That's beautiful Micheal,  but where are the LEDs?

Karyn
That's beautiful Micheal,  but where are the LEDs?

Thank you Karyn!.
They are on the first one I built. It is also the first instrument I ever built. It is to blame
for all this mess I create.
I'm at work but will post a pic of it this eve.
 
With every build my main interest(s) other than building a nice instrument has been
to attempt learning something(s) new.
With this build it was the way the neck joins the body. Very much like some Les Pauls.
I also wanted a shot at inlaying the frets. It was a pain having to sand the maple to size
and installing - I think I'd like the results much better if the fretboard was bound. Maybe next
time :) 
I do plan on building another with a shorter scale length- it makes good use of the scrap wood
and these darn lap steels...they have different tunings that just work better with different scale lengths.
The next one I'd also like to use a solid rod saddle/bridge with string through body and possibly a rod nut too. They should work fine and it would sure cut the bridge cost down.
 
Maybe after building a few I might learn enough to play a song with one! LOL

This is it Karyn.

 
This shot not only shows how I used copper foil tape to wire it ( wired so it's on when it's plugged in) but also the double cut Tele style body. Both from a Swamp Ash board that was given to me.
I had purchased a Carvin neck for the Tele...it sucked and so did the whole guitar.
 
I change the battery and plug in the steel every so often- watch it light up, laugh and put it back in the rack.
The Tele is just a reminder of how easy it is to make junk.....and make your own necks LOL.
 

 

I'd love to have a guitar that had LED's for all positions on the neck.  Then you could select exactly what scale, key and mode you'd like to work on and it would light up the included notes.

Hi Craig,
 There was a company that made that guitar back in the early nineties(?)
 
 I thought it was so cool but the ads in the magazines came and went quickly and the shops I went to never seemed to think it would be useful.
 
 I actually used stickers on my fret board for a short while.
 
 I've always been quite stubborn when it comes to learning about music. I wish I wasn't... it's just the way my head works, so I appreciated the chance to have a crutch or cheat sheet.
 
:-)
 
best regards,
mike

Hi,
 
Can I have a bass guitar? Short scale, slim neck for small hands ... and the best pickups in the market ... should have dummy proof marks on the neck for a blind fool ... let's see what else ... has to be colored purple or dark blue ... as in space ... spacey!
 
And the head (headless is what I would really like( has to say ... SPACEY
 
Now I have to bring up a few bob like 500 or 600 or so!

craigb
I'd love to have a guitar that had LED's for all positions on the neck.  Then you could select exactly what scale, key and mode you'd like to work on and it would light up the included notes.

http://fretlight.com/

I worked with a tech in the early 80's and we built
that guitar.
We had lawyers in Albq, NM perform a patent search
and we were advised not to challenge the patents. I later
had a law firm in Phoenix, AZ look into it and was given the
same advise.
 
What we didn't know was that we didn't need a patent to build
and market the thing.
It was over 10 years before that guitar showed on the market.
 
It was a fun trip though. We had linked the binary code to music theory.
The proto-type was just to prove that it had been done and we were
on cloud 9 along with a bunch of others thinking we had something special.
 
Challenging a patent is something if you don't know about that will sure
put a damper on your "dreams". I'll avoid the details. Trust me.

drewfx1

craigb
I'd love to have a guitar that had LED's for all positions on the neck.  Then you could select exactly what scale, key and mode you'd like to work on and it would light up the included notes.

http://fretlight.com/

That's the same design and brand name that I remember from a couple decades ago.
 
:-)
 
It's cool to learn that it didn't disappear.
 
I've since learned my scales and such but the idea still makes a lot of sense to me.
 
 
best regards,
mike

Here is a vintage 1993 ad I just found on ebay. Sometimes ebay is more effective than Wiki.  :-)