The Chapman Stick

The Stick (R), as it is often called, was invented by Emmett Chapman, who originally called it "the Electric Stick," and now refers to it as The Stick, and the Touchboard (R).

The guitar-like instrument evolved from his experiments as a guitar player. According to his biography "It Felt Like Flying" he was playing his electric guitar one day, and one day he tried elevating the instrument into a near vertical position, with the tuners high, and the body low.

What happens with this change of position is that now the fingers of both hands align with the frets. As any guitar player has noticed, if the amplifier is turned up, just touching the string to the fret is enough to play a note.

From this happy inspiration, he began to build a new type of electric guitar, designed to be played by touch, with both hands.

History of the Chapman Stick

The very first prototypes were simply an extension of a guitar.

Chapman played jazz and other forms of music, and he was familiar with playing chord extensions. These are additional notes that add color and texture to the sound of the chord.

And perhaps it was natural for him to begin here. If Chapter Two of his "Free Hands" method book is any guide, it would appear that his first technique was still quite guitarish. That is, with his left hand near to the tuners, he would play a chord's root on a low string, and then some higher harmony notes on some higher strings.

Meanwhile, his right hand, placed more toward the middle of the neck (where notes are pitched higher), would play a melody.

Sometimes the 'higher' melody hand wiped out a 'lower' harmony note being played by the 'lower' harmony hand. But if you try this, you'll agree with Chapman: It doesn't matter. The technique still sounds great.

Same as Jimmie Webster? Not!

In an odd historical note, this is the same use of the two hands that had been made by Jimmie Webster some years earlier, except for two things --

* Chapman's elevation of the instrument into a near-vertical position causes the fingers to align with the frets, and makes scalar and chordal playing fluid and efficient with both hands.

* Chapman went on to develop a more expanded instrument, and this expanded the technique.

Chapman Stick Tuning

We think that the Chapman Stick tuning evolved as a consequence of Chapman's earliest method of play, described above.

With the left hand placed near the tuners to play roots and harmony notes, in what became a brilliant extension of the electric guitar, Chapman began to add a few low-pitched bass strings, lower than the normal low strings found on electric guitar.

This makes for a more satisfying chordal sound, for the same reason that a band with a bass-player sounds more complete than a band consisting only of guitarists.

Perhaps to make access to these lowest bass notes easy, the lowest bass strings were placed closest to the low guitar strings. Experimentation probably revealed that, if a couple of bass strings are good, then a few more might be better.

The Inverted-Fifths Tuning

And when the additional strings were added, instead of adding them "atop" the low bass strings in the normal orientation used by any bass-player or guitarist, these additional bass strings were added "below" the low bass strings.

Chapman states that he experimented with many tunings.

What emerged, as evidenced in his method book ("Free Hands"), was a tuning that could be described as "Inverted-Fifths" in the bass strings. Elsewhere on the Megatar website you can find more discussion of the Chapman Stick tuning, compared to other tunings.

Chapman Stick Purchase

Where does one find a Chapman Stick for sale? Either from Chapman's company ("Stick Enterprises"), or find a used Chapman Stick on EBay. When searching Chapman Stick buy one of the newer models, as design enhancements in recent years, in our opinion, improve the sound and playability.

Why does a guy who has a Chapman Stick sell it? Some former Stick players have changed to Warr Guitar, and some have changed to Mobius Megatar instruments. And of course, sometimes a musician goes off in another direction, or has to raise cash for baby!

Chapman Stick Prices

Stick prices have increased steadily over the years, and at the time of this writing, a Chapman Stick instrument with the full twelve strings costs about $2500, although there are some lesser instruments with less strings that cost slightly less.

Chapman Stick strings

To re-string a Stick, six bass and six melody strings are required. Although you could use bass strings from the music store, finding guitar strings long enough is quite difficult.

Chapman sells strings for his instruments, and a great many Stick players around the world buy Mobius Megatar strings to re-string their instruments. (The Mobius strings, although manufactured for the Mobius Megatar instruments, are of similar gauges, quality, and length, and seem to work well, and they cost less.)

Well-known Stick Players

Perhaps the best known is bassist Tony Levin. He plays many different kinds of basses, but he's widely known for playing Chapman Stick, with many top-level musicians, sometimes on bass, sometimes on Stick.

He used Chapman Stick on many Peter Gabriel albums, and with the band King Crimson. The Chapman Stick used on these songs gave them a great sound. Many people enjoy the distinctive Chapman Stick bass sound, and it fits nicely with many kinds of music.

A partial list of other notable Chapman Stick Players --

• Ex-Weather Report bassist Alphonso Johnson
• Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo, John Paul Jones)
• Blue Man Group
• Guillermo Cides solo Stick performer.
• Bob Culbertson solo Stick performer.
• Tom Griesgraber solo Stick performer.
• Trey Gunn (now plays Warr guitar)
• Jim Lampi solo Stick performer.
• John Myung of Dream Theater
• Don Schiff (Lana Lane and Rocket Scientists)

Warr Guitars is a high-end instrument maker located in southern California. Founder Mark Warr designed an instrument which looks very much like an oversized guitar. In fact, it can be played with two-handed tapping techniques, like a Chapman Stick, as well as strummed and plucked.

Traditional bass guitar techniques, such as slap and pop, pizzicato and playing with a plectrum (pick) may also be used. Because of the unique placement of the strapholders, the instrument may be played in a more upright, Stick-like position, or horizontally, like an electric guitar.

The instrument is very well constructed, with dual trussrods and high-quality components, including custom-designed Bartolini magnetic, piezoelectric, or a combination of these pickups.

Warr Guitars include the Buzz Feiten Intonation System built in, which produces an instrument which sounds more 'in tune' than normal guitars or basses.

Warr Guitars provide the widest choices of wood selections, and are generally the most expensive of the three tapping-instrument manufacturers.

Mobius Megatar. The Megatar is a fretted instrument a set of six bass strings and six melody strings, similar to the Chapman 'Grand Stick.' However, on the Megatar, both sides are normally tuned in fourths intervals.

Mobius Megatar makes a case that this tuning, immediately recognizable to any guitar or bass player, produces faster learning and a more powerful use of the strings, due to enhanced clarity, and the fact that 95% of what the musician already knows will transfer to this new two-handed tapping method of play when the tuning is one he already knows.

Megatar instruments have dual truss rods, and are factory-assembled to the buyer's specification, with a wide array of choices in magnetic, piezo, and midi pickups, along with choices of wood, paint color, and metal trim colors.

The Megatar instruments were the first to include the Buzz Feiten Intonation System, because it makes the musician's playing sound more 'in tune' on normal instruments.

Although the Megatar instruments have excellent tone, they are the most affordable of the three manufacturers. Many models cost half as much as a comparable Chapman Stick.

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