Mobius MegaBlog

Are you familiar with the Chapman Stick / Megatar Comparison Site?

No?

There you can compare the features between these two fine instruments, and you can consider the benefits of each.

You can also hear a recorded comparision of the Chapman Stick and the Mobius Megatar instruments.

RESOURCES AVAIILABLE ON THE CHAPMAN STICK – MEGATAR COMPARISON SITE:

Chapman Stick / Megatar Comparison Home

Buy and Sell Tapping Instruments | Free Classified Ads

Mobius Megatar and Chapman Stick on EBay Today

Comparison Website Mission and Contact Information

Chapman Stick and Megatar News

Newsletter about Chapman Stick and Megatar Music

The Chapman Stick and Megatar Survey

Other Interesting Websites

Other Voltos Websites

Privacy Policy

Contact Info

About the Comparision Website

Good News!

Now available online — an instrument demo, with songs, to provide an overview of how the instrument is made, so that you can see and hear it in use. The video not only shows how easy it can be to play two-handed touch-style, but displays our most basic instrument, the TrueTapper Eclipse.

The Eclipse is a high-end, quality instrument with brilliant sound, so that any professional musician can feel completely comfortable using it for studio recording, with all essential high-end features included. However, the Eclipse is priced so affordably that any student with a summer job can obtain the instrument.

The video also shows U.S. Manager Traktor Topaz playing two songs. (The second song is an improvisation on the same chords as the first song.) This performance shows several of the techniques that are easily learned using our ‘Easy Touch-Style Method.’

And so, for your elucidation and entertainment, we present –

PS: This is the same instrument that was used in the earlier ‘Easy Touch-Style Method’ video. However, this video was not recorded on the Mobius Space Station, which had been rented out for a party for Google executives.

Good News!

We’ve completed the first video of the “Easy Touch-Style Method” series. The purpose of the series is to provide a demo of how easy it can be to learn two-handed touch-style play using the streamlined method developed at Mobius Megatar.

The first video is an ‘Introduction,’ which simply explains what touch-style is, and provides a demo of how one can play by touch. It then shows why having more strings makes playing easier, and shows how clear it is when both hands can move exactly the same. Then, using four simple chords, we demonstrate –

• How to arpeggiate chords in both hands using only nine notes
• How to then change that to play roots and harmony notes with your two hands
• How to use those bass roots to play left hand chords
• How to use those harmony notes while playing walking bass inside the nine notes
• How to play dual melody in both hands.
• How to play chords and improvise
• How to play chords and melody.

And so, for your elucidation and entertainment, we present –

PS: If you are wondering, the instrument used in the demo is our most basic instrument, the TrueTapper Eclipse. The audio recording was done entirely in Guitar Rig 2 with minimal effects. And, as you can see, the demo was filmed in the Mobius Space Station engine room.

Like any builder of instruments, as time goes on, we want to enhance the design of instruments, while still keeping the features that have made our instruments popular.

As some will recall, at the end of last year our shop was all taken apart so that we could install machinery for greater production and greater precision.

We’ve been producing our new instruments on this enhanced machinery since February, and now all Mobius Megatar instruments are made in this new way, which delivers more value than ever before.

Here are the new enhancements:

NECK-THROUGH DESIGN

Our older bolt-on design was emulating Leo Fender’s breakthrough, because bolt-on design generally provides more instrument for less money.

However, with our new machinery — which wasn’t available to Leo Fender — we can now create the enhanced sound that neck-through design delivers, and at the same pricing as for bolt-on.

On a bolt-on instrument, any imperfection in the join of the bolt-on neck creates some loss of conductivity of the vibration in the wood, the sound changes. The frequencies most lost by reason of bolt-on construction are the lowest ones.

Therefore when you change to neck-through design what your ears hear is a smoother and slightly deeper or more mellow sound naturally coming from the instrument, as it is now delivering all of the natural lowest frequencies.

COMPUTER-PRECISE FRETS

We now own and operate our own computer controlled (CNC) machinery, which cuts fretslots with precision down to about 0.002″. A human with a saw just can’t match it, no matter how careful he is. More precise fretslots gives more precise fret placement.

More precise fret placement means the best intonation for your music.

DARK ABALONE FRET-DOTS FOR TRUETAPPERS

We have upgraded the dark plastic fret-dots, and we now install abalone fret-dots, on all of the maple light-wood TrueTapper models (Eclipse, Dragon, and Storm).

NEW FINISH

In the past, our finish was so-so. It did a good job of preventing water-vapor exchange, which is the number one job for a guitar finish. But it was not as clear and beautiful as we’d like.

So we’ve been experimenting, and now provide finish which is very clear and lets the grain of the wood show through. [Rosewood or Wenge fretboards on dark-wood instruments are still oil-finished, of course.]

SUMMARY

So — Computer cutting for precision, and hand-finishing for beauty. New abalone dot-markers and enhanced finish. Neck-through design at the same price as bolt-on.

Our website pix are not yet updated, but as of today on our EBay Megatar Store, you can see a Storm and a MaxTapper. So you can see the abalone dot-markers, the new finish, and detail photos of the neck-through design.

(Of course these particular listings could easily vanish soon, as these particular instruments can be purchased at any minute on EBay. But we’ll have more up on EBay, as production permits.)

EDIT: Oops! The Storm on EBay sold while I was entering this post. So I’ll put the two item numbers here, so you can see them for some time after they’re sold. (I *think* this will work.) –

TrueTapper Storm with new abalone dots, enhanced finish, computer fretslots, and neck-through construction is EBay EBay Item #290131836371

MaxTapper Dual with enhanced finish, computer fretslots, and neck-through construction is EBay EBay Item #290135409253.

The online store is now operational, meaning that a world thirsty for a cool draft of Megatar music, can now obtain instruments direct from the website, along with accessories, and books, and all common factory modifications.

Now you can build your own custom instrument, just the way you like it. Choose a model, and if you wish add piezos or midi, change the saddles, change the trim from chrome to black or gold. There are well over 2000 possible combinations.

Also be sure to check out our new PiezoTapper “SongBird” model.

And if you’re looking for the popular TrueTapper, MaxTapper, or ToneWeaver just the way we’ve always offered them, then that works, too.

If you need another Megatar instrument around the house, to bring you years of music and fun, please visit the new Mobius Megatar Online Store. Available now at a computer near you.