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.

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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.

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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.

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For example, guitar-builders know if you want good tone, the instrument must be somewhat stiff, so you need a body with good strength longways. It need not be wide nor heavy, but it must avoid flexing, so it must not be too thin. It’s also common knowledge that to get long sustain you run the string ball to the rear of the body, and tilt the tuner head so the string makes firm contact at nut and saddles. So for starters, you build a small but stiff body, with through-body string anchoring and a tilt-back head.

I once saw a guy building a gorgeous guitar, and he installed the pickup where it *looked* good. No experiment, no science. Man, that’s not smart. For ours, we took an instrument and cut a huge hole in it, and put the pickup on modeling clay and moved it back and forth. Sure enough, some locations sound best. So that’s where you put the pickups. You let your ear tell you where it should go. This is just sensible engineering. If your priorities are right, and you go carefully, step by step, you get good results.

Our neck is beautiful, but our body looks kind of clunky. Sorry. That’s just what gave us the best sound and the best playability. When you feel how the instrument rides so comfortably, and how smooth the neck feels beneath your hands, and when you hear how grand your music sounds … you get the point.

It fits with our goals to give good value. And we do.

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In the southwestern United States, there was once a tribe who believed that if they made a pot or a blanket without any slightest flaw that the gods would become angry and it would be big trouble. Well, in that sense of things I am pleased to report that we have so far avoided angering the gods!

We don’t think that the ‘perfect’ instrument has yet been built. To develop something that can never be improved seems impossible to the engineering mind.

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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!

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Though ideally we would like to offer ‘same day shipping’ like Amazon Books, in practice it’s not always that way. Because our instruments are ‘semi-custom’, although we generally have plenty of stock, we cannot apply the final ‘assembly and setup’ nor install the Feiten Intonation System until we know what the order says. This means that, in practice, we will generally require one to three weeks to custom-assemble and ship an instrument from the factory shop. (However, on our EBay Megatar Store, we list ‘ready-to-play’ and ‘ready-to-ship’ instruments normally shipped to you within 1-3 days!).

The reason we can do it this fast is because of our Almost-Ready inventory system. It works like this … Because of our modular design, bodies and pickup arrays are the same few shapes. So we can, ahead of time, build bodies with frets and finish, and build the most common pickup arrays. So we always try to have some of each kind on hand.

Then, when we have an order, we can start with a ready-to-use instrument body, and a ready-to-use pickups array, and this means that 3/4 of the work (and several weeks of the work time) have already been done. So for most orders, we need only install the pickups array into the body, and then we add bridgeplates and tuners, string it up, and then do the set up and install the Buzz Feiten Intonation System (twice). This is way quicker than getting the wood, cutting out your instrument, finishing it, building the pickups array, etc.

Custom orders can take longer, especially custom colors or custom wood combinations, for they’re all built to order. But generally it’s just a first-come, first-served system, which is fair … and fast.

And what if we get a whole bunch of factory orders at the same time? Well, that’s great for us, but if your order came in behind the others, maybe it will take a little longer. (So place your order right now, before all those other orders come in!) However, even when we have other orders, because of our ‘Almost Ready’ inventory system, usually we can respond quickly, and over time we will continue to refine and expand our assembly process to keep the wait as short as possible. Because when you’re ready to rock, you’re ready now!

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I don’t know what ‘left-handed’ actually means in this context. I’ve never seen a left-handed piano, and since you have to train both hands I’m not sure there would be any advantage in building an identical instrument where everything was reversed. We do not plan to build any reversed instruments.

If you’re determined to have some variant instrument, perhaps a custom-made instrument is for you. Skillful luthiers around the world can hand make instruments, often in the $5000-$8000 range. Our ‘semi-custom’ assembly is much more dependent upon standard parts.

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Generally, around 9 pounds. If you’re a medium to large man, our standard MegStrap should make the weight ride comfortably on your shoulder. However, if you are smaller of stature or have had any back problems or if the weight annoys you during the gig, try the alternate support methods.

For example, the folks over at Slider Strap have provided us with some of their patented ‘two-shoulder’ straps onto which we’ve grafted our shoulder pad and attachment to hold the bass upright. While it takes a moment longer to put it on or take it off, it spreads the weight out most wonderfully!

You can also reduce the weight by connecting the removable belthook so that your pants belt bears some of the weight. And if you can sit down during the gig, use the MegBar and the instrument’s weight can rest comfortably on your thighs while you play.

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However, after that he went further, and along with super-luthier Greg Back of Southern California, they developed a whole set of adjustments you make to the bridge saddles. In effect, you are intentionally make the strings precisely ‘out of tune’ by an exact amount. What exact amount? Why the exact amount that your ears need to hear because of the way ears actually work.

It took them five years, they report, to uncover by tedious experiment, the exact formula that makes human ears hear strings as being ‘in tune.’ We shouldn’t be too hard on Feiten and Back for taking five years; after all, it took piano tuners much longer to develop the ‘stretch tunings’ that are now used on pianos worldwide.

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