So, I'm a 4 string player..

[__HM__]

And I walked into GC yesterday. I had never picked up anything more than a 5 string before, not counting my guitars. Then, I saw it. a 6 string, ~13lb, beautiful.... Alembic. Yes, an Alembic, at Guitar Center, of all places!

I was blown away, this was a totally different animal. Any other 6 string wouldn't feel nearly as meaty, I'm sure. This thing's neck was thicker than *my* neck. (Okay, I'm exaggerating. But it was massive.) It sounded... Jesus. Plugged it into a GK 1x15 combo, I've never heard so many different tones come outta one instrument. Warwick growl, MM mids, J bass's smoothness... It was flawless. ...And with a $1,700 price tag. Oh well, dream=crushed!

Just thought I'd share the popping of my Alembic/6-string cherry.

 

[SantiagoGT15]

what kind of alembic was it?

also did it have the space shuttle controls? (ya know the 50 knobs and switches)

 

[__HM__]

it was 2 vol/2 tone, 2 pickups. It was an Essence 6, I *think.* No 2 alembics look the same, from what I've seen. lol.

 

[pjmuck]

Man, I'd love to get a 6 string. I prefer them over 5ers, actually. For years I was intimidated by them, being a 4 string player exclusively as well, but I too walked into a GC a few months ago and tried out some 6 string Brownsville they had. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to figure it out, as I've been confused with 5 strings in the past when I tried them.

 

[bassbenj]

And I walked into GC yesterday. I had never picked up anything more than a 5 string before, not counting my guitars. Then, I saw it. a 6 string, ~13lb, beautiful.... Alembic. Yes, an Alembic, at Guitar Center, of all places!

I was blown away, this was a totally different animal. Any other 6 string wouldn't feel nearly as meaty, I'm sure. This thing's neck was thicker than *my* neck. (Okay, I'm exaggerating. But it was massive.) It sounded... Jesus. Plugged it into a GK 1x15 combo, I've never heard so many different tones come outta one instrument. Warwick growl, MM mids, J bass's smoothness... It was flawless. ...And with a $1,700 price tag. Oh well, dream=crushed!

Just thought I'd share the popping of my Alembic/6-string cherry.

6 strings ARE totally different animals. (And Alembics are too)

Some people think that the difference between a 4 string bass and a 6 string bass is sort of like choosing the color of your J-bass or the brand of bass you play. I think that's a misleading idea. To me they are like the difference between a trumpet and a french horn. Sure they are both horns but they are different instruments with different sounds and different roles to play in music. One isn't "better" than the other, just different. There are differences in how you approach playing them too.

So from this perspective when a guy says he's a 4 string player, it means something. It means he plays (and presumably understands and is reasonably good at) a 4 string bass instrument. If he doesn't play a 6 string bass instrument there is nothing wrong with that anymore than there is something wrong with a trumpet player not playing French horn. On the other hand just as there are people who play more than one instrument, there are people who play both 6 string and 4 string bass. Personally, these days I'm a 6 string player, even though I play 5 a lot.

Which is a final point, namely that a 5 string is a kind of "hybrid" bass that can be played either as a 4 string with a few added lower notes or as a 6 string missing the highest range. I always do the latter.