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What Bass accessory, that doesn't already exist, needs to be invented?

Maybe once in a while I drop the E down to a D.

:D

Ahhh. I thought maybe you had to do something real weird. Like tuning in 7ths or such. No doubt you have the skill to do a quick drop.

I'm becoming Mr. Derail, of late. Sorry folks! Back to your regularly scheduled blah, blah bloggery! I'm off to watch The Open Championship, night owl that I am.
 
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Retractable frets. Goes from fretted to fretless at the flip of a switch.

Has been tried. In the 70s. Unwieldy. I want the contrary. To make the space between the frets to raise up to fret level instead. The wood block between the fret wires. If you retract the frets you will change the action quite a big deal, and the strings are too high from the fretboard, which was the complaint in late 70s invention. And those wood blocks has to be made of graphite or some other material that has been made to cope with roundwound strings.

As the invention didn't include a switch it included changing the fretboard out, witch two switches or clutches at either end.

I think making a fretless fretboard to sound and behave like a fretted one would be more likely, and easily carried out.
 
Clip/add on (or even built-in) hand/sweat dryer like on bowling ball returns for those particularly sweaty gigs

I solved that by standing very close to the drummer, provided he's right handed. My picking hand is just one or two inch at the side of his hi hat, which goes up and down ever so often. Gives me that fan cooling of the picking hand at least.
 
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I want the following BASS made, maybe a add on construction to any bass, that combines two already existing techniques apart from each other, I think I viewed this at Whizmoons threads, about a sustainer bass, some years ago:


1. The Paul Vo Moog Guitar has not only polyphonic infinite sustain, but a reverse phase setting that kills the decay and makes the shortest notes you can imagine. The actual string mechanically oscillates way shorter than its natural oscillation. Immedieately got that banjo feel, while trying it... and then came the eureka idea with me, like "put this on a bass instead", that would really make it a blockbuster killer... but now read on.

2. The Fishman Aura pedal for acoustic guitarists. It contains samples of well recorded and high end acoustic bodies to give it a flair that is above and beyond the dreaded piezo quacks of most amplified acoustic guitars. Now, these samples from guitar bodies could be done just as well, with and from high quality upright acoustic basses instead.

Now this gadget put onto bass, a fretless with flats on, should skip the endless sustain, and polyphonic thing, but concentrate just on the part that kills the sustain, and actually makes the strings oscillation much shorter, it will sound immediately like playing up the neck on an upright bass. It would then follow accordingly and turn itself off gradually as you go down the fretboard and resort to "natural" long sustain again when playing open strings, or the first few frets.

Now on electric bass, magnetic pickups just have this limited range, but when combined with the "pedal" or box that has sampled "ambience" from upright basses bodies, it will provide just the right air to it, and vibe. Of course it shouldn't be sampled in a static way, it can be modelled, or convolution too. It's just a reverb, within a tiny space. You should be able to form the sound with your fingers, and react immediately to different attacks and angles of your fingers.

So, the two ideas above into one electric fretless bass. Or as a kit that you built into any bass.

That's basically the only thing I am longing for in bass at the moment. Of course the price is a thing too. It can''t be expensive like the Moog guitar. Or a high quality ancient Italian upright...;)
 
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A bass that changes color based on the note / chord you play?



Doesn't Gibson already have this for select instruments?

The tuner thing is already made by Germanys Evertune. On guitar though, not bass. I think that idea would be more suitable on bass since you don't bend and play vibratos as much. I don't want to have automatic tuning of my instrument. The most important thing is that once you've tuned it up, it stays in tune. That's the hard part due to strings inherent flexibility and deformation properties. It's not even high tech but contains a spring system like that of a Stratocaster guitar. A spring for each string, and it keeps it that way, regardless of temperature, and even if you try to turn on the tuner knobs at the headstock.

Evertune does not tune up to you, it just keeps them in tune. I'd rather see a mechanical solution to this, than high tech electronic.

The reason I've found out, is that all these hipshot drop d tuners and whatever, once dropped to D it stay like that for 30-40 seconds, before the string will go back to whatever pitch it was before, halfway into a tune, and then you have to adjust again. It takes several minutes for a string to stay - perfect - in a new pitch all of the time. Hence my use of capo for "downtuning" sometimes. Then you don't have to dabble with finetuning and touchup and wait for the strings to settle.
 
Thats a pretty SHARP idea. You seriously got a POINT there. I should probably CUT this out already. Well that was my JAB at some comedy. Maybe someone else should take a STAB at it. Alright im done.

That would really be the CUTTING EDGE of technology don't you think? Just don't take my sword for it...xcuse me for being such a dirk.
 
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EBow with bass string spacing instead of guitar.

I would say Moog bass (with sustain like their electric guitar) assuming they haven't already done that, but that's an instrument, not a proper accessory.

Otto

Nope, on the contrary. You're almost there, but read my post a few post above. You should take the Moog idea though, but ... reverse it.
 
A Bluetooth belt buckle or a neckless charm (adapter) connected wirelessly to a Bluetooth receiver - a thin e-panel strip adhered to the back of your bass guitar. On stage you would activate the Bluetooth link with your smartphone and the bass will then, almost magically, hover - hang in mid air (both in a preset distance (x) from your body, and a preset height (y) from the floor to your midriff or chest.

Imagine an already rowdy audience rocking at your imaginative onstage antics, as you use this (very) radical technology to mesmerize your adoring fans?

And the crowd goes crazy...!!


The following is a Feel Good (just because) video so you guys can...well...FEEL GOOD: