LeftyBassist.com

LHBASSIST wrote: Photo two- is back in the same dark bedroom, after about ten minutes. So, yes, bright enough to see in the dark, but they do not stay very bright for long.... these would have to be charged multiple times during a gig- say, before each set, or when the bandleader is telling the same joke you've heard 50 times!

I'm impressed you've taken the time to try and manufacture your own "luminlay" dots... in researching further, the Luminlay dots are only $20-or-so a rod, and, from what I've found, last at least twenty minutes... in the past, when I was more fretboard challenged, especially in the dark, I bit the bullet, and bought a FretFX system, and "installed" it on two of my basses... cost is now $92.95, but it looks like it's installed at the factory! https://www.fretfx.com/

Just amazing.

I'm impressed you've taken the time to try and manufacture your own "luminlay" dots... in researching further, the Luminlay dots are only $20-or-so a rod, and, from what I've found, last at least twenty minutes... in the past, when I was more fretboard challenged, especially in the dark, I bit the bullet, and bought a FretFX system, and "installed" it on two of my basses... cost is now $92.95, but it looks like it's installed at the factory! https://www.fretfx.com/[/quote]


Thanks- Actually, the dots I successfully made, are one-off, not a manufacture... and are much bigger than the side dots Luminlay offers. They are also highly visible to my old eyes in standard lighting situations, like a venue that has no lighting other than just the incandescent or fluorescent house lights. Luminlay makes a nice product. I'm a luthier, and craftsman, for over 50 years now. It was no problem for me to make these which would likely have been a custom order from them. In addition, the amount of glow in the dark powder in even a small Amazon ordered package of it, is enough to make literally enough dots for maybe 20 or more basses.

In 2017, thankfully, just before a major health issue, surgery, radiation and chemo- I finished my blue bass.. an Edwards Wide 5. It's design, in particular, the headstock, is unique. The fingerboard dots, are fiber optic cables, that run under the fingerboard, to a couple of bulbs just under the Alumitone neck pickup. They work great, but the first dot- at the third fret- is a little weaker in brightness, being the furthest away from the light source. See pic- not the greatest- but you get the idea.
Had I installed the fretless board after knowing the procedure for it, This bass would have had the fiber optic dots as well.

LHBASSIST wrote:I'm impressed you've taken the time to try and manufacture your own "luminlay" dots... in researching further, the Luminlay dots are only $20-or-so a rod, and, from what I've found, last at least twenty minutes... in the past, when I was more fretboard challenged, especially in the dark, I bit the bullet, and bought a FretFX system, and "installed" it on two of my basses... cost is now $92.95, but it looks like it's installed at the factory! https://www.fretfx.com/

Thanks- Actually, the dots I successfully made, are one-off, not a manufacture... and are much bigger than the side dots Luminlay offers. They are also highly visible to my old eyes in standard lighting situations, like a venue that has no lighting other than just the incandescent or fluorescent house lights. Luminlay makes a nice product. I'm a luthier, and craftsman, for over 50 years now. It was no problem for me to make these which would likely have been a custom order from them. In addition, the amount of glow in the dark powder in even a small Amazon ordered package of it, is enough to make literally enough dots for maybe 20 or more basses.

In 2017, thankfully, just before a major health issue, surgery, radiation and chemo- I finished my blue bass.. an Edwards Wide 5. It's design, in particular, the headstock, is unique. The fingerboard dots, are fiber optic cables, that run under the fingerboard, to a couple of bulbs just under the Alumitone neck pickup. They work great, but the first dot- at the third fret- is a little weaker in brightness, being the furthest away from the light source. See pic- not the greatest- but you get the idea.
Had I installed the fretless board after knowing the procedure for it, This bass would have had the fiber optic dots as well.[/quote]

Beautiful Bass, Man!

Thank you, Fivebass52 for the nice compliment. That was the early edition, it now has a Tone Monster three band preamp, and matching satin aluminum Hipshot 'O' ring knobs. I like to have a vision of the final 'look' of an instrument as I believe it should be functional and well, good looking in an artistic sense. The shape may seem odd- but it fits like a glove when you sit down, or stand up with it.
Here's a better photo of it.