mybass Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 (edited) 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 October 10, 2017 by mybass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 Bottesini only needed three strings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 I was given a magazine from the early 80s a while back. It featured some lovely 6 string basses by a company called Manson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronJ Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 Wow. A 6 string double bass must take some fine bowing technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottlefeeder Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 [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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 The problem was being able to produce a thick enough string out of gut. We got it easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 Bach only needed four That's not a bass, it's a harp Just buy a piano etc etc etc etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.