The Nitro Explosion ...

[traktor]

Here's a question for two-handed tappers ...

"Have you ever seen $500
Disguised as a Web Page?"

:cool: Click here: Nitro Explosion, coming February 1 (http://megatar.com/promo/nitro/) :cool:


A word to the wise: It's cool. It's coming. It's almost here. It's something you will want to know about.

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[secondfiddle]

The suspence is overwhelming, tapping fingers independently...

Fiddle.

[traktor]

Nitro Explosion goes live in three seconds ...

[jamsire]

I think I'll make a Nitro sticker and put it on my MaxTapper.;)

[Jersey Ray]

Nitro Explosion goes live in three seconds ...

but, will there ever be a ten-string version?

[Jersey Ray]

Here's a question for two-handed tappers ...

A word to the wise: It's cool. It's coming. It's almost here. It's something you will want to know about.

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Traktor - as US manager, you can offer these rock bottom prices here in the states, but with the resurgant US dollar, is your boss Henri really gonna allow this pricing globally? say it ain't so, say it AIN'T SO!!??!!

[traktor]

but, will there ever be a ten-string version?
Where I grew up in Henrietta, Texas, the biggest holiday every year was not Christmas nor Fourth of July, but the Pioneer Reunion, which as every young lad in Henrietta Texas knows, is in mid-October.

The Pioneer Reunion causes the school to let out for Thursday and Friday, so that we can see the Parades every day, and besides parades, you can go to the Rodeo Grounds where there is a free barbeque feast at noon every day for everyone in town. Then of course the three evenings of Rodeo, with clowns, the bands, calf-roping, the greased-pig contest, voting for the Rodeo Queen, bareback bronc-riding, bulldogging, and bull-riding. And afterward, of course, the dances, with rock and roll for the young in the VFW building, and something slower for the older in the Pioneer Building.

Now, the point I'm wandering toward is that one year I had a brand new Dodge Lancer car, which was grey, and it was the first year that there ever was a Dodge Lancer, so that was something new, and I'd had it for only a couple of weeks before the big Pioneer Reunion. I was a teen.

The parade theme that year was 'Famous Firsts' and somehow I had learned that there was a way to make this Dodge Lancer drive down the street on only three wheels. (You insert a block of wood at a certain point in the front suspension so that the wheel cylinder will not move downward, then you weight the opposite corner of the car by putting auto-batteries in the trunk, and then you can take off the front wheel, and the car will drive along slowly on two rear wheels and one front wheel.)

Due to the theme of 'Famous Firsts' I put a sign on the two doors of the car, and it said, 'He just couldn't wait for his very FIRST DATE.' Wearing a white sport with a pink carnation and lots of butch-wax on my crewcut, I drove down the street, on three wheels, in the parade, while my kid brother, wearing mechanics overalls, rolled the wheel along the street behind me, while ostensibly waving at me and trying to get my attention.

People watching the parade actually lay down on the street to look under the car to see what the heck was going on.

It was a great parade entry. However, I didn't win the prize.

The prize was won by 7-year old 'Chief' Conwoop, the only indian kid in our school -- his dad was the football coach -- who wore paint and feathers and rode a horse as the 'FIRST AMERICAN.'

But despite the fact that I failed to win the first prize -- I took second -- I learned something valuable.

What I learned was this. The car didn't handle well on three wheels. You had to go to a lot of trouble to operate with only some of the optimal number of wheels working.

So, Jersey Ray, in a similar way, I've just never seen any sense in removing some of the natural, optimal number of strings on a tapping instrument. It seems idiotic and pointless to me. When playing with some missing strings, your tapper will operate poorly. Nothing gained, and something lost. So why would any sensible person do that?

I'd just as soon drive a car on three wheels.

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[Jersey Ray]

Well, that's a nice story.

For years, people used to say to me, "Rebel Ray, why do you continue to play that instrument, (name deleted), when you say you like the sound of the Warr Guitar better?"

And I would answer them, that I really preferred a ten string instrument. The feel was better for me, better playability means better music. Warr Guitars only made 8 and 12 string models at that time.

November 1998 - Warr started making 10 string models, I bought one that month, and I have been playing those ever since.

(ok, I did play an 11 string for a few years, and it was too fat, so I sold it)

Good luck with the Nitro, piezos have a fantastic sound for tapping. My dream instrument would be a ten string with Barts and piezos.

[traktor]

Well, it's funny you should mention that, Jersey Ray.

We *do* just happen to have a special factory mod that might fit the bill. We call it the 'Extended Separation' mod. It's very similar to our normal instruments, but we have a special process which creates additional spacing between the two stringsets. It's really designed for people who worry about playing the wrong stringset, by providing a larger than normal space between the two stringsets.

However, it might be just the ticket for you, because it has only ten strings.

And, yes, we have that in the NITRO model with active Barts and Screaming-Ghost piezos.

Normally, we charge a little extra for this custom mod, but I could waive that additional fee, in this case.

-- Traktor

PS: This is not to be confused with our other custom ten-string mod, the 'Extra Edge Clearance' mod, which is a special process to create additional space between the outside string on each side and the edge of the fretboard. The Extra Edge Clearance modification is for people who worry about bending the edge strings too far and getting a ploink by pulling the string off the end of the fret. For these folks we can offer the ten-string Extra Edge Clearance factory mod.

Of course, if you do a lot of deep string bending, you might prefer the Extra Edge Clearance ten-string factory mod on your Nitro.

Let me know.

[arsacane]

Just a question: How does fanned frets feels when you bend a string? I think that you will increase the tension but at the same time you are increasing the length of the string (but I think this must be negligible). Does it feels different?

Cheers, Daniel.

[jamsire]

Just a question: How does fanned frets feels when you bend a string? I think that you will increase the tension but at the same time you are increasing the length of the string (but I think this must be negligible). Does it feels different?

Cheers, Daniel.

Hey Daniel - Happy New Year.

Fanned frets are a state of mind IMHO. They only feel different when you play an instrument like that for one or two things. But once you embrace it - it feels great and very natural.

But that's just me. What do I know?

[Jersey Ray]

Well, it's funny you should mention that, Jersey Ray.

We *do* just happen to have a special factory mod that might fit the bill. We call it the 'Extended Separation' mod. It's very similar to our normal instruments, but we have a special process which creates additional spacing between the two stringsets. It's really designed for people who worry about playing the wrong stringset, by providing a larger than normal space between the two stringsets.




space between stringsets is a good thing, don't get me wrong. Especially for the uncrossed hands players, it makes sense to kill the crosstalk.

but...

the main thing I like about 10 strings is the narrower neck. I still play the old-fashioned way, with hands crossed and astrologically inspired tunings. I see the advantages (and I can list the disadvantages) , but at the end of the day I am too far in to change.

So, my point is that the narrower neck does have a certain clientele. And then there is the 8 string, a whole different beast...

I had a piezo axe for a while (8 string) and it sounded darn close to an acoustic. Any plans to marry this up with MIDI? My piezo guitar tracked MIDI quite well.

[traktor]

space between stringsets is a good thing, don't get me wrong. Especially for the uncrossed hands players, it makes sense to kill the crosstalk.

but...

the main thing I like about 10 strings is the narrower neck. I still play the old-fashioned way, with hands crossed and astrologically inspired tunings. I see the advantages (and I can list the disadvantages) , but at the end of the day I am too far in to change.
Those of you who do not know me and Jersey Ray very well might well think we're at odds, but actually ... not much. Yes, I do strongly recommend instruments with two sets of six strings, because of a lucky-combination that happens which makes initial learning happen faster and with greater clarity. And that's a good thing.

But, as a practical matter, lots and lots of Stick players, and ex-Stick players like Jersey Ray have already thoroughly learned to play, and they learned inside that Inverted-Fifths tuning. (Don't tell anybody, but I can play inside that tuning, too, though actually not as well as Jersey Ray.)

What's the case where you *already know* a tuning?

My entire promotion of the 6x6 stringing, and tunings in either parallel fourths or mirror fourths is due to faster, better learning.

But when you *already know* some other tuning, then faster and better is probably going to be, for you, to use what you *already know.* And I suspect that's why, for the majority of Stick-players and Ex-Stick-Players who come along, usually they're upgrading to some features and freedoms that they've not found elsewhere when they get a Megatar, but -- nearly always -- they want to keep the tuning they *already know*.

And that's why we'll happily provide Inverted-Fifths, and several other tunings, and for most of them the only change we'll make is that we'll install the Buzz Feiten Intonation System, so that it will sound more in tune when you're playing than when you used to play on some other instrument(s).


So, my point is that the narrower neck does have a certain clientele. And then there is the 8 string, a whole different beast...
My own best guess is that this viewpoint is found most in those who do not position the instrument in a truly vertical position. However, I'm not all that sure of myself in this guess. It's just a guess, and probably wrong at least sometime.

I had a piezo axe for a while (8 string) and it sounded darn close to an acoustic. My piezo guitar tracked MIDI quite well. Any plans to marry this up with MIDI?
But of course, mon ami!

Add MIDI to Nitro, and we call it the Hammer of Thor. It can flatten anything.

But we can actually use the same GraphTech Ghost Piezos that drive the Screaming-Ghost Acoustiphonic sound ... to create piezo-driven midi-ready signals ... on *any* Megatar model. This GraphTech Ghost hexaphonic midi system is functionally equivalent to a Roland GK-2 type pickup, but most people think that the piezo triggers are actually a little faster.

Jersey Ray, thank you for feeding me these swell questions!

And it's good to see your bad self back around these parts.

.

[traktor]

Hi, Folks,

I'm kind of tired. It's been busy.

People like NITRO instruments. And why not? For the same price as a Chapman Grand Stick with actives ($2700), you can have active Bartolini pickups, and then an entire second sound system with GraphTech Screaming Ghost Acoustiphonic Piezo crystal-clear sound, along with powerful and easy selection and blending, and quad outputs. (Plus all the usual Megatar advantages, like dual trussrods, freedom from the deadly belthook, mongo Bartolini active-circuits tone, and the Buzz Feiten Intonation System so you actually sound in tune while you play, method books and output cables included free, our patented MegStrap, Straplocks, Edgedots, stunning BlackJack trim, and etc, etc, etc.)

Pretty good deal.

So it's been busy.

Tonight I'll respond to the phone and email right up till midnight in my own timezone. Then I'm going to goof off the rest of the weekend. I'm thinking maybe I'll lay in bed and eat pizza and drink beer and watch cartoons on tv.

Which reminds me. Gotta figure out where I put that tv.

Midnight tonight folks. Save hundreds, and discounts on all Megatar models, right up till midnight tonight. (You didn't hear about it? Details here -- http://voltos.us/NITROPROMO, though this page will vanish sometime after midnight tonight. Never heard of the Megatar NITRO? Description here -- http://voltos.us/MEGABLOG-NITRO.)

Thanks to all who have been so enthusiastic about our new model.

-- Traktor

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