[Dixielandjazz] Lute or Tenor Guitar?

[Gluetje1 at aol.com]

Interesting!  I have certainly not seen or heard of that kind of  tuning 
capability.  If, like me, you've watched certain pros constantly  tuning, a 
fretboard such as you describe might actually be an instrument of  torture. :?)
Ginny
 
See clip of Allan's message below:
 
 
In a message dated 3/18/2011 4:20:53 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
allanbrown at dsl.pipex.com writes:

Talking  of tuning, another guy I accosted at Boston Airport, had this 
extraordinary  banjo that had a flat metal fingerboard, on which you could 
magnetically  attach one of several 'fretted fingerboard' faces, each slightly 
different  depending on the key one's playing in. The idea was that one could 
play with  'just tuning' (I think that's what it's called) as opposed to the 
more usual  equal temperament. They were weird looking with many of the 
frets being split  slightly, so instead of running across the width of the neck 
they were in  places slightly staggered, with two of the strings covered by 
a half fret, the  other two with another half fret, but slightly displaced. 
I don't know how it  sounded but it looked cool.

The moral being if you're carrying an  instrument case in public, you're 
probably best avoiding me - especially if  you've a deadline to meet.

All the best,

Allan  Brown