Double basses with high Cs are fairly uncommon, and while they do exist, 5 strings with low Bs (sometimes tuned to C) are the most common way orchestral bassists in Europe reach low notes; in the US, UK, and Canada it's more common to see C-extensions.
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it's easier to play cello music, some bassists are (mostly middle school upright ), jealous of cello players whose music is written lower than db music.
Just a theory, but the B0 string was added to electric basses, so the cooler tuba player, didn't play lower notes
Ding ding! We have a winner! Alex, tell him what's he's won!
Another way of thinking of this is to get in your time machine, and go back to the early 50's. Ask Leo why he set the lowest string at E. He may not even answer you, as he's busy trying to fix an issue - the 57 P bass has different pole pieces, because, even with an E as the lowest note, people were blowing up the speakers on his amps (which were pretty much the only amps for bass at the time). Tuning the lowest string lower would have made things much worse.
Nowadays, we do have better speakers, but if you look closely, you will find that, even today very few (I don't actually know of any) commercially available bassss guitar cabinets actually go down to 41 Hz (-3dB). 32 Hz (low B) is not really well reproduced in your amp. It may be in the PA, if it's decent, but in most cases, the PA probably doesn't really cover it that well.
I tune A-G-C-F and would like all basses tuned that way moving forward. thank you.
Back before there were steel strings the low E on the URB was a challenge - fro example Simandl discourages the use of the E string above the B (if I remember right) because there is nothing usable coming out of this. Do - the low E was the lowest reasonable note to produce with the technology available at the time.
When it came to electric bass, the problem really was the amp and the available loudspeaker technology. Low B needs good speakers and lots of power, and in the late 60s for example the Ampeg 8x10 had 200 W power handling, and you needed 2 in conjunction with the SVT head. So, a lot had to do with technology.
And it has not been that long that the low B stings started to sound really good - until about 10 years ago I felt that the low B was there, but not on par with the low E sound wise.
When it came to electric bass, the problem really was the amp and the available loudspeaker technology. Low B needs good speakers and lots of power, and in the late 60s for example the Ampeg 8x10 had 200 W power handling, and you needed 2 in conjunction with the SVT head. So, a lot had to do with technology.
And it has not been that long that the low B stings started to sound really good - until about 10 years ago I felt that the low B was there, but not on par with the low E sound wise.
I think the question now is, "Why does this guitar vs. bass thing bother you so much?"
Bass guitar or double bass ?? 5 string double basses ..probably 100 years ago . Bass Guitar mid 60's .
That is simply untrue. Double bass, going back to it’s birth, has been responsible for notes down to low C, 1 octave below the cello. Hence the name “double” bass. How this was accomplished has changed through the years (various tunings, C extensions, 5 strings) but the low C was always expected of orchestra players.
Haven't met a Pedulla yet have ya? Fender Elite I got has pretty dang good B too. Had a Japanese ESP J-five that had an amazing B too....But 34" scale for most inexpensive basses isn't the greatest.
the guitarist gets the girls?
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
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I would think the electric bass predates the ability of electric audio systems ability to reasonably reproduce the lower notes.
The strings used to make the lower notes weren't around at first, really not until some time in the mid to late 70s I think.
So yeah, it was more of a, because the tech wasn't there yet when the 4 string electric bass was developed.
The strings used to make the lower notes weren't around at first, really not until some time in the mid to late 70s I think.
So yeah, it was more of a, because the tech wasn't there yet when the 4 string electric bass was developed.
the strings were there, I started playing upright in 65, the round wire strings were ancient, and thicker than the B0s used on current electric basses. And then you have strings for pianos
The comments on speaker technology I believe are right on. Fender switched to 410 combos, do to high failure rates on 15" speakers. Imo, the bassman was already too heavy, without adding another 3 or 4 lbs to the ot to handle lower frequencies. I don't think piggybacks were available until later.
I play my BEAD 4 more than my EADG 4s.
Personally, I'd rather be able to go lower than higher.
Personally, I'd rather be able to go lower than higher.
