What about strange fingerboards?

[lemur821]

I was just thinking about unusual fingerboard arrangements (for two region instruments) and these are some ideas I had.

What if they were stacked? You could have a bass 'board in the regular place, then put the treble 'board further from the face of the instrument, right over the other one.

What about angling the two halves at a 90° or so angle?

What if you didn't wear it, but set the instrument on the ground in front of you, placing the fingerboards back to back?

I just wondered what everyone thought of these ideas. I've never seen an instrument doing any of these things, has anyone else?

[traktor]

I've seen a patent for an instrument which had several fretboards mounted at 90 degree angles from each other. I no longer remember much of anything about it, so I couldn't tell you how to find it, but I've seen it in some old patent document.

I've seen none of the other ideas. Some of these are intriguing.

[rockola]

Originally posted by lemur821
What if they were stacked? You could have a bass 'board in the regular place, then put the treble 'board further from the face of the instrument, right over the other one.

You'd have a hard time seeing the lower fretboard, and as we all know, it is not possible to play a tapping instrument without continually gazing at the wonder of it all.

What about angling the two halves at a 90° or so angle?

Steve Vai had something like that (http://www.vai.com/Machines/guitarpages/guitar041.html) at one point, and he has been known to tap. I doubt the ergonomics would be all that great.

What if you didn't wear it, but set the instrument on the ground in front of you, placing the fingerboards back to back?

I believe the Tapboard (http://www.francisdunnery.com/francis/tapboard.html), invented and used by Francis Dunnery, is something like this. I've never seen one played live (and I suspect the instrument is unique), but I recall seeing a low-quality video clip on the Internet.

[lemur821]

That tapboard is pretty crazy.

That's not quite what I meant by putting the fingerboards at a ninety degree angle. My thought would have one neck, with a sharp ridge between the treble and bass sides. If you looked at it from a playing position, you'd see: /\, but at a much shallower angle. The flat part would rest against your body. Come to think of it, even 90 degrees might be a bit much. A slight angling could make your thumbs more useful, I think.

[rockola]

Originally posted by lemur821
My thought would have one neck, with a sharp ridge between the treble and bass sides. If you looked at it from a playing position, you'd see: /\, but at a much shallower angle. The flat part would rest against your body. Come to think of it, even 90 degrees might be a bit much.

1) You'd have to fret the sides separately.
2) It would be difficult or impossible to play crossed (not that that's necessarily a problem).
3) It would be difficult or impossible to play with both hands on one side.
4) Construction would be more difficult - not a problem if there's something to be gained by doing this.

A slight angling could make your thumbs more useful, I think.

How?

[lemur821]

A slight angle could make the angle the thumbs approach the board at steeper. Using them would become more like using the other fingers, rather than using them mostly to barre, as in thumb position on the bowed strings. That's the way that I find most convenient on normal fingerboards anyway. However, it might be less convenient for the other fingers. I suppose that could be a drawback, couldn't it?