Just Bought My First 6er

[Valhalalf]

I've just bought my first 6er this morning from [b]Johngh[/b]

A flawless mint condition LTD B 406SM that plays like a dream



I was worried about the jump from 4 to 6 strings but the neck feels really comfortable (I have big hands) and the smaller string spacing appears to be tightening up my sloppy slap technique.

Has anyone got any advice/techniques/thoughts etc in regards to 6 strings?

I love it

Edited January 5, 2012 by Valhalalf

[icastle]

I've got one of those.
A lovely, well built instrument.

The only catch with it is the weight, so my advice would be to take a lighter bass along with it to gigs and be prepared to do a swap over when your shoulders start aching.

[Fat Rich]

String muting becomes a bit interesting, look at ways of muting with your left hand which will probably mean playing with your fingers a bit flatter on the fingerboard. This will particularly help you if you play slap or with a pick.

Then there's various muting techniques with your right hand when plying fingerstyle including the Floating thumb technique,
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU[/media]

I use a mixture of techniques including floating thumb, hooking my ring and middle finger on the strings I'm not playing plus plenty of left hand muting.

If you're new to a low B don't get too carried away and throw it into every song at every opportunity, it can feel like the bottom has dropped out of the song if there's too much space between your low note and what the rest of the band is doing.

Good luck!

Edited January 5, 2012 by Fat Rich

[shizznit]

I went from a 4 to a 6 (Status Energy) before settling down with a 5. Felt like a whole new world to me. Loved playing a 6, but I did struggle with slapping. My fingers were catching inbetween the strings and stripping back my cuticals because the spacing was so tight. That's quite painful. I then tried a Warwick Streamer LX broadneck (20mm spacing) and that hurt my fretting hand after only 10mins or so of playing. Much too wide for me. I will return to a 6 one day...just haven't shopped around for one yet. Considering purchasing a Shuker this year, so maybe I will order a 6 instead of a 5?

Take your time to adjust and just play it as well as you can with a 4. But, when it comes to slapping use the C string sparingly as I have broken many whilst 'going off on one'! Your bands memebers will thank you for it because the high frequency 'ping' will make them squint a lot! And grip the neck a bit lighter than you would normally. The extra width takes a bit more physical effort from your hand, fingers and wrists and you may find that you will fatigue a bit quicker if you grip it like a cricket bat!

I am sure there is more advice I can give, but everyone has their own techniques and experiences, so there isn't a law on how to play a 4,5,6,7 etc.... Just take your time and ease yourself in gradually. You will be flying on your 6 in no time!

[Valhalalf]

Cheers for the pointers guys, it's all helping.

I have noticed my slap technique is starting to improve and be more precise to work with the tighter string spacing. I'm also reducing the movement to minimal ammounts in my right hand as I did use to exagerate the slap and pop motion. I can only see this as a benifit in the long run for my technique to make it more focussed and controlled (and yes my cuticals are suffering at the moment).

I had noticed a lot of string ringing due to not being able to mute the E string as easily on my 4 string. But I have been practising the floating thumb technique and it has started to improved my right hand fingering technique as well as the string muting. All in all I'm happy with the move to the 6 and like how it's making me more conscious of my technique which in turn is making me practice and work harder at it.

Giving the 6er a test run at tonights gig, and taking the jazz just incase