interesting new laptar with huge frets

[GaryOpenhill]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsFl0b6DNxk

[PhoBucket]

Great find, Gary.

The Planck builder has a site, and instructions on how to build one! Sent him an email about Tappistry. Maybe he'll stop by.

Here is the planck site: http://sevensthings.com/

A link to the instructions is at the bottom.

[jamsire]

I love it.

Sounds pretty nice.:D

[lactose]

That might take the award for 'simplest to build' tapper. I bet those could be manufactured cheaply.

[GaryOpenhill]

i like the huge round frets. It just proves that those big round tubes or rods found i the hardware store works great. He probably glued them on. Also check the bridge. That thing is found all over the hardware store too, and they can be adjustable like the stick flaps. You just really need to file a small cut into it to guide the string.

Yeah, i did direct him to this forum. He invented this thing, but i hope he is aware that many others have invented it too, hehe!

[jamsire]

I absolutely love the big frets.

When SE started with the jumbo frets - I liked it as well.

These are really big though!!!

Like really big.

[GaryOpenhill]

yep, hes just gluing the frets on. i THINK that it is possible to get a very straight line over the frettops, if one use perfectly round stainless steel rods, and do what he does. I would probably put the frets down before i glue and hold them perfectly in place with a clamps and bind them on each side with lines of steel epoxy ive used before. The center of the fret will contact the perfectly flat fretboard (which is made of hollow metal in my book), but still be securly glued to it. The tops will be perfectly in line for lowest possible action, no need for filing and no need for truss adjustment ever since the metal freatboard never bends. Parker guitars does this with halfround frets and he never files or crowns the frettops. So somettimes cheap and simple is better!

[lactose]

My beginner instrument builder brain has a hard time believing there wouldn't need to be a fret level performed, considering the low action required by tappers. I could be wrong here.

Do you think those glued on rods would tolerate the lateral pressure of a fret level ?

I assumed he was routing out a channel for the fret rods, but the instructions indicate he does not.

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by lactose
My beginner instrument builder brain has a hard time believing there wouldn't need to be a fret level performed, considering the low action required by tappers. I could be wrong here.

Do you think those glued on rods would tolerate the lateral pressure of a fret level ?

I assumed he was routing out a channel for the fret rods, but the instructions indicate he does not.

No i really dont think it would be smart to file away at the glued on frets, but it is already proven by parker guitars (excellent guitars) that it is not needed using this method and beeing careful. Parkers method is patented but it is at the core the same method that this guy uses. Also part of the deal is using steel that doesn't wear. Also IMO stainless steel frets sustains and rings better. Ive actually done the same thing that this guy did before, but my frets was way way thinner and it was really hard to do it because they could bend, and they slightly did some. But now that my eyes are opened to these fatter rods, i think it would be a breeze to do, but i really need to make sure the fret rods are perfectly in good condition. Ive been thinking about this for ages, and im going to do a similar thing soon.

[matrix]

Those Fret Rods remind me of the Gittler guitar

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3109/2653350975_9ff8dc0c05_b.jpg

[secondfiddle]

Tapping instruments play better with larger frets period. I started out on Stick and the fret rods played great but the rails were the ultimate in playing feel. Stainless steel frets are more about tactile than sound IMHO. I want to re-fret my Box guitar with jumbo stainless in the future.

Fiddle.

[Tom Drinkwater]

I will eventually try stainless steel frets wire. I have put it off because I have read that it is hard to use and hard on the tools. The payoff is probably worth the extra work though.

[Sevenplnck]

Hey Everyone,
Thanks for your interest and comments on the Planck! I've been in quite a vacuum with it for a while with this project. The web page is woefully out of date but I'll be updating over the next month or so. The design has changed a bit because I had the good fortune to get some free consulting from an industrial design engineer and master woodworker at last year's Maker Faire. (www.makerfaire.com). I also got some financial help from a very nice person for tools. I originally made the Planck
using hand tools and a jigsaw.
I had no idea that there were others making 'laptars'! Silly me thinking I had invented something. LOL!

Regarding the giant frets.. What I'm doing these days is routing grooves in the fretboard that very gradually slope down from the nut and machining holes for screws in the frets and mounting them that way. The glue actually worked really great ( I could lift the whole instrument by a single fret and it wouldn't break off) but I wanted something that seemed more solid and required much more trouble and effort ;) .
I found that if the frets were perfectly level there were buzzing problems. It took a while to figure out the exact slope while keeping the action as low as possible.
It seems to me that the big fret rods add a little something to the overall tone and attack. I have changed the length of the frets from 3 to 4 inches and have noticed a change in tone. It's funny how every little thing seems to affect the sound in some way.
Anyway, I could excessively ramble on all this but I'll let someone else have a turn. Thanks again for all of your comments. Regards,
Seven

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by Sevenplnck

I had no idea that there were others making 'laptars'! Silly me thinking I had invented something. LOL!


Dont mind my idiotic comment, planck. Of course you invented it, if you didnt copy it from others! Its your baby. If you know something about the history of tap guitars, you know that theres a reason behind humorous comments about who invented who and lawsuits.


Regarding the giant frets.. What I'm doing these days is routing grooves in the fretboard that very gradually slope down from the nut and machining holes for screws in the frets and mounting them that way. The glue actually worked really great ( I could lift the whole instrument by a single fret and it wouldn't break off) but I wanted something that seemed more solid and required much more trouble and effort ;) .


Oh you actually are using screws trough the frets. That's the first i've seen doing this. But of course with large frets this is possible. But does that mean that you actually can adjust the frets height if needed?? And the replacement for a single fret must be a breeze. I see lots of possibilities with that method.



I found that if the frets were perfectly level there were buzzing problems. It took a while to figure out the exact slope while keeping the action as low as possible.
It seems to me that the big fret rods add a little something to the overall tone and attack. I have changed the length of the frets from 3 to 4 inches and have noticed a change in tone. It's funny how every little thing seems to affect the sound in some way.


You have a very differnet approach to this than traditional tap builders. But, as i understand it is that latptars, since they are lying down, provides a different pull on the strings due to gravity and magnetic pull from the pu's maybe, and the attackt from the hands and fingers may be differnet too. When i have my tapper perfectly setup for upright playing, the strings will buzz too much when i play it like a laptapper. So the setup must be different.


Anyway, I could excessively ramble on all this

Please do! You certainly are in the right forum for it!

[Tom Drinkwater]

Welcome to Tappistry Sevenplnck!!! I love your design, especially the pickups!!!

[ChristianDavis]

I like it! It's a very simple, but well constructed laptar! I might try it sometime in the future. :D

[jdstarrett]

Originally posted by GaryOpenhill
i like the huge round frets. It just proves that those big round tubes or rods found i the hardware store works great. He probably glued them on. Also check the bridge. That thing is found all over the hardware store too, and they can be adjustable like the stick flaps. You just really need to file a small cut into it to guide the string.

Yeah, i did direct him to this forum. He invented this thing, but i hope he is aware that many others have invented it too, hehe!

It does sound nice. The fact that lap tapping does not require thin light weight necks gives the lap tapper builder a lot of flexibility. Eventually, someone will start building little steel guitar touches in, with some sort of foot operated string benders.

It would be interesting to build one with rails parallel to the strings, and with each fret movable, screwed to a capture sliding inside the rail. Then you could place the frets for microtonal tunings. If there were rulings scribed in hundredths next to the rails, it wouldn't be too hard to do.

As long as I am fantasizing, why not individual fretlets sliding in seven rail sets? Oh, and each one's position changed by microstepper motors using a screw and capture, all controlled by microprocessor linked to eye movements? BWAAAAH ha ha ha ha hahhhhh!

Ahem. <straightens tie> Sorry.

John Starrett

[rjgoos]

Originally posted by jdstarrett


BWAAAAH ha ha ha ha hahhhhh!

Ahem. <straightens tie> Sorry.




We understand. It's the beginning of the semester. Ernie and I have been practicing our evil laughs for two weeks now. Nothing like a good terrifying evil laugh to keep the undergrads in line...well, at least for the first few lectures...

[Tom Drinkwater]

The micro stepper motor thing is quite a realistic idea though. Think of all of the people who build their own CNC machines. They use steppers and work with thousandths of inches. Very interesting indeed. I may have mentioned in another post that I am lacking in the funds and skill/talent department for sort of stuff. Rats. I may have to hear the evil laugh again so I can go back to my workshop and stop being a pain in the ***.