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Meh to alternative fret placements and tuning systems. The standard layout and equal tempered tuning always worked fine for me. I'm an engineer, and in engineering the difference between "good enough" and "perfect" is irrelevant, as soon as the product is only just good enough, you ship it 
Having said that, in some tunes that are very strongly in one key, when recording, I sometimes tweak a few strings to get it sounding just right. I guess I am biasing the tuning in favour of that key. Most good guitarists seem to subconsciously bend the notes in a chord that don't quite sound right until they are back in tune, anyway. Of course that only works if you can hear what you're playing. I once made a real fool of myself playing live with one of my strings about an eighth of a tone flat. For some reason I never noticed on stage, but when I heard a recording later I nearly died.
I once converted a cheap Korean "Vester" brand bass to a fretless by tweezing out the frets, filling the slots with white wood putty, lowering the nut and bridge, and fitting flatwounds. The conversion worked great, and it was a really neat looking bass, but I eventually got tired of never quite being able to play in tune (even with the white lines as a guide...) and sold it. I was surprised that I managed to sell it after what I'd done to it
PS. I've got to love a guy who has a band called the "Screaming Headless Torsos".
Having said that, in some tunes that are very strongly in one key, when recording, I sometimes tweak a few strings to get it sounding just right. I guess I am biasing the tuning in favour of that key. Most good guitarists seem to subconsciously bend the notes in a chord that don't quite sound right until they are back in tune, anyway. Of course that only works if you can hear what you're playing. I once made a real fool of myself playing live with one of my strings about an eighth of a tone flat. For some reason I never noticed on stage, but when I heard a recording later I nearly died.
I once converted a cheap Korean "Vester" brand bass to a fretless by tweezing out the frets, filling the slots with white wood putty, lowering the nut and bridge, and fitting flatwounds. The conversion worked great, and it was a really neat looking bass, but I eventually got tired of never quite being able to play in tune (even with the white lines as a guide...) and sold it. I was surprised that I managed to sell it after what I'd done to it
PS. I've got to love a guy who has a band called the "Screaming Headless Torsos".
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