Author Topic: Fanned frets, anyone? (Read 349 times)

neurotictim · « **on:** April 01, 2008, 09:05:28 AM »

So I just got a Dingwall Afterburner I. For those of you who haven't gotten a chance to play with one, they're very nice basses.

The tone is really awesome, especially for a passive bass... I'm an active-bass kinda guy. It can't compete with my Epic, of course, but to be fair, the Epic is a pretty much spot-on match for the tone I hear in my head, so the Dingwall was at a disadvantage from the start.

Anyway, the fanned frets intrigue me. They're super-easy to play, and the scale goes from 37 on the B to 34 on the G, so tension across the neck is more even than on the Epic... Which is saying quite a bit.

Anyway, is anyone in work on having a fanned-fret Alembic built? I'd love to see Alembic-level build quality and tone with fanned frets.

The pic is from BassCentral's website.

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 01, 2008, 04:43:23 PM »

This has been asked before. I don't believe they can get a license from Dingwall without paying a heavy fee. Try doing a search on fanned frets.

Mike

mica · « **Reply #2 on:** April 01, 2008, 05:07:07 PM »

Actually, the patent has expired and there is no licensing fee, but there is an extra charge determined on a case by case basis. We were going to make a custom guitar with the fanned frets, but that customer recently changed his mind and is getting the regular parallel arrangement.

Bradley Young · « **Reply #3 on:** April 03, 2008, 11:03:54 AM »

Can I get a fretless with fanned frets?

briant · « **Reply #4 on:** April 03, 2008, 12:58:57 PM »

Can I get a fretless with fanned frets?

Yes you can, actually. I've played one. They're very cool and extremely comfortable.

adriaan · « **Reply #5 on:** April 04, 2008, 12:51:38 AM »

Does it require a ceiling fan, or can you get the same effect whilst pointing your hair-dryer for the heat bend?

Bradley Young · « **Reply #6 on:** April 05, 2008, 09:24:21 AM »

Brian,

Sorry, that was a bit of a joke, since a fretless, by definition doesn't have frets.

Not funny if you have to explain it.

bigideas · « **Reply #7 on:** April 05, 2008, 10:09:06 AM »

Should just mention the patent wasn't (isn't?) Sheldon Dingwall's but Ralph Novak's from Novax Instruments.

Also, the fee, to the best of my knowledge, was only 75$ per instrument. Not so heavy considering what an Alembic is worth (or a high end Dingwall for that matter.)

David Houck · « **Reply #8 on:** April 05, 2008, 10:26:31 AM »

A thread from six years ago suggests that the fee was at one point considerably more than $75.

dfung60 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 05, 2008, 10:05:55 PM »

Hey, it might seem like a fanned fret fretless is a joke, but it really would be a different instrument setup. On a Dingwall, it's not just the frets that are different, the bridge is repositioned so that the low strings are longer than the high ones, and the nut layout is different too. The scale length is different on every string which has nothing to do with the frets.

If you made a habit of playing a fanned fret fretted bass, then it wouldn't be that odd to have a fanned fret fretless made so that your hand positions would still be the same.

David Fung

bigideas · « **Reply #10 on:** April 07, 2008, 04:11:15 PM »

Dave, when I had last checked the Novax site it was 75$ ( I don't doubt Mica, but it must have changed), but this must have been before the patent ran out. I talked to Sheldon Dingwall (I live in Saskatoon) awhile ago to ask if he would have to charge that fee on a bass or fretboard not going to the states (the Novax patent was only for the states.) That's when I found out the patent had run out. I also found out he's to busy to cut extra fingerboards anymore.