Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Five and Six string basses from yesteryear


mybass
 Share

Recommended Posts

Its interesting that double basses/ violones stretching back hundreds of years had assorted numbers of strings, some three, four and five and even six strings. I find it fascinating that bass/ violone makers were exploring that territory way back then. What could they have sounded like. Here are a few pictures of basses one from 1683 of 5 and 6 string basses. Hope you people enjoy the pics as they aren't the greatest off the ipad. Fretted double bass in the book look like it used gut for frets up to the 7th fret!

Edited by mybass
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='CameronJ' timestamp='1507587007' post='3386645']
Wow. A 6 string double bass must take some fine bowing technique.
[/quote]
Agreed- I had a 5-string EUB for a while and with the relatively high action,you could not bow it above 'fret' 7 without also bowing one of the adjacent strings. That was probably because it had been manufacturered with the same fingerboard radius and bridge radius as the 4-string. A purpose designed 5-string would probably not have that problem.

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...