Instrument Museum (page 9)
| INSTRUMENT MUSEUM | 12/23/97 | Page 9 of 11 |
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| Stick Enterprises, Inc. |
| Emmet Chapman says that he invented the Stick® to “embody all the advantages of the tapping method” he’d been playing on guitar. He says he wanted lots of strings, and the simplest possible design.
The Stick is an unusual-looking instrument, of simple-appearing design. It appears designed to be inexpensive to manufacture as compared to traditional guitar lutherie, although its unique shape and unusual approach to pickup-design and fret-crowning give it a unique sound unlike other instruments, as does its long (33″) scale-length and low-tension stringing.
The Stick has become the world’s most popular touch-style instrument, perhaps because Emmet was able to obtain patents on the tapping method, the instrument’s construction, and the particular tuning with inverted fifths in the bass strings; and with this patented protection from competition, he spent the next 20 years popularizing this unusual instrument. But now that his basic patents have expired, according to a cursory reading of US patent law, anybody may now construct a Stick instrument, though you cannot call it a Stick. Highly-Authorized Stick® dealers include Guitar Showcase (San Jose), Sam Ashe (New York), Big Daddy’s Junky Music (many East Coast locations), Mandolin Brothers (catalog), and others. Here’s what some people say about Stick instruments … “It’s not often that a new instrument becomes accepted as part of the musical mainstream, but The Stick has proven its staying power. The fact that the instrument continue to evolve and pick up more followers is a testimony to Emmet Chapman’s original vision.” – Craig Anderton “The Stick is the step into the future. You can take it as far as you want to go – bass, chords, and melody, played live!” – Tony Levin “The Stick embodies everything I love about musical instruments: the feel of strings against frets, two-handed polyphony, the growl of funk bass. … the Stick has never failed to challenge and inspire me.” – Andy Widders-Ellis
stick enterprises, inc. 6011 woodlake avenue woodland hills, california 91367 |
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| a listing for an instrument, visit the Resource Center at www.traktor.com and select ‘Touch-Style Instruments.’ |