Twincam

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1413796946' post='2581874'] A 24 fret fingerboard is going to need 23 separate touchscreens - that's an awful lot of ribbon cabling to run somewhere down inside the neck. But before you even manage that there's the fact that your fingers and the strings aren't really making contact with the fingerboard; when you fret a string it doesn't come into contact with the fingerboard; that's assuming that the frets haven't been levelled and dressed several times in previous years so there's no point in having any touch sensitivity there. There's another solution to your touchscreen thing anyway, at least for determining/recording which fret/note someone's playing - the Industrial Radio MIDI bass system, where each fret becomes a 4 section electrical contact (assuming it's a 4 string bass) so the bass becomes a MIDI controller where you can effectively play/record anything you like. The guy from Little Dragon sometimes uses one. The optical pickups already exist with the LightWave infrared systems used on basses like the Saber bass. I don't know how well these compare to piezos or conventional pickups, however we do know that magnetic pickups can and do add character to the sound, depending on how they're constructed, with single coils, humbuckers, coil taps, pickup location along the speaking string length, in/out of phase pairs; which AFAIK you can't achieve with either optical or piezo pickups (which are always in the bridge area). As you've already pointed out a system like the Variax bass offers instrument emulation... it didn't conquer the world and is no longer made. Who knows why... GAS? I did wonder about electronics modularity being utilised more and flexible pickup location being employed with a modern instrument but we've also seen those tried in the past and they didn't catch on (eg Shergold Modulator system and the Gibson Grabber). Looks like conventional basses are going to be around for quite a while longer. [/quote] Modern touchscreens are very sensitive but i did say the frets would have pressure sensors, however i did think of the electrical contact thing too. I don't think wires would be a problem. And i think Led's instead of screens could work to. As to the pickup adding character all that could easily emulated. You just copy the exact signature of a setup then put that into the basses memory bank. Modeling amps and other programmable pedals are getting better and better, why not just have that technology inside the bass, like a more advanced variax. In the future im pretty sure this bass like this will be made. As pointed out many ideas are being used now. Will it be a success i don't know in the future maybe today probably not. As for gas this is not to replace any bass people have lots of basses this is just another bass i have just tried to make it more appealing to a younger generation and to be up to date with todays technology.

I got thinking after reading and commenting on the fender in trouble thread. About what a truly modern bass would be So ive got some ideas how to bring the bass up to date. And would like to hear your views on my ideas, i also welcome people adding there own ideas too. Smart fret board. The fret board, is replaced by a series of high quality, smartphone like capacitive touchscreen. The frets are still there as normal in between the screens. The idea is a teaching and recording aid. The screens will show you where notes are, Where to fret notes for songs (Tabs would be downloaded from online direct to the bass). The screens could also teach other theory like the scales etc. As a recording aid it would record your fretting movements which you could then transfer online and if you wanted allow others to learn your songs, they could be then be downloaded onto there bass like a onscreen tab on there fretboard. Also allow you to look over your songs and easy pick up where you left off, instead of using your memory. You have just played a brilliant ad lib piece but in the heat of the moment your not sure exactly what you did well the bass would automatically record all your movement and performance. How would this recording work, well the touchscreen would pick up alot of your fretting but also the frets would record pressure. Later on like sky plus you can play back all your movements on the bass or download to computer. The bass having various ways to connect to a pc/mac or smartphone etc such as wifi or directly online itself. Optical pickups, which can also record which string and how hard you pluck. This is related to the above this is for self analysis and for other to play your songs closely how you play them. You might not want to play like someone exactly and no two people will sound exactly the same but i still think its a cool idea to have say the stats on your fav player and get a idea of just what exactly there doing while playing how hard they strike the strings the exact fret timing. The optical pickups are also part of a variax bass style system. Like a variax the bass will have emulations of all the famous bass guitars, and string emulations. Also including pedal emulations, amp and cab modeling. However these will be used with a touchscreen which will also allow full customisation of pickup modelling and placement as well as your normal tone options. Which of course you would be able to then save your presets and quickly change them with a finger on the screen no messing about the knobs or the need for changing to a different set up bass. Would also emulate drop tuning and be able through software to keep your bass within tuning for longer. Other things a bass could have, inbuilt camera could record your self or audience, this might be more a novelty than of real use. But in today's selfie world why not. The bass could then use its internet connection to upload the pics onto whatever social media site and all that stuff. Oh not forgetting any screen can also have wallpapers and choose different fret markers. In fact really the whole bass could technically be mostly screen, then you could change the colour of the bass at will, have pics on and even video playing while your playing. However that is getting away from the fact its an instrument first and foremost. So anyhow if you read all that thank you, and hopefully its not all rubbish. Just my take on a totally modern bass built for todays generation.

I think chris b made a good point about the bottom end falling out of many instruments. And in some ways i think there is a natural progression in the world and while i don't have the stats etc. I could say instrument playing in general has declined since, cinema arrived on the scene then radio, tv, personal computers, games consoles, internet, mobile phones, smart phones. And of course music software. I believe sports has also been affected by these things too. There's just more stuff to do in life. And i have been thinking this for a while but lots of instruments still look like something from the 50s which to every generation is going to look more and more out of date. If i was a manufacturing company i would think im going to make my new instruments look modern with modern materials, and not just like the model you can buy 50 years ago. I should add i love old designs and instruments but having a range based on frankly ancient designs is not good business, you wouldn't get that in other business models. In 2003 i owned a triumph herald but would i buy a brand new one today no. Also as many have mentioned the fact that the quality is much closer between bottom end and top end is a big factor. Fender really has tried to make the newer affinity range cheaper and cheaper but i think there struggling to make a cheap instrument significantly different from there top end models. Especially for first time buyers were you can now get a good instrument that will last many years for under 200 pound and cheaper.

For the record i didn't say anyone couldn't be an L42 fan at any age. I was born in 83 and most music i listen to is before that time. I'm just saying if a young person especially a young women on her own tried to tell me her reason was because L42 was her fav band, as an immigration officer i would be very suspicious. Which would prompt me to really have a look into things carefully. Especially considering i would of thought there's a lot of pressure by us public to stop illegal immigration.

I say buy a better bass. You will treasure it more and give you more motivation to pick it up. And if your like me if i have money if i don't spend it it vanishes on other life stuff. Then you end up wishing you had just bought the better bass in the first place.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1413480286' post='2578719'] Sounds like UKIP have nothing to worry about then . . . [/quote] LOL!.. Something seems a little off though. And what young lass says there fav band is L42???. If i was a customs officer, i would of been like no way!. I think if she had been coming over to see a modern band with a younger audience she would of got in.

They might be worth a punt but for the same price or less you can get. http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_pb_50_sb_vintage_series.htm Or http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hot_rod_bass.htm Both look like better options to me.

My explanation is that the wood (density) effects the decay of the kinetic energy of the vibrating string, that and the resistance of the air on the vibrating string. Those two factors will to some degree effect tone. But an electric bass is not an acoustic instrument so the affect will not be as much. And i imagine air resistance will make no detectable difference unless in a lab setting. A very light material in density like polystyrene would probably sound different to say a hard wood. But there on extremes of density.

Goes to show that you can get away with a lot, in the mix haha.

Ok all pretty good points. I still think the idea is cool though. They are supposed to be very efficient, very loud per watt. You get a few extra db from from.

Im convinced with modern tech they can be made cheap. If in bulk!. I read something as well on some forum a manufacture of speakers and cabs in eastern europe calculated they could be made cheap. But i can't find where i read that now. Also looking at the design itself there's really nothing special about them very simple really. However if im wrong on the weight and them being manufactured cheap i believe there is one very interesting thing that would get a lot of peoples attention is that the speakers are tuneable on the fly to a degree. Surely that would be worth a fair amount of attention. As for the power source a smart move would be to have power from a custom amp head, which would add little to a head. If i was going to come into amp and cab manufacture this is how i would go. Anyhow like i say just my mind making random thoughts. Oh yeah i hadn't heard of field coil speakers i actually thought i invented them till i looked them up. Mine were called electromagnetic speakers haha. I just thought hey why don't speakers have a powered electromagnet on them.

Just a thought but wouldn't field coil speakers be lighter weight and cheap to make and just as powerful as permanent magnet speakers. I know some high end audio companies still make them. And there very expensive. But a small magnet and wire would cost alot less than a large magnet especial a neo one. Im pretty sure they could be made cheaply, in the far east they will make anything cheap in bulk.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1411921942' post='2563912'] Should've left a message in a bottle [/quote] [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1411923311' post='2563935'] Bet they can't stand losing you. And you'll be so lonely... Sorry. [/quote] [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1411924114' post='2563948'] ... and driven to tears [/quote] LMAO. Literally spat my coffee out laughing. Take your time off. Sounds like you need the break. Anyhow how many stings around are there?, might take them a while to find another and by that time you might feel like you want to give it another go. I do think they should of said about the advertisement. Just don't go kicking off and burning any bridges back.

I see nothing wrong in where a bass or car is made. Modern production methods means these days its very hard to make a crap bass or car. If design was like for like. What does make the difference is the material quality and the final finger work. The devil is in the details as they say.

Lol at age 14 in music class we were asked to design an instrument. I designed something very similar to this but smaller it fit in your palm and would be strapped to your hand, and with a ratcheting tremolo system for each individual string, that by a complex system that probably wouldn't work be operated by each finger. Had a standard pickup tone and volume. I called it the hand guitar and the teacher was very impressed as i recall.

Yeah im hitting the strings with equal force, ive tried angling my fingers and all sorts now. But my middle finger is still fatter so to say then my pointer finger an no matter what the angle the damping affect of the fatter finger pad on my middle finger dampens the noise. I don't think this is a technique issue, I think im just going to have to find a work around and live with it.

I know my fingers won't sound the same but mine is really different, like sounding like a normal roundwound with one finger and a flatwound with the other the volume is also different. Tried playing soft and hard, with both fingers and the outcome is the same even if i play soft with one and hard with the other. I honestly don't know how ive missed this before.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1410459330' post='2549726'] The callous on your index finger has merely become harder than the one on your middle finger (mine are like this). I can only suggest playing more with your middle finger to get that one suitably hard core. [/quote] Yeah checked that and there equal in hardness and size and placing. Ive tried using different techniques such as letting my finger bend and roll over the string and same result.

I so hope this does not sound stupid. Ive noticed recently my pointer finger has a very treble sound when plucking, and my middle finger sounds like the treble has been rolled off and its very noticeable. Like the difference between a finger plucking and using the pad of your thumb. To be honest im not sure if this is a problem or not if im playing something quick its hardly noticeable, but playing slower i can hear it, maybe more so as im now listening for it. Almost like someone turning the tone control up and down somewhat. Ive tried all sorts to correct this but the fact is my middle finger has a lot more padding to it so to say. I guess some might see this as a plus but i don't fancy playing with one finger then going to the other when i need a change of tone lol. Does anyone else find this?, Is this even a issue?. No i won't become a pick player haha.

[quote name='dincz' timestamp='1409329073' post='2538730'] Born with the heart and ears of a bassist but the hands of a singer [/quote] Haha i know the feeling.

Ok sounds like what I did just last night started messing around and soon enough had a 4mm action and still fret buzz I swear the bass was nearly throw out the window. So I taken I break. Then come back taken all the strings off. Set the saddles really low. Then I tightened the truss rod up a little. Put the stings back on the strings were flat against the board. So I raised the saddles up a little till they would just clear the board from the 12th to the 19th fret then loosened the truss rod at the point I had a 1.5mm action at the 12th (string)and had a equal buzz. So I raised the saddles half a mm. And had no buzz in the higher frets. Then I loosened the truss tod a very small amount till I had no buzzing at the 2nd to 7th frets. Ended up with 2.5 mm e string to just under 2mm at the g and the others inbetween. However I noticed I used more relief this way than have used before which for diy purpose is if I slid my Natwest bank card under the string at the 7th with first and last fret depressed it will just about start to raise the string. I was probable using too little relief before and having to set the saddles higher. If I had a lighter touch I could probably get another half mm out if it and this I on a cheap Harley Benton. I did have to cut thenut height myself. Oh a Natwest bank card is half a mm which I think would be right for what specs fender gives for relief.

Ok so turns out I've been hitting the strings way too hard!. I readjusted my bass for a fairly standard setup and cut the nut myself and did an ok job got an ok action out of it. Before as said before I practiced alot unamped which in order to hear things I naturally played harder which is abit wrong as its not an acoustic. So I kind of self taught my right hand to play naturally this way. So basically I've backed right off and been practicing with a light touch. But I'm getting a little bit off clacking now and then so need to work on this. But its improved my sound. I have noticed I can hear my fretting hand noises coming through much more.

Yeah but it happens in every bass I've set up. So not a neck twist. The buzzing tends to be equal along the length of the neck. The nut is cut too high be about half a mm. So if that was cut right that would help a little. I do play hard and I tend to practice un amped so I thought maybe I've trained myself to play harder than I should. And I tend to really bounce the e string. I don't mind playing with a higher action. As I prefer the sound but it seems I have no middle ground its either high action no fret buzz or low action and lots of. If I try a medium action I can't find a happy medium in tone. Just to say tho I've watched many vids and players who say there bass is set up low and perfect and no fret buzz and when they play i can hear fret buzz. Maybe I'm overly sensitive to it.

Wasn't sure which part of the forum to post this to be honest. Anyhow I am able to in general setup a bass with a fairly decent action. Except for the E string this applies to any bass ive owned i get to much fret buzz on just the E string for my liking. I do dislike all but a little amount of buzz and often it does not come through the amp but i can still hear it on occasion. And my setup tends to have the e string a little higher than i would like at around 3 mm at the 12th. Is this because of a bad setup or technique or maybe both?. As i have no problem playing with a low action on any other string without the buzz. I have played others basses but i did so with the utmost respect so i was very gentle so i can't say how i do with a different setup. Just to add when playing with flatwounds i have had no problems getting a good low action and no fret buzz.

I say sell the bass, buy the amp head. Then if you regret it you have learnt a life lesson and if you don't regret it then good. I always go and do what i please which is mainly why i live a life of regrets and lessons haha.