At my gig last night, we had several bands playing. The band that got up before me had a bass player who whips out this sweet 8-string monster. He plugs it in and just starts funkin' up the place right away. He was playing through someone else's amp, a horribly underpowered SWR combo. Once the music started you could barely here him, when the drums and guitar kicked in, he was drowned out. So I got up, and played my set. He liked my rig so much (my new Firebass and Peavey 410) that he decided to play again with the next band. Finally, I got to hear him through the other instruments. The man was awesome, he was creating beautiful chords, funky slap techniques, rich bottom tones, and nasty solos! It was a pleasure to watch him.

It kind of sucked being sandwiched in between this guy for two sets. I was sure to tell him to NEVER go on before and after me again, it makes me look real bad. :) Excellent player, it was my first time seeing a 8-string player live. I give props to all you guys out there that can handle that beast, it's got some beautiful sounds.

when you say 8 string, do you mean a 4 string with doubled/octave strings, or an 8 string with 8 individually tuned, seperate strings?

8 individually tuned, separate strings. He said it was tuned B-E-A-D-G-C-F-B.

I hope I got those last two strings right!

I think his fretboard was about 3 and a half feet wide! :)

who made his bass? do you know? what was his name?

the last string was probably a Bb

Sorry, it was a long night, so I'm kind of sketchy on the details, but:

I remember somebody saying something about the bass being a name, with the initials JJ. Does that ring a bell? I can't think of any bass manufacturers that are two names, initialed JJ, off the top of my head. I remember it looked like a KOA design, neck through body, and I think it was a five piece neck. Black hardware, neck and bridge pickups, active electronics.

I can't remember his name, I think it was Dave, but I could be dead wrong on that one. He was probably in his 30s, average height white male, short brown hair. He wore his bass relatively high and played a mostly thumb style. He mentioned to me that he played mostly through Peavey.

Does this help at all?