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G1's 4th build

G

Gone

Mar 21, 2006
317
0
Cape Town
people.cs.uct.ac.za
Disclosures
Jayda custom basses, builder
#1
My 3rd build is busy gettings it's final coats of finish. Time to start looking ahead to the next build :)

The plan is to build 2 or 3 basses side by side. With the hope of selling these when they are finished.

Here's the design so far:
Link Removed

It's the same shape as my 2nd build (I'm gonna call it the H4 until I get a better name). This one being fretless I guess it becomes the H4f.

- Purpleheart and maple bolt on neck
- ash body stained darker
- wood bridge (still finalising a design there)
- probably an indian rosewood fb (may bind in maple like my previous builds)
- pickgard

The pickups, here are my thoughts:
I want to do individual pups for each string kinda like the ned steinberger EUBs. Each mini-pup will have 2 poles. I'm also keen to experiment with routing slots for them in such a way that each one can be moved back and forth.

I'm seeing a couple of challenged here:
- someway to lock them in place
- there small size of the pups means I probably won't get very high impedance. Might require a bit of fiddling on the preamp side. Does mean I can do volume adjustments for each string to try and get a good balance.

Anyways that's the initial plan
If you see any obvious pitfalls speak up ;)
 
#2
i like the movable pup idea. a really easy way to do it would be to have a metal rail under each pup that they would slide on, and just have a screw to tighten the slider onto the rail and hold them in place. easy way to move them around with them still being secure, and should provide good grounding as well.
 
#3
Looks lovely and interesting. I like the idea of the movable pickups too. I know the 'concept' of movable pickups is patented in the US though, so that may affect your potential sales in North Am. Someone else will probably remember the details better. I can't recall if the owner holds patents in any other countries though, I just remember that it was not just his specific design that was patented, but the entire concept, similar to Sheldon Dingwall's fanned fret concept. I'll dig around and see if I can find it somewhere. Someone else will hopefully chime in here on this as well...

Edit: took me two seconds to find some refs on google here: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3911777.html and this one too: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7060888.html

I don't think either one will actually prevent you from building anything, but it might be wise to review these anyway.
 
#5
Gone said:
Thanks for the heads up. I didn't know the concept was patented. I'll have to see how that effects the build :-/
Click to expand...
The concept is not patented.

Several different particular methods of having a movable pickup are patented. However "having a movable pickup" is not. So, you can do it any way you want that is not a direct copy of a currently enforceable patent. (The first patent referenced above expired around fifteen years ago.)
 
#7
If I recall correctly, he allows for one offs, but if you want to make a fanned fret production, then the patent comes into play. Although it might be expired, I'm not sure...

Edit:
Jeez, I should read more and post less, I gotta stop relying on my ancient memories for this stuff. The original patent was Novak's, here's a thread by our own pilotjones which should start the reading process for anyone checking up on this stuff... http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=242271
 
#8
Fairly short summary: Novax held a patent on a particular method to produce a fanned fretboard. That patent was flawed (i.e. the claimed method was flawed), and beyond that, the patent is now expired (not in force) and Novax therefore no longer collects patent licensing fees. There is a newer, in-force patent by Booker for two newer, different methods to produce fanned boards, but few people would ever use his methods. The first US patent mentioning a fanned board is from 1904, which makes it expired for over eighty years. Further, the "general concept" of fanned frets goes back to the 1600s at least, and is therefore not patentable.

Novax holds a current, enforcable trademark on the name or phrase "Fanned-Fret(TM)." (This is why you might see it called in forums, "f*nned-fret." This happened once on MIMF.) Novak has renewed the trademark, may continue to license it.


Shorter version: Make all the fanned fretboards you want, just don't use Booker's methods. (Also don't use Novak's claimed method, because it is wrong. The other "two scales outer strings" method he describes but does not claim is good, and is actually what most people do.) Do not use the term "Fanned-Fret(TM)" without proper attribution, and perhaps not without permission.

Bonus content: As far as I know, no patent has made any claim on a "fanned fretless."
 
#14
As far as the denomination is concerned the consensus on the Mimforum seems to be: Multiscale. It's a nice name and is actually used on at least two French forums translated as Multidiapason.
If you wanna get fussy Fanned frets are only one rendition of the multiscale concept as you could have other arrangements of scales, like splattered fret, but that wouldn't be playable would it?
 
#16
David Pinton said:
... you could have other arrangements of scales, like splattered fret, but that wouldn't be playable would it?
Click to expand...
Here's a splattered fret that's playable because the fret-string intersections are correct--but don't adjust that bridge sideways!
7_Bassen_B06_Schizo_2_800x600.gif
 
#18
Managed to find time this past weekend and last weekend to get in the workshop.

- done the scarf joint
- installed the truss rod
- tapered neck
- glued an ash veneer on the headstock
- cut out headstock shape
- cut fingerboard to right dimensions
- bound fingerboard in maple

The new band saw has proven to be a good buy. It's not very powerful but was able to cut through about 80mm of purpleheart (admittedly with some burning). But it's helped a lot with rough cutting the volute (couldn't do that with the jigsaw before) :)

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#19
Managed to blag half a day off from work. Which combined with a relatively productive weekend means I managed to make some progress :)

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That surform I had just bought about 90 minutes earlier and it had completely snapped in half. Luckily they replaced it without any hassle!

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Still some shaping of the body to come. Mainly got stuck into the forearm and belly contour.

It's a slightly thicker body than the other bass I built using this shape. I figured the neck would be a bit heavier this time so I increased the body thickness from 40mm to 45mm.
 
#20
What do people think of this for an idea.
I'm planning on making my own bridge for this bass, so why not put 4 individual bridges also in the slots and make it so you can move them also. It's a fretless bass so in theory (if you don't mind the fret markers being in the wrong place) you could change the scale length as well as the position of the pickups.

Would be interesting to make a few sound clips afterwards with different scale lengths and pickup positions and compare!
 

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