An Ode To The Chapman Stick
It’s called the Chapman Stick, and it was one of the most radical developments in music from the second half of the Twentieth Century (the first half goes to the electric guitar).
It’s called the Chapman Stick, and it was one of the most radical developments in music from the second half of the Twentieth Century (the first half goes to the electric guitar).
Think Led Zeppelin gear, and you think of Les Pauls, doublenecks, and Marshall amps. But Jimmy Page’s early gear in Led Zeppelin was actually a continuation of his old Yardbirds setup.
So you’ve seen the guitar of your dreams, but it has a nightmare price tag. What are your options? And should you spend more than you can afford to up-front?
Having used a PRS guitar for over twenty years, and being the first guitarist to appear on a magazine cover with a PRS back in the day, it’s not a big surprise that Al Di Meola would team up with the American guitar giant to produce the PRS Al Di Meola Signature guitar, otherwise known as the Prism.
There are many decisions guitarists have to make in order to find their optimal tone. What guitar do they play, what strings do they use? Do they use their fingers or a pick? What effects pedals, if any, do they run through and what amp(s) do they run that signal through. While many guitarists spend countless hours searching for the best tone possible, using some or all of these methods, the one thing that often misses their radar is the cable they’re using.
New Zealand based luthier Richard Ralston has been building archtop guitars since 2004. We first became connected by email in early 2007 and began discussing his various projects. He is also teaching roughly 50 private guitar students per week.
I was going to write the next series about a non-guitar related art piece but I changed my mind. About a year ago I was commissioned to build a guitar for a client. When I first accepted the order I wasn’t going to be starting it for awhile so we left the details hanging. As the start date got closer, the client asked about making it an art piece. For me this is the best of all worlds, mix my two great passions, guitars and visual art!
It seems like I’m always starting these columns off by apologizing for it being so long since my last installment, so I figure why change now! Sorry, it’s been so freakin’ long! Okay, now I feel better. I actually finished Number One back in January of this year. Since then I’ve been working my old-man-tail off building the rest of the first batch of P-1s, which I just finished shipping in July. Then I went full bore filling guitar stand orders and a couple of other art commissions that have been outstanding for the past year-ish. WHEW! It’s been a hell of a couple of years!
My apologies for so much time passing since my last installment, but I felt I really needed to concentrate on getting these first guitars done. I am way past my initial time estimates for all of my clients and I’m feeling extremely guilty about it. I’d really like to start out by thanking all of them for their kind support and patience this first year of my new guitar venture. Thanks guys!
A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. The biggest bummer was while I was carving the back shape into the neck for 001 an 1¼” long by 3/16” wide black/green stain on the visible side of 001’s neck appeared… ain’t that a bitch! After all the time, energy and dollars committed to the beautiful neck of 001 this stain shows up… neck lost!
