Stick Enterprises

Stick Enterprises

Also known as: Stick Enterprises Inc, The Chapman Stick, Chapman Stick

Unclaimed

Stick Enterprises is a family-run instrument maker based in the Los Angeles area, founded in 1974 by jazz guitarist Emmett Chapman to produce his namesake invention, the Chapman Stick. Chapman developed a two-handed tapping technique in 1969 and spent the following years refining a fretboard instrument designed around it — strings are tapped against the frets with both hands, more like a piano ...

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Stick Enterprises is a family-run instrument maker based in the Los Angeles area, founded in 1974 by jazz guitarist Emmett Chapman to produce his namesake invention, the Chapman Stick. Chapman developed a two-handed tapping technique in 1969 and spent the following years refining a fretboard instrument designed around it — strings are tapped against the frets with both hands, more like a piano keyboard than a guitar, allowing a single player to handle bass lines, chords, and melody simultaneously. The company holds multiple patents covering aspects of the instrument's design.

The product line centers on a family of long-scale tapping instruments, all built by hand in the United States. Models include the original ten-string Stick, the twelve-string Grand Stick, the aluminum-necked Railboard, the NS/Stick (a collaboration with luthier Ned Steinberger that blends tapping with conventional guitar/bass technique), the Stick Bass, Stick Guitar, Ten String Grand, and Alto Stick. The company also sells strings, custom electronics, stands, cases, and instructional materials through its online store.

Though a small operation, Stick Enterprises has an outsized footprint in progressive rock, jazz fusion, and experimental music thanks to players like Tony Levin, whose work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel brought the instrument to wide audiences. Following Emmett Chapman's death, the company has continued under family leadership, with Grace Chapman heading the business and instrument building.

Stick Enterprises has 5 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Electric Basses and Solid Body Electric Guitars.

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