For folks that already have learned the Chapman-style Inverted-Fifths tuning, we also make instruments with that tuning.

Crossed versus Uncrossed String Arrangement

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.]

ShareThis

(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.

ShareThis

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/

ShareThis

HOW DO YOU COUNT FRETS?

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.

PICTURE A: POINTING AT THE FRETDOTS

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.’

USING A ZERO FRET

Look just below the ivory colored ‘nut,’ and you’ll see a fret. This is fret number zero. On many guitars, using a conventional nut, there is no zero fret, because the nut is the ‘zero fret.’ But here on the Megatar you see an actual metal fret, and it’s number is zero.

Now because all the strings are resting upon the zero fret, this means that their lower surfaces are all in a row, and all the lower surfaces are therefore at the same height. So the use of an actual zero fret means that you can arrange the strings in any order, ascending in any direction, and still all of the strings will be correctly placed just high enough, regardless of their various gauges.

MEGATAR UNIQUE DESIGN

The use of the Megatar custom nut triangluar-slot design, coupled with the use of a true zero fret is unique in guitar design, to the best of my knowledge. And what it gives us is perfect string positioning, regardless of the tuning arrangement of the strings that you mount on the instrument.

THE SOUND-DEADENER

Immediately below, and just touching the zero fret, you can see the black ‘sound deadener‘ of a rubbery material that makes the string go mute very quickly.

Some people would call it a ‘string mute.’ Apparently the first string mute was used by Dave Bunker on one of his patented instruments a number of years before the Chapman Stick, or Warr Guitars, or Mobius Megatar. In theory, nobody should have been allowed to use a string mute, because it was patented! But Dave didn’t care, and string mutes have been used on the Stick, Warr, and other touch-style instruments since forever.

We cannot take credit for this wonderful stuff. Mark Warr of Warr Guitars showed it to us. It is used in the foundations of houses in the Los Angeles area, to reduce vibration coming from earthquakes. And you will find it sold in the kitchenware department of your local hardware store, as ‘shelf liner’. (When you place plates on it, they don’t move around!)

FRET NUMBER ONE

Slightly below the sound-deadener (or string-mute) is Fret Number One.

If this were a conventional guitar, where there was only a nut, then this would be the first metal fret you’d come to, and so the label 1st Fret would be more obvious. But on an instrument where there is a zero fret, then fret Number One is not so obvious!

FRET DOTS AT ‘FRET TWO POSITION’

In the photograph, Lon is pointing at the double-dots on the Megatar, and they’re located between the First and the Second Fret. The “First Fret” (meaning Fret #1) is above his finger. The “Second Fret” (meaning Fret #2) is below his finger.

Like on any guitar, the dots refer to the fret immediately below them. So the double-dots fretmarker is marking “Fret Two”.

CLEARING CONFUSION

In a zero-fret design, the first metal fret is Fret Zero.

The next metal fret is Fret One.

The next metal fret is Fret Two.

And so on.

It’s easy when you just count, starting at zero.

Playing the note at Fret One - Playing Right On the Fret

PICTURE B: PLAYING A NOTE AT FRET ONE

Here the musician is playing the note at Fret One.

Because the sound-deadener is located between Fret Zero and Fret One, it takes slightly more tapping power to sound this note than sounding other notes on the fretboard. But the note at Fret One is playable and useful.

The next thing to notice is that the musician is playing almost directly ON the fret. (The finger illustrated could be even MORE on the fret.) You will get the best tone when you play ON the fret.

Again, clarifying the fret number is just a matter of counting.

Near the top of the photograph you can see the ivory-colored ‘nut’, and then directly below (about a quarter of an inch; about a centimeter) is a metal fret. It’s hard to see in this photograph, but it’s right at the top of the black string-deadener material. That initial fret is the zero-fret, right near the ‘nut position.’

So the next fret after fret zero is Fret One, and the photo shows the musician playing a note on Fret One.

I hope this long article on a short subject has been useful.

ShareThis

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.

TOUCHING METAL

Sometimes you will hear hum, and then you touch the strings with your hand and the hum vanishes. Or you touch the (metal) tone/volume knobs, and the hum goes away. I’ve been told this has something to do with the ‘capacitance’ of the human body, and I think that means that the body soaks up alternating signals. But that’s too vague. It doesn’t get us anywhere. I suspect this is a meaningful clue; I just don’t know what it means.

A GROUND LOOP

Hum can be caused by something called a ‘ground loop.’

We can think of an electrical power plug as have a left and a right prong, or we can think of a signal having a signal and a ground wire. If you’re not using two amps then the question of their having the same side (left or right) as the ‘ground’ should not be an issue, though it is *possible* that an input jack on your mixer *might* be reversed from the others ones *if* repair work was ever done on the mixer.

Likewise, if some of the inputs on the mixer are for ‘line level’ like synths, and others are specifically built for magnetic inputs like guitar, or others are specifically for mikes (and either with or without phantom power) then it is possible that all inputs are not equal. Sometimes there are switches associated with the inputs.

HUM SPECIFIC TO TAPPING GUITARS AND BASSES

On specialty tapping instruments, like the Chapman Stick, Warr Guitar, and Mobius Megatar, usually two outputs are provided. One for the bass pickup(s) and one for the melody pickup(s).

In Mobius Megatar and other instruments that I’ve seen, the bass and the melody have the same ground.

Normally, the ground is common throughout the guitar — The pickups cavity is grounded all around, the pots and pickups and outjack are all grounded to the same place. Even the strings are grounded to the same place. Therefore, the stereo cord goes into two mono cords, and the two mono plugs — one for bass, and the other for melody strings — have the same ground.

On Chapman Stick or a Mobius Megatar tapping bass, these output mono jacks, have signal on the metal tip, and ground on the metal sleeve of the jack, and it’s the same ground all the way back to the pickups and guitar components and the shielded cavity.

Therefore, unless one uses a mutant and miswired stereo cable, the sleeves of the two mono jacks should both be ground. A voltmeter connecting the two sleeves should show zero resistance.

HUM COMING FROM MIXER OR AMP WITH TWO MONO CABLES

But if a hum is coming from any mixer or amp when two common-ground mono cables are plugged into two inputs, it might be suggested that there is either (a) a 60-cycle induced hum that has been induced across the two signal tips; or (b) that the signal/ground is reversed on one of the mixer/amp signal paths relative to each other.

This article is not capable of analyzing or diagnosing the device you are using, but a fast way to find out if that’s the source of trouble is — carry your Megatar or Chapman Stick to Guitar Center. plug it into a bass amp, and plug it into a Guitar amp, and play it. No hum? Then there is nothing wrong with the guitar or the cable.

Get them to stop the kid playing Stairway to Heaven with his amp set to eleven while you do this test.

ELECTRICAL OUTLETS AT YOUR HOUSE OR ON THE GIG

The electrical outlets in the wall are ’spozed to have proper grounding. However … maybe they don’t. Even if they have three prongs, maybe somebody just stuck those part on the wall and maybe that third, grounding wire isn’t connected up to an actual ground.

If you have more than one amp or effects, best to plug them all into the same outlet. Or carry your own multi-outlet strip.

An easy way to create a ground loop in the power is to have two devices that have two prong plugs. Plug one in rightways and the other one reversed. Just about nearly always you’ll hear hum, and with the right equipment you can shock yourself seriously. Not even a joke.

Plugs these days are ’spozed to have one fat prong and one thin one, so they cannot be reversed, but it doesn’t always work. And remember … some human may have wired up that plug. Oops.

SINGLE COIL PICKUPS

Single-coil pickups are part of a radio-receiver circuit. Remember the coil of wire you made when you built a crystal radio in cub scouts? Signals can be induced into coils rather easily. They are natural ‘receivers.’ Any source of RFI is likely to sound through single-coil pickups. Darn.

Specialty touchstyle basses like the Chapman Stick, Warr Guitar, and Mobius Megatar, designed for two handed tapping, will usually have the instrument’s gain turned higher than a standard guitar, because we’re just tapping gently on the string instead of strumming like all get out.

Turning the gain up increases the signal, but also boosts the background noise, including hum, as well, so dealing with hum may require a bit more attention, if you want a quiet sound.

SORRY INSTRUMENT DESIGN

Cheap instruments, in some cases imported strat knockoffs, sometimes do things so sloppily that they do not have any shielding around the electronics. The cavity around the electronics and pickups should have a solid conductive material all around these components. It’s called a ‘Faraday Cage’ after Michael Faraday I suppose, and it keeps those nasty vibes from annoying the components.

I have heard, but don’t know whether it is true, that the basic Fender Stratocaster design has ground-loop errors in the basic design. I am dubious. Not Leo! But for certain, a guitar maker could make a blunder, I suppose. If it’s on one guitar but not another, take it to a whiz guy.

SORRY CABLES

The teeny signal is running on a wire across (to the signal) a vast distance to get to the amp. Lots of signals in the air could disturb it, but it is ’spozed to have a big fat woven wire all around it — again a Faraday Cage — protecting it from bad vibes. And this big fat woven wire would optimally be connected to ground on the tapping guitar, and to ground at the amp.

But is it?

A fancy name and expensive price tag may not be the best cable. However, again, a trip to Guitar Center with the noisy guitar and cable, and if you try some of their cables and the noise goes away … it’s a definite clue.

[This post adapted with permission from the Reducing Hum article at the Two-Handed Tapping website.]

ShareThis

However, in the meantime, in the Method Book #1, in the Appendix, you will find some blank fretboard graphs, which can be photo-copied. These are only 8 frets long, and don’t cover the entire fretboard, but of course one can stick several together. In the Owner’s Guide it gives the tuning at Fret Two, so it becomes a simple matter to extend the notes up the fretboard.

However …

A SIMPLER WAY TO LEARN THE FRETBOARD

In ‘Easy Touch-Style Bassics’ — available many places, and free as a bonus with MegaTapper Newsletter subscription — we present a recommended ‘starting place’ for learning.

If you follow our suggested starting place of placing your left hand over bass strings just above the double-dots at fret two, and placing your right hand over melody strings just above the double-dots at fret twelve, then the notes beneath your two hands are exactly identical. This approach allows you to simply focus on an initial nine notes (though the others beneath the hand can easily be filled in), and if you begin your experimentation there, then by the time you have a handle on that position, you will probably discover that other positions up and down the fretboard become rather obvious.

HERE IS THE KEY

The double dots are spaced the distance of a fourth apart, and the strings are tuned a fourth apart.

This means that, if you have placed your right hand just above double-dots on melody strings above fret twelve, then if you move *up* the fretboard to the next double-dots position, you have in effect dropped all the notes one string lower. So the notes originally on the bottom string have vanished, and you’ve ‘gained’ a new string at the top, which has three new notes.

And likewise, if you moved your hand down one double-dots position below the double dots at fret twelve, then in effect the notes beneath your hand at fret twelve will all have moved *up* one string, so that the notes that used to be on the top string have vanished, and you’ve gained a new lowest string with three new lower notes.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?

If not, get your Megatar and work it out. If you don’t have a Megatar, we offer our condolences, but you can get some stick-on dots to put on the fretboard of your Chapman Stick. (We think that’s why they call them stick-on dots.) It’s much more clear if you have six melody and six bass strings, like on a Megatar, and it’s lots more clear if you’re using all fourths tuning, what we call BassBottom.

If you experiment wih this just a little, you’ll discover that it makes mapping the fretboard rather easy, once you’ve learned the notes at the original position. It will become remarkably clear.

One simple step at a time … and soon you’re dancing the rhumba!

ShareThis

But that day is still some years in the future. And in some ways this works to your advantage.

For example, one of the reasons our pricing is (relatively) low for a specialty instrument is that we sell direct.

We did experiment slightly with selling through dealers, but it became obvious that we’d have to raise all prices quite a lot and we didn’t want to do that. (There is one manufacturer who does sell through dealers; and you’ll notice how their prices are considerably higher than ours.)

And so this is one reason that we don’t have any music store dealers. Not even in Los Angeles or Noo Yawk; not nowhere.

We do realize it’s a bit of a ‘leap of faith’ to order an instrument without playing it first.

Because, usually, when we want to buy a guitar, we trot down to Guitar Center and try some off the wall.

But a touch-style instrument is a different kind of beast. You won’t normally find them in a music store, because …

• The instruments don’t fit on the racks on the wall;
• The salesmen don’t know what it is;
• The younger customers all want to try it, but then hang it horizontal trying to pick it and don’t know why their hand won’t reach all the strings in that position;
• Then it gets banged up;
• And after failing to sell it for a few months, naturally the music store wants to return the banged up instrument. Bummer.

So this doesn’t actually work well, quite apart from the 40% markup that they want to charge.

I (Traktor) remember the first time I took that leap of faith. It worked out for me, and it works out for most folks.

However, since we cannot offer you the opportunity to visit our instrument at the music store, this is why we have our “Universal Guarantee of Satisfaction.”

It says: “If less than completely delighted with any standard instrument purchased from our factory, return it within one week in new condition for full refund of your purchase price.”

Now please realize that when you try a guitar off the wall at Guitar Center, it becomes immediately clear that you either like it or you don’t. And if you’re not quite sure, then you go back the next day to check. And that’s really all it takes to know.

So since you can test the instrument on your own gear in your own home for up to seven days, this is plenty of time to make sure it’s going to be fun and productive.

ShareThis

That said, we think there’s a lot to like about instruments made by several other manufacturers, and generally we like those instruments lots more than we dislike them! Naturally, in those places where we believed there was room for improvement — that’s the idea behind innovations: to make something better, in a new way.

Since it’s your music and your ears, it’s best if you compare for yourself. In some cases, you might prefer the other instrument! In general, however, we think that players will be especially appreciative of our powerful sound, reasonable pricing, wide choice of pickups, the simplicity of standard bass tuning, and perhaps most of all – the instruments sound in tune, all over the fretboard!

ShareThis

Compare the sound of one of our instruments to the sound of a normal guitar, or some tapping instrument that doesn’t have the Buzz Feiten Intonation System. The better your ears, the more dramatically you will hear the difference.

ShareThis

There is also the popular bass-strings tuning we call ‘Inverted Fifths’ which has some enthusiasts among touch-stylists. Yet you can still play the ‘Easy Touch-Style’ method in that tuning. Because this tuning is popular, upon request we will provide instruments with bass strings tuned this way, and the method book covers Inverted Fifths tuning as well as our standard tuning.

If you’re an existing bass player or guitar player taking up touch-style we suggest you try the standard ‘Bass Bottom’ tuning, because we think you’ll find it familiar, and it seems better for many types of music. And if you’re just starting out, we still suggest you try standard ‘Bass Bottom’ tuning. In our opinion, it’s much simpler, and faster to learn.

ShareThis