Jam Stick +

[3dog]

I am taking on-line guitar lessons and came across some videos on youtube demoing the Jam Stick +. In fact one of the videos was by the same guy that is teaching the guitar course on-line. I am familiar with Bluetooth LE and use it with my wind controller and keyboard controller. Though I would start a thread while I am waiting for delivery this week. Would like input from those with experience with it. I think I might have seen the first version some time ago but wasn't planning on playing guitar and it had midi via wifi which is a dog (tried it with my wind controller(PUC) and it was not stable and the latency was terrible). One of the review said it was too small and hard to hold. He didn't put the strap on and was not holding it the way the others that demo it did so I didn't think he was fair.

[Larryz]

@3dog, Not familiar with the Jam Stick, but I'll check it out on YT...I used to go by the name: Two Dogs in my gold mining days!

[desertbluesman]

Never heard of it, but if it works have at it.....I did look at pictures online it looks strange to me but I am sure it will be useful to some folks.

[whitefang]

I'm with DBM here. Damn thing looks more like a TOY, but some of the vids I sat through did show how useful it can be.

 

Basically, I'm not a "gadget whore" and primarily a technophobe, so I'd have no use for it. But as "sticks" go, it's MUCH more useful than a "selfie stick" And probably offers more enjoyment.

Whitefang

[Larryz]

I like the idea that they use real guitar strings and you never have to tune them LOL! But, +1,000 I would have no use for the Jamstick...It might be a good cheap way for kids and beginners to break into the guitar scene until they can afford a guitar...

[Winston Psmith]

Can't say that I'd buy one, either, but in fairness, most of us in this Forum are not the target market for this thing. The short scale length would not work for me, under any circumstances. It looks, and probably feels, much more like a game controller than a Guitar, but it's not being marketed as a Guitar, not exactly. I suspect that you never need to tune it, because the strings are more trigger mechanisms than anything else.

 

There's a used Fretlight Guitar with a Tele-style body at a nearby GC, for $200; if I were looking for a tool to learn on, I'd probably go with that, or something more like it. Even if you don't have the Fretlight system engaged, it still functions as a perfectly good Electric Guitar. IMHO, the full scale length is a vital learning tool, in and of itself. because it opens up all the different pathways on the neck. The Jam Stick looks fine for getting to your basic 1st Position chords, or learning the rote Chromatic Scale warm-up, but that's about all?

 

I'll be curious to see how it works for 3dog, since the Jam Stick is on its way.

[3dog]

Can't say that I'd buy one, either, but in fairness, most of us in this Forum are not the target market for this thing. The short scale length would not work for me, under any circumstances. It looks, and probably feels, much more like a game controller than a Guitar, but it's not being marketed as a Guitar, not exactly. I suspect that you never need to tune it, because the strings are more trigger mechanisms than anything else.

 

There's a used Fretlight Guitar with a Tele-style body at a nearby GC, for $200; if I were looking for a tool to learn on, I'd probably go with that, or something more like it. Even if you don't have the Fretlight system engaged, it still functions as a perfectly good Electric Guitar. IMHO, the full scale length is a vital learning tool, in and of itself. because it opens up all the different pathways on the neck. The Jam Stick looks fine for getting to your basic 1st Position chords, or learning the rote Chromatic Scale warm-up, but that's about all?

 

I'll be curious to see how it works for 3dog, since the Jam Stick is on its way.

 

Still waiting on it but I agree that if I didn't already have the iOS and Mac devices along with the amp and vst sounds, I would be getting a "real" guita to learn on.

This video details how it is being used in a real learning environment and how it supplements learning on a "real" guitar.

If it is a POS I will let you know. I was hoping to hear from people who have it but I guess they are not active on this forum. I would not consider the first generation of this produce as it is wifi midi and a lot of the negative posts are regarding the first generation.

 

I would have considered the Fretlight but I am not sure if it will control other midi vsts or software and I didn't think that looking at little lights on the fretboard was going to do it for me. I would rather look at a screen or sheet music and have my brain tell my fingers where to go after I have taught it how to form a chord. I have a real ukulele and I am constantly having to tune it and it sounds out of tune all the time and it is interfering with learning. I know that I will have to learn tuning later but for now I want something that is in tune so I can hear what the chord is supposed to sound like.

[Shoes]

This would likely be great for my son. He just got his first guitar and the trip between university and home is like 5 hours. He could amuse himself with this quite easily.... whereas breaking out the flattop on the bus or backseat of your buddy's car can be a biatch.

[3dog]

Received it yesterday. I bought an open box item from Amazon and saved about $50 and still can return if it is a POS. Battery was installed so I turned it on and paired it with my iPhone 7 plus within seconds and tried it with Sampletank first. This is not a negative but one has to realize that most iOS and Mac sounds are set up for keyboard so some funky things happen when using other midi controllers without tweaking midi or the controller. Best response was found when using guitar sounds, duh. No noticeable latency. I had download the learning apps and also reviewed the first several courses along with the first set of courses on UDEMY - Complete Guitar System - Beginning to Advanced by Erich Andreas and they are completely different in their approach. Going to alternate between them to see if I can progress faster. Also want to see if I can do the same things a "real" guitar does. I don't have any bias yet. Erich starts out with picking and strumming technique and I could do everything he was doing on an acoustic. Notice I haven't had to muck with tuning. I have decided to start out using the provided guitar sounds and stay on the low profile iPhone and/or Bose mini amp or Bose noise canceling ear buds. Want to stay as wireless as possible so I can practice anywhere (within reason). Can't disturb others while learning or I might get killed in the process. You really need to use the provided strap due to the small form factor. (Only one reviewer attempted to use the strap when reviewing but there are some good videos of it being used in a music video setting with the strap being used properly) On to building calluses and mussel memory! Ok, this is love at first sight.

[Larryz]

Good luck 3dog, Keep us posted on how it works out for you!

[3dog]

This would likely be great for my son. He just got his first guitar and the trip between university and home is like 5 hours. He could amuse himself with this quite easily.... whereas breaking out the flattop on the bus or backseat of your buddy's car can be a biatch.

 

You got me thinking. My son does play the guitar and has two girls. Got a month before he comes down so the plan is to get everything set up and working and give it to him so he can use it to teach his children. Then I will get another, of course.

[Winston Psmith]

Glad it seems to be working for you, 3dog. Once you get used to it, you might have some fun 'playing' some of the other sounds in Sampletank; quick access to MIDI Guitar, since you already have the Jam Stick. Let us know how it goes.

[3dog]

I tend to prefer midi patches that sound close to an acoustic instrument. They seem to be more acceptable to people who have, what I call, "acoustic bias". I do have that bias somewhat as I was a sax and clari player in a big band. I can't tolerate synth sax sounds but have found acceptable sampled sounds (expensive and require a computer) I do use a wind controller with a bari vst in a big band sax section.

So far when playing a chord on the Jam Stick and using a piano sound it sounded like a guitar playing a piano sound instead of a piano. So it is a combination of sound and technique.

Same thing happen with my wind controller but I did find some great Sample Modeling vst that worked along with even a peddle steal sound that worked surprising well.

Maybe with more practice this will change with the Jam Stick. What I think is a realistic goal is to sound as close to an electric or acoustic guitar as possible so I can play in my county jam group. They tend to love my peddle steel sound but I got board as everything started to sound the same and I couldn't play chords or change keys like they constantly do with those damn capos. Some of their voices and instruments are so out of tune also so if they yell out a key it maybe not the same that they actually play. I love the challenge. They give you seconds notice of a key change and I am not that good to do that as I am using sheet music and they don't. One of my wind controllers has a key change button that works well and the Jam Stick has a capo function. I considered all of this before purchase and deciding to invest my time to learning the Jam Stick.

[Larryz]

+1 on them damn capoites changing keys and not even knowing what key they are playing in. They'll say something like C+2 LOL! The best way to keep up is concentrate on playing your major and minor scales and your Pentatonic major/minor blues scales. They cannot leave you behind that way and you can work on chords later!

[3dog]

I had to take 3 online music theory classes to understand how to deal with these "head arrangers" and I have done what you suggested. Great suggestion. I am a recovering sight reader.

[Larryz]

It worked for me as I have 3 acoustic buddies that use their capos to the max. I got tired of transposing the chords for every song they want to play and just started doing fills and noodling until they gave me a lead...they can't figure out how I can keep up with them no matter where they put their capos LOL!

[3dog]

And that is why you are in the Hall of Fame.

[Larryz]

No, I think it's just because I'm a blabber mouth. Once you get to 2,000 posts, you'll be in the Hall of Fame too LOL!

[whitefang]

 

Hell. Even I'M in the "hall of fame" which PROVES it's a dubious honor at best.

Whitefang

[3dog]

I can see real value in using a combination of the lessons that come with the Jam Stick and using an on-line lesson or local teacher simultaneously. The Jam Stick is forgiving regarding the placement of your finger behind the fret whereas a "real" guitar is not so much. The arcade supplement in the Jam Stick lessons bring to life the importance of strumming the correct strings for the given chords. The UDEMY couse mentioned in my earlier post, gives one the understanding of the frustrations that the typical student encounters and gives you little pep talks to keep you going. My goal is still to transition to a "real" guitar but I don't think I will have too as I haven't really found any disadvantages to using the Jam Stick. At this point I feel the combination of the tool and the lesson are well worth the cost.

I have also found that the Jam Stick interfaces well enough with the iOS devices I have and I don't find that I need my MacBook, which is not the case with my wind controller. When using a Mac based vst I have to remember to set the midi channel to Omni as I have the Jam Stick sending a separate channel for each string. I think I could change that but I want to use it pretty much as set up by the factory and concentrate on technique.

[Larryz]

My goal is still to transition to a "real" guitar but I don't think I will have too as I haven't really found any disadvantages to using the Jam Stick.

 

I can see some disadvantages without having to sit down with one. For instance if you want to stand up with it, you will have to devise a strap (unless they have one already). It is hard to hold due to it's size unless you're sitting down and put the butt against your lap. When going to a "real" guitar you will notice a difference in the comfort of holding the instrument and will need to re-learn some of your fretting and picking hand techniques. You are locked into about a 6 fret area for scales and chords and will need to transition up the neck on a "real" guitar. However, some players never get past the 6th fret LOL! I suggest you have some experienced players and/or teacher, try it out and give you some feed back.

 

There are some cool things about it that looks interesting. It is a midi controller which can trigger other instruments (there are electric guitars that can do this too). Latency not a problem (hopefully). Blue tooth to cell phone is cool. It is easy to pack and take with you on a plane or bus or? Good little travel companion. Looks easy to play as far as fingering chords, etc. As a cool toy, it could be fun. As a guitar replacement, I don't think so...just my 2 cents...

[3dog]

I agree and I did let a neighbor try it. He was a hacker and had some scotch in him but he was polite and said it was cool. We have a guitar player in our big band and as soon as I get far enough to demo it, I will run it by him. I agree you really need to use the included strap. Not sue about the fret limitation thing until I get further along and see how the capo button works. This is really hard work getting just 5 frets down with fingers that are not used to moving the way they need to and it maybe a long time before I can report on that one. It's like showing my wind controller to the other sax players that are in their 80s. They don't even have flip phones and never heard of midi. Maybe my 10 year old grand daughter will explain it all to my guitar hacking son when I teach her. I think she is my best shot. I know some rather large players in our country jam group that this would look like a stencil or stain on their shirt if they played this. It is smaller than a Soprano Ukulele (but heavier) and they would look eaqually rediculess playing a uke but I will pass it by then to get their reaction. I have learned not explain too much about my wind controller and just refer it to as a keyboard on a stick. All of this tech has been around since the 80s but what has changed is the size and cost of the unit doing the computing and sound generation and of corse the sound quality. Some will argue that analog is better than digital and others will argue about acoustic v electric. Just want to make pleasing music, myself.

Also noticed distortion from the tinny speakers in my iOS devices if I turn the vol past 50%. I use an external amp to try to avoid damage. Doesn't seems to bother my earbud headphones.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Can't say that I'd buy one, either, but in fairness, most of us in this Forum are not the target market for this thing. The short scale length would not work for me, under any circumstances. It looks, and probably feels, much more like a game controller than a Guitar, but it's not being marketed as a Guitar, not exactly. I suspect that you never need to tune it, because the strings are more trigger mechanisms than anything else.

 

There's a used Fretlight Guitar with a Tele-style body at a nearby GC, for $200; if I were looking for a tool to learn on, I'd probably go with that, or something more like it. Even if you don't have the Fretlight system engaged, it still functions as a perfectly good Electric Guitar. IMHO, the full scale length is a vital learning tool, in and of itself. because it opens up all the different pathways on the neck. The Jam Stick looks fine for getting to your basic 1st Position chords, or learning the rote Chromatic Scale warm-up, but that's about all?

 

I'll be curious to see how it works for 3dog, since the Jam Stick is on its way.

 

+ 1,001. And that Fretlight is easily a far better option.

 

A mere five frets, deeply recessed saddle-notches at the bridge making it impossible to properly damp or mute there with the picking-hand with any finesse, impossible to bend single-notes (let alone double-stops)... Does this even pick up fretting-hand vibrato? Naaaaaaaaaaa. You may as well be offering me an unadorned a popsicle-stick, which I'd probably find more use for- with my real, actual guitar.

[3dog]

I'll be curious to see how it works for 3dog, since the Jam Stick is on its way.

 

+ 1,001. And that Fretlight is easily a far better option.

 

A mere five frets, deeply recessed saddle-notches at the bridge making it impossible to properly damp or mute there with the picking-hand with any finesse, impossible to bend single-notes (let alone double-stops)... Does this even pick up fretting-hand vibrato? Naaaaaaaaaaa. You may as well be offering me an unadorned a popsicle-stick, which I'd probably find more use for- with my real, actual guitar.

 

Not sure about all that but when I get to those issues I will let you know. I do suspect that there will be compromises as this is not a "real" guitar but I am hoping that it will help me learn to play one at an acceptable level. I have relatively little money invested in this venture so far and I hope for a Big Bang for my buck. Jury still out.

 

Here is a link that demonstrates some of the older attempts at a midi guitar. Don't think the Fretlight is a midi guitar.

He has way more invested in wires alone.

 

When I am ready to go pro and shell out serious change I will be checking out the Godin Multiac Grand Concert Duet Ambiance.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I'll be curious to see how it works for 3dog, since the Jam Stick is on its way.

 

+ 1,001. And that Fretlight is easily a far better option.

 

A mere five frets, deeply recessed saddle-notches at the bridge making it impossible to properly damp or mute there with the picking-hand with any finesse, impossible to bend single-notes (let alone double-stops)... Does this even pick up fretting-hand vibrato? Naaaaaaaaaaa. You may as well be offering me an unadorned a popsicle-stick, which I'd probably find more use for- with my real, actual guitar.

 

Not sure about all that but when I get to those issues I will let you know. I do suspect that there will be compromises as this is not a "real" guitar but I am hoping that it will help me learn to play one at an acceptable level. I have relatively little money invested in this venture so far and I hope for a Big Bang for my buck. Jury still out.

 

Here is a link that demonstrates some of the older attempts at a midi guitar. Don't think the Fretlight is a midi guitar.

He has way more invested in wires alone.

 

When I am ready to go pro and shell out serious change I will be checking out the Godin Multiac Grand Concert Duet Ambiance.

 

Hey, a belated welcome to the GPF and nice-to-meet-ya. I apologize for the crabby, negative post above- I could've, probably should've said what I meant in a nicer way- please take it with a big grain of salt, I've had a really $h!tty week-and-a-half there, though I can smile and take reassurance that the future's uncertain and the end is ALWays near...

[3dog]

It shows your passion for music and I appreciate the heads up as to what to look for.

[Winston Psmith]

@3dog - You're correct, the Fretlight is not a MIDI Guitar; more of a self-contained practice tool. My thought was that the feel and functionality of a full-size Electric Guitar might be an advantage, or an upgrade, at some point. If the Jam Stick is working for you, please don't let any of us discourage you from exploring it.

 

Slight aside: FWIW, I do speak MIDI. Been playing and programming MIDI Synths since the mid-80's, got my first MIDI "Guitar" around 1990. It was a Suzuki XG-1m, and your Jam Stick reminds me of it . . .

 

It was modeled to fit in the same housing as their Unisynth, a glorified toy instrument. It transmitted over MIDI Channel 1 only, although it was polyphonic, so long as you were slaving a Poly Synth. That Whammy Bar sent CC data, like a Pitch Bend Wheel, so if you were holding down a chord, the whole chord shifted.

[3dog]

Winston, you might get value from this review from a guitarist talks about the +/-s and how he uses the midi.

For me, I going to keep going until my fingers bleed. Got through the fist lessons and moving to the 2nd. My pinky is coming alive on the fret board. For some odd reason it seems to be helping with muscle strength on the wind controller and keyboard. Have seen the earlier rather expensive attempts at a midi guitar but for the price of this and all the functionality it was well worth taking the risk of getting a POS that ends up in the closet. And no wires need unless you want to use them for interface and of course charging. Midi on IOS is getting better for keyboard and now the Jam Stick but still not there for us wind controllers. Invested a lot of money in trying to find good sound for the WC so I figured I would use them for what they were designed for, keyboard and guitar controllers.

[3dog]

Its been close to a month now of practicing almost daily and taking on-line lessons. After listening to the others opinions I went to the local music store with my guitar playing brother and picked up a used Hamer Arch top, Peavey VIP 1 practice amp, chord, extra strings and a tuner. All of this was @$400. I found if a lot harder to get a good sounding chord on the real guitar as my fingers have to be retrained for the much lower action and the placement of the finger before the fret is more critical on a real guitar. As the neck is longer it was easier to get all of my fingers working than on the short neck of the Jamstik +. I can see the need for a real teacher for the real guitar as there is so much more you have to deal with early on. You have to learn all about the amp but it is less complicated than learning about how to change sounds on my IOS devices or Mac. The amp is a lot cheaper than those devices but I can't get email on my amp. I can use headphones on the amp but the size does not lend itself to being able to practice just about anywhere with just the Jamstik, iPhone and headphones. I am going to continue to learn on the Jamstik + to a point where I find the Jamstik can no longer do what a real guitar can do. I do expect that I will need to take live lessons at that point and I hope I don't have to relearn too much. I expect I will know the chord formations, strumming and music reading but I do expect that I will need to retrain my fingers for proper placement.

[Larryz]

Thanks for the report 3dog and keep us posted on your progress...Congrats on the new guitar! Did your brother like the feel of the new guitar? Glad you found a good fit and keep up the practice schedule!