Low B strings on bass guitar and electric guitar

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by Mr_Music90

LOL Anyway, I can't understand his point at all. A 7th string on a electric guitar does add something and that something is more low And yes, the bass has lowness too with a B string, but still it's great that electric guitars come with a low B string on it

I didn't really expect you to understand. Play your metal with your "lowness" to your heart's content, but just make sure my french fries are cooked properly.

[Epitaph04]

At the end of the day its just an extra piece of metal on a piece of wood. Amazing what level this forum can sometimes stoop down to.

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by Epitaph04

At the end of the day its just an extra piece of metal on a piece of wood. Amazing what level this forum can sometimes stoop down to.

Nah, it's all in meant in good humour.

[Hobobob]

This thread is hilarious. Guess we need to remove the lowest three octaves from all pianos and keyboards too, right? Wow. One would think you folks would learn this by the time you were teenagers, but your personal taste does not equal objective quality. I don't like most country, but you won't catch me disparaging the genre or its millions of fans because it doesn't do it for me. The arrogance of such thinking is astounding. And BTW, the guitarist in my band uses a 7-string, and you can hear me just fine .

[JamesGoodall]

Old band is playing in drop E now... (we were still in drop G at the time of my departure) this means the guitars are as low as a standard bass, and the bass an octave lower, but you know what? It sounds crazy good. And true you cant hear every single thing the bass does live or on a recording, but every show I played I could absolutely hear a difference each time I dropped out and that was enough to let me know I was doing something.

Also... MESHUGGAH!

Had to...I dont like their vocals, but just listening to their rhythms blows my mind, especially trying to notate them out in my head...its amazing! try playing that, and when you can feel free to bash Meshuggah all day, but until then

Now then, lets talk about timbre. A basses C4 sounds immensely different than a guitar's C4. So even if you have 8 string guitars tuned to drop E and use a standard tuned four, you can still hear the bass because the basic aural texture of each instrument is entirely distinct. Just my 2 cents.

On a side note, listen to Meshuggah's 'Bleed' slowed down 20%. That is something I could get down to!

Originally Posted by levis76

All hail musical freedom, and to hell with all who want to prevent music from evolving in to whatever it may become.

And thank you Levis76 for my new sig.

[lokikallas]

Originally Posted by DiabolusInMusic

7 strings are a fad though... remember when Vai brought them in back in the late 80's/early 90's... they completely fell of the face of the planet until Korn's two guitarists decided they were both going to pick them up, which started a whole new generation of 7 players, this time going to low instead of shred. Korn came and went and 7 strings didn't catch on, now we have 8 strings as the big fad which in my opinion are awful (no room for bass). Animals as Leaders doesn't have a bass player for a reason, because there is no sonic space for him between two guys tapping 8 strings guitars.

You will always have the odd bands that use them, generally guys pushing the boundary (see Meshuggah) just like all odd ball inventions like the chapman stick and the warr guitar, I just do not see them gaining any kind of solid footing in traditional music.

The only guy I know playing an 8 string in a band setting has his bassist tuned up so he can be heard in the mix properly. I can see the threads now "guitars wants me to tune up??!!! BUT I AM THE BASS!!!!!"

Carcass was the first band I ever heard tune to B, and they used 6 strings. The tasteful use of a 7 string would be Dream Theater. Korn and Limp Bizkit may have made it popular. Slipknot uses them but I think they EQ the guitars to still leave room for the bass. I think that if a band rides the open E string a lot, the five string bass isn't going to see a ton of use, like in Metallica, but it can still be useful. I like to play in dropped D flat a lot, so four string is my favorite. When I play with a keyboardist I notice they tend to favor E flat, so I have learned to bring a fiver to those jams.

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by lokikallas

Carcass was the first band I ever heard tune to B, and they used 6 strings. The tasteful use of a 7 string would be Dream Theater. Korn and Limp Bizkit may have made it popular. Slipknot uses them but I think they EQ the guitars to still leave room for the bass. I think that if a band rides the open E string a lot, the five string bass isn't going to see a ton of use, like in Metallica, but it can still be useful. I like to play in dropped D flat a lot, so four string is my favorite. When I play with a keyboardist I notice they tend to favor E flat, so I have learned to bring a fiver to those jams.

"Dream theatre, Korm and Limp Bizkit" are your standards? I'd say that's you problem right there. Those bands suck, no matter what instruments they use.

[Epitaph04]

Yeah okay man you've made your point. Drop the trolling.

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by Epitaph04

Yeah okay man you've made your point. Drop the trolling.

I don't know why you think it's "trolling", but I will drop it if it's bothering you. Lighten up, mate.

[HaMMerHeD]

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

I didn't really expect you to understand. Play your metal with your "lowness" to your heart's content, but just make sure my french fries are cooked properly.

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

Nah, it's all in meant in good humour.

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

"Dream theatre, Korm and Limp Bizkit" are your standards? I'd say that's you problem right there. Those bands suck, no matter what instruments they use.

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

I don't know why you think it's "trolling", but I will drop it if it's bothering you. Lighten up, mate.

Really? You don't know? You can't tell?

Perhaps you are a talented bass player (I don't know otherwise), and perhaps you are very knowledgeable about music in general (I don't know otherwise), but whatever else you are, you sir, are also a troll.

We all know you think the 7th string is useless and ridiculous. Well all know you think metal is for kids. (Although one wonders how the many jazz guitarists playing 7 and 8 string guitars would react to your statements.) It's not necessary to continue to insult the musical tastes of other members of this board.

Originally Posted by Mr_Music90

Never saw them live (never will either), but I can hear him for some parts on albums, use headphones!

I can hear him sometimes too. Oddly, my car has great factory speakers and I can hear things in the car that I miss otherwise. And occasionally I can hear Lovgren's grinding twang. But....compared to Fredrik's and Martin's guitars, his bass sounds incredibly weak. I think Meshuggah will eventually go the way of AAL and drop the bassist completely. It's a shame, because their bass tone on Chaosphere was amazing to me.

[AleemRadunzel]

im of the belief that something that has been used for over 20 years isnt a fad.

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by HaMMerHeD

Really? You don't know? You can't tell?

Perhaps you are a talented bass player (I don't know otherwise), and perhaps you are very knowledgeable about music in general (I don't know otherwise), but whatever else you are, you sir, are also a troll.

We all know you think the 7th string is useless and ridiculous. Well all know you think metal is for kids. (Although one wonders how the many jazz guitarists playing 7 and 8 string guitars would react to your statements.) It's not necessary to continue to insult the musical tastes of other members of this board.



I can hear him sometimes too. Oddly, my car has great factory speakers and I can hear things in the car that I miss otherwise. And occasionally I can hear Lovgren's grinding twang. But....compared to Fredrik's and Martin's guitars, his bass sounds incredibly weak. I think Meshuggah will eventually go the way of AAL and drop the bassist completely. It's a shame, because their bass tone on Chaosphere was amazing to me.

I don't exactly know what a "troll" is, but I'd say you need to grow a sense of humour. I have nothing against metal at all.

[Hobobob]

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

I don't exactly know what a "troll" is, but I'd say you need to grow a sense of humour. I have nothing against metal at all.

You sure have a way of showing it. Try to be a little more respectful, you'll last longer.

[HaMMerHeD]

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

I don't exactly know what a "troll" is, but I'd say you need to grow a sense of humour. I have nothing against metal at all.

A troll is a person who says offensive things and insults other people, often when the troll himself doesn't actually believe what he's saying, for no better reason than because he knows that it will rile people up. So...basically...you, or so it seems.

Perhaps you were being sarcastic or meant your comments in a joking way. If so, a good practice is to use emoticons to make that clear. But you don't....so the natural inclination is to take your statements as being meant as written.

[spade2you]

I recall a time in the mid to late 90's where a lot of metal bands had a 7 string guitar and a 6 string bass. Ultimately, I think both fell out of favor because the full range wasn't utilized or necessary. To be honest, my initial exposure to Korn and Limp Bizkit was the antithesis of what I enjoyed, so I had little interest in the low B on a guitar or bass. They sounded muddy and cheap. A few years later, I finally found a 5 string that I thought sounded great.

After many years on bass, I started playing guitar again and thought I'd benefit from having a low B string and approach it the way we normally do as a bassist. I mostly use it to transpose or shift positions. I don't play chugga chugga metal.

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by HaMMerHeD

A troll is a person who says offensive things and insults other people, often when the troll himself doesn't actually believe what he's saying, for no better reason than because he knows that it will rile people up. So...basically...you, or so it seems.

Perhaps you were being sarcastic or meant your comments in a joking way. If so, a good practice is to use emoticons to make that clear. But you don't....so the natural inclination is to take your statements as being meant as written.

Besides writing "this is a joke" after every post, I'm not sure how much more obvious I could have been.

[HaMMerHeD]

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

Besides writing "this is a joke" after every post, I'm not sure how much more obvious I could have been.

Obvious to you, perhaps, but as I am obviously not the only one having a negative reaction to your comments, perhaps it is not as obvious as you think.

You don't exist in a vacuum. Even if you meant them in a joking manner, there are plenty of people who make statements like that without jest, and without the "benefit" of knowing you personally, how is anyone expected to take your trolling as humor?

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by HaMMerHeD

Obvious to you, perhaps, but as I am obviously not the only one having a negative reaction to your comments, perhaps it is not as obvious as you think.

You don't exist in a vacuum. Even if you meant them in a joking manner, there are plenty of people who make statements like that without jest, and without the "benefit" of knowing you personally, how is anyone expected to take your trolling as humor?

They're expected to use their common sense. Read the first message I posted on this thread:

Son, you're messing with forces you can't possibly comprehend. Seven string guitars are an abomination, and the Rock & Roll Gods will unleash furious vengeance against those who play them.

You honestly took to that to be a serious statement?

I haven't insulted anyone personally, yet you're calling me a "troll". Take a look in the mirror. By the way, the only person who seems to have taken any of this thread seriously is you. Perhaps you're just a tad over-sensitive?

[HaMMerHeD]

Eh, maybe you're right. Who knows.

Perhaps everything I've said in this thread has been in humor. Or perhaps not. Hard to tell for sure, isn't it?

[MarkMgibson]

Irony! Very good.