Here Today, Gone Later Today | innovations that failed

[Lo end PUNCH]

Funny someone should bring that up. In a local Burger King, the owner did the whole interior in a retro '50's theme and.....get this.....he lagg boilted a Bond to the wall. Not very '50's and not very wise.

Does anyone remember the fretless wizard in BP in the early '90's ?
How about the 1/4" instrument cables with some wierd milky liquid in them (encased in a plastic shell). I still never knew what that was all about.
Lane Poor's ferrite beads.
Tony Levin's Funk Fingers.
The Washburn Wonder Bar.
Rockinger Bass Tremolo.
Some where out there is a bass with actual preamp tubes in it.
Raven Labs. I thought they would last longer.
Optical pickups.
Headless basses never really caught on.
Armour Cables.....I haven't seen them in a long time. They won't honor my warranties either.
PentaSystems basses ??????
Starr Labs on board electronic pickup switching.
Axon controllers.
Rockman Amps.
The Double Whammy.
EBows.....I know they're still around but IMHO are a failure.
Zolla's 425 and 426 necks.


And let's not forget the G&L 8 String Bass Initiative. That site's been on Harmony Central for over 10 years and it never came on line.

Headless basses still sell actually. I'm sure Steinberger, Status and Hohner would have given up a long time ago if not.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

now the westone rail was a good idea, but what about the SSS programmable pickup distance selector?

yes this is on ebay for the 2nd time, first was 1500, now 1300. I wonder if he is going to "fail" in selling it???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180395695081&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

That luthier lives in AZ and is constantly trying to sell "SSS (sweet spot select)" bass and his "ergonomic" basses. I've told him that his basses wont sell very well at the prices he wants, but he wont drop them down to $500-600 to make them easily marketable. He also wont build a 6-string bass and he doesn't really use any cool finishes (I bet a trans stain would do wonders). It's no wonder he doesn't appear to have sold many.

 

[funkomatic]

Headless basses still sell actually.

I've owned several and have one now.

How about aluminum necks?

 

[phatbass]

Novatone interchangeable fingerboards. Fretted, fretless, non-tempered scales, etc.

 

[funkomatic]

Steinberger instant fretted/fretless conversion neck.

http://steinbergerworld.com/special/xm2fl.htm

 

[funkomatic]

Kubicki Ex Factor extended string detuner and tunable bridge. Yeah, he's still makin' 'em, but just barely.

 

[Sharko]

Hi.

Don't know whether any basses were constructed with the strange "fretboard" that was like small wedges machined into a plastic (metal? ) piece. Looked like a saw-tooth from the side.

A relatively bad idea from the get go, but that didn't prevent the inventor from patenting it .

Anyone got a link to that?

Regards
Sam

the Lane Poor Minima Bass was like that, there's been one on CL around here for a while

 

[funkomatic]

Buzz Feiten Tuning System for bass. There's a couple of brands that use it, but it's pretty uncommon and doesn't seem to have caught-on amongst bass players.

 

[David Jayne]

now the westone rail was a good idea, but what about the SSS programmable pickup distance selector?
yes this is on ebay for the 2nd time, first was 1500, now 1300. I wonder if he is going to "fail" in selling it???

That's about the dumbest clever thing I've ever seen.
As far as moving pickups is concerned, I always thought the 'wiper' bass was the hippest design. But I can't find it anywhere. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

That's about the dumbest clever thing I've ever seen.
As far as moving pickups is concerned, I always thought the 'wiper' bass was the hippest design. But I can't find it anywhere. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

Spalt basses had 'em:
Invalid Link Removed

 

[David Jayne]

Spalt basses had 'em:
Invalid Link Removed

THAT'S it- I actually like that idea. Simple, effective.

 

[Jimmy Bones]

Funny someone should bring that up. In a local Burger King, the owner did the whole interior in a retro '50's theme and.....get this.....he lagg boilted a Bond to the wall. Not very '50's and not very wise.

Does anyone remember the fretless wizard in BP in the early '90's ?
How about the 1/4" instrument cables with some wierd milky liquid in them (encased in a plastic shell). I still never knew what that was all about.
Lane Poor's ferrite beads.
Tony Levin's Funk Fingers.
The Washburn Wonder Bar.
Rockinger Bass Tremolo.
Some where out there is a bass with actual preamp tubes in it.
Raven Labs. I thought they would last longer.
Optical pickups.
Headless basses never really caught on.
Armour Cables.....I haven't seen them in a long time. They won't honor my warranties either.
PentaSystems basses ??????
Starr Labs on board electronic pickup switching.
Axon controllers.
Rockman Amps.
The Double Whammy.
EBows.....I know they're still around but IMHO are a failure.
Zolla's 425 and 426 necks.


And let's not forget the G&L 8 String Bass Initiative. That site's been on Harmony Central for over 10 years and it never came on line.

I have two Ebows, and they are awesome. Granted, they're for specific things I am trying to do and don't get a LOT of playtime, but they're awesome nonetheless.

 

[frootbooty]

The Ibanez EDA series did not last very long.

 

[funkomatic]

The Buddha Rope. Sperzel tuners for bass.

 

[El Kabong]

A twisted, fanned fret bass has been on my gas list for a while... I think I might just have to add a "wiper" p'up to the idea.

Spalt basses had 'em:
Invalid Link Removed

 

[bongomania]

A twisted, fanned fret bass has been on my gas list for a while... I think I might just have to add a "wiper" p'up to the idea.

That would be so awesome. You'd have to wear a spiral-striped spandex bodysuit while playing it.

 

[funkomatic]

I would love to try out a wiper bass. The only problem I see is that maybe the pivot point should be on the bass side rather than the treble side. Ah! Problem solved: dual wipers!

 

[Burlington]

3 bolt necks.

 

[Mr. Ray]

Aluminum necks never made it to the mainstream...players still prefer wood

 

[The Last Rebel]

2Tek's still alive and kicking. The problem is, there's only one or two guys in the country, in the world I believe, that know how to install one. It's a pretty major piece of sugery to get it done, too.