Picking up Chapman Stick?

[Sid Fang]

It really could have damaged the frets and other parts if it had gone on longer. The tiny tarnished spots on the frets do not clean up easily and that tar like goo was never going to come off of the strings.

In my case, the foam was more stuck to my Stick than to the walls of the box. You can imagine the horror I felt opening the case, which had been intact no more than 3 years before. Fortunately it was still pretty loosely wrapped, and it was easy to peel away the bulk of the foam. The strings were clearly goners. Mine was old enough to have the original rabbit fur mute, and that was ruined. The Chapmans were cool enough to have sent me a replacement for free when I contacted them to report the foam disaster and order more strings, though it's not the same material, alas. I did not notice major fret rot, but getting it off the neck and frets was a royal pain. I didn't want to chance serious solvents on the ironwood finish, so it was mostly scraping with a plastic tool that was softer than the wood but harder than the goo. My biggest fear was that it had gotten into the electronics - in particular the pots - but they seem to have been unaffected.

 

[devnulljp]

Hey Devnulljp! I've seen you over on Stickist. Excited to see you on the journey. For me, getting started I used Bob Culbertson's videos and Greg Howard's book. Of course, neither of those are for dual bass recip, so I'm not totally sure how well they'd work (it's a fascinating way to set up btw, but I'm "standard" on mine). One thing I can suggest - get in touch with Greg. He gives lessons (via Skype or something), and he would be happy to even do a one off session with you, answer questions, point you towards stuff. He's cool. You can find his contact info on Stickist.

I'll take this opportunity to post a gratuitous photo...
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That's great, thanks! I just looked up Bob Culbertson's videos. That should keep me going for a while. Don't have Greg Howard's book, but found some of his video lessons too, so lots to learn. It's weird to be a complete beginner again. Been playing guitar & bass for 45 years, and even picking up upright a decade ago wasn't this hard. Almost nothing crosses over here.