Flatter.

[Owen]

https://guitarflatter.com/products/bass-flatter

 

I cannot deny, I am tempted.

[ped]

Consider it your civic duty to try one and report back

[LeftyJ]

Cool idea, do buy one and keep us posted 

I have my doubts about how well this works, I would guess you need to at least set up the action at the bridge for this to work - even though it ends at the 14th fret. The raised area that replaces your nut makes it incredibly tall, it would seem. I also really wonder how well it will stay in place (won't it rattle against your frets higher up the neck?) and how good it will really sound. And how durable it will be when using roundwounds that dig into the plastic. But I'm intrigued! 

[lemmywinks]

Might not even be workable if you don't have enough spare height on your bridge saddles and pickups which would have to be adjusted every time, probably more effore to fit than just swapping necks.

 

Plus it negates the excuse to buy a completely new bass which is against forum rules.

[Cato]

As above I'm confident that the gizmo does what it says it can, but I'm doubtful it's as simple as just clipping it on and you're good to go as implied on on the website.

 

Once you'd adjusted the action to work with the 'Flatter' you'd presumably then have a bass that had a very high action without it.

 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I wonder whether they'll also bring out one called the fretter that you can clip onto the neck of a fretless bass to make it almost as good as a proper fretted bass?

[miles'tone]

Damn...wish I'd thought of that!

[Hellzero]

Not really new...

 

 

 

[Owen]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

Not really new...

 

 

 

You have a point.

[Beedster]

When selecting a board material for a fretless bass, plastic is not my first choice.....

 

Although of course according to many on here the material chosen makes no difference to sound 

[Beedster]

On 13/06/2024 at 13:22, Cato said:

Once you'd adjusted the action to work with the 'Flatter' you'd presumably then have a bass that had a very high action without it.

 

 

And a very chunky/deep neck profile. If I ever need to change between fretted and fretless on the same bass - happens occasionally - it's a 15-minute job to swap necks over and tweak action. Think I'll stick with that method 👍

[jd56hawk]

I'd pay good money to see someone do it in 2 minutes!

[Hellzero]

Worth checking this very clever build: 

 

[jd56hawk]

2 hours ago, Beedster said:

When selecting a board material for a fretless bass, plastic is not my first choice.....

 

Although of course according to many on here the material chosen makes no difference to sound 

When this was first being developed, I suggested they go with sapphire crystal, like you can find on Movado watches.

Now, I'm no longer in product development, but sweeping up and taking out the trash is still a job.

[Baloney Balderdash]

I wish they'd made one in aluminum for a more permanent easy conversion, and made it to fit more bass models, or even offered making custom ones to fit whatever bass you wished.  

 

For sure a brilliant idea though.

 

Edited July 25, 2024 by Baloney Balderdash

[Doctor J]

3 hours ago, Beedster said:

When selecting a board material for a fretless bass, plastic is not my first choice.....

 

Although of course according to many on here the material chosen makes no difference to sound 

Jaco only needed four coats of epoxy.

[Hellzero]

2 hours ago, Doctor J said:

Jaco only needed four coats of epoxy.

Nope, six coats, and he could thank Kevin Kaufman for making it right afterwards...

 

https://ricksuchow.com/rebuilding-the-bass-of-doom-added-2-21

 

[jd56hawk]

What about a bass with an extreme fretboard radius, very flat or very curved?

This company's been doing this for 15 years and there's a reason countless bassists say "Wow, never knew something like that even existed!"

https://youtu.be/9jdVkNWnII0?si=lhbtMFwNhypRYcnt

ROTATING FRET MECHANISM ON A FLAT FINGERBOARD . (YES, IT REALLY MUST BE FLAT, NO RADIUS).

Edited August 6, 2024 by jd56hawk

[Hellzero]

Wow, I knew something like that existed!