Any NS/Stick players out there?

[MrLenny1]

Anyone play/try one of these sticks yet?
They are from Chapman STICK.
I just saw that Tony Levin is touring with StickMen
and they are using touch neck instruments.
Should be an interesting show.
Check out the videos on the STICK site.

 

[Michael Blue]

Hey there!

Been researching different models of Stick for about a year now, and finally ordered my NS/Stick this week.
The NS is different from the other Stick models in that it is designed from the beginning as a "multi mode" instrument.
The damper is disengageable so you can play it "touchstyle", or with traditional bass or guitar techniques.
It's also the only Stick with a guitar-type body.
Being a Ned Steinberger collaboration it has his well known headless design.

I don't know how many are out there, but they're an incredible instrument.
There have been a few revisions through the years,
and the current ones have either wenge wood or laminated bamboo necks with a different bevel on the back,
a dual-adjustable truss system and Emmett's Rails, instead of traditional frets.

Can't wait for mine to get here (likely early next week).
Best of luck with your search!

www.stick.com
www.stickist.com

(Mine) Link Removed

~M

 

[Michael Blue]

Oh, and don't miss Don Schiff's training videos...

http://www.nsstickist.com/nstech.htm

~M

 

[1stnamebassist]

I had one for about a year a few years back. Incredible instrument, just not for me. Wasn't very good at gaining two hand independence, so i usually used it as a bass. It sounded incredible, but for bass playing the strings were a little too close together for me. I ended up selling it to someone who is quite happy with it! Good luck and have many happy hours of sticking!

 

[Giacomo Villani]

Hi everyone! Ns stick player here! I have fallen in love with the instrument, it gives a huge amount of room to improvisation. I am also into chapman stick as well, sure those are two different instruments, but no doubt they are both great instruments to experiment with. I have some Ns stick videos on my channel,feel free to check them if you like Giacomo Villani

 

[Tom Baker]

I tried....it was hard. In an experimental setting they are neat but playing full tunes like a pianist would is tough. You would need to put your other instruments away for a year and really focus on technique to ever really make headway. I traded mine out about 6 years ago and don't miss it.

 

[Giacomo Villani]

No doubt about that , I totally understand what you mean. Even though the Chapman stick and the Ns stick have something in common with bass they require dedication and some amount of time to learn the independence and to master the extended range potentials. Anyway,in my opinion,it is worth trying since they enable the player to experiment the wildest sides of music.

 

[GregHolmes]

I've had mine for 15 years. I first bought a graphite XG 12 (Grand Stick 6+6 strings, passive pickups), fantastic tone, but it didn't click with me, so I sold it and bought the NS/Stick.

As a long-time guitar AND bass player, one of the first things I did with the NS was to tune it like a guitar, with a major third between the 2nd and 3rd strings. Great change, and that facilitated barre chords across all 8 strings and familiar chords. I made some other mods to the instrument over the years, some of which Stick Enterprises found interesting.

I'm still on the original set of strings - and still happy with the tone.

While waiting for the NS/Stick to arrive, I prepared myself by playing guitar and bass simultaneously. It really wasn't a big deal picking up the NS/Stick for the first time, because I had always been searching for lower notes on guitar or higher notes on bass. Basically, I was looking for the piano of the guitar world. (BTW, isn't it strange how no one ever asks the keyboard player why there are so many keys on the instrument?)

Here's a sample of the "circus", with NS/Stick, keyboards, and vocals: