Always liked having a 5 string to go lower.
Never wanted to play a six string because I don't like to compete with the guitars.
The way you described that.........I would have bought it.
Prove me wrong, have fun with it!
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Ridiculous NBD- What do I do with a 6 string????
- Thread starter vindibona1
- Start date
Always liked having a 5 string to go lower.
Never wanted to play a six string because I don't like to compete with the guitars.
The way you described that.........I would have bought it.
Prove me wrong, have fun with it!
You fire all the band members and start a solo career... Voilà c'est tout.
For me, taking up the 6-string bass has had an ultra-positive impact on my playing, technique, and my overall musicianship.
IMO focus first on your middle 4-strings, and gradually work in your low B and your high C. When you practice alone, practice slowly and think the name of every note you play.
I think it it could be positive as well. It's a funny thing, but I think I'm adapting to the 6er easier than I adapter to 5 string. It's easier to thing 5 string with an extra C at the bottom of the fingerboard than it was to think of a 4 string with an extra B at the top. But yes, I have to think of every note. I've got Bach's Cello thing BMV1007 printed out and working out the fingers. It think that one piece will help me know the layout of the fingerboard better.
For sure. Improv has always been my weakness on every instrument. On trumpet you can put a chart in front of me and if not too technical I'll sight read it at tempo. But never could improvise well to save my life. I'd like to find a good teacher locally who can help me apply modes over chord changes. I think that would be a good start there. Yeah, bass chords are cool, especially if I want to do looped stuff.
Funny. Sometimes it's hard to discern what you "need". The purchase of the 6er was purely spontaneous, but based on the knowledge that a) I could return it in 45 days, and b) I'd never find one that cheap again and there was zero risk I couldn't get my money out of it. In hindsight, I could really use the case and probably sell that bass for $50-$70 or more than than I paid for the two items and keep the case... and the buyer would still get a good deal! Free deluxe case +CA$H isn't a bad deal if I ultimately choose to sell it.
About two months ago I did a similar deal where I bought a Jaguar bass, an Epiphone Dot and deluxe case for $275 as a package. Sold the Epi for $225, the bass for $150 and kept the case. Free case +$100 cash. Not bad for a spontaneous purchase.
Play Jazz or anything Prog.
Cool bass. I try to play across the fretboard and learn "economy of motion."
Exactly. Explore new ways to play stuff you already know. Sixes are great basses for lazy bassists.
Awesome! I would of bought it too. In fact in the last couple of years bought 5 basses, 4 amps and 3 acoustic guitars. That's why the tree hugger's post it note 'don't buy what you don't need' made me laugh. Do we need this stuff haha???
PLAY THE SNOT OUT OF IT!!!!
I'm gasing for a Squier Bass VI, and if I had one I would plug into a distortion pedal and seriously abuse my already beat up Peavey Black Widow 15" speaker with some guitar riffs.
Funny you say this. I also had major difficulty getting accustomed to having a low-B string when I bought my first 5-string in the early 90s. I ended up selling the bass out of frustration. I bought a different 5-string in the early 2000's; same thing. I just couldn't get the hang of that low B-string. I sold that bass too.
A few years later, I had a 6-string built, with the intention of learning to play it at home. My then-bandmates encouraged me to bring it to gigs. And I punished them with a zillion wrong notes for the first few weeks, but it got better over time. That's where I "learned" to play primarily it's E, A, D, and G strings, and slowly introduced notes from the B and C strings.
I eventually went to playing my 6-string as my primary instrument for better than a year. I stumbled onto a killer deal on a 5-string and bought it. This time, the low B-string was no longer a mystery.
I'll never say the 4-string is obsolete. I've done gigs on my 4-string basses, but honestly I missed having a low B-string every time, but that's just me.
If you're a fingerstyle player, and assuming you aren't already using the "Floating Thumb" technique, you might want to investigate it. I stumbled across it, out of necessity to mute the strings not being played in the moment. It's not hard to learn this technique, and IMO it really helps.
Keep at it!!
I'm glad Brad brought this up, because I forgot. I sing backups, and I'm not a great singer by any means. By playing a 6-string I can keep my fretting hand "in position" a lot more, which allows me to focus more on my singing.
Precisely what I found when I bought my first six 25+ years ago. The day I bought it I left my 4 at home for my gig that night. I haven't looked back...
