I've heard it mentioned a few times that the Railboard can be set up for lower action than previous Sticks.

Can someone explain why this is, from a mechanical/physics standpoint? Whether the neck is aluminum, hardwood, bamboo, graphite, polycarb, or anything else, the strings are the same, so the vibration amplitude will be the same given equal tapping force, and truss rod adjustments should be capable of delivering just about equal flatness on the set of frets on all materials.

I've heard that the individual rails provide extra relief for the fattest string (6th), however on my instrument the 7th and 8th strings are usually the first to buzz.

Is it actually a matter of being easier to get a flat Railboard with less twist in the neck than a non-aluminum instrument, or is there something else going on that allows the action to actually be set lower before buzzing occurs?

What I have heard on the subject deals particularly with the frets: the consistency of their heights and crowns. I really do not know any more to say, so this is probably the most concise thing I have written in months.

It's the way the frets are machined added to the the fact that the railboard is dead straight which allows very low action.

Theoretically, it is possible to get a wooden Stick dead straight. If the frets are uneven it vould be possible to have them Plek'd by whichever company owning a Plek machine. Just crown them and then "copy" the fret profile, or vice verca. Am I wrong? Then it is just a matter of adjusting the neck when necessary. It ain't rocket science after all...

And now for the perplexing truth - it is rocket science, at least the equivalent thereof. It's been a long exploration in materials, processes and in design for sound, playability, aesthetics as well as costs and efficiency of manufacture.

I'd take it further. As musicians operating our complex panels and pedals of electronic effects, or engaged with our recording programs with time extended effects, we're all on the cutting edge of digital technology. You might as well be a jet pilot or work in the JPL lab.

Also, Robstafarian has it precisely concise. The Railboard is all about the Rail tips, which consistently form a flat and even plane of playing surface to a degree never before realized. And they stay that way without tweaking the truss rod or adjusting the bridge saddles.

Thanks, Emmett!

The way you have the relief machined into the bass notes is part of this process, as well, correct? I thought that was a really intuitive design.

Intuition did find its place in the overall Railboard design and in some details of the component parts, but the one-cut bass relief depression came instead from long frustration. It's the ideal pattern from years of handwork with files and fret crowning tools.

Hardwood, graphite and bamboo Sticks didn't allow such pre-setup fret dressing to be done with consistency and uniformity, so I always had to shim up the strings at final setup and individually file and re-crown some portions of some frets, either at the interiors for uniform bass relief or at the outer edges for a very low but non-buzzing setup, testing and retesting by sight and sound - no compromises.

That work has been going on since day one, which was in 1969 when I started the first Electric Stick prototypes. It was always about the fret tips and the feel of very low action in performance.

Well, dead straight, but maybe not the whole time...
Of course a CNC shaped product will be more precise, but that's what Plek is all about: a CNC machine/tool for crowning and shaping frets on existing instruments. A worn out old wooden Stick would be possible to set up in a Plek workshop and get "as new", or even better than it was, due to the more exact procedure. Like when making the Railboard.

What I mean with "it ain't rocket sience" is that it is a common production method today, when everything is CNC'd. The use of other materials than wood is another thing. I believe the Railboard hadn't seen its birth weren't it for the CNC technique. Carving wood with conventional tools is another thing than "carving" metal...

Many people frown at instrument makers using CNC machines in the production, but they forget two things. First: the consistency in production can never be that precise by hand. Second: the human touch for setting up and adjust the instrument at the end can NEVER be compensated by a machine. That's what defines handcraft.

SE has the best of both worlds: wooden instruments with that wooden touch and feel, pros and cons, AND the CNC tooled modern material instrument of production perfection. It is a matter of taste...

My point is: coming up with the ideas is the big job, getting the completed idea into a product, I almost said mass production, is not rocket science. It is just planning and setup. The thinking, inventing and visionising is the rocket science.

If you got my point...

[quote="BSharp"]I... but the one-cut bass relief depression came instead from long frustration. /quote]


what does that mean ? "one-cut bass relief depression"