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Is a 6 the one to rule them all?

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#63
mexicanyella said:
This point describes my curiosity about what it would be like to try a 6. I play in a three-piece with a singer/guitarist who pretty much supplies guitar crunch texture, but not a lot of melody. My attempt to play bass in that mix invariably ends up with me attempting to inject melody and syncopation. Not always successfully...

...but I wonder if I could find uses for the extended range and still be my "mostly low notes" self. Something to think about...
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You can. Playing double stops on a six can open a whole set of doors (if you have the handspan) and of course, there are great chord opportunities. But you can also tap in the treble register while playing bass down low, you can do contrapuntal stuff, etc. And finally, you can use the range for beastly fills.

Wasnex said:
If you play a 6-string exclusively for an extended time, it may drastically transform how you get around the neck. With a 6-string you tend to shift less, and play across the strings more. Of course with fretless you will probably be inclined to choose the string and fret position based on the timbre you want.
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I found that I got stuck too easily in one position (this was not the bass, but my own personal shortcomings as a player at the time). I forced myself to shift more to compensate for this. I sometimes like to look at my bass in terms of limitations - I have a six, and inside are two fives, three fours, and four threes. Sometimes thinking in terms of these limitations (or specifically, outside of them) helps me to open up the fretboard in ways that I hadn't before. Where that has help the most is always having options up, down, and on adjacent strings, instead of hitting a fretboard edge - which is a weak spot for me. Literally playing myself into a corner. Admittedly, I'm still pretty bad at this - I'll readily admit that I haven't been practicing during COVID the way I intended to - but I think it's a cool concept that works for me. (Incidentally, I now find that I'm not using the width of the fretboard enough, so it might be time to limit the fret range I can use so that I don't neglect certain approaches. I definitely have my preferred patterns on the fretboard, and that's a limitation.)

I should practice.
 
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#64
ficelles said:
So I have 4 5-stringers, 3 are fretless of which 2 are strung BEADG and since a few days ago 1 is now EADGC. So now I'm a high C virtuoso (that's sarcasm btw) I am wondering if a 6 string fretless will be the one to rule them all? I'd still keep the 5s and most of the 4s but I'm sorely tempted...

But wouldn't it look like I just want to be a guitarist?
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Not to real musicians.
I've never had one but seeing I also play guitar, I would tune it with the same 2nd string semi-tone lower configuration as a guitar. It makes sense to me and I could use chord shapes and runs I already know.
 
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#67
retslock said:
The truly adventurous are always the minority.
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How true:

Dean Banjo.jpg
 
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#73
Aidil said:
Sorry, I don't think 6 is the one. There are 7 letters in the musical alphabet (of which become 12 notes with the sharps/flats) within an octave. The most common 7 string bass open string tuning has exactly all those 7 musical alphabets.
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There's always someone who has to go and 'one up' everybody else...
 
#74
Claypool said that switching back from a 6 string bass to a 4 string, he always feels more comfortable.

I have a 6 string with wide string spacing and extra wide neck and while I can theoretically play on it everything that I play in a 4 string, I'm more precise and more comfortable on a 4 string.
 
#76
ficelles said:
If I do it I think I will trade something in, that way I won't feel guilty about yet another bass in the house :)
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Oh don't do that. Pretty much every time I did that, I found regret down the road.

You can get the Harley Benton fretless six string. Good enough, quite a looker, light, won't break the bank and if you find you don't like it, well you'll haven't lost much.
 
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#77
RickBlair said:
I have all of my 5-string basses tuned E-C. I play big band charts and the need for notes below low E are few but the higher register is used frequently so the reach is easier with the C string. There are some charts that would benefit from sub-E notes so a 6-string would cover everything. I have found the key to getting a good C-string sound is to buy the heaviest gauge C-string that you can find to avoid the disappearing C-string sound. It's not perfect but the heavier gauges blend in better with the other strings.

Rick B.
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The C on my EADGC fretless 5 is .033 and sounds fine, a little twangy when it first went on maybe. The set is TI Jazz Flats 344 plus the TIJF C.
 
#78
Gothic said:
Oh don't do that. Pretty much every time I did that, I found regret down the road.

You can get the Harley Benton fretless six string. Good enough, quite a looker, light, won't break the bank and if you find you don't like it, well you'll haven't lost much.
Click to expand...

I have my eye on a Lightwave fretless 6 (I currently have a Lightwave fretless 5), unfortunately not cheap. I'd better go and check out the Harley Benton...
 
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#80
I don't need the range of a 6. I also have huge hands, and the string spacing on a 5 is as close as I want to go near the nut, while also being as wide as I want to go in overall neck width.

To me, a 5 with the right geometry is as far as I want to go.

1 more than Jaco is enough.
 

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