Chapman stick

[aznrambo481]

anyone here play/own one? is it hard?

Basically a 10-string guitar with intervals between strings the same, right? It seems intense.

 

[Seanycaster]

I've only ever seen two guys playing it. One was in John Martin's band and the other was Tony Levin at a Peter Gabriel concert. Intense doesn't even begin to cover it IMHO.

 

[stevetat]

There are a few different tunings for the Stick. I think the "conventional" tuning has the bass strings tuned in 5ths and the treble strings tuned in 4ths.

Greg Howard is one of the more talented Stickists (?) out there. Some nice recordings available on his website:

http://www.greghoward.com/

 

[tiktok]

You play it "touch style", sounding the note by fretting them. And traditionally the strings start thin on both sides of the fretboard and then get thicker towards the center, so your bass notes are in the middle of the neck. There's also a version with 12-strings, "The Grand Stick".

Think of it as more of a piano that you can wear around your neck and process like an electric guitar.

 

[MickM]

Mid 80's or so was a band called Kittyhawk that I think had 2 stick players, drums and sax.(i'd have to go pull out the record to be sure) Anyway, the Bass, keyboard, and guitar sounds that came out of the "stick" are incredible.

 

[The Bone]

There is

a guy in Sacramento, that sells them and plays them. He is pretty incredible. He plays a lot of Hendrix, particularly, Little Wing. It sounds pretty freaking awesome.

 

[Telemaniac]

A bass player friend of mine has the 8-string version. Some of the music he gets from it is awesome, and because he can swap between playing it like a bass to using the full range during a number it adds a lot of options.