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On-Line Documents Archive
This Documents Archive is a free service provided on
the Mobius Megatar website at http://www.megatar.com
 ‘Press Releases’
An archive of press releases about the Mobius Megatar company, our touch-style basses, and events. This archive is maintained on the Mobius Megatar website at http://www.megatar.com
Archive Contents
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Contact: Arthur Cronos, (530) 926-1961 or
Mobius Megatar Licenses Buzz Feiten Intonation System
Comptroller Reg Thompson of Mobius Megatar has announced the licensing of the Buzz Feiten Intonation System from the controversial studio guitarist.
"There's been quite a furor," says Thompson, a quiet-spoken retired R.A.F. officer now living in the Bahamas. "about Mr. Feiten's new approach. However, it was clear to us that this new way to set up our basses produces an instrument that sounds much nicer than that previous. We cannot see reason for debate."
Studio guitarist Feiten, who's played with Stevie Wonder and Bette Midler and other high-profile artists, began developing his system in 1992. He came up with modifications to the nut placement, as well as a new way to set up the string saddles on electric instruments. The result of these intentional offsets from 'theoretical' tuning produce a sound that, to the human ear, sounds more in tune than do the 'theoretically correct' settings.
"It just makes the guitar sound more pleasant," says Thompson, "Or in our case, actually, it makes our specialty basses sound more pleasant. It actually is somewhat revolutionary in that what the Feiten team is claiming is that we've all been building and intonating guitars to a bad model. That's a pretty serious claim, because it means we've been getting it wrong for about 300 years, since 1690 and the advent of the well-tempered keyboard."
"It's not that Pythagoras was wrong about the mechanics of strings," laughs Thompson. "It's just that the human ear hears a little different than perfectly, and the stiffness of strings is not perfectly correlationary to their gauges. To put the long story short, Feiten and team experimented with tiny offsets for a number of years, and finally saw the same numbers coming up repeatedly, and you can hear the difference quite clearly with your own ears."
The Mobius Megatar instruments are specialty basses played by tapping on the strings with both hands, and actually have both six bass strings, and a second set of higher-pitched harmony strings, so they cover a very wide range.
"With our wide range, that's why it was so important to us that we could now improve the 'in tune' sound of the instrument." says Thompson. "But of course, it's also just the simple fact that our engineers are all musicians, and those musicians got very excited when they heard how much nicer it sounded to actually play in tune!"
Thompson himself is not a musician and plays no instruments. "I tried and tried when I was younger," he says, grinning, "but my school mates just pelted me until I stopped. Pity."
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Contact: Arthur Cronos, (530) 926-1961 or
Mobius Megatar's innovative 'Rhythm Bass'
Offering bass-players new performance options, Mobius Megatar's unique bass claims to make playing 'Rhythm Bass' easier.
 "Rhythm Bass is a term to describe playing the bass notes with the left-hand as is normal," says Henri DuPont, Mobius Technical Director, "but now you can play the chords at the same time with your right hand. It is quite easy." He explains that the Mobius TrueTapper model is a 6-string bass with strings that sound by merely touching them. On the same neck, a set of higher-pitched harmony strings allow your right hand to play harmony notes by touch.
"A bass player can now play complex rhythms along with his bass notes, and change the entire feel in a heartbeat," says DuPont.
The technique is explained in the 'Easy Touch-Style Bassics' method book included with instruments, and also available free on the company's website at http://www.megatar.com
The TrueTapper Rhythm Bass is a 33.5" scale, wide-necked instrument, bright in sound, of maple and alder, with separate volume and tone controls for the bass strings and the harmony strings. Of striking appearance, the bass draws high interest. DuPont states that touch-style playing is a maturing trend, and growing rapidly, both in the US and European countries.
Photo caption -- Mobius Megatar's innovative 'Rhythm Bass' - a bassist can play bass notes by touch with the left hand, and simultaneous rhythmic chords with the right hand.
(link to larger image here)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Contact: Arthur Cronos, (530) 926-1961 or
Mobius Megatar Licenses Novak Fanned Frets
Reg Thompson of Mobius Megatar has announced completion of a licensing agreement with well-known guitar-builder Ralph Novak, whereby Mobius Megatar specialty tapping basses may be built with Novak's unique 'Fanned Fret' system.
"Mr. Novak's clever fret system very simply gives low power and character to the low bass strings, and at the same time a greater clarity and sweetness to the higher-pitched strings," says the Mobius spokesperson. "Mr. Novak says that he found the fanned fret concept from his own playing."
Ralph Novak agrees. "That's right, the idea started from a very simple and very selfish notion," he says, laughing. "As a blues guitar player, I liked lots of note-bending, and at the same time I liked to have a crisp, crunchy sound on the low strings. I wanted a guitar that had a Les Paul-type of sustain and sweetness on the trebles, and had the kind of crunch and definition of a Strat on the bass strings. From years of repairs, I knew it wasn't the construction, the neck stiffness, or the types of wood that caused these characteristic tones."
 Novak realized that the differing scale lengths of the Les Paul guitar and the Strat guitar was the source of this tonal difference, and he began finding ways to combine scale lengths so that he could still bend notes. Having discontinuous frets would have made bending impossible, so the continuous fret on a slant emerged. And it worked!
Novak laughs. "This innovation came like many. From the selfish idea of wanting a guitar that did what no other guitar did!"
Thompson agrees. "We are grateful and honored to have licensed this simple but powerful technology to produce a richer tone from our instruments. Look for announcements in the near future!"
Photo caption -- A custom guitar which luthier Novak made for Joe Louis Walker, showing Novak's revolutionary 'Fanned Frets' installed on a slant to give greater depth to bass strings, and greater sweetness to high strings.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Contact: Arthur Cronos, (530) 926-1961 or
Learn how to play 'Rhythm Bass' with free method book!
"Bass players can now add a new technique to their arsenal," says Henri DuPont of Mobius Megatar Tapping Basses. "This new technique is called 'Rhythm Bass' because you can play a bassline, and at the same time rhythmic chords. Surprisingly, it's quite easy to do, with a powerful learning method being given away free in a new book."
"The key to playing 'Rhythm Bass'," DuPont continues, "is that you play the bassline by touch with your left hand, and you play the rhythmic chords by touch with your right hand. This can be done on a normal six- to eight-string bass, or upon a specialty tapping instrument such as our line of tapping basses." He explains that if you are playing on a normal bass, you'll need to hold it in an elevated position (shown in the free book), and you'll need a low action on the strings.
"The key to make learning simple is our new way of locating just nine notes on three strings as they fall beneath the left hand, and then locating where the exact same pattern could fall beneath the right hand," states DuPont. "Then we have a very simple set of six exercises that let you train both hands at the same time, so learning is very fast. For example, if you can arpeggiate chords simultaneously with both hands, why then you can play roots with both hands. And if you can play roots with both hands, then you can play roots left-hand, and the third and seventh with the right hand. And if you can do this, you've begun to play the 'Rhythm Bass' method!"
He makes it sound simple. But when he demonstrates the method, amazingly, it is simple!
A complete method book of almost a hundred pages explains this method step by step, and  does so in such a way as to apply to several popular tunings. This free book is now available via internet download on the Mobius Megatar website at http://www.megatar.com. In the 'Library' section, follow the links to the 'Documents Archive' to download your free copy.
DuPont says that the company's objective is to create more music in the world by means of spreading knowledge about how to play the 'touch-style' method, of which 'Rhythm Bass' is a simple and powerful subset technique.
The free method book, called 'Easy Touch-Style Bassics -- the Rapid Route to Rhythm Bass and more,' is the first of six method books, and is available for free download now at http://www.megatar.com
Photo caption -- Henri DuPont of Mobius Megatar (in club performance) demonstrates playing 'Rhythm Bass' where left hand plays bassline by touch, and right hand (below picture) plays rhythmic chords by touch at the same time.
(link to larger copy of photo here)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Contact: Arthur Cronos, (530) 926-1961 or
"What's the Buzz about Better tuning?" at January NAMM
Hosted by Mobius Megatar and Washburn Guitars, along with presenters Michael Tobias and Buzz Feiten on 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 info 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 Jimmi 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.
Photo caption -- Buzz Feiten, the developer of new intonation system for guitar and bass.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Contact: Arthur Cronos, (530) 926-1961 or
Mobius Megatar introduces unique Fanned-Fret Tapping Bass -- The 'ToneWeaver'
Mobius Megatar's new tapping bass has an unusual distinction: it is the only bass in the world that provides the player with both the superior 'in-tune' play of their Buzz Feiten Intonation System, and also with the improved tonal color provided by Ralph Novak's 'Fanned-Fret' system.
"Novak is a visionary," says Henri DuPont, head engineer for Mobius Megatar, "and the so-called Fanned Frets turns every inch of your fretboard into one big 'sweet spot'. That is, magnificent tone everywhere! Here's how it works."
"The fact is," DuPont continues, "that thick bass strings sound best when the fretboard is long. That's why basses generally have long fretboards. But the thinner strings on the other side of the fretboard sound best with clarity and definition when those strings are shorter. And that's why guitars generally have shorter fretboards."
With the Novak Fanned-Fret system, the frets are installed on a slant, so that the lower bass strings become longer and the higher-pitched smaller strings become shorter. The instrument looks quite dramatic with all the frets slanting. But doesn't this make it hard to play?
"Not at all!" claims DuPont. "Although it looks quite different, it actually feels about the same to your hands. The first time you play it, you'll spend perhaps five minutes feeling the frets, and then you'll be playing as if it didn't matter at all. The only difference is -- the low bass notes come out lower and thicker and with marvelous deep character, and the higher strings gain a clarity and sweetness better than before."
 The 'ToneWeaver' is a specialty tapping bass, that is, a bass made to be played by touch, with the left hand playing the six bass strings, and with a second set of higher-pitched strings for the right hand to play either harmony or melody.
The ToneWeaver features a four-part neck with dual push-pull adjustable truss rods and tilt-back head for long sustain. The neck is of asian mahogany with a rosewood fretboard, and the slim-line angular body is of african sapele. The ToneWeaver comes equipped with quad switch-selectable humbucking pickups and wide-range tone controls to effect a wide range of tonal choices. The unique 'TwelveTone' bridge features individual bridge plates so that each string can sing clearly without vibrational interference from adjacent strings.
As do all Mobius Megatar instruments, the ToneWeaver comes with the Buzz Feiten Intonation System installed, so that the instrument sounds more in-tune all over the fretboard than do other conventional instruments. US Price for the ToneWeaver is $2395, including Mobius's unique MegStrap, free method book, owner's guide, the MegBar knee support and removable MegHook belthook, along with a one year warranty.
Photo caption -- the Mobius Megatar 'ToneWeaver' instrument, showing fanned frets, custom 'TwelveTone' bridge, and quad switch-selectable humbucking pickups.
(link to larger image here)
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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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