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.]

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(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.

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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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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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But of course, you realize that ‘poverty’ and ‘doing well’ are mainly states of mind, depending upon your being grateful for the wonderful life you live, and that pretty much anything can open up, pretty much at any time, and that as soon as you realize — it;’s like walking up the street and a bird startles out of a bush and flies rapidly away, maybe left maybe right I don’t know where it went — and you suddenly realize that you can have anything you want, assume only that you desire it and you focus your mind and picturing clearly and so you knowing you can have it oddly the opportunities will just appear, and you ask questions and what if and before you know it will be the money appears and click click click you open the box and the Megatar in your hands and you like the way you feel it and the strings beneath your fingers, and sound is rich and the music floats into the air and then it is

So. Call us. Tell us how can we help you to get an instrument into your hands?

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Yes, Weed, California. No joke.

On some of our models in the past (and perhaps in the future) we have obtained bodies and necks from overseas, mostly Korea and China, where they have very good factories for doing that kind of work.

However, we have not found anyone to whom we could reliably subcontract the rather exacting fretwork and setup, plus of course we install the Buzz Feiten Intonation System so your playing sounds more in tune than do normal guitars or basses. The fretwork we do is of far greater precision than even very expensive guitars hanging on the wall at Guitar Center … because the action must be much better for your touch-style playing to be easy and good-sounding.

At present, we are manufacturing our own bodies and necks. We use computer equipment, for the exact laser-like precision it affords to the placement of the fretslots for example, and we use hand-finishing for the beauty of the instrument.

As always, we obtain parts for our instruments from all over the world. Our custom long-length strings, the GraphTech custom nut and saddles, the custom ‘flat top’ dual rails TrueTalker pickup used on the Eclipse and the ‘gold case’ pickup used on the Dragon, plus parts like strap buttons and our patented MegStrap are all anufactured for us in different countries. This is one of the reasons that our instruments cost less than would otherwise be the case (and of course in many other countries we can get more control over custom work than we can from US factories).

And naturally, some parts are best procured in the USA. Bartolini Pickups, for example, are made to our spec in San Leandro in California.

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