7string

It's going to look good !!

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !! Great place to get into !!

[b]bass_ferret[/b] No need for derogatory terms. You could just call an ERB unusual or special. Which would make those of us who play such instruments unusual and special also.

[quote name='mcgraham' post='96647' date='Nov 30 2007, 01:19 PM']Thanks for the response 7string (is it Matt?), I'm glad you chimed in as it is people like you and Dood whose opinion I'm most keen on hearing. I guess the (perhaps almost false) dilemma is that I sometimes wonder what I'm missing out on not having more strings, but when I get one, I think that the additional strings are cool but effectively superfluous. The grass is always greener eh? Mark[/quote] Cheers, mate. In real life I'm a Mark as well... I don't use all the strings all the time, I've just got used to playing everything on a 7 and using the extra range where I think it would fit. In some cases they are superfluous, but I just can't be bothered to change basses.... [quote name='Alpha-Dave' post='96662' date='Nov 30 2007, 01:38 PM']I have an 8-string range across 2 basses: a 5-string Warwick streamer LX strung F#-B-E-A-D, and a new ACG 6'er strung E-A-D-G-C-F.[/quote] That's a darn clever way of organising things.... [quote name='dood' post='96665' date='Nov 30 2007, 01:46 PM']I played lead guitar is a band for a fairly successful band for a few years, whilst I took a break from playing bass. In short.. the low end called me back to my home!! - When I returned to bass playing I really wanted to carry on being able to use the techniques, styles and sounds that I had been using on guitar as part of my bass playing. So I had originally planned on a 5er.. but my partner at the time suggested..well at least laid down the gauntlet, when we were in the bass centre (back when it was in Wapping) pointed to a 6 string bass and said "bet you cant play that' - It really was a defining moment. - A happy ending to the story.. I still own that very bass!! It was the best for me, in the shop by complete coincidence. I just thought of an example! I once played at a wedding with another band.. and the bride requested we play Aerosmith's "don't wanna miss a thing" - I was very proud of myself, when I managed to play the piano part instead of the bass.. its rather pretty considering the song is cheese-mongous in a wedding sort of way lol lol[/quote] See I absolutely suck at lead guitar, but I do like the odd solo every now and again.... Ahh, The Bass Centre in Wapping with the hard to find front door. Spent many lunchtimes in there just talking bass before running back to the office... "Don't wanna miss a thing" is a Diane Warren song and therefore well away from fromage-ville [quote name='dood' post='96740' date='Nov 30 2007, 03:30 PM']pop your ideas for a design down on an email, send it out to all your favourite luthiers, then ring them in a day or so to discuss a price .. easy![/quote] Doing that at the mo for the 9 string thing. Just to make contact and see how difficult they consider the instrument to be. With great £/$ exchange rate, a lot of the US luthiers come into play as well. [quote name='mcgraham' post='96749' date='Nov 30 2007, 03:38 PM']Hmm, you are a wise man sir... I may do that. Wouldn't happen til sometime next year though, and bits of gear would have to go to fund it, the proceeds from the Smith would cover a good portion of it though. There's a beautiful 6 string black alder/maple Low End Jazz for sale over on the Low End forum for a great price, unfortunately I like 16-17mm spacing and that one looks to be 18-19mm. Otherwise it'd be perfect! Mark[/quote] Low End are so cool and they're prices are superb as well (so good the American's want their currency to be low to promote exports !). Well worth considering/contacting

Nah, you need a fretless for that...... the fretted bass leave terrible rails in your shirts

I went from a 4 to a fretless 6 as I'd heard Marco Mendoza on a live album called "Screaming Blue Murder". This was a fretless in a rock context and I just loved how it was being used and how it sounded. I ordered a Yamaha TRB6 II (as this was a great, reasonably priced bass) from the Bass Centre in Wapping and immediately it came in I played it for about 2 minutes, then asked then to de-fret it !! So time went on and I saw Bill Dickens' tutorial tapes and heard him on "Snap, Crackle and Pop" live. Because of this I wanted a fretted 6 string, but found the Conklin Groove Tools 7 strings were available. I bought mine of eBay for US$800 and made sure I was up at 4 in the morning to make sure that I got it. I so enjoy playing the 7, that when I had the finances in place I ordered a 7 string Sei. I'd wanted a Sei ever since I first saw one, so when i had the chance to order one, I asked for a 7 string. Then I had the Conklin de-fretted and ramped by John Shuker. I keep meaning to post pics, I'm just waiting for copies of the good ones to be mailed to me !). So I've been playing ERB's (a I later found out they were called) for about 5 years or so and my basses are either 4's or 7's, nothing in between. As I've mentioned in this forum before, I'm seriously considering selling two four string basses and my upright to finance a 9 string....

Very cool !! Great to see that you've made it onto here with that amazing 'Al Caldwell' Conklin. At last, an ERB-er who voices how the instrument is used in an ensemble environment.... I that when i saink of my 7 as a kind of "Swiss army knife" bass which can be used in all kinds of settings and not just for solo work. I've got to say, that your bass is the one that really got me seriously thinking about 9's !!

I gotta admit I do like the inference on this thread that more strings make you a better player !! @~*&, I've been playing for nearly 20 years, the last 5 on 7 string. I needn't have done all the practice and gigs, when I could have just gone and bought a harp !! [quote name='El_JimBob' post='96349' date='Nov 29 2007, 09:20 PM']We're waving our Fenders, Shukers, Goodfellows and Seis around like "hey i've got a fat wallet and a giant knob - who wants to be me??", just like the tits who post 3dmark scores and processor speeds (and don't deny that you don't know exactly what i'm talking about )[/quote] Yes, I have a 7 string Sei and yes it wasn't cheap. I don't have a fat wallet and my future wife says I've got nothing to worry about. Who wants to be me...well if you've got any sense none of you. I have M.E./CFS and I ache like crap every minute of every hour of every goddamn day. I take over 20 pills a day and I have a wheelchair for the days when I really can't walk that far.... Can't gig but I can play and try to record stuff at home.... I have never suffered from instrument snobbery and enjoy reading about the delight of every player getting a new instrument whether that's a first bass from a music shop or a custom which the owners been waiting anxiously for months for. There might be some who would wave they're basses in some kind of macho gesture, but they sure as heck ain't on this forum. Oh, ARGH, forgot to say, I'm not the mystery ACG customer. But I am keeping a careful eye on it's progress !!

...and welcome to the debate that has been going on for over 2000 years (literally !!). There are quotations as far back as the Greeks where people said "the old music was better than this new stuff". All of us just need to respect anothers point of view, whether that involves instruments or their likes/dislikes about performers themselves. I don't like jazz, I don't like Jaco's music and I'm not a massive fan of 'ambient' music. However, I do expect my point of view to be, if not understood then at least allowed to exist without others arguing the point again and again. There's the old adage "first impressions count" and that's particularly relevant to the ERB. The first time I saw an ERB, it was someone playing a video game theme. This immediately prompted the question "why" and unfortunately, due to YouTube and the like there's quite a few videos of players demonstrating what's been termed here as "circus bass". In my opinion this does more harm than good as it seems that that is all that ERB-ers are doing. We all get tarred with the same brush, so to speak. At the moment, I am seriously considering selling 2 basses and an upright to get a 9 or 10 string ERB as I'm using my 7 strings more and the 4 strings are just waiting to get into the game. The why's and wherefore are not to be discussed here, but whatever I choose to do I would like my point of view respected and not debated ad infinitum which is what has happened to this thread.

Can't be too many fretless violin basses around. Looks very cool !!

Very cool... make sure you post the photos !!

Everytime I read something about Chris Larkin's instrument, the words "fantastic" and "awesome" are in there somewhere !! Congrats on a superb instrument...

Yup, that Stinger certainly is something else ... and quite reasonable as the US dollar is so weak at the moment.

Huge congrats !! Never easy going to auditions...

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='94307' date='Nov 25 2007, 09:46 PM']ParcelForce will send you a letter about the customs duty before you get the parcel.[/quote] DHL and FedEx will deliver first, then send you a bill later so don't spend the money in the meantime !!

I have to say that, in my opinion, the first YouTube clip is exactly what people would call "circus bass". In my opinion, there is a great deal of technical prowess, but it purely played to amaze anybody passing by (and hence massage the ego of the player). This is exactly the kind of thing which puts people off of ERB's. Just mindless widdling. Mind you, it does give ACG basses a good deal of exposure !!

I've seen the Seth Horan stuff as well and was mightly impressed. Unfortunately, I missed his clinic tour... My favourite singing bass player has to be Kip Winger. New Winger live CD and DVD out now. The trailer is on YouTube. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZcFz4NkHKw"]Winger Live trailer[/url] Great voice and after the release of Winger IV earlier this year, this is Winger's first official live release. Band features Kip, John Roth, Reb Beach (who's been with Dokken and Whitesnake since Winger's 'Pull' album in 1993) and awesome drumming from Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs). The way Rod can manipulate and play around a beat puts the band in a more progressive rock vein.

Bee have another shape out called the "stinger". I think it looks far better than the rest of his range Every review I've seen mentions how great Bee basses play and sound.

....and to (another of one of my favourite drummers) Bobby Rock as well. [url="http://www.bobbyrock.com"]www.bobbyrock.com[/url] If you can, get hold of a CD called "Snap, Crackle & Pop". It's a power trio featuring Bobby, Neil Zaza and Bill "The Buddha" Dickens on 6,7 & 9 string bass, it's just unbelievable !!

Just back after going out to dinner and watching 45 minutes of shambolic 'football'. Worse than a pub team... When I started this thread, I just wanted to get an idea of the reason why those tune down so low. I'm pleased to read that it's the music that drives this want to go ever downward. The music that I play doesn't require me to go lower than the B, so it's there I'll stay for now !! The availability of strings continues to be a problem. I have trouble getting hold of 7 string sets, so I usually get a 6 string set and get a .26 At least guitar players can provide us with strings down to an 0.008 Of course, there is no right or wrong when it comes to tuning, I'm just glad that it's the music which is driving the boundaries. Nevertheless, any musician who is outside the norm gets some strange looks, especially us ERB-ers with our larger instruments and we'll continue to needlessly defend ourselves in many threads to come.

See that's the thing, I haven't heard it !! Undoubtedly it's something that needs to be experienced... How much use does the low string get and how defined are the notes.. (I used to bug the keyboard player by playing with the dogfighting plane sounds on his old Korg M1...).

I read a topic this afternoon asking about 'big, fat strings' and that got me thinking a lot of 'why?' questions. I didn't want to divert that thread, so i thought I'd start another. Before I go on, I have tried the 'search' function !! OK, so here's the deal... low F#..... Why is it worth all the hassle getting a string heavy enough to play the note and then finding the amplification needed to hear it ?? Being of the ERB persuasion, this is not meant to antagonise fellow ERB'ers, but I just want to know the reason for adding that low F# instead of going B-F. I'll say now that I have never heard a low F# and never played a .175 gauge string.... OK, over to you...

Yeah, I know what you mean It's always great to hear an owner's review of a bass instead of hearing a review from someone who only has the instrument for a couple of days. Also you get to read about instruments which are are or unusual. I have to say though that my Sei doesn't live in a case to only come out on highdays and holidays. Jezebel (as my fiancee has named the Sei) lives in the rack with my other instruments. No point buying a bass if you're not going to use it !!

Just to say that I have a couple of places available for those in the Glasgow area. Contact info is listed above !!

Yup, Hi Ian, from another bassist in Glasgow. Just to echo what Andy67 has said. There's a lot of great info on here and don't be worried about starting threads and asking questions as people will answer anything you care to ask.