Double Neck Bass...Why?

[vdbass]

....or best yet, another person in the band with another guitar/bass. double neck!

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Roger & Zapp used to do this in concert. IDK if Troutman himself was one of them, but they used to have two guys walking around with Rick bass/guitar doubles switching parts.

 

[Rib 13]

Just saw an ad on Facebook for a double neck bass with a 4 and a 5 string neck. Both have the same pups so tone would not be a reason. I've used a double neck guitar with 6 and 12 string necks but what do you gain with this bass configuration?

Anyone here have one. How is it a benefit?

I can only tell you why I would have a 4 and 5 string double neck fretted:

Slap bass --- There are many players that play extended range basses, including myself, that think slap bass on a four-string is the best instrument for the technique......Even famous players that play extended range basses have said this (Henrik Linder for example).....I can do it on any type of bass but a 4-String is like a hot-knife-going-through-butter

However, I wouldnt own one just because I think it would be awkward to play, probably heavy, and the hardshell case would resemble the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey

 

[Deleted member 264575]

 

[jaybones]

I could see the appeal of a 4 and 8 string neck on the same instrument.

Sort of like Page's 1275 6 and 12 string necks on the same instrument.

 

[Brother Goose]

I knew someone who owned an Alembic double neck. Fretless 4 and baritone guitar (tuned ADGCEA). It was an incredible sounding instrument but weighed an ungodly amount.

I'd love to own a bass similar to the doubleneck fretted/fretless headless 5 Kai Eckhardt used to play

 

[Brother Goose]

View attachment 995607

That's the one. Used to live in Syracuse 20+ years ago!

 

[12stringbassist]

I could live with this.

 

[HEADKNOCKER]

Double Necks

12 Neck Strat??

Three Necks

 

[Watchootognbout]

In the mid eighties Jonas Hellborg played a double neck Wal bass with John McLaughlin.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Just saw an ad on Facebook for a double neck bass with a 4 and a 5 string neck. Both have the same pups so tone would not be a reason. I've used a double neck guitar with 6 and 12 string necks but what do you gain with this bass configuration?

Anyone here have one. How is it a benefit?

If I ever got one it would have to be fretted/fretless or single and double like a 4 string and an 8 string. Not likely I'll ever get one though. They are back breakers.

 

[Watchootognbout]

If I ever got one it would have to be fretted/fretless or single and double like a 4 string and an 8 string. Not likely I'll ever get one though. They are back breakers.

You could sit down.
My Wolf seven string is 13.6 lbs.
I could stand while playing this beast.
But I prefer to sit.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Either the Longhorn pictured some posts above or a Steinberger paddle-style doubleneck (assuming it isn't inherently a boat anchor - I've read some existing ones are surprisingly hefty) are the way to go IMO.

 

[zontar]

I once tried to talk my guitar playign friend into getting a double neck guitar & bass (& I woudl get one as well)--so we could switch between bass & guitar within a song--then we just needed a drummer...

He didn't go for it.
I had found a used one for sale I could have afforded at that time.
But since he didn't go for it--I didn't buy it.

 

[ashtray]

In the mid eighties Jonas Hellborg played a double neck Wal bass with John McLaughlin.

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Looks like a fretted neck and a slightly longer scale fretless neck. With each pickup in a slightly different position. I could totally understand fretless and fretted on a bass.

 

[bobyoung53]

Gibson, Bigsby, and other companies were doing double neck instruments long before Rickenbacker did.

Not a bass in sight but how about this instrument?

View attachment 994744

Isn't that the one Rick that Nielsen of Cheap Trick own(ed)?

 

[12stringbassist]

Rick still owns and uses that one at just about every show (plus two others - his initial one in orange that is retired from stage use and a hollow bodied Korina finish that is a lot lighter).

He's also very fond of getting his 'Uncle Dick' out...

 

[vdbass]

I am actually in the process of making a precision/mm over tele guitar right now. Best of three worlds.
Wiring, wiring, wiring!
Why? Cuz everyone I play with plays bass and I play both. Sometimes switching in the middle of a song would make things real convenient.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

VDbass... I wired my guitar/bass doubleneck as two entirely separate circuits. One pickup, one volume, one tone, one output jack each. No shared electronic components. After all, you're probably going to run each neck to it's own amp, right?

The only thing I considered doing was a toggle switch to select either the bass or the guitar "on", but I get along just fine simply turning down the volume of whichever neck I'm not currently playing. Never found an instance where I had to switch very quickly.

 

[prowla]

I've got a doubleneck, bass on top and 6 string below.

I wouldn't fancy doing a whole gig with it!

 

[KB5]

Here's a current pic of The King's double neck that I took at the R&R Hall of Fame two weeks ago.