Yeah, there are a lot who can't tell a bass player from a guitar player, but the first thing that seems to get noticed is when the bass is not a Fender regardless of number of strings. And if it's got 6 or 7 strings that's two strikes right there. If you aren't a jaw-dropping virtuoso then you are out! For some reason the dividing line seems to be at 6 strings. I play 5 strings all the time for all kinds of traditional stuff and I don't seem to get a peep. But bring a 6 or God forbid a 7 and all the alarms go off. Nobody seems to count 4 or 5 strings but once you hit 6 especially in a more modern active bass all the traditionalists have a cow. Now if your gig is a coffee shop trio playing avant garde originals, a 7 string is just the thing and any whiners can be ignored. But if it's blues, God help you if you go more than 5. (My standard blues bass is a fretless L2500) At least around here this is true...
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Yeah, there are a lot who can't tell a bass player from a guitar player, but the first thing that seems to get noticed is when the bass is not a Fender regardless of number of strings. And if it's got 6 or 7 strings that's two strikes right there. If you aren't a jaw-dropping virtuoso then you are out! For some reason the dividing line seems to be at 6 strings. I play 5 strings all the time for all kinds of traditional stuff and I don't seem to get a peep. But bring a 6 or God forbid a 7 and all the alarms go off. Nobody seems to count 4 or 5 strings but once you hit 6 especially in a more modern active bass all the traditionalists have a cow. Now if your gig is a coffee shop trio playing avant garde originals, a 7 string is just the thing and any whiners can be ignored. But if it's blues, God help you if you go more than 5. (My standard blues bass is a fretless L2500) At least around here this is true...
He means nobody HERE gives a crap what you play. Seriously.
However, if I catch you coming off stage with a 7 string bass, I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you "the talk". This is where I put my arm around you and lower my voice in a serious manner and advise you that if you ever want to amount to anything musically, you should sell that coffee table 7 string nonsense and go buy a nice quality 4 string Fender bass like God intended. It will be up to you to decide if you want to ever amount to anything or not.
PS. Note the 6 string Fender clone SX bass in my Avatar was bought specifically to see if it would fly under the Blues Nazi radar. So far I've been chicken to run the experiment. Maybe I should just go the other way and look into getting a 7 string fanned fret which would be the ultimate in pretentiousness and self-indulgence.
And I also need some woodshed time to learn where the useful notes are on the 7th string.
PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN WITH THE SIX STRING SX!!
But seriously!Keep plugging away at the seven.
How else are you going to accomplish your touchstyle technique?
But seriously!Keep plugging away at the seven.
How else are you going to accomplish your touchstyle technique?
Last edited:
An ERB is a good people filter, it irritates the worst kind of person, and is interesting to the best kind of person, so you can play it and feel good about the effect.
I play a 6er in a traditional country/classic rock band. The only 'resistance' I've ever noticed, was one night, I overheard an audience member asking a bass playing acquaintance of mine about its tuning...
Audience member thought it was cool.
Do yourself a favor and forget what others think. Life is much better that way.
Audience member thought it was cool.
Do yourself a favor and forget what others think. Life is much better that way.
Just a bit of info...
Seems like for the Ibanez one..., they have discontinued the BTB7 production on last October. So get it ASAP if you want one.
Thanks for the info. I missed it; it sold. Another will come along some day. I wonder if Carvin would make a seven string Vader headless, that would be cool.
mark beem
Wait, how does this song start again??
Play what you like. Piss on what anyone else thinks.
Last edited:
I'm always excited when I go to see a band and the bassist has a 6 or 7 string. It's usually a six string because they're more common than 7 strings, but the sight of an ERB interests me. I assume the player will be a more serious musician and will do something interesting and I'm often proven right.
I play a six string bass, and it's never been an issue. If I were to audition for a band and get a bad reaction to it, I'd known it wasn't the right band for me. I'd care even less about what some snob in the audience thought.
I play a six string bass, and it's never been an issue. If I were to audition for a band and get a bad reaction to it, I'd known it wasn't the right band for me. I'd care even less about what some snob in the audience thought.
In my university, I play 7 string bass in a band. Nobody who isn't play any instrument asked me why I play 7 strings. They doesn't know what is bass guitar, or is there a difference between acoustic and classical guitar. Only some of the the musicians asked why.
Last week someone asked me "why you play 7 string?" I simply replied " because there is no 8 string available "
Last week someone asked me "why you play 7 string?" I simply replied " because there is no 8 string available
"
Unless they are paying my bills or providing me with a paycheck, I could care less what anybody thinks....
Unless they are paying my bills or providing me with a paycheck, I could care less what anybody thinks....
Unless they are paying my bills or providing me with a paycheck, I could care less what anybody thinks....
This all started about 3 years ago when a person approached me as I came off stage and made a comment that I was being "self indulgent"
That shocked me...actually hurt me inside.
Since then, I played the 7 much much less publically as I became self conscious.
Unless they are paying my bills or providing me with a paycheck, I could care less what anybody thinks....
Unless they are paying my bills or providing me with a paycheck, I could care less what anybody thinks....
for the record, when I see a guy playing a 6+ or more extended range beast, it really depends on the band: I can see it having purposes in Jazz/Progressive Music bands, a Variety Top 40 band, any type of act that throws the bass player quite a few solos or a band with unorthodox instrumentation - especially one that has other players (like keyboard players) that may flip-flop holding the bottom down....However, when I see a guy playing a 6, 7, or more String bass in a typical bar band with a typical bar band setlist consisting of typical "Brown Eyed Sally Lynyrd Wonderful ZZ Stones Tonight Taking Care of Credence Margaritaville Going Jinga Linga Ling" type covers, I may question the players motivation for using one but I dont make any judgements because the reasoning for the player's choice of instrument may not be readily available to me ( and, yes, if the player says "Because I want to play it", that is a perfectly acceptable answer)
Last edited:
I once took my 6 string ibby to a blues jam. Got nothing but compliments.
Another time I took it to a country gig (you guessed it!) another bassist came up to me criticizing me I had 2 more strings to many, I politely reminded me that it was me and not him playing and getting paid for it on that particular night.
Another time I took it to a country gig (you guessed it!) another bassist came up to me criticizing me I had 2 more strings to many, I politely reminded me that it was me and not him playing and getting paid for it on that particular night.
Last edited:
For what it's worth, I've never heard a low B (and notes from low Eb on down to that B) as good on any of my 5 and 6 string basses, through all manner of amps, to rival the clarity, definition and tone of those same notes on my 7's. (I have 2 fretted; a Conklin gt and Roscoe and a fretless Acacia). I'm not exactly sure what makes it so, but if I were to venture a guess, I think the extra mass and rigidity of the neck being just that little bit bigger/wider brings the low B's string into a larger "sweet spot" of string excursion and vibration decay? And this is at both 34" (Conklin) and 35" scales (the other 2). Just my .02...
Zombie thread! But seriously, I really don't do tapping and I must admit that my 7s (A Conklin Bill Dickens and a bass Mods 7) are just within the limit of how wide a neck I can play in a normal fashion. I wouldn't want to go wider than these. If I did I"d have to start tapping.
When I did a blues gig with my Alembic fretless Epic 6 I got a HUGE ration over it from blues Nazis. They all told me it looked like it belonged in a jazz trio. And sadly even I had to admit it did!
Which was why I got the Burst-Tort Fenderish SX 6, but I love my G&L Fretless so much I haven't given the SX 6 strings a test yet. But I have no doubt if I ever took the Conklin 7 it would cause a major freak-out.
