Walt, it was actually real easy to do once I thought about it some, I wish Greg could have seen it, along with Emmett.

Wonder if Grace ever checks out these forums........

While we are on this subject ... yes, i think the Railboards have a fairly important omission: An 8 string with equal string spacing, intended for tunings which are a single sequence of strings (like all-fourths, guitar intervals or Crafty 8 string tuning).
Of the many players who use a 'single sequence tuning' i think most would prefer no gap.
If i acquired a Stick it would be in a single sequence tuning, and i could not tolerate a gap.

So essentially a Railboard version of the Stick Bass. A 'Railbass'?
(However i could understand what i guess is the reasoning behind only offering an 8 string with a gap. I just disagree with that reasoning . I also do not suggest the RB8 with a gap is discontinued.)

It would be an easy option (other than the fret scalloping that is extreme on RBs). On the bridge end, my bamboo 12-string already had offset screw holes for 7+5. At the flaps end, Emmett was reluctant to send me the 7+5 configuration. Don't know why, his reasoning was obscure. (I came up with a fix, tried it for a second). Maybe Stick Ents. will be a little more liberal these days.

I believe Rob Martino's custom 5 (melody) + 7 (bass) mirrored 4ths Stick has one 5 string flap & one 6 string flap plus an 'old fashioned' slotted screw to handle the odd string?

Greg told me it could not be done due to the pick up block, he said it would never work.

Also, the Railboard 8 uses the same Railbeam as the Railboard 10

Well, my pictures which are posted here within this thread show that it does, and it works very very well.

The problem is a new bridge would have to been created - but how hard could that have been to do ?? The same bridge segments could have been used on a newly designed plate which mounted into the Railbeam, but who am I to say or judge a builders decision ??

I'm just glad I was able to make my instrument work, because otherwise I would have been very very sad.

I would consider buying another one IF the frets are not severely scalloped so I could set it up in another alternate tuning, but I do not believe S.E. makes them anymore - and I have NEVER seen one used.

But I would totally buy another Railboard 8 as the string spacing is really really good and the feel of the instrument unmatached.

I remembered the ideas you described here and this weekend I employed then to adjust & even out the much smaller inter-group gap on my older 12 grand to better suit my latest tuning exploration.

My latest tuning (I really think I'm getting close to my ideal now - but I've thought that before - LOL!) has a series of 9 descending 4ths from D4 to Bb0. The other 3 strings involve octave shifts & 5ths and are either side the main group. That means that the sequence of 4ths crosses the middle ground.

The centre gap was only ~1.5mm wider than the rest & I was managing to at least try out the tuning without much issue, but if I'm sticking with the idea (& I think I am) having even spacing right across seems like a very good thing.


I've not come across or heard of anything like my 'Low Extended Classic Melody with outer 5ths' being tried either. It seems such an obvious idea to me (all standard strings from just 2 sets) that I can't believe I'm the first to try it?
Adopting & adapting your bridge & flaps ideas trims it off nicely.