to damp or not damp

[thomact]

Hi,

I was rehearsing with my band today - 1st rehearsal with my touch guitar instead of a bass. I was using my 8 string touch style, with a pick, and finger style. The guitarist complained that the sound wasn't right. I wasn't convinced, since he's only so-so about the whole tapping issue. But he is a sound engineer, so I bore with him when he suggested taking the damper off. Lo and behold, I noticed a significant increase in the 'openness' of the tone - not just (obviously) in the open string notes but across all frets on all strings.

I think, just to clarify, that the tone wasn't necessarily 'better' but had more defined, focussed low end - more of a bass guitar tone than before.

Has anyone else had experiences similar to this? Is there some way of taking on and off my damper for different tracks? There's some stuff I just can't play flat-handed enough to keep sympathetic vibes away.

Thom...

[BCroad]

Thom,


For what it's worth, I never use a dampener for the reasons you said, that the note has more depth to it, and, if you need open strings they are there. You can switch between all of your techniques, and it's nice to not depend on a dampener, if you were to lose it before a show it could be a problem.


My little two cents,


Bryan

[thomact]

thanks Bryan,

what are you tapping on?

[Fredrik]

What instruments are you guys using? I'm concidering not to put a damper on my 8 string now in production to keep the open strings available but don't want to make it more difficult to play. I tried it once on my old 10 string stick but it sounded awfull. Too much noice from open strings.

Fredrik

[thomact]

I'm tapping on the 'blueberry' 8 string made by Siggi. You can find pics here. (http://www.geocities.com/bearguitars)

I didn't notice a lot of string noise, but I tend to play very flat handed - as that was how I was taught to play bass at the ACM. I think that string noise will be an issue with more complex playing - hence my question about a more easily removable damper.

I'm planning now to modify a capo to cover all 8 strings in order to damp the strings from above. Has anyone else done this - does it work?

Thom...

[Fredrik]

I've seen people using a simple hairband that can be pulled down from the head when needed. The NS stick have some sort of damper you can retract, not shure how this work technically. I recon the biggest challenge with a capo would be the tuning of the strings. If it pull down too hard it will change your tuning. If it's too loose it might move around on the neck. One sollution might be to attach it to the instruments head.

[thomact]

I think that I've got the perfect instrument for the capo idea: the neck has a really exaggerated asymmetric profile, which offers a surface at just the right angle for my right thumb to anchor from. But, it also means that there is a nice 'v' shaped section of neck for a capo to hold onto.

Fingers crossed.

Thom...

[Fredrik]

Yeah, I was trying to buy that instrument, but some brittish ******* got before me in line :-)

What's the sound like??

Fredrik

[thomact]

really nice - quite guitar-like tone in higher register thanks to 32" scale. And surprisingly, the low b sounds really nice too.

I'll post some mp3s once I've recorded em.

Thom

[rjgoos]

No damper?!?! Heresy!!! Throw him to the alligators in the moat!!

[thomact]

have you tried it :) ? I'm not saying that I don't need one - but that I will avoid using one wherever possible to get the improvement in tone.

Thom...

[rjgoos]

I have two instruments with removeable dampers, a 6-string Strat that I tap, and an 8-string homemade unit. I think the Strat sounds OK either way. The homemade unit definitely sounds better with a damper, because of the stray sounds it stops.

On the strat, I simply use some tissue paper, folded over several times, and stuck between the fretboard and the strings, between the nut and fret 1. On the homemade unit, I use Traktor's idea...rubbermaid drawer liner material (a great damper material, btw).


Jay

[BCroad]

Thom,


Sorry I didn't reply sooner as I was out of the office, that should tell right there how well my music career is going!! Anyway, right now I am tapping an acoustic, with no special setup or anything, strangely enough I've been getting great reaction from it. I also tap a 7-string guitar, Conkilin 8-string guitar, my Novax 8-string guitar/bass but usually play it traditionally 95% of the time, and in the cover gig, 6-string bass and keys at the same time. You could trane a chimp to do what I do though, very simple stuff, not at all like some of the players I've heard on board here.


Hope this helps.


Bryan

[traktor]

Originally posted by rjgoos
On the homemade unit, I use Traktor's idea...rubbermaid drawer liner material (a great damper material, btw) On a suggestion from Mark Warr, who claimed that this material was used in foundations to dampen vibrations during earthquakes, I tried this material, which I found for sale at OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware).

I found that it worked well, especially if you run it under all the strings and then come back across, weaving under and over each alternate string.

As there is no OSH located near our shop in Mount Shasta, I recently found an alternate source for the same or identical stuff. It's sold through ACE Hardware, so that should make it easier to find in smaller towns. It's called Duck Brand Original Easy Liner Non-Adhesive, and it's in the kitchenware section, because it's sold as a non-slip shelf liner for your plates and dishes. If no findo through ACE, the manufacturer is Duck Products at www.duckproducts.com or phone them at (800) 321-0253.

Happy damping!

[motormind]

Originally posted by rjgoos
On the homemade unit, I use Traktor's idea...rubbermaid drawer liner material (a great damper material, btw).


I use the same stuff on my Shamray 12-string touch guitar, after fiddling with some felt-like material.. and I found it sounds much better. It tried to play without dampening for a while, but that was a nightmare, since the open strings would ring sympathetically.

I do have to use an extra piece of liner on the melody strings though, which strikes me as a bit odd... but what the heck, it works fine.

[rjgoos]

Motormind:

Is your instrument like this one on the Shamray site:

www.shamray.ru/show.php?id=72&lang=en


How do you like it? I don't think I've ever met a Shamray owner before.


Jay

[motormind]

Originally posted by rjgoos
Motormind:

Is your instrument like this one on the Shamray site:

www.shamray.ru/show.php?id=72&lang=en

Jay

Yes, that's it, but I had the bass and melody side switched around for uncrossed playing, since the neck really is pretty wide. It plays very fine now and has a very mellow, jazzy tone.

[rjgoos]

Motormind wrote:

>Yes, that's it, but I had the bass and melody side switched around for uncrossed playing, since the neck really is pretty wide. It plays very fine now and has a very mellow, jazzy tone.<


A wide neck is probably better played uncrossed, but to me the thickness of the neck is important. If the neck is relatively thin in the edges (which is perfect for crossed tunings), your hands are cramped up (thumbs too close to fingers).....well,at least mine get cramped up.

That is why I have gone to building my own instruments, so I could have a neck shape better adapted to my hand size and uncrossed play.


Jay

[motormind]

Originally posted by rjgoos

A wide neck is probably better played uncrossed, but to me the thickness of the neck is important. If the neck is relatively thin in the edges (which is perfect for crossed tunings), your hands are cramped up (thumbs too close to fingers).....well,at least mine get cramped up.

That is why I have gone to building my own instruments, so I could have a neck shape better adapted to my hand size and uncrossed play.


The neck if fairly thick, but not that much more than a Stick, really. It does has somewhat sloped edges, but that doesn't bother me, since I actually prefer to keep my thumb on the side of the neck when I play on the outer strings. I have large hands with long thumbs, which might contribute to this way of playing.

I also have a 10-string Stick in classical tuning and the fact that I can't play with both hands in the same position really is a pain. I use the Stick mostly as a bass guitar though, hardly using the melody side at all then. The bass on the Stick does sound a lot punchier than on the Shamray, which is more like a big jazz guitar. And - to keep with the subject - the damper on the Stick does its job amazingly well... what is it made of? It looks like some sort of velcro. to me.