Chapman Stick or Mobius Megatar – What’s the Best Amp?
If you are beginning to learn to play the Chapman Stick, or perhaps the competing instrument, the Mobius Megatar, then one of your first questions will be: "What is the best amp to use?"
After all, these specialty instruments are made specifically to make powerful use of the two-handed tapping (or "touchstyle") method of play, and as electric guitars, they normally require amplification.,
Where to Start?
Of course, the first place to begin with amplification is probably to start with whatever you have.
If your existing amplifier only has one input jack, then a simple $3 Y-Connector from Radio Shack will enable you to plug both bass and melody cables from the instrument into the single input jack.
Playing through the amp(s) you have begins to tell you better what would be the best.
Step by step wins the race.
Three Approaches to Chapman Stick / Megatar Amplification
There are three main ways to go about amplifying a touchstyle instrument like the Megatar or the Stick ...
#1 -- Some folks actually get a bass and a guitar amp, because this produces very good sound. (Guitar amps are designed so as to be very kind and supportive to the sound of guitar; bass amps are designed to be very kind and supportive to the sound of bass.)
Since Emmett Chapman's Stick instrument and the Mobius Megatar tapping bass have separate outputs for bass and guitar, this is a good route, though it may be more to buy, and if you gig, more to haul!
#2 -- Some folks run both melody and bass into a single amp. For example, my friend Teed Rockwell, who plays Indian music in the San Francisco Bay Area, runs both bass and melody into the two inputs of an ancient Fender twin reverb. This tends to make it sound like "one instrument".
However, many folks will choose to use different effects on bass and melody. For example, bass usually benefits from a bit of compression, but bass doesn't like reverb because it sounds muddy on bass notes.
#3 -- Some folks, including me, use a keyboard amp for both bass and melody. However, keyboard amps (also called PA or Public Address amps) give a rather sterile sound to bass and guitar .... unless you use either a preamp, or an emulating direct box, or effects before going into the keyboard amp. I used to use a couple of Johnson J-Stations, but I've heard other rigs that sounded better than the J-Stations, and I'm sure better choices now exist.
It's Your Music, Your Ears
Overall, I cannot recommend an amp or amps for you, because it's your ears, your music, your budget, and your taste.
But I can tell you a method that works real well for choosing an amp or amps ...
Take your Chapman Stick or the Megatar to the largest guitar store you can find.
Ask them if you can play through the guitar and bass amps. They'll say yes, and they will probably be curious about your Megatar or Stick.
Now spend some time, and simply let your ears and your budget be your guide.
It will become very clear, very quickly .. A simple method. Works great. Works every time.
About the Author
Traktor Topaz is the author of a free two-handed tapping newsletter and a free method book that reveals a powerful two-handed tapping method. He has created a detailed sound and features comparison of Stick and Megatar instruments, at the Chapman Stick and Megatar Comparison website.
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