He asked, “I’m just wondering if anyone here has played one of these instruments, because I’m wondering what it sounds like.”

A forum member named R.J. Goos from Fargo, North Dakota, replied –

“I had possession of an Eclipse not long ago, and I made recordings to compare it with a Stick instrument that I had. Playing the same song on both of these tapping instruments, using the same settings on all the recording gear. Though it’s played rather quickly, and I made errors, I think you’ll get an idea of each instrument’s sound.”

Thank you very much, Jay Goos!

COMPARE MEGATAR AND CHAPMAN STICK SONGS

“The TrueTapper and the Chapman Stick were routed into a mixer, with equal gain, into a pedal designed for acoustic guitar, and the resulting output straight into the computer. The song is a simple waltz.” — R.J. Goos

CHAPMAN STICK (MP3), from around 1995,
standard pickup, fretrods, tuned inverted-fifths, and light strings

MOBIUS MEGATAR ‘Eclipse’ Model (MP3),
tuned with bass in inverted fifths like the Stick instrument

6-STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR (MP3)
(an inexpensive Korean Strat knock-off)

OUR COMMENTARY

As you can hear, the Stick, which has a slender body, sounds slightly chiming in tone, but the strong tone of the Eclipse sounds more like a guitar and a bass, with more body on the low notes, and a rounder sound in the melody strings. This is not unexpected, given the physical shape of the two instruments.

Also, as the waltz is played, you can hear on the Megatar instrument how the notes are more ‘in tune’ to your ear, because the Megatar instrument is built with the superior intonation of the Buzz Feiten Intonation System. Small corrections to string saddle placement and the nut position cause adjustment to string length which makes the notes sound more “in tune” to the human ear. (You’ll notice this clearly when you compare the sound of the high notes played in the “break” section of each recording.) The better your ears, the more obvious this will be.

[For more information about the Buzz Feiten Intonation System, and it's use by hundreds of the best guitar and bass players in the world, visit the Buzz Feiten Website.]

COMPARING CHAPMAN STICK AND MOBIUS MEGATAR SOUND

When comparing the Stick and Megatar instruments, considering what you get for your money, also remember that pricing (at the time of this writing) on the 10-string Stick instrument is about $2100, but the price for the Eclipse with a full twelve strings is much less at $1600.

Plus, the TrueTapper Eclipse recorded here also includes tone controls, Buzz Feiten’s Intonation method, tilt-back head and through-body string anchoring for best sustain, two method books on a compact disk, and the stereo output cord. The Stick instrument … doesn’t.

(Naturally, the Mobius company has additional models of touch-style instrument with tone and sound beyond our “Eclipse” model, and some of these enhanced models use premium woods, Bartolini pickups, custom string saddles, and fanned frets, but these comparison recordings should make clear that the simple Eclipse from Mobius Megatar compares very, very well against the sound of the Chapman Stick. In another article here you can compare Chapman Stick features and prices. Feature for feature, sound for sound, dollar for dollar we think you’ll discover Mobius Megatar gives you a better instrument, better sound, and better value.)

In this sound recording session, as a final comparison, Goos recorded the song on a six-string stratocaster-type guitar. In order to do so, he had to position the notes somewhat higher-pitched, as you can hear, and it kind of sounds as if it is trickier to play the song in the restricted space of six strings, compared to the tapping instruments which have two separate sets of strings, one set for each hand.

[Remember, Mr. Goos was not compensated in any way for making these MP3 recordings, and they didn't come about at the request of Mobius Megatar. They were done by Mr. Goos as a project for his own satisfaction, and then he was gracious enough to give us permission to share these recordings with us ... and with you.]