• 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.

How Many Strings make an ERB?

#63
I got that from a quote by Moo,
Quote:
In the 50s and 60s the six string bass was used in Nashville recordings to double the acoustic bass lines.
, but he didn't give specifics. Probably them. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Alrighty, I Googled the Dano Longhorn (also called the Guitarlin), and here's what I came up with: 1956, tuned EADGBE (octave lower than guitar), short-scale. Seems to be an ERB to me.
 
#65
Extended Range ... by definition of the term, it must be "extended"...extended from WHAT????

for that, we must have a baseline...

ok...what's the baseline? (not bass line...BASELINE...:D )

obviously (and you can argue about whether or not it IS obvious) that "baseline" is the most commonly accepted baseline electric bass...the 4-string, 20 fret Fender bass, tuned EADG...

by that conclusion, as per the established definition, ANYTHING that extends the range of that baseline instrument, whether it be by more frets, more strings, alternate tuning, etc...IS ERB!!!!

Argue with that, and we can argue about "what is bass", too...

OK...I WIN...Please, pay me the prize money...(I accept Australian Dollars, American Dollars, and Euros...sorry, no Thai Bot accepted)

:D
 
#66
PilbaraBass said:
Extended Range ... by definition of the term, it must be "extended"...extended from WHAT????

for that, we must have a baseline...

ok...what's the baseline? (not bass line...BASELINE...:D )

obviously (and you can argue about whether or not it IS obvious) that "baseline" is the most commonly accepted baseline electric bass...the 4-string, 20 fret Fender bass, tuned EADG...

by that conclusion, as per the established definition, ANYTHING that extends the range of that baseline instrument, whether it be by more frets, more strings, alternate tuning, etc...IS ERB!!!!

Argue with that, and we can argue about "what is bass", too...

OK...I WIN...Please, pay me the prize money...(I accept Australian Dollars, American Dollars, and Euros...sorry, no Thai Bot accepted)

:D
Click to expand...
Well, yeah, but to be an extended range instrument, it must be designed to be extended range, right? Ergo, downtuned basses are not ERBs unless specifically designed to be downtuned (e.g. Quake bass).
 
#68
subsonic87 said:
Well, yeah, but to be an extended range instrument, it must be designed to be extended range, right? Ergo, downtuned basses are not ERBs unless specifically designed to be downtuned (e.g. Quake bass).
Click to expand...

down or up??? both fit the term "extended"...

therefore...a piccolo bass is an ERB...:D

you see, it's not about anything more than convention...

show me the $$$$... :)
 
#69
PilbaraBass said:
down or up??? both fit the term "extended"...

therefore...a piccolo bass is an ERB...:D

you see, it's not about anything more than convention...

show me the $$$$... :)
Click to expand...
Hmmm. I dunno about that. I would tend to think that an ERB must have the range of a "standard" bass plus more range. Then again, what do I know?
As for the cash prize, sorry, where I come from, we use the barter system. I'll try to mail you 3 tons of wheat, but you pay shipping.
 
#70
One could even say at one time,A.Jacksons 6 string Bass was an ERB(techniquely it still is,given that it extends the range of a 4 and 5 string bass)but now that the 6 has become somewhat common,it is easily forgotten that it's origins were concieved to allow more range that waht the 4 or 5 offered.
 
#71
JAUQO III-X said:
One could even say at one time,A.Jacksons 6 string Bass was an ERB(techniquely it still is,given that it extends the range of a 4 and 5 string bass)but now that the 6 has become somewhat common,it is easily forgotten that it's origins were concieved to allow more range that waht the 4 or 5 offered.
Click to expand...

Ahhh...so true...so that means we must develop new terms

like the MERB (more ERB), EMERB (even moe ERB), and of course, theres Jean Baudin's HSITTAERBOW (holy schnikies is that thing an ERB or WHAT???)
 
#72
PilbaraBass said:
Ahhh...so true...so that means we must develop new terms

like the MERB (more ERB), EMERB (even moe ERB), and of course, theres Jean Baudin's HSITTAERBOW (holy schnikies is that thing an ERB or WHAT???)
Click to expand...
+1

I gotta start using that word HSITTAERBOW. Probably pronounced something like [h-sit'-air-bo]? That's something neat to casually slip into your next everyday conversation...
 
#75
PilbaraBass said:
of course...he plays GGGG ERBs...or the 4G ERB... the "Goodness Gracious Garry Goodman ERB"

And subsonic87, the HSITTAERBOW is pronounced [sit-air-bo] ("H" is silent) :D
Click to expand...
Oh, okay. Makes sense, but where does the syllabic emphasis lie? Is it [sit-air'-bo]? ;)

Alrighty, here's a question as I depart for the night to keep y'all going on this ERB debate: is a double-neck bass an ERB?
 
#77
PilbaraBass said:
not necessarily...a double-neck bass is really two basses....just like siamese twins are two people...:D
Click to expand...
That's my view. S'gotta be on one neck, if you ask me.

And again, I now firmly believe that, unless (like some have said) the bass is specifically made to have an extended range (which would include the normal range, and expand upon it, whether up, down, or both) then it is not an ERB. You may be playing it with an extended range, but the bass itself is not 'extended range'.

Also, I don't think a four string with anything up to twenty-four frets counts (if it's still in standard tuning). I know that technically it extends the range, but it's still a standard four-string. I reckon ERB refers to additional strings. Now, if there's like forty-seven frets, I can't really argue with that, but twenty-four is really pretty standard nowadays.

So I guess what I'm talking about is a 'modern' ERB (7+ strings, and 24-fret 4, 5, or 6-stringers don't count). Whereas, say, thirty years ago, some of those would have been new and innovative, and far from standard. But today, this stuff is very common, whereas 7-stringers and up are still fairly obscure (outside of TB, anyway).

Alright, here's the rundown, for me.

Modern extended range bass is:

-7 strings or more
-Not a 4, 5, or 6 with additional frets
-Not an alternately tuned bass, unless it was specifically made (ie longer scale, or whatever) to have an extended tuning
-Includes the standard 4-string range, and adds to it

Old, vintage, antiquated, yesteryear's, whatever ERB:

-Anything more than a 4-string, 20-fret bass

And that's a wrap for me. Whew.
 
#79
JAUQO III-X said:
One could even say at one time,A.Jacksons 6 string Bass was an ERB(techniquely it still is,given that it extends the range of a 4 and 5 string bass)but now that the 6 has become somewhat common,it is easily forgotten that it's origins were concieved to allow more range that waht the 4 or 5 offered.
Click to expand...

That being said,
(techniquely it still is,given that it extends the range of a 4 and 5 string bass)
Click to expand...
, it still is an ERB. That doesn't change, just because it becomes more "familiar", or "popular".
 
#80
gottawalk said:
+1. That's why a piccolo bass has it's own name. It is it's own entity, not an extended "standard" bass.
Click to expand...


Thats why I chose to call my bass(C# F# B E) a subcontra bass(for it to have it's own name)and this was before I had ever heard a 7+ string referred to as a subcontra bass.The other reason I call my bass a Subcontra bass is because it goes lower than the now very much familiar contra bass guitar(the 6 string bass).
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back