I just got gobsmacked by a video on YouTube of someone playing a Beartrax tapper guitar. I searched Google and found the Beartrax website but being a happy builder of noise makers I think I'd like some info so I can consider whether to build one or not.
So is a tapper a playing style or a guitar style? How do they work? I've never known a guitar not to be plucked or hammered. The video showed someone literally tapping on the guitar and certainly not hammering it. Is it a special pickup? Are they wired differently? Would the neck need to have a trussrod? It had lots of strings but was really wide so would the width of the neck negate strengthening? I imagine some form of extra strength would be needed. What about body material requirements? I imagine that amount of strings would snap a cigar box into twenty pieces. Solid body always? Semi-hollow maybe? What else would I need to know to try building one without giving my bank manager a nervous tick?
Lots of questions from a knowledge hungry guy. If you can find an info resource for builders then I'm fine if you post the link and tell me to be quiet and go play haha. Otherwise, got answers? Purlease! :D
Tomorrow I start with the Harp Ukulele questions haha. I saw Circuits and Strings have made one of those already. A harp ukelele. I'm amazed and intrigued. Again. This building lark is going to send me crazy. #NeverEnding.
Thanks for any help given. Much appreciated.
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This is how I get low action on a 3 stringer.
The secret is in the taper of the neck. I have been consistently buying the same 4cm x 2cm mahogany. I will carve a 3cm width x 3cm depth size D at the nut and a 3.2 width x 3.6cm depth D at the 10th fret with that angle leading off to the heel (for light strings) or the 13th fret (for heavy strings). Heavy strings also get a drop off relief when fret leveling.
The idea being to use the fact that the neck will slightly bow when the strings go on (the frets are leveled before any strings go on) but to try to control the bow Position by thickening the wood so that it bows more at some places than others.
Now when I say a bow in the neck I'm aiming at perhaps 1/4 - 2/3mm at its deepest part. (Depending on string size and scale length) Check by holding down a tuned string at the first and last fret and tapping the middle of the string.
I also string a guitar slightly too high tuned for a few days and leave it like that before bringing it back to normal tuning to set up the action at the bridge.
I will add that I put my frets directly on the neck and it's very rare that I will use a separate fretboard.
That's the way to do it Fomhorach.
There's a place online Grey Bear to buy CBG necks already built or a semi-built neck that you finish. I believe it's Deltagrooveguitars.com
Thanks again Paul. I'll take a look at the link.
Sounds complicated and again I think you're way ahead of me in building skills. You've given me quite a lot of gems in there and I'll try tuning past the strings tuned notes and leaving it for a few days and also try not using a fretboard too. Lots to think on and your help is much appreciated. Thanks.
Requires a very straight neck with just a little relief in the trussrod adjustment, a good setup and fingertips need to be hard too which comes with a lot of play time.
I would have the strings at 3/32nds" above the first fret, but I would have about 5/32nds" to 3/16ths" at the 24th fret. A neck adjusted this way will not have any fret buzz unless there's a dip/uneven place in the neck. That's why a fretted neck is so much more work than a fretless or slide guitar. You need a good straight and level piece of wood to start with, a good trussrod, level frets, neck set at the right angle to the body and setup.
Thanks for replying Paul. Sounds like you're way ahead of me with your building. Maybe I should rethink the plan to buy neck blanks on ebay and go to my local timber merchant to make sure I get straight wood. Thanks for helping. Much appreciated.
Like Jim Dickison said, it's closely related to a Chapman Stick - http://www.stick.com/
As for tuning, there's probably a lot of options, but the standard tuning has the bass tuned in fifths with the lowest in the center and the melody in fourths, also with the lowest in the center.
Here's an illustration I found when researching them a while back:
Thanks Robert. I'll have to find out what a dimper is I think as it sounds important and necessary. I appreciate the help and knowing the tuning is sure to help. Thanks again.
You bet!
I was wondering about the damper myself. I think it is used to keep the strings quiet on the nut side when you are hammering. Otherwise you'd get string tones from both ends. But I might be wrong.
Cheers!
Cheers to you! You may be onto something there. Ghosts-R-Us all up and down the neck. I doubt I'll end up learning to play it half well but I might build one just for the challenge if I can find enough info on how to do it. Experimentation is good but having a few pointers to start with or simply understanding how they work and what they are can't go amiss. Thanks for the help.
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