Ever Invented Something?

[SirLoin]

First off i'de like to thank HT & HTC for AH2..That said,any of you blokes had an invention idea and how far did you get with it?

Here's mine..The Hybrid Electric 5 string bass guitar. Bass-ically it's a 5 string(low B) bass guitar where the bottom 3 strings are fretted and the top two are fretless.

I'm looking for a dirt cheap 5 string with a good neck,and either filing down the frets on the D & G strings or ripping them all out and putting in shorter ones.

The 3 fretted strings(B,E,A) would give you a full octave of low end clang in a single position,with the ability to extend into melodic fretless Jaco-Land when the urge hits.

i drew a picture of it and it looks like a monster.

4 & 5 string fretless guitars are very hard to learn intonation on(like a viola etc),so hence you hardly ever hear a rock/blues band with the bass player pulling off slide melodies and vibrato.

Also the fretted strings give you perfect intonation to reference from for the G & D strings(much like the pickup serves as a perch for your right thumb),and the shortened fret ends could also help locate by feel the right place for correct intonation.

i'm gonna talt to a luthier first and make sure my idea ain't whack..but what u guys think?



And more impotantly,have you ever invented something?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I invented the internet, way before Al Gore did.

[DieAz]

it is do-able.  

but your best bet, would be get a new bass and have a Luthier make a new fret board made to your specs, to put on it. keep original fret board in case you want to switch it to sale bass at a later date.

 or better yet, get a Luthier to make a new neck with your fret board design and head, etc. then when ever if you want you can easily change from one to the other yourself, just by removing strings and 3 or 4 screws (depends on it's design) then changing neck and shims (if needed), install screws, strings, tune, etc.

cheapest bass would be make your own, using a 2X4 for head, neck, fretboard, and body, all in one piece. (didn't say it would sound good). and buy the electronics, tuners, switches, frets, etc., cut out whats needed in 2x4 to install them.

hmm oh back to your main topic (I think)
I have invented lot of things, not going to mention here (for more than a few reasons). no patents on anything.

[Halo]

(quote)  any of you blokes had an invention idea and how far did you get with it?  (unquote)

Several times.  In my mind.  Until Google showed I was several years or decades late.  

[Thruster]

I'm not a bassist. Having little understanding about the fret/fretless pros and cons I'm working from the assumption that frets work best in a more percussive, faster playing style with the advantage of having the frets as a positional reference (G, G#, A) and a fretless allows for smoother note transitions and more refined fingering.

If that's the deal then how about just inlaying the top neck binding with fret markers to give position at a glance and doing away with the frets altogether?
Or do they already do that?

I play 6 string, the idea of eliminating frets is a bit alien to me, though I have seen fretless 6 strings, they just seem like a novelty as I don't know of anyone playing them regularly. I kinda always thought frets on a bass were kinda like "training Wheels". And the old school or purist guys would tend to a fretless instrument . Probably way too simplistic.

Anyhow I bet it would look cool.

My only "creation" which I'm sure has been done before was a "potless" strat.
One on/off toggle wired straight to a bridge position Hot Rail. Killer tone but it has to go thru a gate and you gotta be careful where you point it. Did some direct recording and that worked well.

[Tac]

I invent lots of things. But I get nowhere with them because right after I finish putting it together in my mind I get so overwhelmed with my genius I dismiss writing down the thing because no paper or digital media is worthy of displaying such masterpieces.

plus i like being poor.

[SirLoin]

Originally posted by Thruster
I'm not a bassist. Having little understanding about the fret/fretless pros and cons .

Here's one of the "Pros"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5UqDqwzagU  

The greatest bass player/showman there was...He works the crowd for 2 minutes & then turns up his two amps...His bass btw was a fretted Fender Jazz with which he ripped out the frets with a set of pliers and filled in the gaps with epoxy.

[Chairboy]

When you said Hybrid, I had visions of a .40 size glow engine from an R/C plane hooked to the back of the guitar revving away.  No cables, ma!

[SirLoin]

Originally posted by Chairboy
When you said Hybrid, I had visions of a .40 size glow engine from an R/C plane hooked to the back of the guitar revving away.  No cables, ma!

i have seen a .60 sized flying R/C lawnmower...R/C flying bass guitar?  

I would use two brushless electric motors for that and a double neck.

[Thruster]

Yeah Loin , I know about Jaco. Caught him YEARS ago with Bruford  and .......
can't remember.
No matter, I know you will probably scream heresy but I never really got into that whole vibe. He always impressed me as a master class noodler. But that's what a lot of that genre sounds like to me. Technically skilled, well in command of his instrument but not engaging to me.

There's a U-Tube of a young player doing a Mozart piece I saw a while ago. Maybe it's the guitarist in me but I found that performance impressive. Very musical, technically complex, impressive.

But I think I get the fretless thing. Besides ease of play, is there any other reason for frets on a bass?

[Speed55]

http://www.warmoth.com/

Contact them, and see if they can make the neck for you.

I don't know if having a half fretless, and half fretted design running the length of the neck will throw off the action, or intonation though.   I'm guessing you should be ok, considering that each string could be adjustable at the body hardware, but it might be uncomfortable.

Here's my favorite bassist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_wGFfrJv4Y

[BBBB]

Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
I invented the internet, way before Al Gore did.

 Psh..I invented the internet, way, way before you did and Al Gore stole the idea for it all from you, who stole it from me first. Get it right.  

[Chairboy]

I was thinking the .40 would be running a little generator, of course.

[SirLoin]

Originally posted by Thruster
But I think I get the fretless thing. Besides ease of play, is there any other reason for frets on a bass?

Not really..thats why the hybrid idea might work..it would make playing fretless easier with tonal reference points all the way up the neck.You would get piano like ring on the bottom end and viola like swell at the upper register...if anyone has a bass,pluck a low C on the E string & an E on the G string at once at the same time...Let ring and move this up & down the neck(keeping the third diatonic)...You would have only one string to worry about intonation on.

[VWE]

My grandfather was an inventor, came here from Warsaw Poland as a kid. He invented sheet metal screws and the machines used to make them. The auto industry still uses his designs.