Low B, novelty or useful?

[Marty Forrer]

Everything Bruce Linfield said goes for me too. Also, take a listen to Anthony Jackson playing on Michel Camilo's album "One More Once"and then tell me ya cant distinguish those low notes! Man, Anthony OWNS those low notes!

 

[Brad Johnson]

Originally posted by virtual.ray
Embellisher,Do you use the amps you mentioned with a band,and if so,what genre of music? My comments were in reference to playing with a fairly strenuous drummer.I was going to get an SWR WM 15 but returned it cause I had to have it maxed out unless we put it through the PA.I have heard several people,however,play gigs with 4 string bass using that amp and sounding fine.I agree that the quality of the bass and the pickups has a lot to do with it.I also discovered the benefits of the taperwound B string,I find they increase clarity and generally sound better regardless of the bass they are on.

The SWR WM15 isn't even in the same class as the Ampeg B-100R when it comes to low B reproduction. I have yet to hear any distress at any volume with this amp...it's pretty amazing.

BTW I agree, Anthony does own those low notes

 

[Deynn]

Originally posted by Brad Johnson
[The SWR WM15 isn't even in the same class as the Ampeg B-100R when it comes to low B reproduction. I have yet to hear any distress at any volume with this amp...it's pretty amazing. [/B]

Even with the Ampeg BA-112....I find the lower notes to be distinctly reproduced. This is with only 50 watts and a 12" speaker. But the low B is nice and clear...

 

[nanook]

I'm pretty sure my dog can hear it better than me. I can hear it but can't distinguish the pitch.

I'm going to get one of those headsets that hunters us to hear critters walking in the woods. Maybe that will help. Then I can hear it even when the audience can't.

Just operate in my own little world.

 

[Blackbird]

Originally posted by nanook
After fooling with several 5 strings, I have about decided the low B string is a waste of time.

I would suggest a big bon fire and toss anything with a low B string on it. Grrrrrr

Would that include pianos?

Seriously, 5 string basse shave been around for so long that they don't qualify as a novelty anymore. Now those 7-string Conklins...

Most tuners have a hard time picking up the open low B. It's better to tune it at the harmonic. also let the string ring a bit so the tuner can pick it up. I use an intellitouch tuner and it works great, but my Boss tuner works too.

Will C.

 

[GeorgeR]

One thing, if yours is a tube GUITAR amp, the output Xformers in these aren't necessarily guaranteed to be optimized for anything under 50 Hz. Had that problem with an old Hilgen tube amp, though on a 4 string, it was just sufficient. You'll notice the output Xformers for tube Bass amps are much beefier (higher inductance, more core mass).

 

[embellisher]

Originally posted by virtual.ray
Embellisher,Do you use the amps you mentioned with a band,and if so,what genre of music? My comments were in reference to playing with a fairly strenuous drummer.I was going to get an SWR WM 15 but returned it cause I had to have it maxed out unless we put it through the PA.I have heard several people,however,play gigs with 4 string bass using that amp and sounding fine.I agree that the quality of the bass and the pickups has a lot to do with it.I also discovered the benefits of the taperwound B string,I find they increase clarity and generally sound better regardless of the bass they are on.

I use the Peavey TNT 130 at church, it is a very loud amp, but we keep the volume low there.

I use the SWR Basic Black(which is much more in line with the professional series than the Workingman's stuff!) for gigs, and the only time I don't have enough volume is at outdoor gigs.

I play in an oldies band, and an originals hard rock/metal band.

 

[troll]

Originally posted by nanook


Given the slow, chunky necks of most 5 strings, and the problems with operating on the fringes of human hearing range, I think we have to call the low B string a novelty.

im not a pro, and im actually pretty new to a 5 string, but i actually play 50-80% of songs with my new band below the 5th fret on the B, and even at times i play two octaves below guitar and interweave octaves and 5ths in between to offer some great sounds to clean syncopated licks... and its a cheap ass kramer5 and every note is ver recognizable on my carvin rig, maybe its the 18" cab. who knows...

 

[troll]

Originally posted by Big Wheel
Most tuners have a hard time picking up the open low B. It's better to tune it at the harmonic. also let the string ring a bit so the tuner can pick it up. I use an intellitouch tuner and it works great, but my Boss tuner works too.

also its better to tune with only the neck pickup cranked (of possible of course) as its closer to the actual harmonic location and easier to get an accurate consistant reading on the tuner. its the only way i can tune my 5.

 

[troll]

Originally posted by nanook
Yep, I agree, the round wounds are tighter but I don't care for the sterile sound they produce.

A good trade off in the Pyramid Golds. Less round sounding than most flats but warmer than those raspy round wounds.

ive used GHS Bright Flats on my fretless for awhile now and love the in between sound i get. they might be a good try to get rid of the string noise you dislike with roundwounds while maintaining a harmonically rich tone on lower notes. my experience with them though on the 4 string sets is that the lower strings start a bit deader sounding than the higher strings, could be my bass or just the way they are made. but i like em more than regular flatwounds.