12 and 8 String Basses

[Al Krow]

@Cuzzie wasn't challenging your chronology, my friend; just your trite analysis of the Yammy basses you posted and comments such as the BB1200 was their first "proper BB"!

[Cuzzie]

Could be wrong but if memory serves the SB bass was the late 60s about 1968

BB1200 about 1977 and that’s when people sat up and took notice and Yammy started being a bass great bass players used over the ages recording and live

[Hellzero]

20 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

5. didn't quite follow your terminology: "set neck" = bolt on or neck through?

None of them, a set neck is a glued neck up to the closest pickup, in general, so close to a bolt-on neck that would have been glued instead of bolt.

This is the typical classical and acoustic dovetail glued neck, but on electric instruments, the dovetail is almost non existent due to some lack of wood.

[HazBeen]

16 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Haha - love the amateur arm chair approach to authoritative commentary! Reminds me a bit of well er...me actually 😂 Should probably leave the guys with some proper historical knowlege of Yammys @hookys6stringbass and @pete.young to set the record straight on why the above Yammy neck-throughs are some of their finest.

Some interesting points:

1. Love to hear some clips of how your Helix sounds in terms of polyphonic octave up tracking - would you be able to post some for us?

2. Noted  

3. What I love about the Nords is their throaty growl. What are the Seymour Duncans like in terms of sound / punchiness?

4. Why? Active just gives you a) more bite b) greater tonal control at the bass 

5. didn't quite follow your terminology: "set neck" = bolt on or neck through?

1. yes I should be able to, but feel free to remind me if I forget

2. for me at least, pick gives me the extra sparkle fingers don’t

3. Big Nordy fan myself, growl on the SSBs (I think that is what they are called) is less for sure but price vs quality they are unbeatable almost. Very much in the EMG tonal region so not like Nordies at all.

4. passive tone gives me enough control and the double string setup is very rich already so for me I do not need the added control of a pre (I have an OBP3 plus passive setup in my 8 btw, always use passive), so the answer is I do not need it.

5. Set neck is a halfway house where the neck is glued in, like most Gibsons. Combines the punch of bolton with sustain of neckthru (but we could debate this and wood options ad infinitum)

[Al Krow]

20 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Could be wrong but if memory serves the SB bass was the late 60s about 1968

BB1200 about 1977 and that’s when people sat up and took notice and Yammy started being a bass great bass players used over the ages recording and live

You weren't born in 1968 and barely on the scene in 1977 (and only just if that). Make the most of that fact whilst you still can, you'll be old and knackered like me before you know it 😉

[Cuzzie]

But what you forget is I was formed from the medicloreans and your puny constraints bear no reflection on me

[Al Krow]

32 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

But what you forget is I was formed from the medicloreans and your puny constraints bear no reflection on me

Hah! So was Mrs Krow and parent Krows. I know all about the mediclorean tribe 🙃

[Woodinblack]

And for me:

1. Interesting but still not sold on it

2. Happy with either, plectrum good for attack but I love the sound of fingers and often end up using that

3. noted, although given a nordstrand vs a duncan, i would go for the nordstrand

4. The only reason for me to have a passive is that I haven't yet put a preamp in it.

5. Yep.

[Al Krow]

1. Agree with Woody: I'm also not yet convinced that the Helix can do tight polyphonic octave tracking without glitching; I suspect it would struggle with chords and some harmonically-rich positions on the fretboard (typically the 5th fret). But @HazBeen is going to post some clips, so I'm open to being persuaded otherwise.

2. Just played the 8 string with a plectrum. I did find it easier to get more precision control in terms of hitting just the bass strings without the octave than with fingers...so I think I may be a convert to plectrum for 8 string 

3. Agree with Woody

4. Agree with Woody 

5. I've learned something new today and I'm all set to go!  

 

Edited October 24, 2018 by Al Krow

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

2. Just played the 8 string with a plectrum. I did find it easier to get more precision control in terms of hitting just the bass strings without the octave than with fingers...so I think I may be a convert to plectrum for 8 string

I would say yes, for full harmonics, the plectrum is the way to go, but don't overlook that fingers do work on an 8 string to bring something to the party as well

[Al Krow]

Sorry Woody, I'm clearly "set" on being dim today! When you say "for full harmonics" what had you got in mind?

[Woodinblack]

Yeh, doesn't make sense that does it!

I mean if you play with a plectrum you will get a lot more 'jangle' in your sound, depending on you play, so it will sound a lot more obviously 8 stringish. 

With fingers I find it easier to pick individual strings (rather then as pairs).

[Al Krow]

5 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Yeh, doesn't make sense that does it!

I mean if you play with a plectrum you will get a lot more 'jangle' in your sound, depending on you play, so it will sound a lot more obviously 8 stringish. 

With fingers I find it easier to pick individual strings (rather then as pairs).

Ah ok - that's interesting. I'm actually finding the opposite i.e. it's easier to pick out individual strings on the 8-string with a pick...and am kinda thinking that, unlike all my other single string basses, I might well default to playing 8-string with a pick (but have fingers as my goto on the rest).

[Cuzzie]

More/full harmonics makes perfect sense.

as a string buzzes in its home/fundamental waveform it also in multiples so a low E is 41Hz, 82Hz, 123Hz etc.

Unless you palm mute, with a pick you will get more jangle on the strike, fingers always deaden the note slightly on pluck and on travel around the strings.

Up strike, down strike, angle is pick attack, fingernails etc. All Make a huge difference

[Wolverinebass]

I'm primarily a fingers player but it's just as easy to get "full harmonics" that way as with a pick. I use a different arch of my right hand and plus I pull through the strings anyway so the difference is minimal if you very subtly add some treble. Let's face it, I'm so mental I play a 12 string with fingers. I've learned to adapt my technique and it's not difficult to do. 

[cattytown]

On 23/10/2018 at 21:51, Al Krow said:

Cheers  I take it you're still enjoying yours then?

Yup!

[Cuzzie]

@Wolverinebass it’s a great technique and does the job really very well, anything is possible (well most things) with practice and I love what gingers bring to the party as well

[Cuzzie]

I was going to edit to say fingers, but I also have nothing against red heads!

[Wolverinebass]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

I was going to edit to say fingers, but I also have nothing against red heads!

Just as well I'm not a redhead. Ha!

[Cuzzie]

Being Scots both me and you are not far away!!!

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, Wolverinebass said:

Just as well I'm not a redhead. Ha!

 

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

Being Scots both me and you are not far away!!!

I think you need to take the hint Cuzzie: you're clearly not his type...

[visog]

On 06/03/2018 at 09:07, Wolverinebass said:

However on a lighter note as he's known as Davie504, it does conjure up images of science fiction dystopia where people don't have full names and have bar codes tattooed on their arms. 

I seem to have went off reservation there, but seriously, if anyone uses that idea, I want royalties. 

which you'd pay to Kurt Vonnegut for his '76 novella, "Slapstick, or Lonesome no More" featuring the characters with middle names such as  'Daffodil-11' - nouns with numbers to create artificial families and end loneliness... Oh wait! We're doing 8-string basses! So here's Chris Squire's Rick-8...