I have just had (what I think) is a brilliant idea.

[kez]

Please bear with me:


What do all Bass players have to do on a regular basis, tune the instrument.
Given the (relative) simplicity of tuning devices, why it incorporate in in the bas it self,  you guys are the perfect people as my proposal is you use illuminated first markers to display the pitch. a central one (green ) indicates when its correct and one up shows its flat, one down shows its sharp.


When not in use it revers to standard markers (illumined or not, guess that personal choice). As a unique option I think it would be a great offering and of course great for publicity etc.


What do you think?
Kerry

[pauldo]

I thought Gibson has something similar with an 'auto tune' feature.

My Distillate is amazing at holding it's tuning.  New set of strings, stretch them proper on install and I rarely have to fuss with them after, unless there is a dramatic temp/ humidity change.

I don't know why but that bass is the most stable/ consistent bass I have ever owned.  I check my tuning frequently but rarely need to correct it. 

[811952]

My '81 series bass stays in tune better than my Steinberger L2A did.


I seem to recall, though, that someone offered a tuning setup like that on either a bass or a guitar at some point. It wouldn't be all that difficult to do.


John

[jazzyvee]

I don't find my tuning drifts at all during a gig even when slap/popping unless I've not stretched in new strings properly.
If you consider the current cost of having basic LED's on an alembic which isn't cheap , then adding the cost of the electronics for a tuner version plus maybe the extra cavity to hold it, that's gonna be a serious wedge of cash you are spending on a tuner when you can pick up a digital tuner for a few pounds.

[JimmyJ]

I like it.  And I'm quite sure if anybody could do it it would be Alembic.  The biggest complication would be the additional wiring to the LEDs which are at the moment wired in parallel along a tiny strip inset into the edge of the fingerboard.  To get them to work as a proper tuner display they would need individual wires from each diode.

But if that were done the rest would be quite simple.  Series basses already have plenty of DC power available so no extra batteries.  Considering how small the circuit boards are in the Korg or TC pedals, or even the rack mounted tuners, space and additional weight shouldn't be a problem.  You could even choose the "mode" of the display.

I think it's a neat idea!

Jimmy J

[jazzyvee]

You could probably replace the wires with fibre optic strands with a magnifier in the fret marker positions and have the coloured led's inside the cavity.
There is a company called GB basses over here in the UK that makes basses with Sound to Light LED systems so I guess that could be adapted fairly easily.

[elwoodblue]

... which are at the moment wired in parallel along a tiny strip inset into the edge of the fingerboard.  To get them to work as a proper tuner display they would need individual wires from each diode.

JJ ,do you mean series ? (maybe with some different resistors down the line?)


Parallel would require more runs to the cavity ...if I'm thinking right(not always the case ).




 

[wayne]

(Disclaimer: I play Series basses, so have plenty of power - as Jimmy says - and have a standby switch)

I would envision 5 LEDs inset on the top of the upper horn: Red-Yellow-Green-Yellow-Red.  The tuner would be active either all the time or just when the bass is in standby - so you can tune silently. 

Since it would mostly be just for "touch-ups" you shouldn't need a display, but with the size of the clip-on tuners, that wouldn't even be out of the realm of possibility to inlay!

So, who wants to be the test case and ask Mica to modify their existing bass???

C-Ya.............wayne

[mica]

Jimmy is right that it would require quite a bit of wires to make the markers themselves have a tuning mode. The side markers, like the frets, are spaced on a logarithmic scale, so I'm trying to envision that uneven spacing to communicate sharp and flat. Also would have to figure how to interface as to the target pitch. If someone ordered this, my first thought would be to have a closely packed cluster of LEDs (5 or 7) either near the first fret or the 12th fret since that is a more familiar interface, but the circuitry would be pretty similar regardless of where you had the indicator LEDs.

[gtrguy]

Since the tuner would be able to pick up its pitch down in the body, putting the LEDs down there somewhere also makes sense.
A lot of people use the Snark style tuners and just clip them onto the headstocks now.
I have also played some of the Gibson Robot tune SGs and they have an odd, uncomfortable fat neck on them.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I believe kez is envisioning a read-out-only system; the Gibson atrocity does the "tuning" for you.
I use the quotation marks because they have an accuracy of ±2.5 cents (as opposed to ±0.01 cent for a strobe & 0.1 for everything else).  That gives you a possible total variance of ±5 cents; I don't see Alembic giving you something like that..........

Peter (who curses the name of Henry)

[JimmyJ]

... which are at the moment wired in parallel along a tiny strip inset into the edge of the fingerboard.  To get them to work as a proper tuner display they would need individual wires from each diode.

JJ ,do you mean series ? (maybe with some different resistors down the line?)Parallel would require more runs to the cavity ...if I'm thinking right(not always the case   ).

I think the LEDs in the Series neck are currently wired in parallel, as in, two conductors running the length of the insert with each LED connected to both wires.  But I might be wrong, it might be a single string with one LED connected to the next in series...?  Seems to me I've heard of the rare failure of a single LED while the rest remain lit - so I presumed parallel. 

At any rate, addressing each lamp individually to display tuning info you would require a "home run" of the 10 LEDs.  They could share one leg but we're talking 11 wires somehow stuffed under the fingerboard so space may be an issue...

Still a cool idea!

Jimmy J

[edwin]

David King has had an on board tuner option for must near on 20 years now. It fits perfectly in the continuous thumb rest that is built in above the pickups. I don't have it on my King bass, but I have seen a few of them and they are very nice. Some info with a picture is here: http://www.kingbass.com/features.html

How about a built in strobe tuner!

[elwoodblue]

  Seems to me I've heard of the rare failure of a single LED while the rest remain lit - so I presumed parallel. 

 Makes sense,thanks for showing your work 


I like Edwins strobe idea !
  While we're dreaming...would two colors strobing against a string blend to a third color when the frequencies match,?( One color would be the target freq., the other would be synced with the string)
 




 

[bigredbass]

I'll leave it to you techsters to figure out how, but it seems to me onboard tuning (NOT self-tuning like that idiot Gibson system) is way overdue on solid bodies, as even el cheapo box guitars have them.  I realize the readout is included in the little box on the shoulder, but some sort of three LED system (flat-perfect-sharp), maybe embedded in a fingerboard extension this side of the 24th fret with the LED's facing the pickups might work. 

Joey