I think all the advice in your OP is right. AND wrong... It can be very hard indeed to sort the wheat from the chaff, & I mistook your post for sarcasm not frustration; I apologize.
No need to apologize. I was frustrated, true, but I chose to deal with it in what I hoped was a lighthearted way and then walk away from the computer -- at least for a little while. So I'm not needlessly mysterious, here are things in a nutshell: I've always played four strings. In fact, until this year, I always played the same four string bass -- the only one I'd ever owned. Then I got another, then a fretless... Now, I've acquired not one, but two six string basses, nearly simultaneously. (We'll not talk about how this happened or how I skipped over five strings altogether.) And I really can't keep both. I could, but I'd feel like an idiot. One with light pockets.
So, I need to pick one. For various reasons, life would be simpler if I could get this sorted out in the next couple days, and I felt some pressure over that. As for the basses, there are things I like/dislike about both as they are currently set up, but I don't feel I can evaluate them properly until I get them sorted. One needs new strings fo' sho' (among other things), the other needs different strings, IMO. I was trying to osmote from Talkbass how these unfamiliar instruments would react, in detail, to different strings, gauges, the tides... not gonna happen that way, and I did feel "information overload" (hence the OP title).
So, to keep it simple, I ordered a Circle K balanced tension .136 set for each. Had good luck recently with the corresponding 4-string set, and am liking the whole "balanced" thing. This will give me a heavier B (I want to tighten up the low end on one bass) but less tension for the whole set than what's currently on either bass. Will use this as a starting point and see where things go. If I don't get it sorted "in time," no big deal. Nothing bad will happen. I'll hold on to both and tweak and experiment for awhile, then pick one and sell the other.
Before coming to that conclusion, I posted my OP, bantered with you guys, then de-tuned my bass and hit "record." I realize the EEee thing was in jest, but it was fun to run with it. I hadn't played in any "rubber band tunings" since high school (before I realized any bass players did that
for serious.)
If my feelings WERE going to be hurt, they'd be hurt over the fact that only Diego (*sniffle*) seems to have listened to my minimum opus. There are nearly two minutes of noodling with harmonics at the beginning (you can skip to 1:50 if you want), it's true, and I realize it's far from great music, but I'm being spontaneous. Chicks dig that, you know.
In other news, I was at a great show last night -- just bass and guitar, and these cats were TIGHT and their rep and rapport were DEEP -- and feel good -- priveleged, actually, to have seen two old cats with so much game.
Peace.
-Mark
P.S. Jimmy, Michael, I think I met the "neon" girl! She showed me that you can chew gum and drink beer at the same time. If I happen to meet her again, maybe Ill see what else she can do.
P.P.S. I
could string one like a baritone guitar... wait -- is that a cry for help?
