# Woah, insane new bass technology (removable 24th frets, sliding pickup)



## SnowfaLL (Aug 29, 2011)

This is a really cool video I found on another forum.. not sure if its been posted here yet (im sure it has, but I couldnt find it)..

So this is some crazy technology to make a pickup slidable, giving different tones. Ontop of that, and my favorite part, was the 20th to 24th fret fingerboard location held on with magnets, to be removed for better slapping tone (or there could be many other reasons it would be beneficial)..

Wonder how well these could be applied to guitar? If you could put a pickup under the removable fret slot, and find another fastening method other than magnets, you could easily recreate the 22 fret tone (strat/tele) vs 24 fret versatility.. interesting.


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## Explorer (Aug 29, 2011)

The Westone Rail had the ultimate sliding pickup back in 1984.











That removeable fretboard section... I wonder how that works out in actual practice?


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## flo (Aug 29, 2011)

Mmmmmmmmm......

Aesthetically, these are both not really elegant solutions.

But sound-wise, they seem to make a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing!


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## ovation22 (Aug 29, 2011)

Didn't Lindsey Buckingham's guitar have a spinning pickup?


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## MaxOfMetal (Aug 29, 2011)

I wouldn't exactly call any of that "new technology". It's all been done before to a certain degree, and there's definitely nothing new about magnets. 

While that may be functional and practical for the upwards of $6000 that many Foderas go for I'd hope for a more aestheticlly pleasing end result.


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## yingmin (Aug 29, 2011)

Explorer said:


> The Westone Rail had the ultimate sliding pickup back in 1984.



Gibson Grabbers had sliding pickups in 1973.


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## SnowfaLL (Aug 29, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I wouldn't exactly call any of that "new technology". It's all been done before to a certain degree, and there's definitely nothing new about magnets.
> 
> While that may be functional and practical for the upwards of $6000 that many Foderas go for I'd hope for a more aestheticlly pleasing end result.



Well if you want to have that kind of view on it, is there ANYTHING that hasnt been done yet in the world? Not really. Nothing is original, everything is rehashed ideas off older technology. The internet, etc etc.


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## MaxOfMetal (Aug 29, 2011)

NickCormier said:


> Well if you want to have that kind of view on it, is there ANYTHING that hasnt been done yet in the world? Not really. Nothing is original, everything is rehashed ideas off older technology. The internet, etc etc.



There's no "kind of view" to have. All technologies and concepts applied to the bass in the OP have been explored prior. That's a fact, not an opinion. 

There is nothing "new", you said it not me, about either the concept or technology. 

Their application on such a high end instrument and in tandem are something unique though.


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## vampiregenocide (Aug 29, 2011)

I must say I've not seen either of those gimmicks on a bass before, either way it's quite interesting. Kinda ugly, but interesting.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Aug 29, 2011)

I imagine you might be able to do the same thing using the pickup as the magnet underneath the removable fretboard.

Would be kinda difficult to get it to work in practice though.


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## TemjinStrife (Aug 29, 2011)

Not any sort of solution I'd find attractive on a $9k+ bass. I wonder what the upcharge for those solutions are. Certainly, sliding pickups have been done, but I'm wondering at the utility of the removable fretboard extension.


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## Malkav (Aug 30, 2011)

I'd rather get a bass with an on/off fret button than a little piece of removable fretboard



Yes, this is a repost, but seriously how the fuck does it work? A little off topic I know but I think it's a very interesting new adaptation that could be cool to have on some basses/guitars. For some strange reason the removable piece of fretboard made me think of the removable frets...



Cheesebuiscut said:


> I imagine you might be able to do the same thing using the pickup as the magnet underneath the removable fretboard.


 
I believe that Uli Jon Roth's Sky Guitar actually has a piece of fretboard extension with a custom made neck pickup that's embedded under it, that particular pickup had to be voiced to still sound like a neck pickup under the fretboard so I'm sure it would be doable you just may need to custom voice the pickup for the purpose - That or don't have a neck pickup and use that weird system that Ibanez used on the 30 fret RG...


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## ixlramp (Aug 30, 2011)

Make the whole fretboard replaceable ... and have a collection of microtonal boards (bottom right is 41 frets per octave).






www.SwordGuitars.com Official Website


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## ShadowFactoryX (Aug 30, 2011)

ive seen removable frets/fretboards before
but for aesthetic reasons i'd rather have it all the same board material


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## Explorer (Aug 30, 2011)

I've met the guy who developed that interchangeable fretboard system, and knew the guy who bought the rights to it. I don't think anyone has even broken even on the system, showing how limited the appeal is....


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