Fretless tapper?

[haimeh]

does anybody have experience with a fretless tapper? would it work?

[danimedea]

some time ago, while surfing the net I bumped into this one: only the three lower strings on the bass side are fretless....

here's the link (it's in Italian, but there are some other pics)

http://www.mptree.biz/content/view/29/

[GaryOpenhill]

Yeah it works well for the lowest strings on a metal fretboard. Thats why puddus tapper look like that. Theres a guy in italy that owns a warr phalanx with some fretless bass strings filling up the middle gap. At least thats what it looks like on his photos: http://myspace.com/sylvainbayol
Wow, that meant that its a three region tapper. Very cool indeed. When the middle region of wood is all messed up from all the tapping he still have a phalanx left to play on, hehe.

Btw, doesn't he also look a lot like the Jedi version of Liam Neeson?

http://a207.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/01250/60/28/1250418206_l.jpg

And he trimmed his nose hair. Very thought full of him.

[GaryOpenhill]

OMG!!! Im as shocked as you are!

http://i17.tinypic.com/6bw8b5h.jpg

[Blackie]

Warr has made many guitars with fretless bass sides for customers. Tapping on wire strings doesn't work very well, so it is best with a 4ths bass tuning, where all the strings are wound.
Trey Gunns half-fretless Artisan can be heard on the last KC CD.
The guy in the photo above is French musician Sylvain Bayol, from the band Lazuli.
I once spent a lot of time playing one of these guitars to decide if I had to have one, and decided it was hard enough to play two things at once, much less keep the intonation accurate.
A lot of fun, though.
JW

[rjgoos]

I always wondered which brand of instrument would glow green when used as a light sabre.

[GaryOpenhill]

yes, i agree with the intonation problem. It is HORRIBLE to tap in tune on a fretless. You can put marks where the frets would be, it's still impossible. And Buzz Feiten can't do anything about it. I have bragged many times about my homebuild fretless 9 string. It is the best sounding tapper on the three lowest strings i've ever tried (and i've tried up to three other touch guitars). I couldn't BELIEVE the sound from the hollow metal fretboard and the active emg when i first tried it. I never played it again, since i don't need another reason for insanity in my life ( i have kids)!

[koyabo]

My friend's Mr. Kai kurosawa is playing fretless.

Both of his musical instruments of the three bass strings are remodeled to fretless.

http://www.happysad.org/

[Bearguitars]

Originally posted by koyabo
My friend's Mr. Kai kurosawa is playing fretless.

Both of his musical instruments of the three bass strings are remodeled to fretless.

http://www.happysad.org/

Hey, that´s my BIG MAMA BLONDE!!!
- The huge accoustic tapper on the pic.-
Some pics of my worx on it are here:
http://www.geocities.com/bearguitars/work_in_progress.html

In the next weeks do I put some details and pics of this baby on my site...

Best. SIGGI

[Kai Kurosawa]

hello.
i just registered the other day!
my instruments are actually 4 strings fretless. the warr guitar i had modified Dec. of 2006 by Jack Sanders, http://www.sandersguitar.com/ who also takes care of my instruments when needed.
the BMB by Siggi came as fretless, as i asked him to do that for me during the build.
if you want to check out some sample clips of both of the instruments, please check out the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgk9iQcGRjU

kind regards
Kai

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by Kai Kurosawa
hello.
i just registered the other day!
my instruments are actually 4 strings fretless. the warr guitar i had modified Dec. of 2006 by Jack Sanders, http://www.sandersguitar.com/ who also takes care of my instruments when needed.
the BMB by Siggi came as fretless, as i asked him to do that for me during the build.
if you want to check out some sample clips of both of the instruments, please check out the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgk9iQcGRjU

kind regards
Kai

hey kai. nice to meet you.

what are all those buttons and things on your siggi-tapper? Decorative or do they serve a musical purpose?

[loneguitarist]

What are all those buttons and things on your siggi-tapper? Decorative or do they serve a musical purpose?

Do you mean the tuning pins for the harp strings?

My my that certainly is a gorgeous guitar.

[lactose]

if you want to check out some sample clips of both of the instruments, please check out the following link.
One thing I noticed in the video is that he appears to be playing bass with the right hand and soloing with the left.

If you come from playing guitar, this is not such a bad idea, and it avoids the whole hand crossing problem.

Nice playing BTW. That blonde guitar is fascinating.

[Kai Kurosawa]

hello~
yeah, the bmb by siggi is quite pretty!
the knobs are for treble, bass, and sympathetic strings. and the sympathetic strings sound nice when their plucked too.
i do come from playing bass, but it was a challenge to lead with the left hand, as i am right handed.
i really like the fretless on the bass side. (all my basses, except one is fretless) it took a few weeks to get used to, but i am glad i went for it.
kind regards
Kai