Why play a 6 string

[alexclaber]

[quote name='lwtait' post='169892' date='Apr 4 2008, 04:35 PM']ok. he also used fretted jazzes but when you think jaco (or at least, when i do) i always think fretless jazz bass. thats what he's most famous for.[/quote]

I always think fantastic and pioneering bass playing. I don't care what gear he played, he'd have sounded awesome on anything. Likewise many of the greats - they all seem to have spent far more time making music and getting great vibes out of whatever gear they had, than worrying about what they were playing through and how many strings it had (AJ excepted...)

Alex

[Tait]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='169894' date='Apr 4 2008, 04:45 PM']Don't you think that sounds a bit silly? You should seriously listen to this crap that I don't really like![/quote]

not really. i listen music like blink 182, zebrahead, good charlotte, new found glory etc. im not going to try and pretend any of them have good bassists. i wouldn't reccomend listening to them if you wanted to hear good bass playing. im saying you should seriously listen to him because his bass playing is so unique and you can learn a thing or two from him, rather than listen to him because his music is good.

[Scoop]

Well that's ten minutes of my life, ten minutes that I'll never get back, wasted reading (with one or two notable exceptions) the haves and the have nots re-entrenching their positions.

I don't own a six string bass. I do own a five. I also own a twelve. Do I want a six string? No, I don't fancy one. Does it "offend me" in some puerile way that some bassists use them and love them? No it does not. Do I play a "real instrument" when I play one of my numerous fours? You better believe it coz if you don't believe that then its tantamount to telling me I'm not a musician. I picked up my first bass over three decades ago and I would have issue with you on that. Indeed I would.

Do I agree with Jake that a high C would sound sh*t? - Yes; In my hands, almost certainly it would, but that is not to say that others may not make much better use of it. And Jake and I have both played with a guitarist named Carlo Bowry, God bless him, and I really, really wouldn't play in a register that he considered his territory. I'd just make it sound, well, sh*t, because Carlo is very much not sh*t.

It seems to me that what we have in the six string camp, not exclusively but by and large, is on the one hand a genuine snobbery "mine's a real instrument like a grand piano" (sorry if that offends you mate, but that's how I see it) and on the other hand a sort of bitter defensiveness. Why? You play a valid instrument same as four and five string players do.

In the four string camp we have ignorance "I just don't understand why you feel you need them" and a sort of non-aggressive Ludditism "Leo made them with four, Jaco played them with four, that's all you should be allowed". Get over yourselves, you might just as well be arguing about why you feel the need to eat oranges when "apples are all I've ever needed" or "Now I'm eating oranges, I feel like I've got a proper fruit".

FFS...

Bassists. That's all. Bassists. Good enough for me... no matter how many bleedin' strings you have.

[bigjohn]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='167609' date='Apr 1 2008, 01:36 PM']Ah - so thats why Cream were such a crap band, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. They were all 3 piece bands that did not have a bass player chording on a C string.[/quote]

That's where I've been going wrong

I'm not sure I like the sound of these "C strings" though. If I thought my 3 piece sounded thin I'd find another guitarist and play in a four.

I might be tempted one day with a B string - maybe. Sometimes I wish my bass went down another note or two but it's very rare, most of the time I'd naturally play around "wanting" to go deeper than E and not even notice until I thought about it. I'm not really fan of tuning up or down, I'm used to my bass being EADG, and play mostly by ear. I find it harder to do that if I tune down sometimes, although I get used to it relatively quickly. I think I'd need another bass that I kept constantly tuned down if I were to do that.

For me the best bass lines are relatively simple - and 99.9% they don't need anything lower than an open E. But then - I'm a rocker

[Tait]

[quote name='Scoop' post='169915' date='Apr 4 2008, 05:24 PM']Well that's ten minutes of my life, ten minutes that I'll never get back, wasted reading (with one or two notable exceptions) the haves and the have nots re-entrenching their positions.

I don't own a six string bass. I do own a five. I also own a twelve. Do I want a six string? No, I don't fancy one. Does it "offend me" in some puerile way that some bassists use them and love them? No it does not. Do I play a "real instrument" when I play one of my numerous fours? You better believe it coz if you don't believe that then its tantamount to telling me I'm not a musician. I picked up my first bass over three decades ago and I would have issue with you on that. Indeed I would.

Do I agree with Jake that a high C would sound sh*t? - Yes; In my hands, almost certainly it would, but that is not to say that others may not make much better use of it. And Jake and I have both played with a guitarist named Carlo Bowry, God bless him, and I really, really wouldn't play in a register that he considered his territory. I'd just make it sound, well, sh*t, because Carlo is very much not sh*t.

It seems to me that what we have in the six string camp, not exclusively but by and large, is on the one hand a genuine snobbery "mine's a real instrument like a grand piano" (sorry if that offends you mate, but that's how I see it) and on the other hand a sort of bitter defensiveness. Why? You play a valid instrument same as four and five string players do.

In the four string camp we have ignorance and a sort of non-aggressive Ludditism "Leo made them with four, Jaco played them with four, that's all you should be allowed". Get over yourselves, you might just as well be arguing about why you feel the need to eat oranges when "apples are all I've ever needed" or "Now I'm eating oranges, I feel like I've got a proper fruit".

FFS...

Bassists. That's all. Bassists. Good enough for me... no matter how many bleedin' strings you have.[/quote]

thats the most true post yet on this thread.

[quote name='Scoop' post='169915' date='Apr 4 2008, 05:24 PM']"I just don't understand why you feel you need them"[/quote]
[quote name='Scoop' post='169915' date='Apr 4 2008, 05:24 PM']"Jaco played them with four, that's all you should be allowed"[/quote]

are these two parts refering to me? i have no problem with other people playing six strings. i never once said that i dont understand why other people feel they need them, i just i dont feel the need for them myself. and although i said jaco played with four, that was simply to support the fact that i only feel i need four strings. i never said you shouldn't be allowed more.

Edited April 4, 2008 by lwtait

[bigjohn]

There is some peculiar "logic" going on around here.

[Scoop]

[quote name='lwtait' post='169938' date='Apr 4 2008, 06:08 PM']thats the most true post yet on this thread.

are these two parts refering to me? i have no problem with other people playing six strings. i never once said that i dont understand why other people feel they need them, i just i dont feel the need for them myself. and although i said jaco played with four, that was simply to support the fact that i only feel i need four strings. i never said you shouldn't be allowed more.[/quote]

Not specifically referring to you - I had to use inverted commas so that people didn't mistake the comments for my own opinion. The "quotes" were not direct quotes but, rather, a summation of the sentiments I have encountered here (and elsewhere for that matter). As I was not specifically referring to you I'm not trying to assert that wouldn't allow them - perhaps I would have been better using the expression "that's all you should need" as most certainly that is the mindset of many 4 string bassists I've encountered with my 5 and my 12 and I have assumed is the mindset of many here. I'm not attempting to put words in your mouth and I apologise if that's how you read it.

[6stringbassist]

Sure enough, Jaco mainly only played a 4 string, but then again he died 21 years ago, 6 string basses were pretty much unheard of then, 5's were only just starting to make an appearance.

And anyway, the 4 string fretless was HIS instrument of choice, what has that to do with this rather pointless discussion, that has been dragged up for the trillionth time.

[tauzero]

[quote name='lwtait' post='169913' date='Apr 4 2008, 05:16 PM']not really. i listen music like blink 182, zebrahead, good charlotte, new found glory etc. im not going to try and pretend any of them have good bassists. i wouldn't reccomend listening to them if you wanted to hear good bass playing. im saying you should seriously listen to him because his bass playing is so unique and you can learn a thing or two from him, rather than listen to him because his music is good.[/quote]
I don't listen to music for the bass players, which is why, at 50, I am completely unconscious of 99% of the bass players that people rave about. I listen to music for music. I don't consciously listen to bass lines - sometimes a bass line will actually impinge on my consciousness, mostly it won't. In the covers band, I don't give a flying f*** what the original bass line was unless it's actually really important (ie. I've actually noticed it while listening to the track), I'll play my own. Which reminds me, I really must learn the bass line to "Sunny afternoon" by the Kinks for the next time my mate wants to do it on the open mic night.

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='tauzero' post='170088' date='Apr 5 2008, 12:48 AM']I don't listen to music for the bass players, which is why, at 50, I am completely unconscious of 99% of the bass players that people rave about. I listen to music for music. I don't consciously listen to bass lines - sometimes a bass line will actually impinge on my consciousness, mostly it won't. In the covers band, I don't give a flying f*** what the original bass line was unless it's actually really important (ie. I've actually noticed it while listening to the track), I'll play my own. Which reminds me, I really must learn the bass line to "Sunny afternoon" by the Kinks for the next time my mate wants to do it on the open mic night.[/quote]
Plus one. Its about music not number of strings. But why do so many chatters have to have the number of strings in their user name?

[tauzero]

[quote name='bigjohn' post='169918' date='Apr 4 2008, 05:27 PM']I might be tempted one day with a B string - maybe. Sometimes I wish my bass went down another note or two but it's very rare, most of the time I'd naturally play around "wanting" to go deeper than E and not even notice until I thought about it. I'm not really fan of tuning up or down, I'm used to my bass being EADG, and play mostly by ear. I find it harder to do that if I tune down sometimes, although I get used to it relatively quickly. I think I'd need another bass that I kept constantly tuned down if I were to do that.

For me the best bass lines are relatively simple - and 99.9% they don't need anything lower than an open E. But then - I'm a rocker [/quote]
That's why you should consider a 5-string. You need never go below the bottom E, but it means you can play a walking bass line in E with your middle finger firmly on the B string 5th fret, so you can do your damping on the left hand rather than the right and you can play the same pattern for the E as for the A and B.

We don't actually do much stuff in E (and I use the one an octave from bottom anyway) but it's nice playing a 12-bar in A that you can keep the boomy lower-string tone in by playing it all round the 10th fret rather than having to move from 5th to 10th.

Anyone who spends a lot of time on the open E or playing bottom F or F# should consider a 5-string. Please note that I only say "consider".

[Doc B]

Peter Hook (New Order/Joy Division) is the first person I think of when it comes to 6 string bass - a very different playing style and sound and set up to the low B to high C types being discussed on here. It's not just noodly fusion or prog that gets played on 6s.

Both Brian Molko and Stefan from Placebo have used Fender bass VIs. In fact I'm pretty sure that Jack Bruce used one of these with Cream.

I play exclusively on 4 strings now but I've had 2 fives and a Danelectro 30" scale baritone I had modified to be tuned E-E (like a 4 string with a high B and E). I am not a great player (probably not even very good TBG) by any means and I can't 'noodle' or 'shred' or whatever. I just used whatever bass guitars I could to try get sounds I had in my head out of the speakers.

I've gone back to fours because I didn't find much advantage playing chords using a 5 string strung with a high C and the fretting was awkward. Possibly a narrow string spacing 5 would sort that but I don't have the money. I also found that I never went below low D when I strung it with a B string.

Anyway I think that 6 string basses look pretty cool, some better looking than their 4 string equivalents - but the only ones I tried have been too wide in the neck for my hands.

[bnt]

[quote name='Rich' post='169738' date='Apr 4 2008, 12:40 PM']I simply fail to understand why so many people seem to be quite so anti-ERB (or for that matter, anti-4string). At the end of the day, surely we all play music because we love doing so, not because we think it's clever? Can't we all just get along?[/quote]
Well, are that many people anti-ERB? I see a lot of comments along the lines of "I don't see the need", or "it's not for me", which I don't construe as anti-ERB. If I tried telling people "you're wrong to want an ERB", that would be another matter, for which I would expect to receive a nastygram or three.

Personally, I've been torn between the GAS for a 6-string and the realization that I probably wouldn't make effective use of it. If I ever find an EBMM Bongo 6 in Teal Green in a shop, you may need to get a mop and bucket to clean up the drool... but in the next couple of years I may need to travel light, live out of a couple of suitcases, and I have nowhere to store stuff that doesn't charge per week. That makes GAS fairly easy to resist, and GAS is my only justification for an ERB.

[greyparrot]

About Jaco

dont matter how many strings were on his bass, he was great a true musician and cool at what he did. (to me anyway!)

Edited April 5, 2008 by greyparrot

[Rich]

[quote name='bnt' post='170156' date='Apr 5 2008, 10:45 AM']Well, are that many people anti-ERB?[/quote]If you remember some of the other ERB threads we've had here in the past, you'll know that the answer is a resounding 'yes'.