For guitarists who really don’t want to use octave pedals but still have a strange desire to reach those dog-whistle pitches, Said Too Much Productions has the answer: 3D-print a 38-fret fingerboard.
Having previously made baritone and alto designs (the latter tuned one fourth higher), Kevin from Said Too Much wanted to take things one step further and build a ‘soprano’ electric guitar, to see if he can hit the C8 right at the top end of a piano.
After realising he would run into difficulties employing ultra-low-gauge strings, his solution involved removing the neck and middle pickups of his existing alto axe, and fitting a removable PLA plastic fretboard.
The good news is that the fretboard actually works, even if it’s only possible to fret the crazy-high numbers using a thumbnail or another pick - and it certainly doesn’t look as comfortable as a traditional nickel or stainless steel setup.
Jury’s out over whether it’s actually listenable, though...
