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Is a 6 the one to rule them all?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 165050
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Claypool said that switching back from a 6 string bass to a 4 string, he always feels more comfortable.
So what? Irrespective of the subject it makes no sense (logical fallacy). If Claypool said chocolate ice cream was the best, would you agree even if vanilla was your favourite? In terms of preference, there is only one valid one, yours.

1 more than Jaco is enough.
Felix doesn't agree.
 
Generally speaking, no one gives a hoot how many strings you have on your bass, except for TB people and MAYBE other musicians (again, usually bass players). The audience doesn’t know and doesn’t care at all. Just do your job, play what feels comfortable to you …
 
Generally speaking, no one gives a hoot how many strings you have on your bass, except for TB people and MAYBE other musicians (again, usually bass players). The audience doesn’t know and doesn’t care at all. Just do your job, play what feels comfortable to you …

Worse comes to worst, some groupie might confuse you for a guitarist and you get lucky. No big deal.
 
So what? Irrespective of the subject it makes no sense (logical fallacy). If Claypool said chocolate ice cream was the best, would you agree even if vanilla was your favourite? In terms of preference, there is only one valid one, yours.

Felix doesn't agree.

Someone gave Claypool as an example of a player who switched permanently to 6 strings - he still prefers to use 4 strings when possible.
That's what we do here on this forum, we mostly share opinions and preferences ;)
 
Worse comes to worst, some groupie might confuse you for a guitarist and you get lucky. No big deal.
In the band I played with the longest, this might have been a really big deal. My wife was the singer, pianist and guitarist and she was a great boxer.

Someone gave Claypool as an example of a player who switched permanently to 6 strings - he still prefers to use 4 strings when possible.
OK, I sort of misread what you meant. Sorry for that.
 
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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.

There's always someone who has to go and 'one up' everybody else...

Or was that a...7-up?
 
I picked up a fretted 6 here this spring, and just started gelling with it. I wasn't sure I would--the floating thumb does NOT feel natural yet. But the neck width is starting to.

I was working on double and triple stops on my 5's, and transferred some of what I was doing to this instrument. But it's different, and I think it'll do a different job than my 5's. So no, although I think I WANT it to rule them all, it's shaking out as a different tool.

Still going to practice it solely for a while to try to get really comfortable. Might end up changing my mind about this topic!
 
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I bought a 6 last summer to study how Phil Lesh approaches intervals and his style in general. It's been very enlightening as to how he sounds. Nobody plays like him but now I see more how he does things. All this for a Grateful Dead project.

I play 4s and 5s in many projects. The right tool for the job, etc. (Since last summer I've bought two more 6s).
 

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