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Why would a luthier feel that a 15 string
- Thread starter JAUQO III-X
- Start date
In my experience, when it comes to 12 string guitars - guitards try to tune them, but invariably fail.
Q: How long does it take to tune a 12 string guitar?
A: Nobody knows.
LOL, fair enough. I once auditioned for a band where the guitard simply was unable to get tuned up. He was close to being in tune at 1/4 step down and I played my fretless, shifting a 1/2 position to compensate. On top of that, the audition was on 10th and gunpoint. Waste of my evening!
The guitarist in my band has a 9, 11 and 13 string guitar all none coursed and tuning his guitars are not all that time consuming at all.
Ibanez made one for Fieldy:
That guy has the worst bass sound ever. Click click click click click.
I bet he never even used that bass. I saw him on Mtv "Cribs" or something similar once, and he was showing off all the basses that different luthiers had given him. I think he claimed to never even have played most of them...
The individual who made the 15 string for Fieldy told me that it was the same 5 string model with just 15 strings added. He even said that it wont stay in tune. His words not mine.
Oh dear, a Fieldy reference that haters have seen. Unfortunately you may as well close down the thread now
, as an all out war will surely begin between fans and haters and the original, fairly interesting topic will be lost because of some peoples blind hatred for him and their inability to accept that that is the sound he chooses and it will not change anytime soon. Live with it haters and stop letting it derail perfectly valid threads!On my views of a 15 string tripled bass, I would imagine it would have an interesting sound, but it would be a nightmare to tune, expensive to re-string and you would have to change your playing style to fret and play all 3 strings at once.
I would imagine it would be very hard to find a 15 string bridge that wasn't custom made, which would make it very expensive.
Overall, I would like to try one but probably wouldn't choose to own one.
Not a nightmare to tune at all.
No issues at all with re-stringing it.
Never have to change my playing style. Mainly because when I conceived the instrument I already knew how I was going to approach it technique wise.
Who was that 18-string made for? I remember the story was the manufacturer made it, presented it to whoever they decided to give it to as a gift, and that person was pretty much, "Thanks, but no thanks...". I thought it was Tom Petersson, but it might be someone else...
Edit: Thanks, google. Yes, it was made for Tom:
http://www.guitars101.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/18-string-bass-guitar/
Edit: Thanks, google. Yes, it was made for Tom:
http://www.guitars101.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/18-string-bass-guitar/
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9795611&postcount=135
It's like talking to a brick wall around here sometimes...
There's a Chilean instrument called "Guitarrón Chileno" that has many, many strings (25), but the main strings are tripled 5 strings
So yeah, the luthier that laughs at that should die or something =)
Not a nightmare to tune, I'm sure.
But strings are a different matter. I can buy 8 string sets for mine but selection is close to non-existant. Same is even more true for 12 string sets. I've never even SEEN a 10 or 15 string set for sale. I presume they are all special order.
As for a 10 or 12 string bass I'll be the first to admit it's a specialty item. I don't gig all over the place with my Carlo Robelli 8 string. I know it's just a certain kind of tone thing. That's why it's a Carlo Robelli! But what it does, it does very well and very uniquely.
That is why I'd love to upgrade to a 10 stringer. I have played 12 stringers and although I love the imrpoved tone with the "chorus" thing, the wider courses do seem much harder for me to play. Hence, I'm sort of Jonesing for a 10 stringer which is the double versioin of a 5 string bass. The deterrent, however, is that availability is minimal, prices are high, and it's really only a "specialty" instrument. If only SX made a 10 string... Maybe a 10 string conversion project later would be cool.
So yeah. It's not that you change your style, it's that you choose that bass to fit the music where that sound does something nice to it. So yeah, a doubled bass is just like my acoustic Carvin. It's not an all around gig bass. But when it fits, it fits well and NOTHING else quite does the same job.
I think most luthiers get by on reputation and ones that are well defined at that. Asking a luthier of whom you have never seen anything other than the "norm" produced is a little silly, IMO. If that's the case, of course. I don't find it odd at all that MOST luthiers would choose not to takle this at all, as:
a: The market (unless you include all 25 or so of the people that play 15 string basses) is not there.
b: r&d. Why should any busy luthier invest his precious time, unless he/she is being paid hourly (are you willing to pay hourly?) for said bass's research and development?
c: although the application of building such an instrument works on paper (multi course predating many other forms) it is an entirely different thing to actually do it. Forget the bridge aspect, just building a neck that can stay tuned to pitch with that many lbs. of tension for 20-70 years takes real know how.
All of these come back to one thing: Time and money. If you have the funds to back the R&D hourly from the specific luthier you really want to build this bass and there are such luthiers offering these services, then I see how this question is in the realm of reason. Otherwise, I think it's totally unrealistic and displays a type of spoiled attitude toward real life.
a: The market (unless you include all 25 or so of the people that play 15 string basses) is not there.
b: r&d. Why should any busy luthier invest his precious time, unless he/she is being paid hourly (are you willing to pay hourly?) for said bass's research and development?
c: although the application of building such an instrument works on paper (multi course predating many other forms) it is an entirely different thing to actually do it. Forget the bridge aspect, just building a neck that can stay tuned to pitch with that many lbs. of tension for 20-70 years takes real know how.
All of these come back to one thing: Time and money. If you have the funds to back the R&D hourly from the specific luthier you really want to build this bass and there are such luthiers offering these services, then I see how this question is in the realm of reason. Otherwise, I think it's totally unrealistic and displays a type of spoiled attitude toward real life.
Again I can tell that from the continued comments that some of you have not read this entire thread?
Me and the 15 string bass is not my first rodeo.
There is nothing wrong with asking any luthier if they would be interested in building a particular instrument at all. If they are not interested then they are not interested. Simple as that.
And again the luthier who thinks that a 15 string bass is a joke was not asked by me to build one.
Me and the 15 string bass is not my first rodeo.
There is nothing wrong with asking any luthier if they would be interested in building a particular instrument at all. If they are not interested then they are not interested. Simple as that.
And again the luthier who thinks that a 15 string bass is a joke was not asked by me to build one.
I think the whole question is kind of cosmetic for a lot of people. For one, I could't make one work in the kinds of music I play. I'm not pushing envelopes or anything like that. I'm playing straight-up pub music. And even the stuff I write is generally done with that in mind.
I've seen YouTube Vids of Jauqo's band, and it's a whole different world. I could see a 15-string bass working well in that context, as well as maybe a 7-string guitar or whatever the guitar-side is doing these days.
For me, I don't want somebody showing up to play with my bands with something over the top.
I also put my 12-string guitar under the bed because I just don't have the patience to tune it. I would do exactly the same with a double- or triple-course bass.
I've seen YouTube Vids of Jauqo's band, and it's a whole different world. I could see a 15-string bass working well in that context, as well as maybe a 7-string guitar or whatever the guitar-side is doing these days.
For me, I don't want somebody showing up to play with my bands with something over the top.
I also put my 12-string guitar under the bed because I just don't have the patience to tune it. I would do exactly the same with a double- or triple-course bass.
