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Its taken a while for the low B, how long for lower?

A low F# will become as popular as the low B is today

  • in less than five years

    Votes: 14 3.8%

  • between five and 10 years

    Votes: 19 5.2%

  • greater than ten years

    Votes: 34 9.3%

  • ain't gonna happen

    Votes: 298 81.6%
  • Total voters
    365
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#42
the issue you guys seem to be forgetting is that every note you play is a harmonic series - a set of frequencies stacked upon one another that defines the note you hear.

you do not necessarily need to have a clear powerful fundamental to have a very definite and distinguishable note at those low frequencies. i use a us$300 pa sub for my instruments and i am satisfied with the results - it is most definitely -not- reproducing the fundamental clearly and loudly, but it is certainly producing distinguishable notes that are not present anywhere else on the instrument. i don't play my music for osciliscopes, so the amount of fundamental in my tone does not really matter to me so much as the tonal color is there the way i want it to be.

you know, if any of you guys are really interested in this topic, there's quite a few folks here at talkbass, other than me, who have been playing low f# equipped instruments for a decade. they'll be glad to answer your questions, if they haven't already (the search function is your friend).

then again, comparing it to a fart in a space "suite" (sic) :rolleyes: isn't going to win you any friends.
 
#44
Darkstrike said:
Much trouble getting that to sound, for the last decade?
I wouldn't think so or you wouldn't still be doin' it.:)
Click to expand...

my speaker rig has not changed since 1995 - hartke 4x12 guitar cabs and yamaha 1x18 pa subs. i went from a trace elliot ah600smx head to an aguilar db680+qsc plx3002 about 8 years ago, but neither had a problem reproducing the notes.

like i said in my post above, it's about the music, not the frequencies. folks get wrapped up in the math and the "impossibilities" and forget that it's an art, and the important things are the "possibilities". and i'm an electrical engineer - if i can let go of the math in favor of the art, all you guys can too :).
 
#45
Parabolic Box said:
There is a large degree of attenuation, however. A low F# will not have as much volume as an A. That's where the large wall of 21" subwoofers come in.

Plus, the strings for a low F# tuning would be prohibitively expensive. :ninja:
Click to expand...

Really, this is why I don't really jump on buying a low F# bass at this point, other than being able to use it go get a C on the 6th fret. So, I'll probably order one in a few years, but I don't know if I'll go below that if my Ampeg can't handle it. I don't really object to the price of an Accugroove rig, but weighing less than 130lbs makes having really giant speakers a bit weight prohibitive, until I get my own set of roadies, that is.
 
#46
spade2you said:
Really, this is why I don't really jump on buying a low F# bass at this point, other than being able to use it go get a C on the 6th fret. So, I'll probably order one in a few years, but I don't know if I'll go below that if my Ampeg can't handle it. I don't really object to the price of an Accugroove rig, but weighing less than 130lbs makes having really giant speakers a bit weight prohibitive, until I get my own set of roadies, that is.
Click to expand...

actually, with my rig, if i play my low f# string with the same physical force i apply to my other strings, it's substantially louder. then again, i use a .165" for my low f#, a pretty massive string.
 
#47
john turner said:
my speaker rig has not changed since 1995 - hartke 4x12 guitar cabs and yamaha 1x18 pa subs. i went from a trace elliot ah600smx head to an aguilar db680+qsc plx3002 about 8 years ago, but neither had a problem reproducing the notes.

like i said in my post above, it's about the music, not the frequencies. folks get wrapped up in the math and the "impossibilities" and forget that it's an art, and the important things are the "possibilities". and i'm an electrical engineer - if i can let go of the math in favor of the art, all you guys can too :).
Click to expand...
Cool, its a topic I'm getting more and more intrested in, gotta pick up some Dark Lord strings and see what I can do!:)
 
#48
I don't think it will ever be AS popular as the B. Although a few months back I got my first five-string, after playing fours for seven years, and now I have got used to it, the B seems as normal to me as the E used to. Sometimes I find myself wishing I had another string below it. Maybe I need to get a sixer next, and whack on an F#...
 
#51
Hell people already attack me for playing a 6.

IMO I think people can do whatever makes them happy. If they want to play low Z# then so be it! Theres already alotttt of guys who play Low F# all over the place, except the thing is that they don't go around criticizing four strings and what not therefore you wouldn't know they played anything more than a 4.

And yes I think technology can already produce it fine (accugroove), and it is also about technique and touch. But to each his own!!

The bottom line is play what makes you musically happy regardless of who thinks it will be mainstream in 10 years!

Have fun all you 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15(I think Al Caldwell?) guys!!! BASS IS BASS!!!!

Andrew:bassist:
 
#57
i guess the fundamental freq is only important gearwise so you don't present your speaks with square waves esp at freqs that are borderline audible ie. if you have clean juice to spare, and a large piston to pump it, that low freq should kick the crowd in the britches.
i thought a thumpin' b made me tingly!
 
#60
If I ever play with a guitarist who is tuned down to F#, I'll start needing an F#, because I refuse to be unable to play an octave below my guitarist's lowest note. Until then, I'm getting by fine with 4s. I might go with a 5er sometime soon, since I've been aching for a low D without downtuning, and something for my fingers to bounce off of when I'm playing on the low E.
 
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