Alembic Guitars Club

Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: mario_farufyno on December 19, 2009, 01:43:51 PM

Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: mario_farufyno on December 19, 2009, 01:43:51 PM: Hey Guys, have you ever heard about this twisted neck Bass?

http://littleguitarworks.com/torzal-natural-twist/ (http://littleguitarworks.com/torzal-natural-twist/)

http://littleguitarworks.com/instruments/custom-instruments/
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: darkstar01 on December 19, 2009, 02:46:45 PM: i've seen these before, never played one though... aren't the dingwall fanned fret basses like this, too? or any instrument with fanned frets, for that matter.
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: 811952 on December 19, 2009, 03:12:21 PM: This is completely different than fanned frets.

It looks interesting and I'd like to try one.

Fanned frets have a different (optimal) scale length for each string, whereas the twisted neck is an ergonomic proposition in a different (twisted) plane with nearly equal or equal scale lengths per string.

There are some creative problem-solvers out there.. ;)

John
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: mike1762 on December 19, 2009, 03:31:20 PM: I'm holding out for a twisted AND fanned fret neck.
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: darkstar01 on December 19, 2009, 04:43:43 PM: i've definitely seen a bass that has both. i'm looking for it... i'll post it when i find it.
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: keith_h on December 19, 2009, 05:38:43 PM: I never thought about warping a neck on purpose.

Keith
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: 811952 on December 19, 2009, 07:27:33 PM: http://www.elutherie.org/2007/06/bass-guitar-magazine-reviews-the-torzal-twist-bass-guitar.html
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: lbpesq on December 20, 2009, 10:58:13 AM: Burrell guitars (http://www.burrellguitars.com/Gallery.html) makes guitars with twisted necks and bodies. I played one once. Very unusual and interesting. It played better than I expected, but I didn't notice any advantage over more traditional shapes and the action was a little high for my taste.

Bill, tgo
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: bigredbass on December 20, 2009, 08:15:28 PM: I once worked shortly for a company doing prototypes of a guitar marketed by a pickup company that had a 'twisted' neck/fingerboard.

This was conventional spaced/length frets, normal fingerboard radius, etc. It was as if you put the body in a vise, grabbed the head with vise-grips, and twisted it, taking the fingerboard with it.

This was a neckthru piece, so it was a challenge to get everything right, then be able to repeat it reliably in a production run.

The guitar in question is for sale now, with a conventional (Non-twisted) neck.

In retrospect, this is on of those ideas that seems correct . . . your hand does rotate its grip somewhat as you reach out . . . but duplicating this in wood is hard. I could see molding it in carbon fibre, but can't see making ANY money doing it. And of course, there's a practical limit as to how far you can rotate the nut in relation to the end of the neck before the strings dampen out just from the twist. And as always, most guitar players do NOT want the wheel reinvented.

Now, let me show you my flying car with the 100 mpg carburetor . . .
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: lbpesq on December 21, 2009, 08:21:33 AM: Joey:

Isn't that the one that runs on water that the government won't let us have?

Bill, tgo
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: David Houck on December 21, 2009, 07:22:51 PM: Bill mentioned the action, and I'm having a hard time imagining how a truss rod adjustment is going to work on a twisted neck.
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: 811952 on December 22, 2009, 07:56:55 AM: Truss rods would be in different planes.

A friend of mine mentioned that Ed Friedland (guy in the video I linked above) has awful left-hand technique...

john
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: bigredbass on December 22, 2009, 08:54:50 AM: Yeah, water, and . . . oh hell, gotta go, black helicopters incoming ! ! !
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: David Houck on December 22, 2009, 04:08:02 PM: John; yeah, he keeps pinching his wrist. It almost makes you wonder if he's pinching his wrist because the neck is twisted in that direction.

That's a nice job he's doing of that jazz standard who's name I can't think of at the moment. Can anyone help me out?
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: chrisalembic on December 22, 2009, 04:14:40 PM: St Thomas

This guy is quite a bass player indeed!
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: chrisalembic on December 22, 2009, 04:20:18 PM: Hey Dave, if you you are interested in jazz standards played on eletric bass, check out Dario Deidda from Italy:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ono-jJPGCs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ono-jJPGCs)
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: David Houck on December 22, 2009, 04:33:07 PM: Yes; St. Thomas! Thanks Chris!
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: peoplechipper on January 17, 2010, 10:38:06 PM: I can see the ergonomic advantages of the twisted neck, but good luck getting a fret dress or refret; I've done guitar repair and I am a Goldsmith who's king hell with a file, and the prospect of levelling that fretwork out is a nightmare...Tony
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: hankster on January 19, 2010, 04:46:23 PM: I've seen Lenny Breau, Jim Hall, Tal Farlow, Joe Diorio, James Burton, Albert Lee, Bruce Cockburn, Steve Vai, Jeff Healey, Doc Watson, Jerry Garcia, Frank Reckard, and countless others on plain old guitars. They all seemed to be doing all right.

Does the world really need this?
Title: Warped Neck?
Post by: hankster on January 19, 2010, 04:52:50 PM: PS.

Oh, yeah, and on the bass side - Prakash John, Marcus Miller, Jaco, Victor Wooten, Francis Rocco Prestia, Jerry Scheff, Pops Popwell...same story.

Not that I denigrate technological advancement. But sometimes I shake my head. I'd be happy if someone could convince me that this is a good idea, though...always try to keep an open mind.