to live there. And also the standard Stick approach allows you access to both sides of the neck with either hand - case in point: Again - watch how Bob Culbertson catches that recurring high A note with his rhight thumb in this Beatle tune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYKB6Lag-wg I see lotsa guys do that kind of thing quite frequently including myself. There's a German player named Mathias Sorof who has his Stick strung up with the string groups on opposite sides of the neck. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHf7JqUmcBE He's still playing bass side with the left hand and melody w/the right. It looks like he might have other differences like maybe bass in non-reversed 4ths. He gets it done but it looks unstable and precarious compared to the normal layout where your hands are more spread out & anchored. When you go there you're totally on your own - no books or teaching methods apply. Most people play the standard way for good reason.The Stick makes a lot of sense as it is if you give it a chance.

Thanks all for the input. I suppose if I had short stubby hands with fat fingers I'd be seriously contemplating the alternative - but fortunately I won the genetics lottery and have large thin hands with long fingers. I'll be starting with the standard hand positions and Baritone Melody, and once I've invested a couple hundred hours into making that work, it's going to be tough to get me to switch to something else.

I say its quite fun and worth pursuing as a kind of alternate technique. Go for it, but if it feels frustrating go back to home base for a bit. I know playing uncrossed is fun for me, but it is not fun to practice. Feels like throwing with the wrong arm a bit, but not quite that extreme.

Bingo! I now know have some history of my white polycarb. It came to me in that stringing. It's a fair commitment to setup an old instrument that way - I should know, I had to reset it back to standard - filling and drilling saddle holes etc. so I'm thinking it had to be his.

Back to regular programming, I tried using it this way when I first got it but even for a complete beginner it felt weird and kind of unbalanced. I'm all for pushing boundaries but it's already a Stick so there's a fair bit of envelope pushing already

Not to put anyone off trying things to suit themselves of course...

Cheers,

Tim

This is a fun read, keep these questions coming Skyking!

I like the idea of having the uncrossed technique as a means of exploration, but committing to that position when you are just starting might make things difficult.

The only time I really feel constrained or limited using the crossed style is if I am playing very structured parts in the left hand on the 6th string and on the 5th string of the right hand. You've got to come down straight on each string if you want to get each note to ring.

Sorof is a damn genius! I think he is one of the top jazz players. His style and technique still feel quite "weird" to me, in a cool way I just don't grasp all of it.

I think he might use a custom tuning...

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