LeftyBassist.com

It's like an itch I can't scratch, I want to try a lefty Chapman Stick.

I remember when I was a teen in the eighties and these things started showing up. The first time I ever saw one was when I went to see Gowan - (Canadian dude who had some nominal success up here back then and did a couple of tours with Styx more recently) - play a concert at the arena in my small town. The bass player in his band went back and forth between bass and stick.

Check out this totally eighties Gowan video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4eT_0tnj1w

The stick doesn't show up until about 3:30 but he plays it proudly. (I still have one of those Yamaha CP70 pianos that's in the video too. Ha!)

I remember REALLY wanting a stick back then and being bummed I couldn't get a lefty. As time has passed... maybe it was a good thing.

Fantastic instruments. I had the itch a few years ago and got a lefty Warr Guitar (same principal of tapping) in a trade for my Warwick Thumb BO. If you're a tapper, you'll probably take to the instrument much quicker than I did. I eventually lost patience when I realized it was not an instrument I could adapt to quickly and/or devote enough time to learning. The one thing I realized is that there is really no benefit to having a lefty, since the standard setup usually consists of 2 sets (i.e. bass side/guitar side) of inverted 4ths (either 10 or 12 string), so depending on your configuration you're either going to end up playing bass or guitar strings in descending order (or upside down). But there are endless ways of playing one and tuning one should you find a particular way easier. (cross handed, non-cross hand), matched reciprocal, standard, baritone matched reciprocal 6+4, the list goes on), but you'll ahve to have your instrument set up as such in advance since the Stick is much less adaptable to changing configurations and restringing/tuning the way you'd like because of the nut/bridge and PUP angle, so you pretty much have to know what you want in advance. (Warr Guitars and Mobius Megatars are easier to adapt). So if oyu don't know what you're doing initailly, you really have no clue what setup will work for you or not. Then, once you realize what you THINK will work best for you, chances are it's not how your current instrument is set up and you'll need to modify it.

I actually found I played my friends' standard right handed Stick better than my lefty because the bass strings ascended from low to high in the typical lefty bass configuration, so I could put the bass lines on relative "auto pilot" while focusing on counter-melodies in the melody section.

Check out the Megatar web page for interesting reads on tunings, styles, etc:

http://www.megatar.com/english/home.html

And also the Warr website:

http://www.warrguitars.com/

Both companies make lefties (though see my "you don't necessarily need a lefty" comment above). Not sure about Chapman.

Note the incredible Jim Wright and his string setup, which is basically all ascending strings non-cross hand style (like a bass stacked on top of a guitar). The rest of the band ain't much to speak of, but with his midi setup he could easily be a one-man band if he wanted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfsTDgUVwjs

Thanks for the replies guys.

PJ, as I think about it in my head, I'd want to tap the bass with my right hand, lowest strings at the bottom of the instrument if I was holding it with the left side angling down. Based on that, is that still push for a lefty? I guess I could try to find a righty at a store and see what I think.

I like to tap actually, I got bored of the regular finger picking on the bass a number of years ago. I'm also playing other stuff like keyboard and drums now, and I enjoy the drums quite a bit.

From what I remember from playing one a long time ago, I think that playing a right-hand stick made more sense to me since the lower strings were where its at for us lefty.