Approaching two hands taping from a guitarist point of view.

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Hi! Im new to this boards and the touch style in general however I’ve been interested in it since I saw Stanley Jordan play for the first time, and later when I learn that people actually made instruments exclusively to be played like that. I’ve been playing standard guitar for over 16 years now. And Im a quite accomplished player. A few weeks ago I found Stanley Jordan’s web page in which he explained his approach to two hands guitar playing. And I have started teaching my right hand how to tap in the fret board.

Last night I had one of those situations that left me totally dumbfounded. Wile practicing simple runs with my right hand with my guitar in the normal right handed position my wife non musician wife asked me if it would be a good idea to switch and hold the guitar from a left handed perspective, so my left hand would play melody and my right the bass side. I didn’t though about this before, so I tried it. All of the sudden I improved my right left hand coordination a lot. And not to mention I could use 90% of my normal left hand agility. I think it has to do with my well trained in single note melody playing melody and my well trained in rhythm strumming and picking, playing rhythm stuff.

Im going to start construction of a 14-string custom build instrument with fanned frets. Which will require me to come to a conclusion as to if this is going to be a left handed or right handed instrument soon. And im wondering if there is any insight that members can share from experience with me. Thank you.

[rockola]

I have a hunch that not too many 14-string fanned fret tap guitar owners will chime in... Without the fanned frets, you could have an instrument that could be left or right handed at will, with perhaps just the nut to adjust/replace when changing orientation.

Are you building this instrument yourself?

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Hi, Thanks for replying. Let me rephrase my question. for those of you that came from a guitar playing background. What was the best way to play your two hand tap instrument? And why? Note that best is not always easy. It is best for you to use your left hand for melody? Or for bass? What about the right hand? One of the main reason im asking this right here is because if you use a one scale length instrument. You can use your instrument in a left-handed or in a right-handed position. I don’t have a two hand instrument with the exception of my old guitar and im really new to this.

Back to the 14 string fanned fret instrument. Yes. I’ am going to built it myself. Every other Luthier would charge me between 6 and 10 grand for this instrument. I’ve never have built anything like this before. But I have done some wood carving and worked on lumber jacks cutting and finishing hard woods before. I’ve always kept my instruments set up and in good condition. And I need a good reason to buy these tools that I always wanted. And I may be able to use someone private shop from my wife’s side of the family.

The instrument will have a short scale length of 22” and a long one of 34”. The fretboard will be about 7” wide. The bass side will have 6 strings and be tuned from low to high B,E,A,D,G,C The melody side will have 8 strings and be tuned B,E,A,D,G,C,F,#A It will played with the bass side down and the Melody side on top for uncrossed tapping. Im still drawing the plans for it.

[Adam Fulara]

good idea to switch and hold the guitar from a left handed perspective, so my left hand would play melody and my right the bass side

Famous Polish tap-guitarist Marek "Zefir" Wojcicki plays this kind of stuff with crossed hands (left for soling, right for comping). He recorded solo LP with those pieces. His www (only in Polish language):

http://zefirstudio.republika.pl/

see pictures and mp3s