Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Who really plays anything over 10 strings!?
- Thread starter bushy
- Start date
Considering the "more strings added <=> less frets needed"- ratio, this will all end up in calling it a piano. 
I could see the Dean Rhapsody used in a recording situation to fatten up riffs and featured lines. I think it would be best played with a pick as well. It’s hard to imagine playing anything intricate on it but I would definitely use it in the studio. Johnny Guitar Watson used a 12 string guitar to great effect in that way. This beast could do it well too.
After 6 strings, the bass becomes a whole different kind of instrument. Exception are the double string type basses like the Cheap Trick bassist played.
Although I never played the double string type basses ever, they would have to really kill note definition but they would have to give a really big sound!
Isn't there some kind of bass octave pedal that would make an 8 string or 10 string (double string) bass unnecessary?
Although I never played the double string type basses ever, they would have to really kill note definition but they would have to give a really big sound!
Isn't there some kind of bass octave pedal that would make an 8 string or 10 string (double string) bass unnecessary?
Yes, sure, that's why I mentioned the EHX POG. But not really "unnecessary", depending on your interests. The pedals don't sound quite like the real thing, though they can get very close. Then again, why not both?
There's an "organic" aspect to a real 8 or 12-string bass that isn't there with electronic simulations. Part of it is due to nuances in the interaction between fingers and strings which cannot be fully replicated even if the synthesized tone is similar. For example with a real 8/12, you can vary your attack and pick just octaves, just roots, full octaved notes, or full chords. Also, many 8 and 12-string players use multiple amps, crossover distortion setups, etc....
That's a little arbitrary. A lot of people put the "might as well play guitar/harp" limit at less than that. Five, four. Heck, you only need two strings for a lot of root-fifth lines. No objective reason to give the six-string bass a pass, and not the seven-stringer.
_______
^This.
Apparently there is a connection to smaller instruments: I've seen Invalid Link Removed of Petersson being inspired by a Colombian tiple (a 4 triple coursed instrument) that Rick Nielsen had in his family's Rockford, IL musical instrument shop.Well, it's kind of almost like a contrabass 12 string mandolin.
[An Invalid Link Removed, with only the middle two courses being tripled, was made by Martin from the early 20s to the mid-60s, with interruptions due to the war and whatnot.
Another triple-coursed treble instrument is the Mexican tricordia, which is closer to the 12-string bass in that the octave strings in each course are not to either side of the low one like in the tiple, but to the same side (interestingly, below instead of above).]
The above being said, IMO there is no question that Tom invented the blooming thing. Or should one discount that Anthony Jackson "invented" </double-ironic use of quotes> the modern six-string bass just because the four banger existed already, as did the Danelectro-style (short-scale, tightly-spaced, EADGBE-tuned) six-string bass? What about the double bass? does its existence, or at least that of the Regal Basso-Guitar, mean that nobody really "invented" the bass guitar* because similar stuff was around already?
*(As to who: Tutmarc did, and Fender re-did, but let's not go there - my point was there's enough innovation in Petersson's idea that he be rightfully considered the inventor of the 12-string bass.)
Go back to page one of this thread and play the vids
Double and triple courses basses are one thing, and played with a pick, I think they can work pretty well. There was a Dean Rhapsody 8 string in a music store in town for a long while that I had a few goes on. It was good fun and met the brief well.
Actual 8 strings, as in single course, I admit to finding them rather naff. Even seven string basses I find sound a bit pitchy and shrill up on the high notes of the F string. Going higher than the F string sounds really screechy to me. It's not a pleasant timbre. But at least in the lower registers they can mostly be played like a functional bass guitar.
Therein lies the rub, in that as the fretboard real estate expands, the really usable area of the fretboard declines. In a funny way, it almost seems like the more strings you have, the less useful range you have. You'd certainly struggle to play across the neck over several strings fluently in any position and any attainment of reasonable technique would be a pyrrhic victory when you realise the same line would be easier on a five or six string bass. To that end, most players seem to tap them, which brings it's own problem. I find the shape and layout of the bass neck tends to make a lot of tapping sound very samey as a few distinct patterns fall to hand very easily.
I'm definitely pro-choice in the world of ERBs but they have not lived up to their promise in the way that the five and six string basses did and I believe that is due to the simple ergonomics of them.
Actual 8 strings, as in single course, I admit to finding them rather naff. Even seven string basses I find sound a bit pitchy and shrill up on the high notes of the F string. Going higher than the F string sounds really screechy to me. It's not a pleasant timbre. But at least in the lower registers they can mostly be played like a functional bass guitar.
Therein lies the rub, in that as the fretboard real estate expands, the really usable area of the fretboard declines. In a funny way, it almost seems like the more strings you have, the less useful range you have. You'd certainly struggle to play across the neck over several strings fluently in any position and any attainment of reasonable technique would be a pyrrhic victory when you realise the same line would be easier on a five or six string bass. To that end, most players seem to tap them, which brings it's own problem. I find the shape and layout of the bass neck tends to make a lot of tapping sound very samey as a few distinct patterns fall to hand very easily.
I'm definitely pro-choice in the world of ERBs but they have not lived up to their promise in the way that the five and six string basses did and I believe that is due to the simple ergonomics of them.
So 7 strings non doubled are made for tapping?
I knew it was awkward playing it like a 4 string bass lol. I've held one at guitar center, Warwick bass I think.
I knew it was awkward playing it like a 4 string bass lol. I've held one at guitar center, Warwick bass I think.
Would you say double course or triple course strings have that "happy tone"? Not good for metal? Unless it's funk metal?
71 basses
I think the ‘time’ came and went.
Is that true with fretless? I have a fretless guitar and an Ashbory bass (fretless).
If you can make your 5-er and 6-er sound like a rhythm guitar and bass all at once then wow! More power to you!
I’d love to hear a sound sample.
There is a point about these coursed and non-coursed multistring monstrosities not necessarily fitting into a band's expectations of a traditional bassist's role. There's also one about all the proof that these things can be used to make great music. The two points are both valid and have very little to do with each other. But continue having fun arguing past each other.
