Is there somewhere in the austin area where I can rent, or at least try, a chapman stick?

August 7, 2008 12:12 PM

Is there somewhere in the austin area where I can rent, or at least try, a chapman stick? (it's a musical instrument derived from guitar and/or bass)

I've been wanting to get one forever but they're quite expensive. I'd love to try one out, maybe have a few lessons on one, first.

I play guitar left handed but possibly that won't be a serious issue since the instrument is played with both hands? Or maybe it would be, I don't know. They do make left handed models.

posted by RustyBrooks to media & arts (10 comments total)

I would think it would be no more backwards than you playing a righty guitar upside down. The last time I messed around with one, it was tuned much like a guitar. If you held it like a righty guitar, lower notes were on the "top" and higher on the bottom.

I have a difficult enough time with 6 strings to even think about playing on on any serious level.
posted by chrisfromthelc at 12:23 PM on August 7

I assume you've done this, but I would call everyone on this list and ask if THEY know anyone.
posted by fiercecupcake at 1:02 PM on August 7

I play guitar true left handed, that is, the strings are reversed also, I don't just flip a guitar over.

I've talked to about half of that list over the last 6 months or so, none of them has ever had a chapman stick. The used market for them is pretty abysmal, also, especially for lefties, because there are so few of them.
posted by RustyBrooks at 1:08 PM on August 7

@RustyBrooks, I figured as much, but I do know a guitarist who plays lefthanded, but uses righty guitars (so bass is towards the bottom).

Ironically, I'm left-handed, but play all instruments right-handed.
posted by chrisfromthelc at 2:09 PM on August 7

I think you'll do okay, coming from a left-handed guitar. Since the strings are deepest in the middle and move outward, it's like both a right-handed and left-handed guitar sitting next to each other. So both groups

Of course, the left-handed guitar is dropped down to bass level, but that might even be to your advantage over righties, because you'll have the extra finger strength needed for that side already.

I speak only in theory. I have yet to get my hands on a stick, though I've wanted one for years. The absurd waiting period has been the only thing keeping me from an impulse purchase many a time.
posted by GeekAnimator at 2:18 PM on August 7

Oops, I left an unfinished sentence up there. "So both groups have some adjusting to do."
posted by GeekAnimator at 2:19 PM on August 7

Yeah that was my understanding. As a lefty, I figured I might play the fretboard with my right hand that many would play with their left and vice-versa but I wasn't sure how that would feel. I've also seen people playing ones that were done the opposite way I think, and I may have even seen some with both sets of strings ascending from one side, not from the middle. Anyway, I'm friends with a luthier so if I needed to make basic modifications I think I could. He's actually offered to make a go at making one but it probably wouldn't turn out cheaper plus I think there is some value to having one made by someone who's done it before.
posted by RustyBrooks at 2:33 PM on August 7

South Austin Music has many unusual instruments in the store. I would walk in and ask them.
posted by Pants! at 6:12 PM on August 7

I've never seen a Stick for sale in any music store I've been to in Austin. I think the only time you'd see one is if the store happened to have one used or on consignment, and in that case it would get bought pretty quick.
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:03 PM on August 7

Trying it out would definitely be a good idea, since you really may not like it. I play guitar and bass and found the stick really alien when I tried it in a store in London a long time ago. If you can also play piano reasonably well, you may find it more amenable than I did, since the two handed tapping felt like a weird cross between guitar and keyboard playing.
posted by w0mbat at 2:48 AM on August 8