ATTENTION Megatar owners

[rjgoos]

I notice there is a Megatar for sale on eBay. This got me wondering, what do owners think of this line of instruments? Actual comments by rank-and-file players are somewhat hard to come by on the Internet. VSteele and Glenn Drakeley have provided helpful comments to me, but I would be interested to hear from other owners.

So, I'll throw these questions out, and hopefully some Megatar owners and former owners will speak up.

1. What do you think of the "playability" of the Megatar....straightness/flatness of the neck....lowness of the action...is it a good-playing instrument? Needs adjustment often?

2. Which set of pickups do you have, and what do you think of the tone of the Megatar? How does its tone compare to other/previous touch/tap instruments you've had? Is it a good-sounding instrument?

3. What about ergonomics...comfortable to play? Do you play standing or seated?

4. What tuning do you use? Crossed or uncrossed?

I admit that I am considering ordering a Megatar. I will probably be going to an uncrossed tuning, as I can't seem to get over this wrist pain playing my Stick in a crossed-hands way, no matter how I position my thumb/elbow/instrument. The other instrument choices are substantially more expensive.

Thanks to all who reply.


R. Jay Goos

[rockola]

I admit that I am considering ordering a Megatar. I will probably be going to an uncrossed tuning, as I can't seem to get over this wrist pain playing my Stick in a crossed-hands way, no matter how I position my thumb/elbow/instrument. The other instrument choices are substantially more expensive.

So what's stopping you from uncrossing the strings on your Stick? If the only reason to get a Megatar is the tuning, it will be much cheaper to change the tuning on the instrument you have. Not to suggest there's anything wrong with getting a Megatar!

Here's a snapshot (http://www.tapguitar.com/tapseminar99/wolfthierry.jpg) of a Stick player playing uncrossed.

[rjgoos]

Rockola wrote:

>So what's stopping you from uncrossing the strings on your Stick? If the only reason to get a Megatar is the tuning, it will be much cheaper to change the tuning on the instrument you have. Not to suggest there's anything wrong with getting a Megatar!<


Unlike you, Ola, I have no shop tools and even less wood working skills. I would need to send the instrument away. As far as I know Stick Enterprises is the only shop that does this sort of work, and I suspect they are very, very busy, if the time it takes to obtain a set of strings from them is any indication. So, perhaps it is better to try an instrument that was put together in an uncrossed manner from the beginning.

R. Jay Goos


P.S. Thanks to those who are responding via e-mail to my questions about the Megatar. I welcome any other owners to reply also!

[rockola]

Unlike you, Ola, I have no shop tools and even less wood working skills. I would need to send the instrument away. As far as I know Stick Enterprises is the only shop that does this sort of work, and I suspect they are very, very busy, if the time it takes to obtain a set of strings from them is any indication.

Is your instrument one of the very old ones, with a fixed bridge? Then I agree, it's not practical to change the tuning on one of those. As you can't adjust the intonation, you can't even change the string gauge. However, if it has an adjustable bridge, the only shop tool you'd need is a screwdriver or two, with no wood working required. I think the nut screws are interchangeable, so just unscrew them and put them back in different order. I could be wrong - it's been a while since I last took a close look at a Stick.

There are other sources for tap guitar strings. I had my Stick strung with GHS strings from Touchstyle.Com (http://www.touchstyle.com/), Mobius Megatar (http://www.megatar.com/) sells string sets for just about any tuning, in Europe there's Clic Music (http://www.clicmusic.be/) with La Bella and Pyramid (my favorite) strings (probably not an option at the moment for you because of the exchange rate), and so on.

[rjgoos]

rockola wrote:

>Is your instrument one of the very old ones, with a fixed bridge? Then I agree, it's not practical to change the tuning on one of those. As you can't adjust the intonation, you can't even change the string gauge. However, if it has an adjustable bridge, the only shop tool you'd need is a screwdriver or two, with no wood working required. I think the nut screws are interchangeable, so just unscrew them and put them back in different order. I could be wrong - it's been a while since I last took a close look at a Stick.<


Yes, it has the adjustable bridge, but it was the nut-screws I was more worried about. They are not all the same diameter, at least on my instrument. To go from a classic to a Carpentier tuning, for example, one would need to fill, re-drill, and re-tap at least two of the holes into the wood for the nut screws. Not a problem for someone with the tools, and who has the experience, but I have neither. I've been told that one or two holes on the tuning machines need to be enlarged also, to accept bass strings.

If it were just a matter of re-stringing, and re-adjusting, I would give it a try.

R. Jay Goos

[Insanite]

Unlike you, Ola, I have no shop tools and even less wood working skills. I would need to send the instrument away. As far as I know Stick Enterprises is the only shop that does this sort of work, and I suspect they are very, very busy, if the time it takes to obtain a set of strings from them is any indication. So, perhaps it is better to try an instrument that was put together in an uncrossed manner from the beginning.


I'm a bit curious regarding the tone and ergonomics of the Megatar. Could you maybe convey the general feelings of the replies that you've received regarding the instrument?

-Max

[rjgoos]

Max wrote

>I'm a bit curious regarding the tone and ergonomics of the Megatar. Could you maybe convey the general feelings of the replies that you've received regarding the instrument?<


In general, all comments involving the neck and frets and intonation and playability and action....were all very positive.

Regarding tone....all were pleased except one guy (who hastened to add that the return policy was honored and he was treated more than fairly by Traktor). Except for that one fellow, I obtained three positive comments about the True Talkers, two positive comments about the gold pickups, and one each had good things to say about the barts and bluesbusters.

Regarding ergonomics with regards to weight/support...good comments on the strap system, and good comments on the lap bar. Not a negative comment in this category.

One guy, who borrowed one from a friend for a month, had an issue with fretboard width, but most did not. This one fellow felt the fretboard width to be too wide for his hand size in a crossed tuning.

So out of maybe 8 answers, one guy returned it under the return policy, one guy felt the fretboard width was too wide, but the rest were happy with their instruments. Overall, a positive set of reviews.


R. Jay Goos


(p.s. Max, if you have specific questions, there are several Megatar owners here...Traktor, Daniel Schell, Glenn Drakeley, VSteele, etc. They are all very helpful, drop them a note!)

[Insanite]

Thanks for the info. I might drop a few notes to those who you mentioned; I like to do a bunch of research to justify buying any musical instrument, information is great. :o

-Max

[rjgoos]

Max wrote:

>Thanks for the info. I might drop a few notes to those who you mentioned; I like to do a bunch of research to justify buying any musical instrument, information is great. :o <


Unfortunately, the decision on which dedicated touch/tap style instrument to buy, is made doubly difficult because (at least where I live) it was impossible to find ANY of these instruments to actually try out. It was very difficult for me (a miserly skinflint, my children claim) to send over $1000 to a total stranger for a used Stick.

Fortunately, there are many good people on this and other internet forums who are willing to help with their advice and opinions.

As far as I can tell, however, each of the major manufacturers of touch/tap style instrument has loyal, even enthusiastic, customers...so as far as I can tell, they all must be doing something right.


R. Jay Goos