On November 1, at the age of 85, American jazzman and inventor Emmett Chapman died, among other things, the creator of Chapman’s cult stick, a type of electric guitar that quickly gained immense popularity.
Guitar reports with reference to Chapman’s company that the musician retired to his home after a long battle with cancer.
Chapman was born in California on September 28, 1936. As a guitarist, he began recording in the late 60s, playing with Barney Kessell and Tim Buckley, constantly experimenting and evolving. The result of this research was his stick – a long and wide guitar neck with eight, ten or twelve strings. Chapman made the first stick for himself in the early 70s, after which he repeatedly improved and modernized it.
Note that along with Chapman himself, bassist King Crimson Tony Levin became one of the most famous masters and enthusiasts of the stick.
In 1985, Emmett released his solo album Parallel Galaxy, the track Back Yard from which was used in Lynch’s Dune: Chapman’s tuned stick depicted in tape the baliset, the nine-string musical instrument described in the original novel.
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