Extended Range Instrument Homebuilds

[flood]

Absolute noob on this forum (1st post!) wit a hypothetical question....

I'm not necessarily planning to do this as my first project... but what would be the factors to be taken into consideration when building an extended range bass/guitar, touch style instrument (e.g. warr/chapman knockoff) etc.? has anybody done this? where do the differences come in, and how would one go about building, e.g., monster fretboards for, say, 8-9 string basses or 12-string bass/guitar combinations?

like i said, i have no experience with building whatsoever, just some basic repairs. i just thought the information could be interesting, i'd probably appreciate the instruments even more.

if anyone DOES believe i could go ahead with it anyway, do post a no-frills method here! i would honestly doubt it though. thanx.

[truerussian558]

the fact that your not going to find a bridge for 6 guitar strings and 6 bass strings in one is a problem, though there are ways to go around this, i beleive there are 1 string bridges floating around on the internet, for odd string combinations, odd string spreads, and/or for fanned frets,

also you need to worry about the immense pressure exerted on the neck, and that the chances of neck problems increase dramatically, also playing on that thick of a fretboard becomes uncomfortable yet always possible, hell you can probably even go like the chapman stick, that one can have as many as 15 strings,

also the extended pickups are a problem,b ut yet again you can have a seperate pickup for the bass strings, and a seperate pickup for the guitar strings,like the stick does

i just realized you wanted to make a stick, this itself adds a variety of problems, forst they use their own fret system that has a 90 degree edge facing the strings so that when you tap it becomes more pronounced and gives you dynamic possibilities, also they're action is extremely low,

but luckily the guiutar itself is fairly easy, its just a stick, with a headstock vut out, and a rectangel routed out near the botom for the electronics "box"

[asm]

also, on a full size bass neck, youd have problems tuning to standard on the light guitar strings. so you might have to go baritone or lower scale? and then your up their near the bass freqs anyway.

[flood]

thanks for the information!

i figured that the neck would have to be reinforced better somehow.... since the neck thickness should be limited as far as possible. i wonder if 2 or 3 truss rods would be necessary for this. any ideas?

i checked out the stick enterprises homepage again, i have an idea of what you mean by 90° frets. the standard frets look quite normal though...

one string bridges would be necessary here, i believe ABM makes them. i think piezos in the bridge could be a good option too.

the pickups would most definitely be split, bass and guitar. can'T see myself getting extended pickups with ease. this would also simplify stereo output.

i'm going to think about this a little more seriously. except for the truss rod problem it doesn't sound THAT impossible...

maybe i should start with a simpler instrument first. any opinions?

[pickleweaseler]

You could make a wooden bridge. I'm making a cocobolo bridge for my Les Paul right now. I just need to wait till I break a string to put the bridge on.

[truerussian558]

you might wnat to try a simpler build, material wise, actually if you look at the stick its quite simple to make, though hard to get a hol of the parts, but for the regular frets, they use a rounded slot to put them in so the bottom is rounded, but im sure you might be able to make do with some jumbo frets good luck

[flood]

A wooden bridge is something i'd probably want too, but this would rule out fine adjustments for intonation setting. i could probably survive without them (i always go out of tune ), but it would be a nice touch. the advantage would be that the piezos would be easier to build in...

[envenomedcky]

as for the neck reinforcement, another thing you could do is what Parker does to their guitars (I'm not exactly sure on how it's done), they put a coat of carbon/glass on their bodies and necks for a lot of extra strength and it works real well.

[flood]

a coat of carbon/glass.... do you mean some sort of finishing material?

if you have an example, i'd be really grateful if you could post it.... thanx!!!

[asm]

im thinking hes talking about carbon fiber cloth, like what the laminate over surfboards, but instead of fiberglass cloth its carbon, its tighter strung and alot stronger:

http://futurefiber.tripod.com/product/carbonfiber_e.html

however its really expensive probably 10x what fiberglass cloth is, but since your not using alot it wouldnt be bad. i dont know how you would mate the wood and fiberglass/resin together though.

i wouldnt think this idea would be the smartest thing for a first time instrument either. thats just looking for problems to arise

[flood]

thanks! i concur. i think i'll build a tele or something