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/

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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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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

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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.]

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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.

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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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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.

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It’s the same idea. You don’t play them all at once. In fact, we start out just playing three strings just above fret two. If you play guitar or bass, your left hand already knows how to fret these notes, and you don’t need to pick or strum, so you just touch the string to the fret and it plays. Now here’s where you get lucky …

All of your ‘left hand learning’ was really just training your head, and your right hand is wired into the same head. What that means is that whatever your left hand knows, your right hand almost knows already. You’ll discover that your right hand can very quickly be playing like your left hand.

If you’ll start out with our standard ‘BassBottom’ tuning, you’ll notice that the left-hand set of strings are tuned exactly like a standard six-string bass. And the notes on the right-hand set of strings just above fret twelve are *identical* to the left-hand notes just above fret two. This means that you can play both hands identically; in fact you can train them simultaneously.

This method of play is somewhat easier to learn than guitar because the straight fourths tuning makes unnecessary learning additional scales and chords to deal with the ‘B’ string like on guitar. And it’s a little easier than piano because piano requires you to operate your left hand and right hand differently to move up a scale. In this method of play, you operate both hands exactly identically. The BassBottom tuning gives you the only two-handed instrument in the world which lets you play two-handed and operate both hands identically.

Pick up a free preview copy of our method book in the ‘Documents‘ section of this website — or subscribe to our free newsletter and we’ll send you the complete book as a bonus — and you’ll see how surprisingly easy it can be. The book is written so you can try it on any six-to-eight string instrument, and it even works with the unusual ‘Inverted Fifths’ bass-strings tuning.

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Because there is apparently no agreed-upon generic word on the planet to describe this class of touch-style instrument which has two groups of strings on one fretboard and is played by touch, we made up the word ‘megatar.’

We have patented and and also claim trademark status on the unique shape or our instrument because we don’t want somebody making an instrument that other folks believe is one of ours, because that might not be good. And for similar reasoning we reserve all rights to use our trademark and name which is “Mobius Megatar.”

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