Rail color trio complete! Hello white!

[Warrn]

With this white beauty, I've got one of each color! Serial no. 507209. it's in surprisingly good nick considering the lack of a case, Sounds spectacular like the other two Rails as well! There is no such thing as a pickup upgrade when you've got a Magnaflux RB. Unfortunately, as you can see, there is a nasty little nick on the front. Can anyone suggest me an easy way to hide it?

And here's a group shot:


Now I just need an '85 or '86 in black and I will not only have every color, but every variant! Remember, the '84 Rails are different from the '85s.

[Pollyanna]

WOW!

Well done Kevin, that's a fantastic collection of rails!

Pauline

[corsair]

yeah, agreed! They are the oddest looking thing, eh!!

[Warrn]

Seems like the only way to get comments is if one mentions GETTING one, but doesn't give up any pics until people start wondering. Any suggestions on hiding the chip on that front corner?

[corsair]

Is the wood in reasonable nick at the ding; if so nail varnish of about the same hue could be an answer; there's a few blokes have had success of a kind heading down that road. That white will have age to a lovely ivory/cream colour and will be as hard as hell to boot; it'll be a deep coating of paint too - on my 'aged' white Genesis II there is a graunch on the lower horn and I've elected to leave it as is because I reckon any attempt on my part to conceal or camouflage it will result in disaster!
Show us a close up of the damage...

[Warrn]

Take a look here, I didn't want to shrink it in case you'd like to see it in more detail.

I actually rather like the ivory color... almost looks like that glow in the dark plastic color... how cool would a glow in the dark guitar be, eh?

[Pollyanna]

Hello Kevin,

That looks pretty nasty! You could always try to disguise it by using a correction fluid pen. The good thing about those are that they are permanent and they tend to 'yellow' quite quickly.

Pauline

[corsair]

Given that it's a small 'body', perhaps taking it off and stripping the hardware off, sanding it right down, repairing the ding, getting the paint matched EXACTLY in a polyester, and then respraying is an option?
That's a nasty place for a ding and any repair will stand out like a dog's nuts unless it's done properly...


...feeling any better now?!

[Barry]

I'm not a bass player but having played a lot of gigs in my time I gotta say,
the Rail must be one of the craziest looking "instruments" I've ever seen.
Possibly even stranger than the headless guitar/bass fad that was around for awhile.
(I was just talking about circumcision on another post. Hmm, I sense a theme.)

But the salient question is, "What on earth does it sound like?".
There's no body to contribute resonance, etc. so I gotta think it sounds "flat" or metallic. No?

[Warrn]

John, that is WAY too much work. I don't care enough to go that far.

Barry, Rails have more thump than most full bodied basses I've seen... if not more than any of them. And Rails are headless as well, by the way.

[corsair]

John, that is WAY too much work. I don't care enough to go that far.

Barry, Rails have more thump than most full bodied basses I've seen... if not more than any of them. And Rails are headless as well, by the way.

...ah, just leave it man; it's only a cosmetic thing and unless you'd pointed it out I'd have not noticed for ages!

[Warrn]

I certainly didn't notice it when I snagged it off the 'Bay, but then again the picture was low res and I had to look really really close to see it when I was making sure it wasn't damaged in transit.

[Barry]

...Barry, Rails have more thump than most full bodied basses I've seen... if not more than any of them. And Rails are headless as well, by the way.

It's finally happened....I've become old school/senile. 'Can't figure out how it generates such a good signal without a body. I don't get text messaging with your thumbs on a cell phone either---it's a telephone fer Pete's sake! (But I digress).

I'm guessing the rails provide the amplified vibration I would expect metallic ringing rather than "thump".
But fair 'nuff.
I guess they're just compensating for having no head.

[Warrn]

The rails are "tuned" (whatever that means). I would say the thump is more from the ridiculous strength of the Magnaflux RBs than from the body or rails.

[Barry]

Well whatever makes it go BOOM!, there's no denying that the Rail is an innovative and spectacular piece of equipment!

One more question though: I assume that sliding the pickup "body" changes the tone?
And, I assume that the rail also serves as an electrical contact of some sort?
(OK that's 2 questions. I lied)

[Warrn]

Yes, sliding the pickup changes the tone. I usually keep it centered or 3/4s of the way to the neck, but I play with it all the time. And all the wiring is in the sliding piece, including the output jack. As for being innovative and unique, oh yes, and for that I love em. They never go out of tune.

[STEINBERGERO]

Hi everyone ! I just complete a trio of rails, the scary thing is that i find the black and the white ones IN THE SAME WEEK! 3 WEEKS AGO. Since i saw those pictures of warrn's rails , i beguin to dream about do the same thing, and i made it, almost imposible. What do you think.

[Barry]

...almost imposible. What do you think.

Congratulations!
Now, I think you need to show us some pictures!