Why don't more builders use fanned frets / multi-scale?

[EMoneySC2]

You know that DB player or every string player move their hands so the bow to fit where they are playing ... Just like if you move your hand you won't find the B to be floppy at all or even the sound to be crappy

Put an appropriately sized string tuned to G0 on a 34" scale bass and tell me how it sounds when you pluck the string near the bridge.

Spoiler: not good!

 

[EMoneySC2]

Making the electric bass even longer, and placing frets at an angle does not do anything but negatively effect ergonomics and scale length......

The rest of it is opinion that most players don't even remotely share.

Making the scale length longer is the POSITIVE thing here...

 

[EMoneySC2]

The extended range on the B string is offers one clear improvement over 34" scale and that is a clear, true note with sustain all the way up the fretboard. You can have good B's at 34", you can have a tight and clear open B, but you get wolftones as you fret up the neck with anything less than 37". Check the 15th fret on any 34/35" bass and you'll hear what I mean, this is the worst spot in my experience.

Most people will never play that high but it is something that cannot be done on 34" scale basses unlike balanced string tension. If we are going to argue for ergonomics than the real solution is a Torzal and not fanned frets. I have never played one of those so I have no idea on what other difficulties arise though.

As a fanned fret player, I'd argue that ergonomics are improved on a multi-scale instrument. I've planed an Ibanez SRFF806 for 4-5 months and I've got a Dingwall NG-2 coming in the next week.

I do agree that Torzal is a step in the direction as well. The ultimate solution (for me) would probably be a Torzal multi-scale neck.

 

[mongo2]

You know that DB player or every string player move their hands so the bow to fit where they are playing ... Just like if you move your hand you won't find the B to be floppy at all or even the sound to be crappy

My right hand floats most of the time so I can adjust from note to note if necessary for the tone I want.

 

[kevteop]

Call me shallow but they look weird, so does the Torzal bass. I like the way basses look, I like the way they've sounded on recordings since they've existed and I don't honestly think there's enough added value (or any added value) in putting on a multiscale neck. They don't sound any better, they look worse and they're harder to play. Unless you don't do most of your playing in the first octave, but most of us do.

 

[guy n. cognito]

Making the scale length longer is the POSITIVE thing here...

Disagree. You make the entire bass harder to play in order to "improve" 4 notes on 1 string.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

As a fanned fret player, I'd argue that ergonomics are improved on a multi-scale instrument. I've planed an Ibanez SRFF806 for 4-5 months and I've got a Dingwall NG-2 coming in the next week.

I do agree that Torzal is a step in the direction as well. The ultimate solution (for me) would probably be a Torzal multi-scale neck.

As a fanned fret player I would argue the ergonomics are potentially worse in certain playing situations. Try hitting octaves at the first fret or making minor 7th chords at the end of the neck. As much as some ergonomics are improved some are made worse. This is not really as much of a problem on the Ibanez though as that is more of a crooked 35" than a real 37" fan, the stretches are not nearly as far.

I am just trying to highlight that this is a tradeoff that many players are not willing to make, I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just do not see fanned frets as being for everybody just as I do not see parallel frets as being for everybody.

 

[Scottkarch]

Something a lot of people on TB may not realize or want to admit is that probably only like 10% of bassists in the US have a TB account. Go to any bar, go up to the bassist playing the gig, and ask them if they have ever been on TalkBass, or if they like fanned frets, most won't know what you are talking about. They simply joined a band, bought a Fender bass because it's what their guitarist told them to buy, or its what (fill in blank with bassists name) plays in (fill in blank with band name) and its what they have used ever since and have no interest in fanned frets because they are happy with the bass they already have.

For example things I had no idea existed before I joined TB:
1. Fanned frets
2. Sadowky
3. Dingwall
4. Fodera
5. EBMM Bongo
6. Roscoe
7. Marcus Miller
8. Good Squiers
9. People who own more than 3 basses
10. People who argue about mixing drivers

I have played in bands since I was 15 and have met lots of musicians and gone to lots of shows, and I still haven't seen any of these things, but TB insists they are real.

LOL! Love it. So true!

 

[spade2you]

Disagree. You make the entire bass harder to play in order to "improve" 4 notes on 1 string.

It only improves four notes???

 

[Bassmann79]

Jaco didn't need fanned frets. : )

 

[blue4]

Making the scale length longer is the POSITIVE thing here...

Not for me it's not. Helping me would be to find a bass that's got a decent B on a 32" scale. That's what the scientists should be working on.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Disagree. You make the entire bass harder to play in order to "improve" 4 notes on 1 string.

@spade2you no, no, no. You improve at least 9 notes, from the 15th fret (at best) to the 24th. You can have fantastic open B strings at 34", they just get overtones up the neck.

I realize your next post is "who the shag plays up the B string up there?" and I think that brings it back to "they're not for everybody but they solve am issue for some."

 

[itsalljustaride]

The B-string overhanging saddle is even more pronounced on the 6-string.
As for the unfinished section below the neck...why they would do such a thing is beyond me.

That isn't unfinished. That is the color of the neck wood. Ibanez necks are sloped beyond the end of the fretboard somewhat like a neck-through but they bolt on. You're just seeing the wood color of the neck as the fretboard ends.

 

[EMoneySC2]

Disagree. You make the entire bass harder to play in order to "improve" 4 notes on 1 string.

I get that it may not be a positive thing in your playing situation, but for mine it is! I play in really low tunings, and you need a long scale to make it work.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Put an appropriately sized string tuned to G0 on a 34" scale bass and tell me how it sounds when you pluck the string near the bridge.

Spoiler: not good!

I don't have any problems playing the G strings close to the bridge, I do it too for the C strings no problem

 

[Matt O]

OP, you could start a company that combines all of the "next big thing" tech from over the years.

I imagine a headless 5er, fanned frets, automatic tuners, graphite neck, polycarbonate or lucite body...

Make it shoot fireworks and smoke outta the end of the neck, and I think you'd have a winner on your hands.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

OP, you could start a company that combines all of the "next big thing" tech from over the years.

I imagine a headless 5er, fanned frets, automatic tuners, graphite neck, polycarbonate or lucite body...

Make it shoot fireworks and smoke outta the end of the neck, and I think you'd have a winner on your hands.

 

[bikeplate]

If you took a poll of 100 bass players in your area, 95 would have no idea what fanned frets are. Most play 4 string basses w 34" scales. In fact, watch some TV. Watch some festivals on Palladia, Jules Holland, etc. go to some local shows and some concerts that feature national and international acts. Most bassist use 4 strings w 34" inch scales! Lol.

I have a no real opinion on a fanned fret instrument. I've never tried one but to ask why bass builders don't offer them?

TB is a great forum but most bassists don't visit it and most have never heard of it. And I'd guess that 99 out of 100 bass players have never heard of Dingwall basses

 

[spade2you]

@spade2you no, no, no. You improve at least 9 notes, from the 15th fret (at best) to the 24th. You can have fantastic open B strings at 34", they just get overtones up the neck.

I'm aware that it improves more than just 4 notes. I was calling the other guy out. The "four extra" notes of a 5 the low B string shows a modest understanding of a 5 string bass.

 

[Scottkarch]

OP, you could start a company that combines all of the "next big thing" tech from over the years.

I imagine a headless 5er, fanned frets, automatic tuners, graphite neck, polycarbonate or lucite body...

Make it shoot fireworks and smoke outta the end of the neck, and I think you'd have a winner on your hands.

I give you, The Homer
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