Here Today, Gone Later Today | innovations that failed

[yellofury]

click for BIG PIC

 

[OhThePeacock]

I've really enjoyed the things brought up in this thread. It's cool to see the things people tried before bass got to where it is today.

Would that Bass V be tuned E-C instead of B-G?

 

[LowRanger]

I've only experienced a factory 2-Tek bridge on one bass--the Xotic 6 I currently own--and I have to say that for me, it's a big hit. As in: wow, what a great bridge and what a great bass it's made.

Amazing bass with an amazing bridge. I hope everyone gets a chance to experience a 2-tek bridge at least once in their life.

IIRC, the bridge (and company) were victims of finance/economy rather than failures to launch, but I could be quite wrong there.

 

[yellofury]

I've really enjoyed the things brought up in this thread. It's cool to see the things people tried before bass got to where it is today.

Would that Bass V be tuned E-C instead of B-G?

yup
Leo thought that playing across the neck with fewer frets and smaller scale would entice guitar players to buy his Bass V
but it never caught on

BTW I think headless basses are far from gone or considered a failure

 

[merc50]

This is mine, Westone Rail. Kind of cool, in a Grabber sort of way. Made from '84 to '86, was never popular.

I was going to suggest the same thing but you beat me to it.

I had one of those back when they came out.

The sliding pick up was an interesting idea.

I got it for a "traveling bass" and used to play it in the back of the car on family trips with a headphone amp thingy I had.

Never warmed up to it so I traded it for a Fender Acoustic Guitar that was my "first guitar" that I still have today. (I started with a bass)

Looking back on it I have no idea what a Rail would be worth today but I think I came out on the good end of that trade.

 

[gafbass02]

In the uk there was something called the bass hammer briefly in the mid 90's that was like a bent piece of brass with a thumb loop on one end and a rubber 'bucket' on the other end for your little finger.
The idea being that you could double slap using your little finger as well as your thumb!

Sucked!!

 

[fretlessguy]

The Fender S-1 switch didn't last long. It looked like a good idea to me, but Fender pulled the plug on it after a couple of years.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

The Ibanez EDA series did not last very long.

They were based on the earlier Affirma series and they were around for a few years.

Tho true, they were only of interest to a small market. I still love mine

 

[LowB-ing]

I don't think Leo was involved. At least he had already left the company by the time it was released. IIRC the Bass V was rushed to market by CBS, with very little development before release.

yup
Leo thought that playing across the neck with fewer frets and smaller scale would entice guitar players to buy his Bass V
but it never caught on

 

[Kenny Allyn]

I remember when these came out ... haven't seen on in awhile


The "Fathead"

...

 

[LowB-ing]

Yes, but series/parallel switches IN GENERAL have been around for ages and continue to be popular. Just because Fender couldn't sell the concept doesn't mean it's a failure.

The Fender S-1 switch didn't last long. It looked like a good idea to me, but Fender pulled the plug on it after a couple of years.

 

[humpy thumb]

Just intonation fingerboards.
They really arent a tried & failed thing,but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_intonation
2 of the basses on Hanford's right are JI fretted.
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btw,Hansford is in Gongzilla.Killer band,killer bass player & really cool guy.

 

[Meddle]

I feel sorry for Bond guitars, they were Scottish apparently.

Anyway, I think the Variax bass didn't age so well. I've never seen a bassist use one live, and I guess the digital models in them will also age badly as better modeling stuff comes out. I never liked Variax 12 string tones on the guitars, it was like a bad octave and chorus pedal, no real 12 string reproduction.

 

[jasper383]

I remember when these came out ... haven't seen on in awhile


The "Fathead"

...

Does it work?

Was that to reduce dead spots or increase sustain?

 

[bassrique]

Say, how is Gibson's "Robot Guitar" selling?

 

[RustyAxe]

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I had a Sam Ash saleman try to sell me a Fender that had a neck like that ...

 

[TimWilson]

I remember when these came out ... haven't seen on in awhile


The "Fathead"

Oh, man! The FatHead! I HAD one of those! I actually ordered it through the mail from an ad in Guitar PLayer when I was in high school! I was too ignorant of tone subtleties at that age to really notice the difference, but it SEEMS like a valid concept.

Hamer was offering the 2Tek as a factory option on CruiseBasses for a while... Did they stop?

 

[funkomatic]

Seems to me like the Fathead would be great for someone that is into neck dive.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

In the uk there was something called the bass hammer briefly in the mid 90's that was like a bent piece of brass with a thumb loop on one end and a rubber 'bucket' on the other end for your little finger.
The idea being that you could double slap using your little finger as well as your thumb!

Sucked!!

I have an old guitar playing friend who's a great bassist, and he can do that double slap with the pinky thing extremely well (with no bass hammer thingey ). I've never seen anyone else do it really- I'm surprised there's a device dedicated to it.

Seems to me like the Fathead would be great for someone that is into neck dive.

That's what I was thinking

 

[Emmaporkchop]

I like the S-1 switch on the guitars I've tried. I've only seen the 2TEK bridge on Hamer Cruise and Peavey Axcelerator basses, but I'd love to get either. Does anyone know of any other basses these were standard on? Peavey Cyber basses come up on ebay regularly for fairly high prices.