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L.E.D. fretlines?

#41
This is a completely random idea I had, but what if the inlays/frets were all somehow connected (probably would only work on inlays) - like one piece of plastic under the fretboard. You could use a very low power consumption laser diode (from a laser pointer, cheap gas station model). I believe that all you would have to do is hit the plastic with the beam in one spot and the light should disperse pretty evenly throughout the plastic, especially if all the edges are "frosted" (texture wise).

I dunno :\
 
#42
I don't want to start a lined versus unlined war here, and I've got nothing against fretlines because one of my basses is lined, but sorry, LED fretlines just screams "I can't play this bass unless the fretlines are lit up."

It does sound really cool though, if it weren't for that vibe.
 
#43
line6man said:
I don't want to start a lined versus unlined war here, and I've got nothing against fretlines because one of my basses is lined, but sorry, LED fretlines just screams "I can't play this bass unless the fretlines are lit up."

It does sound really cool though, if it weren't for that vibe.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I think it's a great idea that not many people have tried doing. I think the LED lights are just for effect, why else would they be there. I'm pretty sure there are better, cheaper, and cooler looking alternative fretlines than LEDs.
 
#51
I think useing fiber optics inlaid as the fretlines and a led of whatever color choice providing the light thru the fiber optic line. Green is the most visible color to human eye, red the least visible, blue is near green but not as bright seeming unless its light blue. I do all green aerial lasers as a hobby and color visibility make big diff. The alternative would be to use glowinc's v12 ultraglow green regular or watch lume formula as filler for fret lines then clear poly sealer over that. Glow time is 12 hours and has very bright initial glow intensity with steady medium for couple hours when charged by blacklight or sunlight. After that glow tapers off to lightly glowing over the next 8-10 hrs. This would be the cheapest way for see it in dark eye candy fretline thing.

One could also do led dot fretmarkers which also have fiber optics off them for the fret lines. This would be much brighter fretlines then just 1=2 led powered fiberoptin fretlines first suggested. And may be too bright for comfort when playing in the dark. Unless you used red.

Fiber optics line would give about the same glow as the graphics on my bass in this pic. Lines of leds in fretlines would be much brighter unless you used very dim ones. (I play with leds a lot as part of rave music thing. A standard high intensity green or blue led would light up a 24 fret bass pretty well thru single fiber optics line of qaulity.
 
#52
Darkstorm, you are the man! I am browsing the Glowinc site now and think I am going to order a few small amounts of powder and paint.

Once I get the materials in, I am going to try all of these ideas out on the same neck at the same time to really see what method is brightest, cleanest, easiest to install, requires the least materials, etc., etc. While I know that individual L.E.D.'s illuminating a piece of fiber optic cable in the fretline would be the brightest and most versatile (you could wire it so that only the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 12th, etc. are lit, or have those frets brighter or different colors than the others), it would also require signifigantly more hacking on the neck. Being that I want to remove as little from the neck as possible, the Glowinc paint would be perfect as it would reqiure no hardware at all.

If only fiber optic cable could make a 90° bend..... :hmm:
 
#54
kuso said:
This is a completely random idea I had, but what if the inlays/frets were all somehow connected (probably would only work on inlays) - like one piece of plastic under the fretboard. You could use a very low power consumption laser diode (from a laser pointer, cheap gas station model). I believe that all you would have to do is hit the plastic with the beam in one spot and the light should disperse pretty evenly throughout the plastic, especially if all the edges are "frosted" (texture wise).

I dunno :\
Click to expand...

this could be sweet.
 
#57
Remember, fiber optics do not shed enough light sideways. They do a great job directing light along their length, but that comes at the price to where little is wasted outside the cable. I want to check out the Alembic that was mentioned with LED markers that supplied line light power. Like many Alembics, I'm sure it had phantom power, and with the supposed number of LEDs and whatever electronics, it'd come as no surprise.

A trick I learned from Martin Keith when doing some work for Veillette:

correctly drill a hole the diameter of your optic cable through a piece of clear acrylic that has more depth than an LED light. Drill, using the established hole, another hole that will hold the LED. When you've inserted both elements into the acrylic, wick in some super thin CA glue. Of note, file and sand clean (flat, too) the optic cable for maximum transference. If this application could be run in and out, and even split (as I would think Alembic did), then we should be able to do it too. The main issue, IMO, is power. Easy enough: powering LEDs, running that light up optics, scattering along a thin acrylic sheet for the fretline. Not so easy (yet): evenly powering multiple fretlines with one LED, powering that many LEDs with onboard power, and fingerboard wear issues.

Who's got a link to that Alembic?
 
#58
Marco A. Mayer said:
What about a touch sensitive digital board? You place a finger somewhere on the fretboard and a area glows. Ok, that's too futuristic. Let's leave that to the Apple guys.

;)
Click to expand...

That'd be so sweet... reminded me of animusic.

animusic-robot-lasers.jpg
 
#60
cricketfever32 said:
seems doable, i'm trying to think of a logical way of going about it, all i can think of is cutting fingerboard into slices equivalent dimensions of the fret size, then filling the gap with acrylic on top of a small high power l.e.d. (which are getting damned bright nowadays).
Click to expand...

thats what i was thinking. maybe the frets wont emit a dash of light outward, but it they just had a dim glow, it could look cool as well. and maybe the very tops would have a bright light, which would help you locate frets. this doesnt seem too far off
 

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