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What's so great about 6 strings?

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#161
I just picked up a 6 string to replace my 5 string. And yeah, there is one more string. It's nice for solo stuff and chording, although it doesn't get used as often as the original four strings. It's certainly fun to watch the face of an unsuspecting person when you play chords on a bass. It reminds me of a dog when he hears a funny noise and he cocks his head to the side. :D
 
#162
I tend to 'think across the neck', so a five just starts to really give me the power to do this. For example: on a four, I can only play tenths off the E-string, but with the five I can base them off the B or E!

Now I'm learning tapping - no, not to play fast flurries of notes, but anyway.. - tapping two parts at-once (like bass and chords - or at least a double-stop) is always difficult on a four. This is especially true when I'm playing bass with the right, and chords with the left (I'm considering switching that around now, but there seems to be something about the groove when I use right for the bass line, and then the chording is more conventional. With right on chords, I have to form chords with a closed-hand, 'claw' kind of thing - I should probobly get a teacher...). Even with the five, I often have to cross my arms over pretty far; I think to my self "if I had a 'C', my two hands could be right next to each other!"

Six might be just-about right! I practice good muting, including using 'a floating thumb' - or 'thumb-trailing', I've heard it called, so I don't think a six would be much trouble to me for clean playing.

...But SEVEN? You freaks.

Joe
 
#163
pointbass said:
There is nothing magical about a six, just another tool for us to use to achieve whatever sound we're looking for. I'm a confirmed 6 string player for sure, it's my main choice for most everything I do. I dabble with a 7 and occassionally use a 5 or a 4, but 6 is the deal for me.

It's been interesting to see how many players on this forum that were high string count guys have stepped back a bit to 5's & 4's. I guess as your playing styles/needs change, so do the basses ........ :cool:
Click to expand...
Love this post. Nice job.
 
#168
re: jaco only needed four -- Stanley Clarke, Jeff Berlin and Vic Wooten, too.
But I know what you mean about Patitucci -- he makes that thing sing! (and the guy slams on upright too)
And I love the kind of stuff that Anthony Jackson does with his six-string -- ever check out his Latin-jazz trio stuff with Michel Camilo
Someday, I'll have the $$ and time to expand to 6.
 
#171
I suppose I think a good bass is a good bass, no matter how many strings are on it. I've played 4's, 5's, and 6's that were all great, and I've played others of whichever denomination that were total dogs.

I'll take the one that plays great; weight, resonance, tone, mojo - those are all part of the equation. Number of strings? not really.

However, I do think it is harder (and sometimes more expensive) to build an excellent 6 than a 4.

Also, there is very little that you CAN'T play on a 4 that you could play on a 6. All right, I know about the lower notes etc., but you can play games with tuning to get most of it.

Anyway, focus on the playability and playing, and forget about the rest of the stuff.
 
#172
I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I play anything I can get my hands on, but mainly a 6 string. The main reason I play a sixer, no one has touched on yet. I use the B all the time, rarely use the C. BUT, the way the neck is made, it forces me to use good technique. I have to plant my thumb behind the neck or I can't hit that B at all. I can't "baseball grip" it. I had hand/wrist problems when I was playing only 4 because of that, and when I switched that all went away. It also forced me to learn how to shift and string skip well. Just my observation.
 
#173
This may be a question for the luthiers, but on my 6'ers, the string tension feels higher and less floppy across the fingerboard... seems easier to play quick passages, easier to dig in while still maintaining low action.

Totally subjective observation, I realize. Anybody else notice a difference here, though?

For reference, my 6-strings are an MTD635 and a Roscoe SKB006, vs. Sadowsky Metro, Lakland 55-94, and Dingwall Prima 5-strings.
 
#174
if you play in a band that plays a lot of stuff where the bass follows the guitar (ie: rock). there is almost no need for a 6 string bass. too much hassle for 8 more notes than a 4 string if you ask me for me, it'll only ever be 4 strings with the occastional 5. cliff burton never needed to break out the 6 string to play the pulling teeth solo. matter of opinion and to each his own.
 
#175
I went from a 4-string to a 5-string because if I add an extra string, I can charge more for my "services" to the groups I'm in. So, if I get a 6-string, eventually, I'll be rich!:bassist:

Once I get a 12, I'll be quitting my job and moving into a much larger house!!!:D
 
#176
sdmfbassplayer said:
if you play in a band that plays a lot of stuff where the bass follows the guitar (ie: rock). there is almost no need for a 6 string bass. too much hassle for 8 more notes than a 4 string if you ask me for me, it'll only ever be 4 strings with the occastional 5. cliff burton never needed to break out the 6 string to play the pulling teeth solo. matter of opinion and to each his own.
Click to expand...
You see, we all don't play the same music you do.
 
#177
A lot of people ask me why, as a bassist, do I need pedals and a 6 string bass? Well before you decide if you want lots of pedals/strings, keep in mind a few things.

1. How long are your songs? If they're short, you're probably riffing it up, therefore not really needing more than 4.
2. Can you navigate around the fretboard well? Sometimes when you're doing lots of chord changes (ie not diatonic) it just gets confusing.
3. How do you play? I would hardly consider a 6 string a good pick instrument.
 
#178
Woodchuck said:
Actually you CAN'T play more notes on a 6. There the same notes, just in different octaves!
Click to expand...
Well, you can play a few more notes on a six. You've got a fourth below and a fourth above what you would have on a four.

To me, it's more a matter of how you play and if you need it. I wouldn't take a six string to a blues gig - I'd just look silly with it. But, when I've got a chops gig (where I might get a couple chances to blow), I like the tonality of the notes on the high C. They sound just enough "not like a bass" to make people notice.

Here's the best reason I've come up with so far, though. I'm not sure I have fully integrated this reason into my 6 playing, but...

Bass players, among just about all musicians, tend to structure lines (melodies, especially solos, etc.) in a chromatic or scalar fashion. This is because when you climb up in pitch, you get to the G string pretty fast, and then all you can do is move up the neck.

With a six, you can move across the board to reach more notes, and if you make it a priority to do so, you can work more intervals and arpeggiated tones (versus scalar passages) into your playing.

Plus, they do look cool. You get a lot more comments from people who say they've "never seen one of those before."
 
#179
6-strings are very near and dear to my heart. I happen to think that a musician should not put boundaries on what they can or can-not play. Who cares if its a 4, 5, 6, or 7 string bass..its still a bass. Hell...the original basses were only 3 strings. There are all these purists who believe that 4-strings are the only way to go...and the honest response is that you arent man enough to handle a six...or seven...or eight....or a 92.5473219854672301..whenever one of them comes about.
 
#180
I'm surprised Jean hasn't posted in this thread at all...:hmm:...
I don't really discriminate between strings and such; 3, 6, 12, 5, 7, 4, etc... I just love bass!
As a six-string player myself, I have to disagree with a lot of the cons, or at least point out that they're very small issues. I just have to ask, to all of the people who have dissed on ERB's of any sort, have you ever played one? Not like, sitting down with one for 2 or 3 minutes at Guitar Center, I mean played one. I doubt that once you got to know it, you'd say the same thing. Not saying that you'd be a convert, but just that you wouldn't point out the same things. My only problem with playing with a bunch of string is missing strings, but that goes away with a few hours of practice.

Peace,
Drake
 
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