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 36" scale Railboard? 
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Post 36" scale Railboard?
I confess that I post this largely in ignorance because I've never played a Railboard and it will be months before the one I ordered arrives, but my curiosity is overcoming my patience.

Would a 36" scale Railboard be useful? I wonder if such an instrument could offer the structural simplicity and tone of the existing Railboard, but with a stronger affinity for lower tunings like DBM. Two bits of information lead me to this question:

1. SE recommends a higher than normal (RMR) tuning for the Railboard because it resonates better. Fair enough, and that's what I've requested for my order. But it makes me wonder if a longer scale instrument could have a similarly pleasing resonance at a lower tuning.
2. I'm a bass player, and these days my five string instruments are exclusively 35" scale because of the improved tone and string tension of the lower pitched strings versus what you get on standard 34" basses.

Once I actually have a Railboard, I'll be able to offer more informed thoughts, but until then, I'd love to hear what others think.

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Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:26 pm
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Post Re: 36" scale Railboard?
The 34" inch scale is a tad misleading in terms of string length between the nut and the bridge.

Because the Stick is a tapped instrument, there's not a need to put the nut in a particular location, the only length that matters is between the fret tops and the bridge.

The Railboard has a bigger arbitrary space between the X-Fret and the nut than previous models to make the feel more consistent, but the frets are spaced as they would be on a 34" scale instrument to compensate for that added length to not make the instrument unreasonably large.

So because of that, the Railboard has a longer "effective" string length, than the scale would suggest, making the tension of the string similar to longer scale instruments because the string is still stretched over a longer distance.

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Sat Dec 31, 2016 3:54 pm
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Post Re: 36" scale Railboard?
Thanks AndyJPro, I get some of what you're saying. As for the rest, I'll wait till I have a physical Railboard in my hands, reassess, and raise the subject again if need be.

Happy New Year!

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Sun Jan 08, 2017 7:51 pm
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Post Re: 36" scale Railboard?
pretensions wrote:
Thanks AndyJPro, I get some of what you're saying. As for the rest, I'll wait till I have a physical Railboard in my hands, reassess, and raise the subject again if need be.

Happy New Year!

Dude, when you get one in your hands and muck with it a bit, you will fall in love...

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Sun Jan 08, 2017 8:04 pm
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:26 am
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Post Re: 36" scale Railboard?
Jayesskerr wrote:
pretensions wrote:
Thanks AndyJPro, I get some of what you're saying. As for the rest, I'll wait till I have a physical Railboard in my hands, reassess, and raise the subject again if need be.

Happy New Year!

Dude, when you get one in your hands and muck with it a bit, you will fall in love...


Agreed! Railboards are awesome.


Wed Jan 11, 2017 11:06 pm
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