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Starting a 6 String? Need tips

S

stiffman320

Nov 4, 2007
4
0
#1
I've been playing bass a while now and I'm pretty good with 4 strings. By good I mean the best bassist in my high school. I have had the strange desire to buy a 6-string bass. I think I would learn it pretty quickly, I taught myself to play 4 string, so it just like learning another instrument. Is this a good choice to go out on limb? If so what 6 string are good to start, but also affordable?







~In bass world, I am the ninja:ninja:
 
#2
I have an Ibanez BTB Series 6 string.

It's actually a very good bass for not a lot of money.

It has a 35" scale and Bartolini pickups.

The tone is so nice that for a while I used it on ALL of my gigs, even if I was only playing 3 strings that night!

Check one out if you can.
 
#8
MarkMyWordsXx said:
id start with a 5, if you want the 6 just to look cool then forget it all togther.

but the 506 is nice, and a little more expensive the trb1006 is nicer. those are good bets
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Funnily enough, I made the jump right from four to six!

I saw Ernest Tibbs playing one with Allan Holdsworth and I was like, "Man, I've gotta try that!"

I ended up seeing a used one dirt cheap at Guitar Center and thought, "what the hell?"

I played it for a while and have had it put away for a while. It didn't do a ton for me, really. The tone of the high C is just something I didn't care to assimilate as part of my "voice." In other players' hands, it's great. In mine, maybe at some point in the future I'll dig it. But right now, I'm content with four or five strings.

The funny thing is going from six to five. Looking down at an odd number of strings really ****ed me up!
 
#9
I recently made the jump to six strings myself (how else to justify a fifth Carvin?), and truth be told, I'm not digging it quite as much as I thought I would. It's probably due to how comfortable I've become on a five string bass, but that C feels kind of off to me. On the other hand, it makes reading in a single position a breeze, even allowing me to hit high F's in first position, so I can't complain on that front. My advice is to play around with six strings in GC, Sam Ash, or the like and figure out what sort of neck you prefer (there are MANY) and go from there. The last thing you want is a neck that's too thick/wide/narrow.

Really though, if you don't have a legitimate reason for using the C string, I'm not sure it's the best choice. the B string on a fiver is always handy though.
 
#16
Try it, but it is a rather specialized taste, IMO. My goto bass is a 5er, but if you want a value one to try look here: Link Removed and I would recommend the Douglas WOB-826. Realize that these have narrow string spacing, but for a sixer, I need that.
 
#17
Earwigger said:
I have a 506. It's got a monster neck, but if you can adjust to that, it's a great bass for the price. I play mine daily. The tone sucks in a live band situation (completely utterly lost in the mix), but it sounds great solo'd or if you are recording and can EQ/effect it.
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..what? the neck is tiny compared to most 6 string necks and thats completly untrue about band situations. maybe your not eqing it the right way, and idk your amp situation but i can tell you thats completly false.

if there was a bass that sucks with a band why would they even make it? :confused:
 

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