I think there is a LOT of truth to this. Leo was acting on the needs and desires of upright bass players to be amplified. And then he economized and mass produced it. And here we are 70 years later.
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Why don’t you play a six-string bass?
- Thread starter Just Wrong
- Start date
Started on a 4, Changed exclusively to 5, started playing at a mainly acoustic really small gig. 4 seemed to fit, yeah, I know I could have played my 5, but it gave me an excuse to own a couple of 4 stringers !
All my basses are 5's I don't do a whole lot of chord work so from my point of view no reason to play a 6 ,
I play a 5 string, but I can't play all 5 string basses. I don't play a 6 because I don't think my small hands could handle the wide neck.
Really close at the nut width-wise but of course the upright is much wider at the end of the fingerboard. I just really don't like the feel of the wider necks on 5s and 6s, and personally with the style of music that I play, have no need for all the extra range of a 6. I get the "more notes in each position" thing, just not worth the tradeoff for me.
I started on a 5 during the peak nu-metal era of the early 2000s. Then, I heard Primus, so my second bass was a 6 string. Was my main/only bass for a few years.
I had a Dingwall AB-1 6 string made for me but once it was delivered I was suffering from really bad tendinitis and RSI from working in a bakery, so the wide neck was uncomfortable to play. I wish I'd kept the bass and quit the job, but I simply couldn't afford to do that at the time.
I love 6 strings and would probably add another nice one to the rotation in the future. For now, a slightly modded Glarry is good enough to scratch that itch.
I had a Dingwall AB-1 6 string made for me but once it was delivered I was suffering from really bad tendinitis and RSI from working in a bakery, so the wide neck was uncomfortable to play. I wish I'd kept the bass and quit the job, but I simply couldn't afford to do that at the time.
I love 6 strings and would probably add another nice one to the rotation in the future. For now, a slightly modded Glarry is good enough to scratch that itch.
A point.
People are posting about whether they "need" any strings other than EADG on their bass. To me that could have one of two meanings:
1. It's a cover band and none of the original material has notes lower than E, so why bother with an extended range bass? Valid; I bought a P-bass for the first time since the mid 80s a few years ago for that reason. The P-bass is simple, looks the part, and lacks nothing for the party rock band I play in. Well, there is the low D in Uptown Funk, but still.
2. It's an original band or a jazz group. Conceivably there the player could use a low B or high C if they chose to, but they'd rather not. That to me bridges the concept of need with "prefer". We live in a world where those two concepts are always conflated.
By the way, I'm crummy with chords and don't play many on my 6 string. I also think a bass player risks clashing with the notes the guitarist is playing when they play a lot of chords in a group setting - it's one thing for the guitarist to play a 9th two octaves above his root, another if the bass player plays a 9th that ends up being a single whole step away from the guitarist's root. The latter will result in dissonant mud - we need to be aware of that as group players.
I use my high strings for soloing in a jazz or arty context, because I think the high strings enable the bass to be heard differently as a soloist instrument than it is heard as a foundational one. A 6 helps me serve both roles as I get to.
People are posting about whether they "need" any strings other than EADG on their bass. To me that could have one of two meanings:
1. It's a cover band and none of the original material has notes lower than E, so why bother with an extended range bass? Valid; I bought a P-bass for the first time since the mid 80s a few years ago for that reason. The P-bass is simple, looks the part, and lacks nothing for the party rock band I play in. Well, there is the low D in Uptown Funk, but still.
2. It's an original band or a jazz group. Conceivably there the player could use a low B or high C if they chose to, but they'd rather not. That to me bridges the concept of need with "prefer". We live in a world where those two concepts are always conflated.
By the way, I'm crummy with chords and don't play many on my 6 string. I also think a bass player risks clashing with the notes the guitarist is playing when they play a lot of chords in a group setting - it's one thing for the guitarist to play a 9th two octaves above his root, another if the bass player plays a 9th that ends up being a single whole step away from the guitarist's root. The latter will result in dissonant mud - we need to be aware of that as group players.
I use my high strings for soloing in a jazz or arty context, because I think the high strings enable the bass to be heard differently as a soloist instrument than it is heard as a foundational one. A 6 helps me serve both roles as I get to.
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I went to a fiver in the early 80's when they were new enough just about every bass player who saw it was curious about it. I used it for a few years but eventually went back to 4 strings.
As for why I don't play a 6 string? Simple, i'm just not cool enough to pull it off. It should be apparent to any real bassist that 6 string basses, much like my fiver back in the day, are only for the coolest of the cool, mere mortals like myself just lack the coolness to pull off a sixer so they need not apply.
TBH, I'm a little envious of those cool enough to pull off a sixer without looking like total posers trying to impress an audience who wouldn't know the difference between a bass and a glockenspiel. While I'm sure a sixer just screams dedicated professional at the top of their game, this ham and egger knows their place in the food chain and would never dream of trying to breathe the same rarified air reserved for those true professionals who have the chops, and the right hairdo, to make a sixer work. Oh and don't forget the shoes, nothing says clueless knob louder than shoes that don't match one's bass.
As for why I don't play a 6 string? Simple, i'm just not cool enough to pull it off. It should be apparent to any real bassist that 6 string basses, much like my fiver back in the day, are only for the coolest of the cool, mere mortals like myself just lack the coolness to pull off a sixer so they need not apply.
TBH, I'm a little envious of those cool enough to pull off a sixer without looking like total posers trying to impress an audience who wouldn't know the difference between a bass and a glockenspiel. While I'm sure a sixer just screams dedicated professional at the top of their game, this ham and egger knows their place in the food chain and would never dream of trying to breathe the same rarified air reserved for those true professionals who have the chops, and the right hairdo, to make a sixer work. Oh and don't forget the shoes, nothing says clueless knob louder than shoes that don't match one's bass.
Only if they are joined at the hip. In which case you would be playing a 14-string guitarlin.
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