FAQ means Frequently Asked Questions, and here you’ll find answers — all collated from thousands of questions asked by viewers like you.
For both ZenTappers and Megatars we generally recommend the BassBottom tuning, where bass is tuned in fourths, just like a standard 6-string bass. Learning is much faster with this tuning, and most of what you already know from guitar or bass transfers quickly, plus your right hand picks up what your left hand knows very fast. In your mind, since both stringsets are tuned the same, you have greater clarity as you learn. All this makes learning faster with this tuning.
For folks that already have learned the Chapman-style Inverted-Fifths tuning, we also make instruments with that tuning.
For Megatars, we recommend normal string arrangement (‘standard’ or ‘crossed’) where, when playing the instrument, you’ll find the melody stringset positioned on the far left, and bass stringset nearer your face.
For ZenTappers, we recommend ‘uncrossed’ string arrangement, where, when playing the instrument, you’ll find the bass stringset positioned on the far left, and melody stringset nearer your face.
The difference is because the most comfortable and healthy hand position is different for the (thin neck) Megatar and the (thick neck) ZenTapper.
[For photos and more info about ZenTapper, please see http://zentapper.com.]
[For a (humorous) discussion comparing BassBottom and Inverted-Fifths tunings, please see our Sermon on the Evils of Inverted-Fifths Tuning.]
Our factory shop recently got an email from a Buzz Feiten authorized shop in Italy, with the following question. [Techie/Geeky Warning: Rather technical info following] -
>I’m having trouble intonating the 4th melody
>string using the formula for BassBottom tuning
> because it keeps being sharp. I tune it C#
> no offset (at fret 2), then intonate +2 cents
> at the 14th fret, where I intonate. And then
> it’s increasingly sharp further up the fretboard.
> This bugs the owner.
Now intonations can change over time, and I cannot see the instrument, but it sounds like the owner has a misunderstanding about how Feiten works, and the authorized shop is not able to explain it to him. (Or maybe this particular shop doesn’t quite understand the Feiten system, could that be?)
Here’s our shop’s response –
One user in Europe reported ‘muddiness’ in low bass strings on his Megatar. He was not using the standard strings that we supply, but strings of some different construction, and gauges unknown. He asks what can cause tonal changes and especially ‘muddiness’ in low bass strings.
Several things can cause tonal changes in the lowest strings, including –
If the string saddle is far back, due to intonation, it can cause the (stiff) low strings to round the front edge of the saddle poorly, which means that the string is not lying solid on the front part of the bridge, and can (in some cases) create a subtle muddiness (because the string length is changing very slightly as the string vibrates). Rare but can occur.
The action, height, can produce muddiness occasionally. Experimenting with higher or lower action by adjusting the height of the saddle may make a difference. (Be sure to adjust truss first to get flat fretboard if it has moved; see Megatar Owner’s Guide for correct trussrod adjustment procedure. Anyone can download a free copy in the documents section of the Megatar main website.)
Your playing, your touch, can make a difference, though it’s hard to specify.
Your particular amp or effects chain can make a difference. Try others at the guitar store to see if that’s it. Try removing all effects. Most likely problem effects would include chorus, and certain kinds of reverb. ‘Helpful’ effects would include the ‘aural exciter’ type of effect. And when your EQ kills all the highs, the ear cannot track low notes well, and can in some cases be perceived as muddiness.
If you’re tuning to something other than standard notes, then you may not get the best tone because the gauges and tension may not be optimum. If using a non-standard tuning, you may have to use non-standard gauges, to change the tension, to get the best sound. Careful experiment is the only way to find out.
Of course, do realize that all tapping instruments have a different sound than a plucked bass. If you ‘pluck’ your bass with a pick right next to the bridge saddle, you are triggering the string very similar to what tapping does. And this will not have the same soft pop as a bass plucked with vigor near the fretboard.
Other brands/kinds/gauges of strings — we’ve not experimented with other types. When designing, we wanted to use the most commonly available type of string, so that players could easily find strings that would work well. For this reason it’s difficult to say how other types of strings will work, and so cannot report much about that. If using other types of strings, you are the pioneer, and so you’ll need to experiment and compare.
A: There are two different ways to evaluate what you get with the cost of your investment …
(a) You can compare the prices of the two most-similar instruments.
For example, compare the TrueTapper Eclipse 12-string Megatar with the Chapman ‘Grand Stick’, and you will discover that the lower-cost Eclipse actually gives you better features and faster delivery!
Detailed comparison chart –
http://megatarcomparison.com/buy-chapman-stick-feature-chart/
(b) An alternative way to compare is to compare two instruments with the most-similar prices and see what you get with each one …
For example you could compare the Megatar MaxTapper NITRO with the Chapman ‘Grand Stick’ with active-circuit preamps, and you will discover that the NITRO gives you not just active magnetic pickup sound, but includes world-famous Bartolini active magnetic sound, plus an entire second sound system from the astounding Graph-Tech ‘acoustiphonic’ Screaming-Ghost piezo system.
Further, that the Nitro offers the usual enhancements: three method books, patented MegStrap, and the patented Buzz Feiten Intonation System so your playing sounds more ‘in tune’ than normal guitars or Stick instruments.
Further, the Dual-Sound NITRO gives you separate tone/volume knobs and selector switches so you can choose either the rich and warm magnetic sound for melody or bass, or you can choose the crisp and full-frequency sound of the Screaming Ghost piezos … or you can blend them using the on-board controls, and you can output them blended or with a true Quad output for the most powerful sound on any touchstyle instrument in the world.
Plus, you save money. 
Now you know.
A: A member of the Tappistry.Org was curious about this same question some time back.
He had in his possession a TrueTapper Eclipse, and his Stick, and so me made identical recordings — minimal effects, same settings — and as a further comparison he also recorded the same song on a cheap Strat-knockoff.
It’s a truism that in sound recording, your effects and amplifier chain may have a greateer effect upon your sound than the particular instrument you are using!
And so it is that in recordings, or videos you see on YouTube, it can be difficult to evaluate the ‘natural’, unprocessed sound. If the musician is really skillful with his amp and effects chain, he may create what kind of sounds like a natural sound, but really it may be highly processed.
Hearing the same song, by the same player, with the same settings, using minimal effects, allows you to compare. (Naturally, when you yourself are performing, you may wish to use your effects and amp to maximum benefit, just as other musicians do!)
If your ears are keen, you can also hear, on these unprocessed recordings, the subtle effect of the Buzz Feiten Intonation System, making the Megatar sound slightly more ‘in tune’ as the song is played.
So the benefit of this particular set of recordings is that they are, to the best of our knowledge, the only time that a one-for-one recording has been made. (Mr. Goos who made these recordings was not requested to make them, nor was he compensated in any way for the recordings. He was just interested in this very same question, and kindly allowed us to have copies, so you could hear them too.)
These three recordings allow you to compare the sound of the instruments for yourself.
Let your ears be the judge …
http://megatarcomparison.com/mobius-megatar-chapman-stick-songs/
[reprinted by permission from MegArticles Two-Handed Tapping Archives]
It’s not a silly question.
I have been surprised by how many times this question comes up.
Since this little question baffles so many people, I did a search on our favoriite search engine, and didn’t find the answer there. Google doesn’t know!
So … the answer is here. And soon you will know more than Google!
I am greatly aided by Mr. Lon Withrow, who very kindly sent me the following two photographs.
As shown here, on Chapman Stick and on Mobius Megatar instruments, you will find Fret Markers at Fret Two Position.
Near the top of the photograph, you can see the ivory-colored ‘nut’. Now on Mobius Megatar instruments, although we refer to the nut (because that’s what everyone calls it), in actual fact the ‘nut’ is mainly functioning as a string guide, to keep the strings all lined up where you want them.
Unlike normal guitar nuts, which have grooves filed to match each string size, our unique ‘nut’ has triangular notches, which causes the different-sized strings to self-adjust their position. This feature enables you to arrange strings in any configuration, with large strings going to small strings from left to right, or from right to left, or big strings in the middle, or big strings on the edge. It doesn’t matter. The strings will all correctly self-adjust their positions due to the triangular notches in the ‘nut.’
Now we must also consider the *height* of the strings. In a normal nut, the slots are different depths, according to the string gauges. But here we take a lesson from the past and use a ‘Zero Fret.’
A: Tuners vary. Of course, you can use any tuner, except for one thing you should keep in mind.
Electronic tuners have to have a ‘window’ of frequency that is acceptable. If the window is narrow, then it is very very difficult for the human to hit the exact spot where the light turns green.
But if the window is wide, the tuner is easier to use, but one string might actually be flat, and it’s inside the window, and the next string is sharp and it’s inside the window, and they are way the hell off against each other. Therefore, you will have better luck with any tuner that lets you see yourself getting closer to the correct spot. So this suggests a priority for tuners –
Of course, if you tune carefully and often, then your ear gets better and better, and after a while you’re using the tuner, but your ear is telling you the truth.
In the end, the entire point is so that the instrument sounds good while you play it. And nothing helps like practice. Practice tuning.
A: When you have the Buzz Feiten Intonation System installed on a guitar or a tapping instrument, your playing will sound more ‘in tune’ than on a normal guitar. But does it require some special way of tuning up?
Not really. Of course, the better you tune up, the better you will sound. However, the Feiten system is installed by making small adjustments to string length at both ends of the strings. On one end, the nut (or zero fret) is moved slightly. On the other end, the string saddles are adjusted to +/- a few cents here and +/- a few cents there.
The result is kind of like the ‘stretch tuning’ commonly used on pianos to make them sound more ‘in tune’ to our ears. Pianos have used this advanced ‘stretch tuning’ system for 700 years. But guitars never had such an adjusted tuning until Buzz Feiten, a southern California studio musician, developed the system.
A guitar has to have adjustments in two dimensions. Adjustments *along* the length of the string, and adjustments *across* the strings (one string against another). It’s not a perfect system, but it sure sounds a lot sweeter than no system at all!
Because the adjustments are already done, at both ends of the strings, you can tune up any way you wish.
So tune up using any method you like — tuner, ear, harmonics, beats — and it will sound better than a normal guitar, because the string saddles have offsets, and each string is biased a little against the other strings. There is a suggestion in the Mobius Megatar Owner’s Guide for one way to tune up, but you can tune it any way you wish, and it will sound more ‘in tune’ than would a normal guitar tuned up in the same way
A: Generally speaking, there is nothing in a guitar that actually generates hum, generally you can assume that the hum is being induced into the guitar, or it is being added to the signal of the guitar.
Experimentation is your friend. Here are some possibilities –
RECEIVING BROADCAST HUM
There is something in the environment which is “broadcasting†RFI in the room where your equipment is located. Common sources of Radio Frequency Interference include motors (vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, and automobile distributors), and transformers (high-intensity lamps, fluorescent lights), and from big magnets like speaker coils or television sets. The sound from autos are likely to vary in frequency. The sound from lamps and lights and refrigerators are likely to be be consistent, and at 60 cycles per second, which is what we normally call ‘hum.’
The RFI can be picked up either by strings (antennas) or by pickups (coils) as the signal is induced into the circuit created by the guitar and its parts, or into the cord (usually not possible if cord is properly shielded on both the guitar and the amp end), or into the amp.
The RFI is then *not* filtered by the humbucking pickups. Normal hum *is* filtered by humbucking pickups. In our shop, when we build the Mobius Megatar Tapping Basses, we do our lab work two feet under a fluorescent light, just to ‘hear’ if there is a problem, and this hum is normally filtered out.
So the best way I know to get an idea that strong RFI in the environment is some part of the culprit is to get the hum going, and then change the orientation of the instrument. If you hear hum while the instrument is flat on the table, but not when it’s upright, or if you hear hum while the instrument is upright facing east but not when it’s facing north, then probably there is a strong RFI source in your environment. Remember that it may be behind a wall or a ceiling or floor. Wood and sheetrock is no barrier to Radio Waves.
If the instrument seems the same in all orientations, then consider the cord and the amp. Try moving them to a different room or part of the room. Continue Reading »
A: People sometimes ask if they can buy one of our String Deadeners, sometimes called a String Mute.
You don’t need to buy one from us, because you can make your own string deadener easy as pie.
Just go down to Ace Hardware, in the kitchen department, and look for ‘shelf liner’. It’s a spongy material, usually comes in black and ‘almond’ and sometimes colors like purple.
I learned about this material from Mark Warr at Warr Guitars. In southern California, they actually use the same material in building foundations, because it’s very, very good at absorbing vibrations. However, since it’s also very good at keeping plates from sliding around on a shelf, the hardware stores carry it in the kitchen section.
$4 should buy you enough to treat all the guitars in Minneapolis, Santa Fe, Cleveland, or any other city of your choice.
In the past, people have used all kinds of material for deadening the ringing strings, including leather, felt, velcro material, and fuzzy-dice material. This ‘shelf liner/earthquake stopper’ material works the best.
AND HOW TO APPLY THE MATERIAL
Cut a strip about three times as long as the neck of your instrument. (Easiest way is simply to cut a strip all the way across the 1-foot width of the roll of spongy stuff.
Cut this strip wide enough to fit between the nut and first fret. Or if you have a ‘zero fret’ design, like the Mobius Megatar instruments, between the zero fret and the first fret.
Leave about 1/4″ space near the first fret so you can play at that fret. Run the strip beneath *all* the strings, and then come back weaving over and under. Presto! Megatar string dampener.
PS: WHAT IS A STRING DEADENER?
For anyone perplexed by this subject, here’s the deal:
On a two-handed tapping instrument, when you’re touching the string to the fret to make it sound, then your amp is turned up so you can hear this note, and sooner or later you have to take your finger *off* the fret. On a regular guitar, when you do that, the open string is then going to ring. This particular note may or may not be in your current key, but the odds of this being a good note … are remote.
However, if you weave some spongy stuff between the strings, down by the nut, then when you take your finger off that string, the string quickly goes quiet, which is what you want.
Thus the humble string deadener, originally invented by Dave Bunker in the 1950s, as a part of one of his early patented instruments. It was later used by Emmett Chapman on his Chapman Stick instruments, and after a number of experiments, Mr. Chapman seems to have favored the use of Velcro.
But try the shelf liner stuff. It works better than Velcro.
