Tuner Strategy for your Chapman Stick

[@andrewdouglas4211]

Using an HX Stomp here and the tuner is great. Has coarse, fine and strobe modes. When I first got my Railboard I tried the Snark clip-on, but I found it to be insufficiently sensitive to track accurately. For those who don't know about it, the HX Stomp has stereo ins as well as outs, and you can process the two sides independently... making it ideal for the Stick. Plus you can add an expression pedal or more footswitches if you like. I bought it in hopes that it could serve as a handy all-in-one solution and so far I'm liking it a lot. My only wish would be for more processing capacity... you can only put so many effects/amp sims/cab sims etc. in the chain before you run out of room.

[@georgeskieffer6150]

I also use an HX Stomp for my Stick with a KMI Softstep 2 as a control pedal which gives me lots of possibilities. I recently added a Dwarf Mod from Mod Audio to which I plug my bass block, then return to the HX as an Aux input. My melodic block is also sent to the Mod Dwarf via a send, which allows me to extend the possibilities, for example using a looper on the Mod Dwarf, the one on the HX being limited - in my point of view - by time. In addition, I can control HX parameters - volumes, feedback, mix... - from an Akai MidiMix connected to the Dawrf Mod and all this via MIDI!

[@andrewdouglas4211]

@@georgeskieffer6150 Wasn't familiar with the Dwarf. Looks like a competitor to the HX Stomp... same concept. True? So if I understand you correctly, you plug the treble side into the HX Stomp then through the Dwarf, but the bass side goes straight into the Dwarf. Both sides are then returned to the HX Stomp. Is that right?

[@georgeskieffer6150]

Yes, that's it. I also tried to put the Dwarf Mod as a slave via the send/return - the bass block this time being connected to the HX Stomp - but it took me 3 out of 8 slots on it just to process my send/return of my two blocks. The solution of processing the bass block through the Dwarf Mod and sending the signal back to the HX Stomp then seemed more judicious to me. Using the HX Stomp routing in addition to the Mod Dwarf MIDI possibilities seems to me to be "le meilleur des mondes".

[@Freehandsacademy]

We thoroughly review the HX Stomp on the Tap in Time podcast with Igor from Line 6 - tapintime.podbean.com/e/stompin-with-stolarsky/

[@georgeskieffer6150]

Thank you, I subscribed to this podcast which I didn't know and which seems very interesting

[@paulauksztulewicz4803]

Great to see you back at it Gene! Happy New Year. Hey, I am flying down to Mendoza, Argentina in April to join Robert Fripp and his Guitar Circle for a week. Can you believe it? Any tips on flying with a guitar as a carry on? It’s been 15 years since I have flown internationally with a guitar on my back. I know it’s a lot stricter now.

[@Freehandsacademy]

Glad we got to chat by phone - that is going to be the trip of a lifetime! What was the name of the brand you mentioned that were so great for acoustic guitar?

[@paulauksztulewicz4803]

Most participants in the Guitar Circle use Ovation guitars since 1985. Fun fact, Trey Gunn was in Guitar Craft before becoming a member of King Crimson.

[@caeliachapin5317]

OK, I have a couple of really dumb questions. First, why do you need a stereo tuner? I have a Railboard, and I just switch it to mono for tuning. Do other Stick models just not have a mono mode? And second, why do you find it necessary to mute the instrument? I've played instruments and been around musicians for most of my life, and as far as I know people don't generally mute their instruments when they tune. PS: Thanks for doing these videos!

[@bbacher95]

Correct - other models don't have a mono mode (unless they've recently changed that).

[@Freehandsacademy]

The Stickup is straight dual mono but the Actv-2 and the recently discontinued PASV-4 can be switched to a single mono channel.

[@Freehandsacademy]

In the absence of a clip on tuner, one will need not so much a stereo tuner but a a 2 channel tuner. Muting is a preference really, most pedal tuners mute when activated by design.

[@subbbass]

sorry Gene i want to listen to what you say but i find it very distracting and disturbing to have music in the background. As i musician i can't stand the habit to have constant background music as noise and i want only to listen deeply into music or stop the music. That's why i have to stop your video again and again ....

[@Freehandsacademy]

Took out the music for you this week and did a special on that opening tune.