What defines a modern "contrabass guitar"?

[twinjet]

The easy answer is a 36", 28-fret, six-string electric bass.

But does also include any other models of shorter scales or lesser fret counts?

Schecter Stiletto Studio 6

Anthony Jackson Contrabass

 

[Aric Bjorn]

In a weird coincidence, I was just watching this video....

Contrabass Guitar Build (Scale And Tone Test)​

Subcontrabass stuff playlist

 

[MrAB4003]

I'm sticking with the Anthony Jackson (RIP) definition. He invented the "contrabass" after all.

 

[crazycloud]

The easy answer is a 36", 28-fret, six-string electric bass.

I get why you'd think that, because of the late Mr Jackson's last bass (and maybe others before it, I don't really keep track), but...

But does also include any other models of shorter scales or lesser fret counts?

... but Wiki (and they're always correct, right?) defines a contrabass as being a 6 tuned B0 - C3 so that would make just about any 6 a contrabass. Not sure the extra frets beyond 24 are needed to fit the definition.

 

[seafoamgreenjb]

In a weird coincidence, I was just watching this video....

Contrabass Guitar Build (Scale And Tone Test)​

View attachment 7353566View attachment 7353565

Subcontrabass stuff playlist

Why would anyone need that? This C# is lower than expected human hearing threshold and F# is really close to that too (not that there're many people capable of hearing 20 Hz, let alone systems that can reproduce it. And yes, I know, I know – overtones. But that's still much too low to overtones not becoming mud.

 

[RSBBass]

Contrabass has been a musical term for centuries. From Wikipedia: Contrabass (from Italian: contrabbasso) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family, tuned lower than the cello), many other instruments in the contrabass register exist.

As such the electric bass, such as a Fender P bass is a contrabass. What the OP is calling a contrabass is simply a contrabass with an extended range.

 

[Quentin MCB]

Yes as a french speaker I have a hard time understanding the nuances of this thread.

For me, any instrument that plays in the contrabass register is a contrabass. So I guess a guitar contrabass is a guitar shaped instrument playing in that register. Since a guitar shape isn't acoustically suited to make low frequencies resonate, that leaves us with an electric guitar playing in the low register. I guess every electric bass fits this definition.

The colloquially called contrabass is technically a contrabass violin

 

[Ritter667]

I suppose Anthony Jackson would be the one who defines it...

But he sadly recently passed away.

So does that mean modern contrabass guitar is dead too?

 

[ardgedee]

Yes as a french speaker I have a hard time understanding the nuances of this thread.

As an English speaker I agree... I think that properly any instrument that goes down to E(1) is in the contrabass range. We colloquially say "bass" because English speakers like shortening our terms -- after all, uprights are properly double-basses. Probably confused further by music notation for our instrument being an octave above what is played -- it might have been practical but maybe whoever came up with this might've been smarter to adopt a more appropriate clef instead.

Which would mean that if your instrument goes down to E(1) it's a contrabass but we'll call it a bass. To B(0) and it's a contra-contrabass or double-contrabass but we'll call it a contrabass. To F#(0) it's a triple contrabass, sub-sub-contrabass but we can call it... ?

Of course, historically we have the octobass, as tall as a house and which in Berlioz's time went down to C(1), but there is also the previously-constructed triple contrabass which extended to C(0), which is six semitones below F#(0), but since as noted above we're already transposing our contras for more commonly-available basses, the triple contrabass might properly be a quad contrabass...

The International Standards Organization has already stepped in to define A440 as ISO16, and clearly this is a time of need for them to properly parameterize the terminology used for bracketing bass ranges.

Or we can throw all that out the window and admit that since Anthony Jackson invented his instrument he has the right to name it, and he named it a contrabass guitar.

 

[pklima]

To complicate things some more, I've seen what's essentially a classical guitar version of a Bass VI (scale around 30" or shorter, tuned E-E an octave below guitar, nylon strings) called a contrabass guitar as well. The idea there being, I suppose, that the "regular" guitar is a baritone or bass instrument already, being roughly in the range of a cello, and that low E is the same as on the double bass, which is formally called the contrabas...

But it is a messy term which can refer to different ranges for different instrument. A contrabass clarinet isn't that low. For "our" range you need a subcontrabass clarinet.

 

[Ritter667]

Then there is terms such a piccolo bass and tenor bass, which seems contra-dictory (pun fully intended), until you realize that the first is referring to the instrument bass guitar in a piccolo tuning, while the latter to the instrument tenor guitar in a bass tuning.

 

[brianrost]

Contrabass saxophone in Eb, an octave below a baritone saxophone.



And you thought finding room for an SVT fridge in your car was difficult

Saxophones are transposing instruments, mainly in Bb and Eb. The typical order is soprano in Bb, alto in Eb, tenor in Bb, baritone in Eb, bass in Bb, contrabass in Eb. Each Eb sax is a fourth below the Bb sax above it in pitch, and from one Eb sax to another is an octave, just as from one Bb sax to another is an octave.

The double bass/string bass/upright bass/bass viol/contrabass/ugly girlfriend was originally intended to play the same part as the cello, but an octave below…in other words doubling the cello part. The reason you see string extensions for the E string on some DBs is because a cello’s lowest note is a C. Some DB players will tune C G D A like a cello but down an octave, rather than using an extension. DB is an outlier because unlike the other members of the violin family it’s normally tuned in ascending fourths rather than fifths:

violin G D A E
viola C G D A
tenor violin G D A E
cello C G D A
bass E A D G
octobass E A D G (an octave below DB)

The EADG tuning of course was carried over to the bass guitar.

P.S. Apparently there was a bass violin that existed in the 16th and 17th centuries prior to the adoption of the cello. It was tuned like a cello but had a larger body.

Then there is terms such a piccolo bass and tenor bass, which seems contra-dictory (pun fully intended), until you realize that the first is referring to the instrument bass guitar in a piccolo tuning

There are also acoustic piccolo basses, Ron Carter plays one.

 

[chris_b]

"Contrabass" was just Anthony Jackson, being "different".

All he had was a 6 string bass, but "Contrabass" sounds posher.

 

[who]

The easy answer is a 36", 28-fret, six-string electric bass.

I think all that's required is the six strings tuned B-C, as @crazycloud stated. The AJ signature you posted only has 24 frets, and at least one Presentation was 34" scale.

 

[Flaked Beans]

"Contrabass" was just Anthony Jackson, being "different".

All he had was a 6 string bass, but "Contrabass" sounds posher.

No, that's what he thougt.

 

[Ritter667]

Contrabass saxophone in Eb, an octave below a baritone saxophone.



And you thought finding room for an SVT fridge in your car was difficult

Saxophones are transposing instruments, mainly in Bb and Eb. The typical order is soprano in Bb, alto in Eb, tenor in Bb, baritone in Eb, bass in Bb, contrabass in Eb. Each Eb sax is a fourth below the Bb sax above it in pitch, and from one Eb sax to another is an octave, just as from one Bb sax to another is an octave.

The double bass/string bass/upright bass/bass viol/contrabass/ugly girlfriend was originally intended to play the same part as the cello, but an octave below…in other words doubling the cello part. The reason you see string extensions for the E string on some DBs is because a cello’s lowest note is a C. Some DB players will tune C G D A like a cello but down an octave, rather than using an extension. DB is an outlier because unlike the other members of the violin family it’s normally tuned in ascending fourths rather than fifths:

violin G D A E
viola C G D A
tenor violin G D A E
cello C G D A
bass E A D G
octobass E A D G (an octave below DB)

The EADG tuning of course was carried over to the bass guitar.

P.S. Apparently there was a bass violin that existed in the 16th and 17th centuries prior to the adoption of the cello. It was tuned like a cello but had a larger body.


There are also acoustic piccolo basses, Ron Carter plays one.



View attachment 7353702

F# tuning, that is 2 half steps above E standard tuning, is a fairly common tuning for upright/double bass players as well, for more solo oriented pieces.

And there is actually several options for strings made specifically to accommodate this tuning on the market.

 

[Ric Vice]

While this is an interesting exercise Contrabass and Double Bass are names for orchestral instruments that have EADG or BEADG string sets. There were a whole host of other tunings ( I.e. Viennese FADF#A) that were once used. Modern instruments also use solo tuning for some concertos F#BEA
and 5th’s tuning. So there’s a big wide, wonderful and weird world of alternate tunings out there. Just my take of course. Glen more of Oregon had his own tuning CADC on the original recordings with that group.

 

[ole Jason]

It's not really a useful description in the world of electric bass guitars since it hasn't been universally adopted in a meaningful way. Certainly the scale length and/or number of frets has no bearing on whether something is a 'contrabass.'

I've always imagined Jackson used the descriptor to distinguish the six string bass tuned B-C, which was new at the time, from other bass guitars. It makes sense in that context but the term was never widely adopted by bass guitarists.

Years ago there was a cohort on Talkbass who insisted on using the term "sub-contrabass" for bass guitars strung with low F# or C# strings. That one wasn't widely adopted either.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Years ago there was a cohort on Talkbass who insisted on using the term "sub-contrabass" for bass guitars strung with low F# or C# strings. That one wasn't widely adopted either.

Jaquo III X

 

[KenSmithFan]

"Contrabass" was just Anthony Jackson, being "different".

All he had was a 6 string bass, but "Contrabass" sounds posher.

Yup, just one more thing for the TB “hall monitors” to bicker over.