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In This Issue:
Other Issues of this Newsletter (Link to MegaTapper News Archive)
From the Editor
Who ARE these Mobius people, and what's it all about?
Hi, Folks!
Traktor here. And welcome to the resurrected, new, and improved version of my free newsletter for tappers. Many of you formerly received my 'Multi-String Shopper' with free lessons and news-bites of interest to touch-style players, which went around the world for free for several years.
And now I'm doubly glad that I used to do that newsletter, because it directly led to my being offered my new job as the manager for Mobius Megatar USA. Which brings me to the subject of this editorial, which is: Who is this Mobius Megatar company and their musical instrument?
I like the way that the Mobius Megatar company is built. It's kind of odd. The company has been formed primarily for the purpose of teaching people to play music using the two-handed touch-style method.
The creation of the instrument is actually a subordinate goal. The purpose of designing and manufacturing the Mobius instrument is to (a) place a good-sounding instrument in people's hands affordably so that more people are enabled to play music, and (b) to finance (through the instrument's sales) additional teaching people to play music. It's circular.
The idea of being part of a company whose primary purpose is to create more music in the world appeals strongly to me. I also consider myself fortunate for the opportunity to contribute to the design of the Mobius instrument. I suppose that every musician has ideas about how he thinks an instrument should be designed, so that it would do this or be that. When I was offered the chance to participate, it was just irresistable. What a kick! Now I feel very proud of the instrument, too!
But not too proud to learn. If you have an opportunity to try the Mobius Specialty Bass, I think you'll discover a lot to like: good tone, nice sustain, pleasant feel, and lots of brand new features like choices of pickups. And it plays in tune! Thank Buzz Feiten for that! (If you're not familiar with the Buzz Feiten system, take a look at http://www.buzzfeiten.com/)
If you take the opportunity to try the Mobius instrument, and if you love it, let me know. But if you don't, then let me know that, too. I'll do my best to respond to your feedback in some sort of useful way. If that's not too specific, it's because we don't know all the answers.
This is a journey that's just starting. Thanks for joining us.
To celebrate our newsletter's publication, a gift for you!
Free Touch-Style Method Book
Yes, it's true. Instead of a 'free lesson', we're starting this new newsletter off with a bang by giving away a complete book about touch-style, which you can download and print out. The first half of the book is included with this newsletter, and the second half of the book will be included in the next issue.
The book is a method book. That is, it teaches a simple 'how to play' method. This book is oriented toward being a bass-player. It's shows a remarkably simple way to play basslines, and at the same time rhythmic chords. This is a very giggable skill. My theory guru, Jim Grantham of San Francisco, says, "If you want to work steady, be a bass player."
I suspect he's right. And the free method book we're giving you will teach you how to do that. Of course, maybe you're already a working bass player. Then in that case we'll show you how to add rhythmic chords to your basslines. (And if you can already do that, please contact us. We need more people who can write books!)
The free book is called 'Easy Touch-Style Bassics -- the Rapid Route to Rhythm Bass and more'. Read all about it in the 'Free Lesson' section below. By the way, the method book is written so that you do *not* need to have a special touch-style instrument. The method which is revealed works quite well on a normal bass (as long as it has lots of strings, like six to eight), and the method works on differently tuned instruments as well. What! Yep. It's true. Check it out.
Till next time, keep praxing and playing. Touch-Style Rules!
-Traktor Topaz
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News Bites
San Francisco Bay Area Tapping Circle
Contact: William Bajzek w_bajzek@yahoo.com
"Inspired by my experiences at TapTech and participating in the Bay Area Guitar Circle, I'm
looking to form a similar practice circle for tappers to meet on a regular basis in San Jose. I have asked Markus Reuter (tapping instructor and musician extraordinaire) to act as guide through the mailing list that I will create for this project. I would also like to try to periodically bring in instructors for master classes and such at some point in the future.
The primary focuses will be on practicing individually as a group and practicing as a group together. Additionally, it would be nice to generate some kind of repertoire to practice as well.
Participants will need to bring an instrument, appropriate cables, a reasonable practice amp, and a tuner if possible.
Please email william@telleo.com if interested.
San Rafael Music Store Plans Upcoming Mobius Tapping Clinic
San Rafael, California is the home of a unique music store called 'Bananas At Large' which will be familiar to many musicians all across the United States, because for many years they were one of the primary 800-number companies advertising in Guitar Player, Bass Player, and such magazines. Although this is only a small part of their business these days, their store stays busy, being the largest in affluent Marin County, just north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
Bananas At Large Music Store is currently stocking Mobius Megatar Touch-Style Basses in different tunings. Please feel free to drop in and test-drive a Mobius instrument. It's a great opportunity to compare a 'Bass-Bottom' tuned instrument against a 'Fifths-Bottom' instrument, and they generally have both in stock.
Coming up in the weeks ahead: Bananas will be hosting an evening clinic demonstrating two-handed tapping in general, and the Mobius line of instruments, along with Mobius new method book 'Easy Touch-Style Bassics -- the Rapid Route to Rhythm Bass and more'. The date isn't set yet, but get on Bananas's mailing list for their newsletter with advance notice of the free tapping clinic (and some great sale values on all kinds of guitar and electronic merchandise!).
Be there, or be square! At --
Bananas At Large
1504 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA 94901 USA
(415) 457-7600
January NAMM Trade Show in Anaheim California
Event: January 18-21, 2000, Anaheim Convention Center
 Twice a year, the International Music Products Association hosts the NAMM Show, the primary trade show for the music industry in the United States. Attendees include retail music store buyers, manufacturers, distributors and publishers of the music products industry, professional audio, sound and lighting companies and commercial recording studios.
Namm's January 2001 trade show returns to Anaheim California. The winter show traditionally welcomes tens of thousands of members, exhibitors and their guests to the music industry's primary annual gathering. The Anaheim Convention Center plays host for four days of great music, great exhibits, and a great deal of noise and fun!
 Note: Attendance limited to industry members. (You have to be a music store buyer, or an instrument manufacturer, or some such. If you're not, now's the time to volunteer to work for somebody who's going!)
Mobius will be exhibiting, so if you attend please come and see us. We'll have instruments for you to try. Compare the standard TrueTapper instrument with the BluesBuster pickup upgrade. See our upcoming MaxTapper instrument, and more. You can try them for yourself at the Mobius Megatar booth, so come see us!
Contact: National Ass'n of Music Manufacturers (NAMM) at (800) 767-6266
TapTalk Mailing List
The TapTalk mailing list is an on-going, online forum for players of all types of multi-stringed two-handed tap instruments. Members are encouraged to exchange ideas and information about technique, gear, upcoming lessons & seminars, concerts and related ideas.
To join TapTalk send an email to: mailto:majordomo@progrock.net
In the body of the message, type: 'subscribe taptalk'
or if you'd prefer daily digests: 'subscribe taptalk-digest'
This is a good way to meet fellow tappers on-line, swap views and
techniques, and to hear about upcoming events on a frequent basis.
Heartily recommended.
Bass Player Magazine features Mobius Megatar in December 'New Gear'
 Some time in November, when the 'December' issue of Bass Player magazine comes out, be sure to grab a copy. The folks over at Bass Player tell us that you'll see our Mobius Megatar TrueTapper instrument proudly pictured in the 'New Gear' section! Wow!
This is a great introduction to the bass-playing community served by Bass-Player magazine, and we are pleased and honored to be included so nicely. Thank you, Bass Player Magazine!
If you didn't know, Bass Player also maintains an excellent website, with articles available online, and also their entire classified section! See http://www.bassplayer.com
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Beyond Keyboards: Increasing Touch Sensitivity in Two-Handed Instruments
Thought-provoking ideas about music
by Teed Rockwell, Ph. D
The keyboard has been the favorite instrument for Western composers, for two reasons. First, because the keyboardist can play a part with each hand, it gives him a chance to hear several notes played at once, and to make educated guesses about what the music will sound like when it is performed by an ensemble of musicians.
The keyboard also makes possible for one performer to improvise complete solo "compositions", without having to follow a preset chord progression. Beethoven and Chopin did this in concert, and Keith Jarrett does it today.
Secondly, a keyboard can sound like anything you hook it up to, and change from one sound to another easily. This was true in the days of pipe organ using different stops, and truer today with MIDI and sampling. Any keyboard player can change his sound completely with just the flick of a switch.
The disadvantage, of course, of is that you can change the sound only by the flick of a switch.
Other musicians can change the tone of their instruments while they are playing, so that every single note can have a slightly different quality. As a comparison, a keyboard player can put vibrato on all his notes if he wants to, or he can flick the switch and take the vibrato off all the notes. But a guitarist, violinist, or saxophone player can put vibrato only on those notes where it is most expressive, for example on the long held note at the end of a crucial phrase.
Nearly all acoustic instruments have tonal variations available because of this direct contact with the sound source: the growls and slurs of a saxophone, the "fiddle" sound produced by short rapid strokes of the violin bow, the snaps, slides, bends, and pull-offs used by guitarists. None of these things are available to keyboard players. A few keyboards have attempted to provide sound-altering 'after-touch' and ancilliary 'breath-controllers', but it's been pretty thin stuff compared to most acoustic instruments.
There are lots of people who never notice this limitation in keyboards. This is partly because European concert music ('classical' music) has trained people's ears to be insensitive to sounds that cannot be played on a keyboard.
Because classical music's main creative geniuses were keyboard-playing composers, all the things that a keyboard cannot do are largely ignored by classical musicians. This stands in marked contrast to the virtuosity shown by player-dominated styles of music, such as Indian music and Jazz.
Listen to a classical trumpet concerto, then compare it to a Dizzy Gillespie trumpet solo. The notes in the classical piece are brilliantly beautiful when you look at them on the page and consider how they interrelate as a mosaic. But the ornaments that Dizzy uses to color each individual note in his solo are completely missing from the classical piece, because they can't be written on the page.
Classical players do add nuances which are not written on the sheet music, and this is what makes them creative artists. Classical composers sometimes complained about that, but because the composer couldn't play all of the instruments in the orchestra, they had no choice but to let the musicians run free.
Recently, however, modern keyboard design has made it possible for a composer to have what seems like an entire orchestra directly under the control of his keyboard, but at the cost of limiting everything to the expressive range of a keyboard. A pop musician can play a string section by holding down one hand on a synthesizer, and many people don't notice that the range of expression is seriously stunted -- just as most people don't notice that Velveeta only tastes "sort of" like cheddar cheese, or that Naugahyde only looks "sort of" like leather.
Modern sequencers have even made it possible to eliminate the player altogether. When a sequencer track is quantized, it is played exactly the way it is written on the page. And if you listen carefully to such a track, you will observe that no living musicians, including keyboard players, ever play only what is on the sheet music.
It is certainly possible to make good music with synthesizers. Someday, perhaps keyboards will have many effective methods of playing nuance. Composer Wendy Carlos has developed a customized keyboard that responds to vibrato like a guitar string, and this is a step in the right direction. Even within the limitations of technopop, some good music emerges, because the singers put expression into the music, which compensates for the fact that the expressiveness of the instrumentalists is seriously hampered.
But wouldn't it be nice if there was an instrument that gave you the the control of expression available to a non-keyboard musician, and the two-handedness of the keyboard?
Well, there is, actually, thanks to a major paradigm shift in string playing.
Shortly after guitar amplifiers came into common use, some players got the idea of playing fretted stringed instruments by tapping both hands upon a guitar fretboard, which made it possible to play two-handedly and still have direct control of the sound source. Because the player has no keyboard between himself and the string, he has a range of expressive potential that other two-handed instruments lack.
A few specialty instruments for this purpose soon developed, and in addition, electric basses in recent years have grown from four strings to as many as eight, and have become a favorite medium for tapping techniques.
Today, there are several kinds of fretted, stringed instruments capable of two-handed tapping play. There is litle consensus as to what they should be called. The instruments are usually referred to by their brand name, such as the Warr Guitar(r), the Chapman Stick (r), or the Mobius Megatar(r), and the playing technique is often referred to as 'touch-style.'
My belief is that, given time, these two-handed touch-style instruments will open up new possibilities for soloists and small instrumental ensembles, because the instruments put so much expression in the hands of a single musician.
I certainly don't expect everyone to totally agree with me about what I've said here. If they did, I would have to come up with a new set of ideas to avoid sounding like everyone else!
But this style of playing has created an appetite in me for subtlety of expression, which could never be satisfied by music which is made only by playing cut and paste with the gaudy smorgasbord of a keyboard's pre-sets.
-Teed Rockwell, Berkeley California, October 2000
(Dr. Rockwell has played two-handed touch-style instruments for over twenty years. He has recorded on Polygram and Warner Brothers labels, and has taught at musical clinics around the world. He currently serves as music critic for India Currents Magazine, and as President of the Multi-Cultural Music Fellowship, which produces the Festival of Harps(sm) concert series.)
Do you have an article idea for the MegaTapper News? If so, please send us an inquiry. We're looking for short articles that relate to two-handed touch-style. Articles can be about technique, about unique musicians in this genre, about tapping-instrument design, or about general musical knowledge applied to two-handed play. If it interests you, maybe it would interest our readers! Article donors receive a small payment and a byline. If this sounds interesting to you, send us an inquiry about your interesting article ideas!
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Reward! -- Lost Friends
It's a contest! It's fun! (Maybe)
Over the years, we've lost touch with some folks who received our newsletter in its previous incarnation. Investigations reveal that some have moved, some ran away to join the circus, and some changed their names to protect the innocent.
We'd like to send them the MegaTapper News to cheer them in their new location, but of course we don't know where that is. And that's where YOU come in.
We're offering a REWARD, and YOU CAN COLLECT BIG BUCKS worth of Mobius Gift
Certificates! Yes, that's right- Well, no, wait a minute. Actually, it's LITTLE BUCKS. That's right, LITTLE BUCKS worth of gift certificates! But at least it's something! Here's how it works --
If you know contact information for any of the following people, please send us their current address, phone, email address and we'll send them the new MegaTapper News. If you'll do it because you're a pal, then we'll give you our deepest thanks. Like this: Thanks!
On the other hand, if you want to collect the LITTLE BUCKS worth of gift certificates that we've been bragging about, let us know and we'll send you a $5 Gift Certificate for each working contact made. Find twenty people, get $100! Find them all, get $1335.00! (Damn! You could get a TrueTapper and have $140.00 left over!)
But to collect, you must be first on your block to send in the contact info, so time is of the essence! You may redeem your gift certificate on any Mobius instruments, books, or accessories, or you can give the gift certificate as a gift! Isn't that convenient?
Mobius employees are ineligible. First to submit a contact gets the prize. Decision of the judges is final. Are you ready? Here are the missing friends ...
Where Are These People?
Jeff Aach, Francis Acquaye, Osvaldo Alegre, Craig Alexander, Glen Allen-Meyer, Paul Anderson, Brent Anthony, David Ashcraft, Chris Astier, Gordon Axt, Peter Baer, Kevin Baird, Maurice J. Bajcz, Victor Balogh, Phil Banks, Scott Bannevich, Allan R. Barclay, Gonzalo Barillas, Craig Barry, Ron Beagen, Trevor Bedard, Pete Beggs, Kevin Berry, Paul Bertone, Doug Bess, Michael Bianco, Michael Black, Andrew Bliss, Beau Bolle, Ryan Bouslaugh, W. Scott Bowen, Robert Brown, Eric Brown, Brian Bur, Pat Cahill, Angelo Cammarata, John Campbell, Bob Canestrari, Rick Canton, Phil Carlson, Johnny Carlton, Carl Caspersen, John Cassano, Larry Cheeseman, Geoff Clark, Kelly Coil, Stanley Cooper, Jim Cooper, Michael Cotta, Thomas O. Cotton, Joe Couture, Keith Cowan, Allen Crofut, Paul Cywinski, Wolfgang Daiss, Don Dalenberg, Bill D'Ambrosio, John Davis, Chris Davis, Edan Dayan, Tracy Drake, Brandon Drummond, Fabrice DuPont, Jaime Duquette, Steve Earnhart, Ed Eckert, John Edy, Colin Farish, James Faucett, Eric Flesey, Marshall Gaddis, Greg Galazin, Kevin Gallahan, Mike Galway, Paul Gebeau, Phil Geho, Daniel Gerber, Raul Gochez, Leo Gosselin, Rudy Graham, Rex Grignon, Daryl Groetsch, David Gross, Hans Gruenig, Pascal Gutman, John Hailey, Christy Hamby, Chris Hansen, Doug Harris, Terry Haselden, Turu Hassegawa, Jeff Hateman, Kurt Haug, Jed Haugejorden, Adam Hayes, Mike Healy, Ricco Heatherly, John Hendow, John Herron, Shawn Hill, Brian Hinchliffe-McLane, Joe Hoffer, John Hopson, Steve Hossfeld, J. P. Hovercraft, Michael Hunter, Kenneth Hunter, Michael Hynes, Julian Imsdahs, Marilyn Ippolito, Todd Jacobs, Randall Jones, Wayman Jones, Stanley Jordan, Jeff Josephs, Derek Jurovich, Jon Kannass, Vinay Kathuria, Elizabeth Keim, Matt Kerste, Dave Kloss, Peter Knickles, Wayne Kohler, Daniel Kopyc, Jean-Jacques Kotto-Dekima, Kenny Kumada, Richard Lainhart, Richard Lang, Ben Law, Matt Lebofsky, Franc Lecout, Randal Lenke, Mike Lenz, Juan Leon, Lesco, Thorsten Lieder, Tor Lindberg, Pat Lupo, Ron Maceyak, Roland Makarenko, Scott Malkie, Boris Margolin, Rob Martino, Michael Matovich, Edwin McCain, Sabo McFeed, Sean McLay, Neil McQueen, Barah McSwain, Mitch Meadows, Karen Michaeli, Cliff Mickelson, Kevin Millard, Peter Miller, Glen Mock, Don Monday, Roy Moore, Ronald David Moore, Daniel Morse, Darrone Morsino, Kevin Murphy, Steve Murrell, Rik Myers, Curtis Myers, Franc Napolitano, Vicki Negrete, Benjamin Nelson, Kelly Nelson, Tobiaz Neumann, Mark Nickens, Will Northlich, Chad Novak, Tony Novaria, Steve O'Neill, Edwin Ong, Kotaro Otake, Jeff Paczkowski, Steve Painter, Casey Palowitch, Corey Pamas, Gregg Pannier, H. W. Parker, Eugene Perry, Brett Perry, Kevin Phelan, Hal Phillips, Dan Pifer, Eric Place, Claus Poulsen, Paul Prudhomme, Tony Puleo, Paul Puljic, Heiner Reiff, Jim Reilly, Jim Rhoads, Mike Rice, Paul Richardson, Jerry Rizzi, Dan Robbins, David Rogoff, Eli Rooks, John Rose, Marshall Ross, Mark Rufino, Phillip Ruppert, Tom Sain, Enrico Santi, Joel Scheile, Karene Schelert, Brent Schlemmer, Steven Schmidt, J. R. Scott, Adam Scramstad, Larry Sever, Mark Severeid, Ben Shapiro, Greg Sidell, Rob Simring, Jim Singleton, George Singleton, Kevin Sleigh, Mark Smith, Timur Snoke, John Francis Snyder, Scott Solter, Chity Somapala, Churchman Soupios, Brad Sparkman, Clay Spickard, Virna Splendore, Squid, Jon Stankorb, Alec Stansell, Frank Stratton, Glenn Stubbs, Harry Studdard, Lucas Suarez, Sean Sumner, Don Sutley, Michael Swain, Jai Swann, David Swift, Nori Tagawa, Alex Taylor, Lex Taylor, Joe Thibodeau, Arlo Tom, Greg Tudor, Kevin Turgeon, Bill Ulrich, Gary Vahling, Donnie Wade, Matthew Walsh, Darren Walsh, Trip Wamsley, Paul Warren, Richard Weaver, Gilgamesh Weidkuhn, Paul Welch, Jeff Wheeler, David White, Joe Williams, Michael Wong, Jonathan Woods, and Dennis Woodstrand
Where are they now? That's what we'd like to know!
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Free Music Lesson:
Want more Paying Gigs? Here's How!
'Easy Touch-Style Bassics' -- the Rapid Route to 'Rhythm Bass' and more
This issue's free music lesson isn't actually a free music lesson. Nope, it's much nicer than that. Because this month's free 'lesson' is actually a free music book. Because -- to celebrate the publication of our new MegaTapper newsletter -- we're giving away a method book which will teach you a simple and powerful technique to play what we call 'Rhythm Bass.'
What is 'Rhythm Bass'? This means playing a bassline with your left hand, and at the same time rhythmic chords with your right hand. The method as given in the free book works on instruments with different tunings, and can be done either on special 'touch-style' instruments which have two groups of strings, or on a standard six- to eight-string bass.
The name of the book is 'Easy Touch-Style Bassics -- the Rapid Route to Rhythm Bass and more'. This book actually does teach a rapid route, as you will see. Although the approach may seem easier or simpler than some other approaches, it is extremely powerful. In fact, this book is the first of six method books which expand the simple 'Rhythm Bass' method, building on what you know step by step. And you can use it to play useful music very quickly.
Download 'Easy Touch-Style Bassics' in Adobe Acrobat PDF Format:
If you don't have the free Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™, it's a good idea get it. The Portable Document Format (PDF) has become a web standard for transmitting formatted documents, especially those containing complex graphics such as music, fingering charts, and chord diagrams.
The Acrobat Reader is free software that lets you both view and print out Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. This means you can print out the Lesson with proper formatting and all music and graphs will print out crisp and clear. The Acrobat Reader is available for nearly all computer platforms.
*** Download Adobe Acrobat (5 Meg) from Adobe Website ***:
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Upcoming Events of Note
Tap Tech IV: November 4-5, 2000
Contact: Adam Levin alevin@DARKAETHER.NET
On the weekend of November 4th through 5th the fourth annual TapTech seminar and concert will be held at Orion Sound Studios in Baltimore, Maryland. The primary instructor for the weekend will be Markus Reuter.
All players of multi-stringed two handed tap instruments are welcome to attend the seminar regardless of experience level, string configuration, tuning or instrument make.
The lesson plan for the weekend will include playing technique, repertoire, establishing the beat (body percussion class), playing posture, practice concepts, tunings/string configurations,
improvisation and more. While primarily focusing on group work, there will also be the opportunity for personal meetings.
German Warr Guitarist Markus Reuter is a professional musician working with the groups the Europa String Choir and CENTROZOON as well being an accomplished solo artist. Markus is also a professional psychologist and a coach for artists/musicians. He writes a regular column for Touchstyle Quarterly and is the main instructor for the "Tapeadores" courses for tapping
musicians held in Spain. For more information about Markus Reuter, see http://www.europastringchoir.com/markus/
Associate teacher Ray Ashley will once again teach his very popular class on mbira music for the tapping guitar. In this lesson, the students learn actual multi-part mbira songs transcribed for these instruments. Mbira music is the traditional ("thumb piano") music of the Shona People of Zimbabwe. The music is cyclical and features interlocking melodic and rhythmic parts. In additon to tap guitar, Ray is an mbira player who has studied with Erica Kunidzora Azim, Forward Kwenda, and Wiri Chigamba. For more information about Ray Ashley, see http://mars.superlink.net/~rayash/
TapTech organizer Adam Levin, founding member of the modern technical rock group The Dark Aether Project, will give a demonstration of the use of effects and signal processing techniques in live performance and recording situations. For more information about Adam Levin, see http://www.darkaether.net/
Tuition: If payment is received by October 15th, the early registration fee is $150. Following this date the fee for a weekend of instruction is $175. Full payment must be received by November 1st. This fee covers instruction only. Lodging and food are not provided. It is expected that all available slots will fill up quickly for this course. Please send payment made out to "Adam Levin" to PO Box 2332, Columbia MD 21045.
Lodging: Please see http://www.DarkAether.Net/tt/ for information about
area motels/hotels.
Transportation: Orion Studios is a 15 minute ride from Baltimore-Washington
International Airport. Bus/Train/Driving directions will be supplied to participants.
For more information regarding attendance, email tt4@DarkAether.net
'What's the Buzz about Better Tuning?' at January NAMM
Have you ever heard your instrument really play in tune?
Presented by Michael Tobias and Buzz Feiten (with some help from Washburn & Mobius!)
Saturday, January 20, 3:30 Pacific Ballroom A, Anaheim Hilton
This presentation is designed for music-store owners, and relates to the increasingly-popular 'Buzz Feiten Intonation System'. Here's the event description --
"Old formulas for guitar set-up are mathematically 'perfect' but hardly ear-pleasing. When the D-Chord sounds good, the A-Chord screeches! But now retailers can set-up pleasing intonation all over the neck, using studio-whiz Buzz Feiten's intonation system. When actually playing in tune, modest guitars sound good, and good guitars sound great! Come and hear 'with' and 'without' demos from licensees Washburn Guitars, Michael Tobias, and Mobius Megatar Basses. Learn how your repair guy can create new revenue, boost sales, and get you higher markup on any guitar or bass."
What will be of particular interest to any tapping musicians (or to any guitarist or bass-player for that matter) is that there will be three demonstrations: First, a demo of a Washburn guitar without Feiten's adjustments, and then an identical guitar with the Feiten adjustments. Then two of Michael Tobias identical basses will be demo'ed 'with' and 'without' the Feiten System. And finally, two identical Mobius Megatar tapping instruments will be demo'ed 'with' and 'without' the Feiten System.
The point being that, if you can attend at the demonstration, you can hear with your own ears the difference in 'playing in tune' that is afforded by the Feiten Intonation Systems. Many top pros claim it makes a dramatic improvement. Do you agree? Let your ears be the judge!
Bio for Michael Tobias
 Michael Tobias began building instruments in 1974 in Washington DC, and he may be the best thing that 's come out of Washington since that time. Early repair work convinced him that an instrument's ultimate tone comes from its acoustic sound, and his extensive experiments with tonewoods have led to electric basses noted for a range of voices, and outstanding tone.
As a result, his first company, Tobias Basses, grew so stupendously that they were required to cease taking new orders for several years. When Tobias Basses finally outgrew its location, became a Gibson-owned company, and was moved to Nashville, Michael returned to his first love -- hand-crafting basses. His new company MTD (Michael Tobias Design) produces a limited production of the world's finest basses from a small shop in Woodstock, New York state. His dedication to delivering instruments with clear and beautiful tone led him to endorse and license the revolutionary Buzz Feiten Intonation System, because an instrument that sounds more in tune just sounds better.
Bio for Buzz Feiten -- (NOTE: name is pronounced 'FEET-en')
 Buzz Feiten has been around. He's played with Stevie Wonder, gigged at Woodstock with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and jammed with Jimi Hendrix.
Buzz was never happy with intonation on his guitars. It always sounded *wrong* to him. And especially he thought the open strings sounded flat to the fretted strings, no matter how he tuned up. And so one day he took a hacksaw to the fretboard and moved the nut, and the rest is audio history.
Along with Southern California super-tech Greg Back, Buzz not only developed exact formulas for moving the nut, but also formulas for a new way to set up the strings up and down the neck to obtain guitars and basses which sound more in tune all over the neck, in any position, using any chord shape. "Impossible!" some say, but elite pro musicians around the globe will now play with nothing else.
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Mobius Announcements
'BluesBuster' Pickup Array now in Production
You may remember the movie 'The Graduate' when the character Benjamin was told 'Plastics, Benjamin, Plastics.' It was meant as career advice, and I wish I'd followed that advice myself because we've had our struggles with the manufacturing process for producing the pickguard assembly for the BluesBuster Pickup Array.
However, it appears to be going more smoothly, and BluesBuster Pickup Arrays will be shipping soon. The BluesBuster has a growly and solid bass sound switch-selectable between the two wide-coil humbucking pickups with a total of 24 adjustable pole pieces to get the volume and tone coming off the strings just right!
And for Bustin' those Blues, it's hard to beat three powerful dual-rail high-output harmony/melody pickups, each individually switch selectable. (That means you can chose front, middle, rear, front and middle, middle and rear, front and rear, or front middle and rear!)
With all the black pickups and shiny screws and switches and pole pieces against the deep blue pickguard, it sort of looks like a tough guy. Sounds like a tough guy, too.
The BluesBuster array is available for Bass-Bottom or (as shown) Fifths-Bottom tunings, and is also available for 'Uncrossed Hands' tuning (where the bass strings would be on the right in the above photograph).
As with all our instruments bought direct from factory, one-week trial with guarantee of satisfaction. If not completely delighted, send it back for a full and immediate refund. But you won't be sending it back. After you've heard it, we think not.
Price $550. If you're ordering a factory instrument with a BluesBuster upgrade, add $30 shop fee and then subtract $300 trade-in for the standard TrueTalker dual pickup array. So a BluesBuster factory upgrade on a new instrument adds only $280 to go from two pickups to five!
More Pickups, and More Sound!
Coming Soon: New 'MaxTapper' Model!
While we're very proud of the sound quality and blonde looks of our TrueTapper instrument, the most frequent question we've been asked since its introduction is "What about other woods?" Because, it seems, tappers like dark woods, too.
Fear not, tappers! Max is on the way!
The MaxTapper is designed to give you More Pickups and More Sound! We start with premium wood. The MaxTapper is built with a mahogany neck of four-piece construction (to maximize stability) and like all Mobius instruments the neck includes dual push-pull truss rods with precision adjustment wheels for exact maintainance of very flat string action.
The MaxTapper body is made from a wood called 'sapele' which some people call 'African Mahogany' because it is very similar. Mahogany woods produce a dark and rich tone. It is the softest of the hardwoods, so in addition to its beauty, it rounds tone very nicely. By matching two similar (but not identical) woods we get a coherent tone, but with minimal chance of unwanted resonances that can be created from single wood construction.
The MaxTapper's fretboard is of rosewood, with white inlays, and the pickguard is, of course, black. The 'Max' is a very beautiful, dark instrument, with a dark, complex, and rich tone.
The MaxTapper comes standard with quad humbucking pickups. These have gold-colored metal covers and six adjustable pole pieces on each pickup to provide precise equalization of tone and volume across the strings. As on all Mobius instruments, nested volume and wide-sweep tone controls for each side, bass and harmony/melody. Pickups are switch selectable to give you a selection of crisper or rounder tones individually for each side.
The MaxTapper is standardly fitted with the Graph Tech custom nut and saddle upgrade. The patented Graph Tech material yields lubrication under pressure, so the actual string's pressure on the saddle or the nut makes the saddle or nut slippery beneath the string. When the string slides easier, friction is reduced, and it 'hangs' less. The result you can hear is increased tuning accuracy, and staying in tune longer during the gig, and you'll also see fewer broken strings. (In fact, the trade name for the Graph Tech saddles are 'String Savers.') These saddles are custom made especially for Mobius instruments as is the Graph Tech nut, and one nice bonus is that Graph Tech material increases string sustain about 10% over steel.
As on all Mobius instruments, the Buzz Feiten Intonation System has been licensed, so that you can play in tune all over the neck. You get a 9-foot stereo cord and our new MegStrap, plus a print copy of 'Easy Touch-Style Bassics', and we'll also include our removable belt-hook, the MegHook.
The price is not yet established for the MaxTapper. Initial instruments are expected to be available off the shelf within a few weeks. Availability and price will be announced in this newsletter.
It's a beautiful instrument, with a beautiful voice. It gives you More Pickups and More Sound. By design, it increases (maximizes) the sound available. That's why we call it the MaxTapper.
Mobius Megatar Requests Your Help
Folks, we'd be very grateful if you could help us with any of the following --
- Would you like to write an article for publication? If so, please send a note with a description of the article you'd like to write. Articles should be short for newsletter placement. See the Feature Article in this issue for desired length. Articles should either teach a technique, provide thought-provoking ideas related to touch-style, interview some outstanding and unusual tapping musician, or in some way be both interesting and helpful to tappers. Article contributors will receive a small payment and a byline. Maybe it's time you became a published writer?
- Any volunteers to translate web pages into French, German, Japanese, or Spanish? We've so far only provided the upper pages, but would be very grateful if anyone -- proficient in both languages -- could volunteer translation assistance?
- Can you help us recruit music store dealers? Do you know a music store which might like to carry the Mobius Megatar line of instruments? If you can get the bass buyer to call us, we'd be grateful. And if that store then orders instruments to stock, we'll have a nice gift for you. Helps us, helps the store, helps you!
- If you live outside the United States, perhaps you'd like to import instrument into your country? We're open to discussions with enterprising individuals on other continents who might wish to become Continental Distributors -- that is, you'd import instruments, and place them in music stores in your country. Note that this requires a small amount of capital and quite a bit of work, so naturally it helps if you have some business experience. If interested, please contact Mobius.
- Would you pass along the newsletter to friends? Did you enjoy the newsletter? Do you think it is a good thing? If so, instead of sending us an email saying 'wow' or 'thanks', please instead send your email to one or more friends who might be interested in this two-handed touch-style method. . If they are interested in touch-style, we'd like to send them the newsletter. So we're asking your help to GET THE WORD OUT!
Remember, if you send then an email right now, today, they'll have time to subscribe and receive the free touch-style method book just like you did. So, please, notify your friends now so they can have a free copy of the book, and (if they choose) receive this free newsletter.
An easy way to pass the word along to your friend(s) is just to 'relay' the original email we sent to you, maybe with a note added like "Joe, this might be of interest to you." Little work for you, big help for us, nice gift for your friend, absolutely free.
Thank you for your help!
Until next time, keep praxing and playing.
-Henri DuPont, Traktor Topaz,
and the folks at Mobius Megatar
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Contact us:
Mobius Megatar USA
Post Office Box 161
Weed, CA 96094 USA
http://www.megatar.com/
Business Office (530) 938-1100
Member Better Tapping Bureau
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