6stringbassist

I play a 6 string because it makes stuff so much easier, playing across the neck instead of having to make shifts up and down while folowing a chord chart. The extra range is also great, a lot of jazz stuff is in Bb or Eb, the lowest Eb on a 'normal' bass is only a semitone lower than the E string on a guitar. I'd like to get a 7 and have a low F sharp, I'm also tempted to get a 9 string, it's great being able to play chords and bass notes at the same time when the guitarist is soloing.

[quote name='elros' post='96583' date='Nov 30 2007, 11:42 AM']I didn't bother to read the entire load of discussion in this thread, I only read the first and last pages...... anyway. When I play my 9-string with the gospel choir, I mostly stay on the bottom 6 strings. That low F# string is very useful for gospel, mainly because so many songs are in the key of Bb. And the gospel style loves the sub-low notes! But when I play it at home, I mostly experiment with chords and melodies in the upper register. Sweet sound, perhaps guitar-like but that's all right, and I'm still learning how to apply the added range to various musical situations... [/quote] I was actually listening to your soundclips on the Yves Carbonne site the other night, they sound really good. It's a great looking bass by the way.

[quote name='ped' post='96419' date='Nov 29 2007, 11:09 PM']bass_ferret wants a 7 string deep inside[/quote] It's denial isn't it. He protests too much, there's an inner battle going on inside his mind, a bit like Gollum and Smeagal in te lord of the rings......."go on buy a 7 string bass, you know you want to, they are the future"............ "No, no, no !, ERBs are the work of the devil, leave me in peace, a 4 string is all anyone needs" .

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='96264' date='Nov 29 2007, 05:51 PM']You just cant get it can you. Joe public is not gonna go looking on myspace for this sh*t - they are gonna buy their sh*t from Amazon and that is the only reason for my Amazon test. Thats what is meant by music that is accessible to people that are not musicians. And FWIW I dont consider a 6 to be an ERB.[/quote] Erm......what, that's not how it comes across to me.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='96360' date='Nov 29 2007, 09:32 PM']Including me and I'm still waiting to hear something I think is good. Its not a given that what's played is going to be good. I dont dig ambient and I dont dig death metal so I'm still waiting.[/quote] I gave you examples earlier, none of which were ambient or death metal, you dismissed them as being sh*t. And who's actually said "just look at all the strings its got" ?.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='96264' date='Nov 29 2007, 05:51 PM']You just cant get it can you. Joe public is not gonna go looking on myspace for this sh*t - they are gonna buy their sh*t from Amazon and that is the only reason for my Amazon test. Thats what is meant by music that is accessible to people that are not musicians. And FWIW I dont consider a 6 to be an ERB.[/quote] Everyone I mentioned has albums available on Amazon, do a check and you'll see for yourself. Do you call yourself a musician ?. I certainly wouldn't call music created by any of the players I mentioned s**t, YOU may not like it, I probably wouldn't like what you play, but I class myself as a musician, and therefore have the utmost respect for what other musicians create, regardless of their choice of instrument. 6 is to me, and probably 99% of the bass playing world an ERB, it's an extended range bass.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='95970' date='Nov 29 2007, 09:01 AM']Music that is accessible to people who are not musicians.[/quote] Jeff Ament plays/played ERBs with Pearl Jam Yves Carbonne plays ERBs as we know, checkout the songs from his album here [url="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=62225202"]http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendid=62225202[/url] Classing a 6 string as an ERB we have John Patitucci playing on numerous CDs, he also has albums for sale on Amazon (you judge an artists success from whether they have albums for sale on there don't you, if I remember correctly) This album is full of "real music", even my Dad likes some of it [url="http://cdbaby.com/found?allsearch=yves+carbonne&submit=search"]http://cdbaby.com/found?allsearch=yves+car...p;submit=search[/url] Trip Wamsley - [url="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=34065701"]http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendID=34065701[/url] Jauqo - [url="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=72149805"]http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendID=72149805[/url] Michael manring - 4 string usually yes, but definately 'extended range' [url="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=16409297"]http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendID=16409297[/url] I could go on, but I'm probably just wasting my time, your mind is totally closed and you have on opinion that you are not going to give up, as do lots of people on this forum. If there was a seperate section for players of extended range instruments, as there is for upright and EUB players, you'd have none of this nonsense from self opinionated fosils, ERB players could post threads about their choice of instrument without attracting unwanted nonsense.

[quote name='SJA' post='95299' date='Nov 27 2007, 08:55 PM']as for me being rude, well, i've seen Steve himself be pretty rude himself about other peoples' music in his blogs- eg. calling Velvet revolver "sh*t on a stick". I've got a bit tired of his attitude of smug superiority, sorry if I've put a spanner in the works of his self-promotion scheme.[/quote] Can't imagine why anyone would say that about Velvet revolver, it's a bit like taking out a full page advert in the Sunday times, to inform people that the world is round and not flat.

This thread seems to have lost its way a bit, its gone from discussing ERB's (rather pointlessly IMO, seeing as they do exist, and they aren't going to go away, and if anything the popularity of them is increasing), to openly and rudely criticising someones music and ability to compose. If you like someones music then great, spread the word about it so we can have a listen ourselves, if you don't then fair enough, everyones taste is different, but the comments made earlier are just downright rude and unnecessary. Anyway, if anyone is interested Yves Carbonne is doing some masterclasses in London early next year. [url="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=62225202"]<a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendID=62225202" target="_blank">http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendID=62225202[/url]</a> Should be really interesting.

[quote name='SJA' post='95216' date='Nov 27 2007, 06:01 PM']sorry, I'm going to be brutally honest here, and if I get flamed for it, fine. I saw Steve play alongside Michael Manring (at the Troubadour in 2004), and sorry, Steve, Michael made far more memorable, stirring music, and happened to be using 4 string basses. maybe it's just that he's a far better composer, regardless of how many strings he uses. full marks for using the web for self-promotion though Steve [/quote] I wish I'd seen that gig, two of my top 5 favourite players together. His hyperbass is a bass like no other, it's definately not just 'a 4 string bass'. I really like both players compositions, I think that they both create stirring and memorable music, but as with all art, what's stirring and beautiful for one person, isn't for another.

You can't really go wrong with them, they offered to go half with the shipping costs on my new fretless Q6 a couple of months ago.

I just got a Bodyglove hybrid gigbag for my Modulus Q6, it's quite a big bag, and very well designed, but still quite easy to carry, probably the best bag I've actually seen. If you want, give me the dimensions of your bass and I'll measure the inside of my bag. They're an excellent price too, only about £60.

That's the only downside, just make sure that the instrument is in a proper case, and is insured. Getting an instrument on a flight from the US is nigh on impossible, the hold is the only place, even then they'll want to see inside the case. They even confiscated a can of deoderant from me at JFK, it was in my habd luggage. The guy took it out and held it at arms length as if it was something terrible..........I made the mistake of informing him that I thought he'd been watching too many James Bond films.

I recently changed the valve in my Alembic pre to a telefunken that I got from Dougs tubes in the US. If anyones interested in some cheap valves, I have the Sovtek that it came with, and a Jan Phillips 12AX7WA that I originally put in it.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='94398' date='Nov 26 2007, 08:46 AM']Slightly off-the-wall thought but one worth considering. If you're buying something a bit special and second-hand, e.g. a 60's Jazz with original case which is going to cost you £2000, the postage to the UK will cost £60-£80 and the 22% duty on the whole lot is going to set you back >£450. For that amount of money, you can get a return ticket to New York and pick up the bass in person. If you carry an old guitar case through Customs as part of your luggage, no one at Heathrow will bat an eyelid. Bin there, dun that. You'll save on the US postage, too! If the old bass does NOT come with an old case, no worries. Take an old case to New York with you. That makes the return trip even easier, since you'll be able to prove that the case (and presumably the contents) were yours to start with.[/quote] I bought a bass back from New York earlier in the year, I flew airFrance from Birmingham via CDG Paris both ways, this was far cheaper than flying direct, and also meant that my return flight into Birmingham was from an EU country, I just walked straight out through customs with no hindrance at all, saving lots of money.

I think that most people are really missing the whole point of ERBs. They are not normal bass guitars, they are an extension to a bass guitar, as an F1 race car is to a Vauxhall Nova, you wouldn't use an F1 car to take the kids to school, or race a Nova in a grand prix. Sure they can be used, as a normal bass, you can stand there in the pub and play Mustang Sally for half an hour if you are that way inclined, and only use the same notes as on a four string, which is what people keep saying....."I had a 6 string and used it in my covers band, I didn't use the extra strings so I sold it..etc, etc". That's not THE role of an ERB. OR....you can explore all of the harmonic possibilities that are open to you ie. I can play chords and a bassline at the same time, a melody and a bassline, a bassline and solo at the same time. Not something that you'd do down the Duck and Ferret on a Saturday night I agree. But in the right musical setting it works great...I was typing this while Dood was typing his answer above, a good example is John Myung, he uses it in the right setting. I play in a four piece jazz group, featuring bass, drums, guitar and sax. When the guitar solos it's just me and the drummer behind him, playing chords and bass notes fills the whole thing out. When did you last see Matt Garrison (he plays a 5 string I know, but it has the range of a 6 string), or John Patitucci, or Steve Lawson, or Michael Manring, or Yves Carbonne playing the sort of songs that a pub band plays, they don't, they use the ERB for what it was intended for, that is playing BEYOND the role of a normal bass.

What are you classing as an ERB, I only play a 6 string and use it for everything from Jazz to funk and rock, and experimental stuff.

That is truly amazing, what a beautiful looking instrument. What rig do you use ?. I got hooked on ERB's a few years ago after seeing a guy at a music show playing a 9 string, being able to play notes lower than a conventional bass, and all of those high notes is so cool. You're only limited by your imagination, not by your instrument. Congratulations on a fantastic instrument, I really mean that.

[quote name='fusionbassist1' post='86569' date='Nov 10 2007, 06:18 PM']was that aimed at me by any chance?? i play four.....never played any mroe than that either...[/quote] No, definately not, I didn't know what you played. It's just my observation from looking at the numerous other threads like this, either here or on Talkbass. There are a few other replies earlier on in the thread though that come over a bit like that, kind of like the punk thing back in the 70's, where they openly bragged about not being able to play their instruments.....not that I'm saying that about anyone on here, but to me when someone, especially another musician, and a bassplayer as well starts to be deprecating about ERBs, I just find it wierd. I agree with what you've said, that's why I quoted you, sorry if I came across wrong.