A fretless nine string

[GaryOpenhill]

AFter thinking about it for months, in a FLASH of inspiration from God, i put together my metal tapper yesterday and the day before that. It's not a work of art nor is it finished but it is playable. It sounds like...metal.

Here's a quick improvised tune to show off the sound. It is played directly into my crappy soundcard.
Click here to hear fretless-ninestring (http://media.putfile.com/fretless-ninestring)
(sorry, large audio file. I think it maybe must be downloaded first, and then listened too. Streaming didn't work in my crappy connection.)

[rjgoos]

I couldn't get the audio to work, but I am way impressed that you put one together so rapidly, and that it is playable.

Wood is like so last millennium, isn't it, Gary?


Jay

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by rjgoos
I couldn't get the audio to work, but I am way impressed that you put one together so rapidly, and that it is playable.



I think maybe you'll live on and have a good life without this audio clip. It's my first time on a fretless, and so i don't think any note is in tune.

Don't be impressed. I had all the stuff lying ready. The only reason i hadn't done it before, was because of some horrible discouraging mistakes i did before, and because of pure and holy laziness. ( my most prominent feature )




Wood is like so last millennium, isn't it, Gary?

Jay

Yes, but I foresee that some very excentric players will in the future still use wood for nostalgic reasons, so it won't be totally gone. :P

[ixlramp]

hey! i'm listening to it right now, sounds keeps cutting out but i i can hear the gorgeous tone.. just incredible. is it a metal fretboard? great idea.. like one big continuous fret :D

[BigDaddyPoo]

Sweet Gary! I want to see some bigger pictures. It sounds pretty good for just plugging strait in to a crappy sound card. Cool Idea, though. Is it heavy?

[Rayzcane]

I like it! I found this thread while searching to see if fretless "worked" for tapping.....

While surfing the net, I recently found a site that showed a fretless bass with some kind of painted fret markings on a fretless bass. In other words, he had inked or painted lines where the frets would normally be. That sounds like an interesting idea, especially in the beginning.

This concept germinated an idea. What about Glo-in-the-Dark paint or black-light sensitive (florescent paint) for the "frets"??? Wow! Could you imagine trying to play a fretless bass in the dark?

=====
Jay said:
"Wood is like so last millennium, isn't it, Gary?"
=====

That is very scary, Jay..... I have already prepared for this outcome. I am growing Walnut and Maple trees in my closet under HPS Sodium lamps. I will give up my wood when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers. (Only kidding)

Ray Langley

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by Rayzcane
I like it! I found this thread while searching to see if fretless "worked" for tapping.....

While surfing the net, I recently found a site that showed a fretless bass with some kind of painted fret markings on a fretless bass. In other words, he had inked or painted lines where the frets would normally be. That sounds like an interesting idea, especially in the beginning.

This concept germinated an idea. What about Glo-in-the-Dark paint or black-light sensitive (florescent paint) for the "frets"??? Wow! Could you imagine trying to play a fretless bass in the dark?

=====
Jay said:
"Wood is like so last millennium, isn't it, Gary?"
=====

That is very scary, Jay..... I have already prepared for this outcome. I am growing Walnut and Maple trees in my closet under HPS Sodium lamps. I will give up my wood when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers. (Only kidding)

Ray Langley

As it turn out, i never play that thing! Can't play in tune, and havn't got the time to practice on it, so all my spare time goes to the megatar. The wound strings sound amazing i think, but not the unwound. A fretless (metal) tapper should either be only wound, or have frets for the melody strings.

[Rayzcane]

Have you considered "glue-on" frets, at least on the melody side? If you don't play it, you could always sell it.

Ray

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by Rayzcane
Have you considered "glue-on" frets, at least on the melody side? If you don't play it, you could always sell it.

Ray

Ray, in my first attempt to build a tapper, i tried that. I really like the idea of a hollow fretboard (thick neck!) with stainless steel rods glued on. I know that some guitar builders glue half-round steelfrets directly onto the board, with great results.
And i can tell you, combined with the emg active pickup, it sounded awsome to me. A very distinct "attack" on the tone and a clear bell like metalic sound, bunch of overtones. It also soundend like it had a very smooth chorus effect on it, but that came natural for some reason. I found some clips i recorded the first day i had it. Bad recordings and bad playing, but still sounds cool i think.
The fretrods i used was good enough, and i have filed up 25 of them to fit with this fretless tapper too. I have some glue that is called metal epoxy here, and i think i can use a little of that, but i'm reluctant, since it so easy to make mistakes. When that thing is dried theres NO WAY i can get it off without some serious action. Also, one other nice thing about the hollow aluminum necks that i've experimented with, they are so rigid that the freboard will always stay perfectly flat. I don't need to put in trussrods, praise the lord.

[Rayzcane]

Hi Gary,

I applaud your efforts. Truss rods can be a pain.....
Keep up the good work!

Ray

[Rayzcane]

Here is a link to a page whereby the luthier makes instruments out of sheet metal.

http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om25100.html

Ray

[Rayzcane]

Hi Gary,

I am very interested to know what type and size of rectangular aluminum tubing you used in making your fretless bass?

An instrument that is completely flat on the bottom would be great for lapstyle players.

Ray

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by Rayzcane
Hi Gary,

I am very interested to know what type and size of rectangular aluminum tubing you used in making your fretless bass?

An instrument that is completely flat on the bottom would be great for lapstyle players.

Ray

Ray, i may have misled you a little, cause the aluminium fretboard is glued onto a oak neck, that is curved. So the aluminuim is a 10cm x 2 cm, it's hollow and light but have reinfocments inside that run parallel to the fretboard, so i won't bend. The oak neck is also about 2 cm, and i havn't curved it much, so if feels thick, and as it turns out that works very well for uncrossed playing.
But, of course you still could just leave the wood neck square for a laptapper. What a time saviour.

Oh, i found a picture of the aluminum profile. It sells for about 12 dollars. http://www.biltema.no/products/product.asp?iItemId=92865

[Rayzcane]

Hi Gary.... I understand now. I thought you were using something like this:

http://www.americanaluminum.com/aluminum-extrusions/rectangular-tube.htm

I was imagining something like a hollow aluminum 2 x 4.

Ray

[loneguitarist]

I'm using a hollow aluminium 2x4 for my current build of an 8 string fretless tapping bass

Originally posted by Rayzcane
Hi Gary.... I understand now. I thought you were using something like this:

http://www.americanaluminum.com/aluminum-extrusions/rectangular-tube.htm

I was imagining something like a hollow aluminum 2 x 4.

Ray

[GaryOpenhill]

Cool. I had to throw away my 9 string fretless in my recent moving project. I regret it SOOOOOOOO much it hurts. I will build a new one some day, with only wound strings.

[loneguitarist]

Originally posted by GaryOpenhill
Cool. I had to throw away my 9 string fretless in my recent moving project. I regret it SOOOOOOOO much it hurts. I will build a new one some day, with only wound strings.

:eek:

...


:eek:

...

"THROW AWAY?"

I woulda paid the postage on that to get it onto this little island of mine!

What a waste :p

I'm using wound strings only on mine - tuned from low-B of a bass guitar with a 36" scale.

[Krappy]

yo geir--i came across this link, maybe you can submit your stuff to them and get 15 minutes of fame...

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2007/02/play-it-again-zach.html

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by Krappy
yo geir--i came across this link, maybe you can submit your stuff to them and get 15 minutes of fame...

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2007/02/play-it-again-zach.html

Gotta love Ikea.