Hello and Box B-Series

[gravitysangel]

Hello,

I'm new around here and planning to buy a tapping instrument soon.
I already had a try a year ago with a Chapmann-Stick, but didn't quite came to anything. Main reason was that I'm having quite big fingers and the space between the strings was too small.
I didn't like the fact that I had to play with crossed hands also.
I play keyboards for about 20 years or so and recently took up guitar, so it's not really up to complete musical inability.

To cut a long story short, I don't want to spend tons of money on my new toy, for I fear that I don't succeed again.
I looked at the ADG, which sound good, but I'd rather have 12Strings, the Megatar, which is nice but (sorry, only my opinion) butt-ugly, and now recently dicovered the Box-B-Series, which look nice and seem to be, what I'm looking for.
Has anybody seen or played one of these?
Does anybody know, how much space there is between the strings?

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Thomas

[Glenn Drakeley]

Thomas,

Contact Stuart at box@bme.com.au for the info you're looking for. I don't believe any B Series Box Guitars have left DownUnder for the States yet, dang, patience required.........dang...

Glenn

PS: String spacing on the JC-35 (NOT B) is 7mm at the nut and 10.8mm at the bridge and could've been changed before I ordered. I'm guessing the JCB-34 will not be changeable and don't know what the spacing will indeed be. As of a few months ago I do know that you may select the color, i've opted for sunburst !!!!

PPS: Excellent choice for a Tapstrument !!!!

[rjgoos]

As a keyboard player, is it a major requirement for you to be able to sight read sheet music with both hands? I think that one should choose a tuning before choosing an instrument. Some tunings are much more adaptable for sight reading than others.

The most comprehensive treatise on tap guitar tunings is at:

http://www.clicmusic.be/tunings-tg.html

The tuning possibilites are numerous. The good news is that...wonderful musical possibilities are available in any of the common tunings.


Jay

[Glenn Drakeley]

RJG wrote:

I think that one should choose a tuning before choosing an instrument.

GFD writes:

Maybe so, but most, if not all, of the Touchables can be tuned almost anyway you'd like, short scale length varieties included, and can also be retuned / strung if you don't like what you've chosen to begin with. Not at all a major issue as far as i'm concerned.

String spacing is a major concern for most, only one manufacturer that I know of, on a specific model, will build to your spec., and i'm sure there are limitations there too.

Crossed / uncrossed hands should be of no concern, play with both hands all over the fretboard and with your thumbs not necessarily being anchored to the backside of your instrument, why limit yourself ??

Weight is another major concern, the best sounding Tapstruments will be bodied and weigh more than their tinny sounding bodiless cousins, and at least one minimally bodied Tapstrument is almost up to par with the best of the full bodied .

I wouldn't be overconcerned with neck or body wood choices, I prefer a neck through design and you should hope your new instruments manufacturer provides you a lifetimes worth of support no matter what you think of other manufacturers' instruments. Make sure you have a string source also.

If you think you might want to try different pickup arrangements there are two manufacturers whose instruments facilitate changing the originals, one of whose you'd be able to do by yourself.

To summarize, I believe that there's much more to consider upfront than tunings.................

[gravitysangel]

I'm quite sure to go for an uncrossed parallel 4ths/4ths-tuning.
Important here is the spacing between the inner strings (the lowest bass and highest melody-string). So that's a main reason I'm concerned abaout spacing.
I could choose the color? Nice!!
Do you know about the pickups sported?

[Glenn Drakeley]

Last I heard they were going to be WSC single coil or humbuckers.

[Glenn Drakeley]

>> Important here is the spacing between the inner strings (the >> lowest bass and highest melody-string).

On my Box JC-35 the string spacing is as per my previous posts, there is no extra space between the Bass and Melody sides. It's tuned crossed 4ths / 4ths, a big fat bass string in the middle of the instrument never worked well for me and I have never considered uncrossed tunings, why you ask ?? I don't know !!!

[gravitysangel]

Originally posted by Glenn Drakeley
On my Box JC-35 the string spacing is as per my previous posts, there is no extra space between the Bass and Melody sides. It's tuned crossed 4ths / 4ths, a big fat bass string in the middle of the instrument never worked well for me and I have never considered uncrossed tunings, why you ask ?? I don't know !!!

The fact, that you never considered uncrossed tunings and that having a bassstring in the middle doesn't work for you doesn't necessarily mean that's true for everyone.
As I mentioned, I already had a go at a crossed tuning and I didn't like it. I'm a keyboardplayer, so parallel motions come more natural to me then mirrored ones.
Maybe I have to settle on another instrument, if the box is not really suitable to my ends. From the pictures it seems, that on the megatar there is more space between the inner strings. And the colored ones I saw on ebay didn't look that bad anymore (or maybe I get accustomed to the looks;) ). Does anyone know how much a custom paint-job on a true-tapper would cost and how much (approx.) they charge for an uncrossed tuning?

[Glenn Drakeley]

The fact, that you never considered uncrossed tunings and that having a bassstring in the middle doesn't work for you doesn't necessarily mean that's true for everyone.


Glenn replies:

I absolutely agree, and I never claimed that my instruments setups were true for everyone, i simply explained the way they are setup. All of my Tapstruments are setup the same way regardless of string spacings, the inclusion / omission of a bass to melody side gap in no way affects my approach to playing them. This is, simply stated, my way !!

[traktor]

Originally posted by gravitysangel
Maybe I have to settle on another instrument, if the box is not really suitable to my ends. From the pictures it seems, that on the megatar there is more space between the inner strings. And the colored ones I saw on ebay didn't look that bad anymore (or maybe I get accustomed to the looks;) ). You're not the first person to feel the Megatar has an odd shape. But please remember: it was designed for tone and convenience, for balance and playing comfort, and it succeeds nicely at those. And once you're playing one, you might even come to like the way it looks, as well as the way it feels. I did.
Does anyone know how much a custom paint-job on a true-tapper would cost and how much (approx.) they charge for an uncrossed tuning? The two painted models currently listed on EBay cost me about $300 to have professionally done in automotive paint, and I marked up the instruments about that same amount. In other words, I wasn't so much interested in making a markup on the painting but in testing whether people found them desirable. We would probably charge more on a custom order as it turns out there's a fair amount of shop work just in prepping for the painter to do his work.

However, our factory/shop is now located in a somewhat rural area. I'll bet with a little shopping around, a person in a metropolitan area might find a skillful painter willing to do it for quite a bit less. Then it would be just a matter of pulling hardware off the instrument (easy), painting it, and then sticking the hardware back on. In other words, you might be able to get a custom paint job cheaper than I can, and then you'd be choosing your own colors from samples, etc. (You could also play the instrument as-is for a while, and defer the painting till later.)

An uncrossed tuning is not a big deal, and costs very little extra (depends some on model). Contact me directly if interested in this.

[gravitysangel]

Originally posted by Glenn Drakeley
I absolutely agree, and I never claimed that my instruments setups were true for everyone, i simply explained the way they are setup. All of my Tapstruments are setup the same way regardless of string spacings, the inclusion / omission of a bass to melody side gap in no way affects my approach to playing them. This is, simply stated, my way !!

No offense meant, Glenn.
Sorry, if it looked that way. Please excuse my imperfect command of the english language, for I'm not a native speaker.

To elaborate on my concern with the string spacing: whe´n I played the Chapman-Stick I always had problems with the inner strings, meaning I very often stroke the lowest melody string when I went for the highest Bass String and vice versa. That didn't improve even after 6 months of playing the instrument at least two hours a day (which is more time then I have really).
So I decided this instrument was not for me (I have quite large hands, big fingertips).
Another thing which disturbed me a great deal was the crosstalk (I'm not sure if it's the right word), meaning that a lot of the bass-strings sound bled into the melody pickup. Intolerable!
But that may have the stickups fault.

Bass-strings in the middle to me seem quite desirable. If I hadn't set my mind on a parallel tuning I would go for a mirrored tuning with both bass-strings inside.

[Glenn Drakeley]

From the pictures it seems, that on the megatar there is more space between the inner strings.


Glenn responds:

Yes, there is alot more space between the inner strings on the Megatar. I measured one of mine and from nut to bridge the gap measures approximately 9 to 14mm. I did not measure string spacings.Traktor would surely provide you with all the numbers.

[rjgoos]

Since Gravity has used a Stick, and found the string spacing too crowded for his fingers, I thought I'd post the following for reference:

On a 10-string Stick, string spacing is 0.32 inch (8.13 mm).

On a 12-string Stick, string spacing is 0.30 inch (7.62 mm).

What it is for a Warr or Megatar or Solene, I don't know.

I should also say that one can get a 10-string "Grand" stick, which stretches 10 strings over the width of a 12-string instrument, and one can get an 8-string instrument, with 8 strings stretched over the width of a 10-string instrument. I assume that Warr and Box are able to make instruments with a wider spacing, as well.

I think that there is an instrument out there for you, Gravity.


Jay

[Glenn Drakeley]

I assume that Warr and Box are able to make instruments with a wider spacing, as well.


Glenn responds:

What exactly is involved in customizing the string spacings, both within a bass / melody side or in between the Bass & Melody sides ? Bridgework ? Nutwork ? Looking at a Box JC-35 it does not look like its existing nut or bridge allows for any adjustments, parts would have to be changed, pickup cavities would have to be moved (in fact widening the string spacing might actually force multiple strings laterally off of their pickups), new bridge as the current sideplates do not allow for any saddle movements......... Sounds kind of expensive for the B Series, and i've already posted that Box Guitars will customize the JC-X's for you, i'm real interested in how it would be done and how much actually could be done.

[Glenn Drakeley]

Glenn adds to Glenn's last post:

Is the JC-35's fretboard wide enough to accomodate wider string spacings ??

[traktor]

Here's an easy guideline, last time I checked --

Narrowest = Stick

Next narrowest = Warr

Widest = Megatar

[don't know how to compare Box, Solene, or others.]

Megatar strings converge as they travel from bridge saddles toward the nut (as do strats, most basses, etc), so string width depends on *where* along the string. The strings at the bridge saddles are roughly identical to a strat (almost 10mm), and the strings at the nut have wider spacing than most strats or electric guitars.

[Glenn Drakeley]

[don't know how to compare Box, Solene, or others.]

Box JC-35 strings converge as they travel from bridge saddles toward the nut (as do strats, most basses, etc), so string width depends on *where* along the string. The strings at the bridge saddles are roughly identical to a strat (10.8mm), and the strings at the nut are 7mm, is that wider spacing than most strats or electric guitars ?? There is no extra gap between tuning sides as on the Megatar, which measured in at 9mm at the nut and 14mm at the bridge, the actual spec may vary from my measurements.

Thanks to TT for the template :)