if yo uread the description of the new villex pickup, it uses a flat coil, and is very thin in the middle, meaning no pickup channel. Looking at the photos, the bottom of the stick is very thin. The head needs to be positioned the way it is to keep string tension and the appropriate break angle from the nut.

I did wonder why he decided to use a bolt on bridge instead of simply bolting on the bridge blocks, but again, after looking at it for a minute it became clear that his way is the easier method. You can use the same bridge as the 10 string grand, and save machining and labor costs.

Exactly. Instead of starting with a 1" thick block you would have to start with a 2" thick block. The bolt on also allows them to anodize both pieces in two different colors or to use different material for a different look. Could also make a Stick Bass possible with only a different bridge and a different headstock. I guess another possibility is that the CNC machine only handles pieces up to X" in length. But I agree that the biggest advantage is reduced machining times / cost that at the same time opens up some additional possibilities.

Wonder if there are any issues seeing the Rails on a dark stage since they are the same color as the fretboard?

Any estimate on price, colors and when these will be available..?

Hi Boyerk - as I recall, there were going to be ~5 different colors to choose, although we only saw the blue prototype that he had. There is an image of a red model on the Stick.com Railboard page:
http://www.stick.com/instruments/railboard/

I recall that he mentioned a yellow variation and perhaps an aqua type blue.

There are still details to attend to, so no time has been quoted. Given the enormity and number of changes in this rev of the Chapman Stick, it wouldn't be fair to guess at timelines. My next Stick WILL DEFINITELY BE A RAILBOARD!

Emmett did not quote a price. He only mentioned that it would be less than one of the existing wood models. There are some good deals to be had on the reserve production list. Crazy to see how fast they go!

I was walking through STockholm today when the rain started pouring down, forcing me to find a shelter. Then the idea struck me how cool the Railboard would look with no particular added color, just the corroded reddish metal - corroded iron. I know aluminium doesn't corrode but there must be some way to make it look corroded? Red, brown and blue-ish metal surface, the raw looks of the material. I think that would be my choice.

Per,

The palette you described was my exact thought when I saw Emmett mention exotic plasma. That's two of us with fingers crossed.

=o) Jimi

Hi Per, is this close to the color? I have had the same thought about 'iron" or something that looks like 'metallic' earth. Perhaps if this is 'it' and enough Stickists agree
Emmett will take note ...I don't know how hard it would be to create an effect like this on
aluminum but the instrument below is in fact a 'metal' hand drum called a Space Drum,
similar to a Hang drum so the formula is probably already in the metallurgist's bag of tricks .
jRj

LOL, that looks great! I would be happy with a Railboard like that. But my vision wasn't that one, it has no yellow/gold colors and more of the brown and red as in corroded iron. The "non corroded" parts being more blue-silver-ish than golden as the raw metal material. And not shiny, more like metal having been through a couple of desert storms. The kind if instrument that urges you to wear a gas mask just for the matching look

Yes, colors are important - light reflected, all that is not absorbed by the object. Perfect for the philosophers. What is contained is all that you don't see. What you see is what the object rejects. Consider the bougainvillea, which thrives in heat by shedding the long waves at the magenta end of the spectrum.
Corroded iron translates to "rust", one of my all time favorite colors - great for a Railboard. And yes, we create our own sandstorm with fine glass bead blasting (the matte finish) before the anodizing process.
Final prototypes are ready for blasting and anodizing, this time in burnished gold, gunmetal gray, and now also "rust" (ladybug wings and perceived color of blood in the retina).
All anodized colors come out darker when hard anodized (forming a thicker layer of rock hard aluminum oxide). Red becomes maroon, blue goes darker, yellow hopefully will turn to a deep gold.
And orange? Therein lies my hopes for the rusty look. No corrosive texture though, unless I ding it up. Just an earthy orange with the matte finish. Best, Emmett.

Per,
There was a scary guy here a while back that wore a gas mask and talked though effects .