Do you really need luminlay?

[Core Creek]

Practice up to where your hands know where they are or where they're going.

Two-step process:

Practice in front of a big mirror where you can see yourself and the entire bass, particularly your fret hand on the fingerboard. This will help break you of having to know where you are by looking (and you can practice all your cool rock and roll pouts and faces!). And you can correct your 'grip' as now you're watching you as a teacher would.

Once you're good with that, practice in a pitch black room. Start your CD or the radio to play along, or just you alone, maybe with a metronome. Flip off the lights, you're completely in the dark, and your hands will tell you where you are.

After that, glow-in-the-dark is not needed.

If you’re going to forgo an advancement because you think it makes you a better player why not just get rid of frets and play fretless all the time - just use your ear.

The reality is that for many of us, songs are pulled out infrequently and I’m reading a chart. What’s the harm of a glowing dot to make sure I’m in the right spot???

 

[fretlessman71]

My eyes suck. Glowing dots help a lot in the dark.

 

[Ellery]

Luminlay dots are the reason I ditched my Charvel. The roasted maple neck was a medium color, not too light or dark. When I play live, I don’t look at the fret board and I move around a lot, but I occasionally have to glance down and see those dots to make sure I’m in the right spot when changing hand positions. The first night I played it on stage the venue had these moving colored lights and it made the dots absolutely disappear. I never took it on stage again.

 

[Jugghaid]

Depends on the bass and the stage. For really dark stages I have 2 basses with the FretFx side LEDs installed. Very helpful. 3

 

[Discount Bassy]

Me personally? Not so much. Are they a cool problem solver for those who want or need them? Sure.

 

[Water buffalo]

I think Luminays are pretty cool, but I have used 3/32" or 3mm pearl dots for years. They get pretty bright.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Need, no.

I do prefer high contrast and the bigger, the better (for side dots).

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

A guitarist I play with often struggles with a roasted maple neck and fingerboard with black dots. There's not enough contrast with the darkened wood and black dots. Add a little stage lighting glare and voila, your markers are gone!

 

[bass12]

For me Luminlay is a "why not" option. I'll take them if given the option (I've had them on several basses) but I can only think of one time that they really came in handy on stage.

 

[LowWay]

I had problems once on a dark stage in the ‘90s. Now I have luminlays and don’t even play out anymore. But I like them.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

I've never seen a bass with them except for on the internet.

That said, I have certain implements with Tritium "inlays", so...

 

[J Wilson]

If you’re going to forgo an advancement because you think it makes you a better player why not just get rid of frets and play fretless all the time - just use your ear.

The reality is that for many of us, songs are pulled out infrequently and I’m reading a chart. What’s the harm of a glowing dot to make sure I’m in the right spot???

And if I'm reading a chart, I'm not having to watch my hands. And I'm not using my ear to know where I am.

Hey, it's whatever works for you, and I've been around long enough to know there are many ways to skin the cat, I've also been around long enough to know that sooner or later, everything quits working, then what do I do? Those two steps paid off in spades for me. And I'd be quick to admit it's not for everyone, but I run it past the gallery every so often. I don't play fretless, I'm afraid.

As always, Your Results May Differ.

 

[edwinhurwitz]

I like them in my vintage Starfire bass. OTOH, for a while I had an Alembic SI that had front and side LEDs on the neck. Frankly, I found them a bit embarrassing, but they were pretty cool on a dark stage.

 

[Dincrest]

Luminlay would have been AWESOME in my last band (whom I was with from 2012- 2015). We started out on a totally dark stage, used our own lights/light show and fog machines, and wore masks so visibility wasn't the strongest given our stage show. I managed without Luminlay, but it would have made life so much easier. Work smarter, not harder.

If a bass I GAS for has Luminlays stock, that's a huge plus point in its favor.

 

[burgerdj]

I’d love them. The small dots on my Warwick disappear under red stage lights.

 

[SharpCat]

I have a player jazz with an orangey Pau Ferro fretboard and cream side dots. They were just about invisible even in good lighting. Got the stick on GITD dots, and it's all good. Would prefer Luminlay for durability though.

 

[newfuture]

I have only ever pined for them once, and that was playing the fender jazz Bass special in a tribute band that required me to where sunglasses in a nightclub, couldn't see anything!

 

[urkel3000]

most? They're still a small % as far as I can see.

Need it? Dunno. Do you really need a high mass bridge? Or a preamp bypass switch? Or fingerboard markers at all? Or...

Personal preferences and all that.

I don't really understand why fretboard markers are even a thing. Ugly and pretty much useless. I'm toast if I can't see my side markers though

 

[superheavyfunk]

my question is have you ever needed them for visibility?

“Needed” isn’t the right way to look at it, imo. You can think of it as a quality of life thing… if it never existed, it would be a non-issue. But since they do exist and they only add value, why not have them? There’s no harm in them being installed and you don’t have to look them if you don’t want to but if you’re on a dark stage and need to look at the neck of your bass, they may in fact help.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

I took a break from playing live over the past few years, and returned to find that most basses these days come with glow in the dark side dots. Having played for years without them, my question is have you ever needed them for visibility? I've never been able to not see my side dots.

Most basses? which basses are you looking at? I’ve not seen them on anything hanging at the local GC.