Guest ixlramp Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 (edited) Larger image: [url="http://i.imgur.com/EwpcVXc.jpg"]http://i.imgur.com/EwpcVXc.jpg[/url] This was my first instrument conversion to quartertone frets (24 frets per octave, the normal notes plus 12 more halfway between). Found a cheap 2nd hand Dean Metalman-V. I offset the new frets to avoid the old fret slots and the dots, resulting in a zero fret. Frets are EVO gold nickel-free, hardness is halfway between nickel and stainless steel frets. Headstock is so big i found i could just fit 8 full-size tuners if angled. Added brass saddles for a nice colour match, cut extra grooves in them. Decided to string up with unison courses instead of octave courses, creates a stronger chorus effect and avoids needing a special 8-string bridge. Finally a quality reproduction flip-down Steinberger leg rest was added. Centre of mass is now at the neck joint, the rear strap button has been moved to the body front and close to the neck joint for better strap balance. Currently i have it tuned in fifths at a baritone type pitch, similar to a cello. No recordings yet, sorry, sounds great acoustic and these frets are amazing. Quartertones are good for approximating middle-eastern scales. The long scale of a bass makes the frets very playable, in fact a bass is the perfect platform for creating a microtonal guitar, just string it up with thin strings. For an example of some quartertone metal (not by me) see this video [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry2kBQ1fDqk"]https://www.youtube....h?v=ry2kBQ1fDqk[/url] Edited September 23, 2016 by ixlramp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Astonishing bit of work, Sir. Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Absolute madness. And awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldflows Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Wow. Sound samples? Need to have a go on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ixlramp Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Early days, only converted 2 instruments so far, but eventually i might have some quartertone bass conversions for sale here in the UK (probably including this one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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