What defines a bass guitar?

[Joe Nation]

I've been pondering a bit in recent days about ultra-short scale basses (eg Wingbass), uke-basses, Bass VIs, baritones etc. It got me thinking, is there a general agreement of what exactly makes a bass, a bass? I guess having 4 strings and a 34" scale is the most common variant, but there are plenty of things with more strings (or fewer?) and both longer and shorter scale lengths, that are most definitely a bass. But to me a Bass VI seems more like a guitar that just plays lower notes than standard tuning (to be fair I don't really know how you play one or what it sounds like!).

 

Is it purely about the frequency of the notes an instrument can play - in which case do you measure the lowest note, the lowest C, the highest note, an octave above the lowest, the average? Is it more to do with what instruments you're playing alongside, with the bass being whatever is lowest in the group? Do we define it by the part it plays in the band - that magical link between rhythm and melody? Or is it simply some unquantifiable, unmeasurable property - this is a bass because we call it is a bass?

 

Furthermore, with a Wingbass being effectively the upper half of a conventional 4-string 34" bass, could you fit a thicker gauge of string to lower the frequency of the notes and go a whole octave lower (ie the same pitch as an open string on a 34" scale)? The gauge required may be far too thick to fit in the bridge or tuners, and may be unplayable, I'm curious if it's possible though. Is there a formula linking string length, gauge and resultant frequency (assuming the same material of course)?

[SteveXFR]

Isn't it just a guitar tuned to the notes in the lower half of the music pitch range? Everything else is just variations. 

 

It is however important to use the correct definition of bass or you'll end up with one of these

[Happy Jack]

The Oxford English Dictionary does a pretty good definition. Of course, that's what it's there for so it would be surprising if it didn't.

 

[BigRedX]

By your initial definition, I don't play bass as I use a 5-string in one band and a Bass VI in my other.

 

Where do you place post-punk "bass" players like Peter Hook and others who rarely venture below what could be done on a drop-D tuned guitar yet choose to play a bass rather than a  guitar? What about all those down-tuned metal bands with their 7 and 8-string guitars? What about bands where the keyboards or some other instrument (not bass guitar) takes to low register parts?

[itu]

Historically the bass (tuba etc.) has been the lowest sounding instrument. But nowadays we have multi string instruments, we have piccolo strings, short scales, synthesizers and so on. I think that if you use your instrument like bass, it is a bass. The form or the design does not hinder us, bassists.

 

(By the way, check g-word players, most of whom are doomed to play only Stratos, Teles, and LesPauls. Maybe there is some Youngster trying to play an SG, or even a PRSantana, but those instruments may be too radical in the long run.)

[SteveXFR]

In my last band, I played a 5 string and the guitarist played a 7 string. During some of my rare trips up beyond the 12th fret I ended up higher than him.

[Bassfinger]

Aren't we over thinking this? Surely its just a member of the guitar family intended for playing the bass part?  That encompasses the numerous variants quite neatly.

 

Whether some people use it for true bass or as more of a baritone guitar doesn't really matter, its the physical archtecture and the intended use that define it.

[fleabag]

I don't think about it. I just play it.

[Boodang]

For me the benchmark is the double bass where the low E is 41hz. After all the bass guitar is derived from this.

[SumOne]

6 minutes ago, Boodang said:

For me the benchmark is the double bass where the low E is 41hz. After all the bass guitar is derived from this.

 

Yeah, it might be called a Bass Guitar, and look like a Guitar, but it's evolved from the Double Bass - that's it's DNA. 

[Downunderwonder]

Funny how it takes a proper human to be a bass player but guitars and drums get played by all sorts of Troglodytes and Neanderthals and singers seem to be mostly lizard people out to amuse themselves before the big takeover.

[SteveXFR]

2 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

Funny how it takes a proper human to be a bass player but guitars and drums get played by all sorts of Troglodytes and Neanderthals and singers seem to be mostly lizard people out to amuse themselves before the big takeover.

 

According to guitarists we're the troglodytes who can't read or write and failed at guitar. 

Good drummers are definitely not troglodytes or neanderthals but there's a lot more bad drummers than good ones.

Singers are odd.

[zbd1960]

Harmonically, whichever instrument is lowest pitched is the 'bass'. Instrumentally, the bass is derived from the double bass / violone which has what is known as 16' pitch rather than 8' (this is a reference to the length of the organ pipe that plays lowest C on an organ ,not the length of the string). 

 

The violone which is the ancestor of the double bass had six strings and tended to come in two variants pitched a 4th apart: a G violone and a D violone, with the D being lower. The G was tuned an octave below a tenor viol (GCFADG) and the D an octave below a standard bass (DGCEAD).   

[T-Bay]

2 hours ago, itu said:

Historically the bass (tuba etc.) has been the lowest sounding instrument. But nowadays we have multi string instruments, we have piccolo strings, short scales, synthesizers and so on. I think that if you use your instrument like bass, it is a bass. The form or the design does not hinder us, bassists.

 

(By the way, check g-word players, most of whom are doomed to play only Stratos, Teles, and LesPauls. Maybe there is some Youngster trying to play an SG, or even a PRSantana, but those instruments may be too radical in the long run.)

As a serial bass and guitar purchaser I SHOULD agree with you regarding the g-word bit, but if I could get a bass that gave the flexibility and variety of tones I get from my 79 Strat I would be a very happy man indeed. And even my stupidly cheap Tele clone (try less than £100 including Artec pickups and all bought new) does a great range of sounds. I have others as well and am looking for a Les Paul, just coz, you know but could happily live with just the Strat.

[Boodang]

1 hour ago, Bassfinger said:

Aren't we over thinking this? Surely its just a member of the guitar family intended for playing the bass part?  That encompasses the numerous variants quite neatly.

 

Whether some people use it for true bass or as more of a baritone guitar doesn't really matter, its the physical archtecture and the intended use that define it.

Despite it being called a 'bass guitar' I always think of it as a solid body version of a double bass, so an extension of the violin family not the guitar.

[ambient]

Q. What’s a bass guitar?

 

A. It’s the instrument played by the coolest member of a band.

[Bassfinger]

1 hour ago, SteveXFR said:

 

According to guitarists we're the troglodytes who can't read or write and failed at guitar. 

Although a surprising number of bassists, like myself, are accomplished guitar players.

[Bassfinger]

50 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Despite it being called a 'bass guitar' I always think of it as a solid body version of a double bass, so an extension of the violin family not the guitar.

In terms of inspriation I would agree wholeheartedly.  However, in terms of construction and the ,anner in which it is held and played  it is very much a member of the guitar family.

[SteveXFR]

9 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

Although a surprising number of bassists, like myself, are accomplished guitar players.

 

I read something online from a guitarist who said he will respect bassists when he meets one who can play barre chords. I guess 95% of bassists can play them but why would you use them on a bass?

[itu]

1 minute ago, SteveXFR said:

 

I read something online from a guitarist who said he will respect bassists when he meets one who can play barre chords...

...but doesn't.

[Bassassin]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

 

Yeah, it might be called a Bass Guitar, and look like a Guitar, but it's evolved from the Double Bass - that's it's DNA. 

Depends. If you consider Leo's creation to be the first true bass guitar (and realistically it was) then it's very much a hybrid of the two, and clearly takes the larger proportion of its DNA from its 6-string forebear. It is intended to be played in a similar manner to a guitar, it has frets, its tuners, bridge, pickup etc are adaptations of those used on the Broadcaster & Tele, and so on.

 

On the other hand, the first electric bass, Paul Tutmarc's 1936 Electric Bass Fiddle seems more closely derived from the double bass - although fretted & designed to be played horizontally (I have an idea it could also be played upright, mounted on a long pin) Tutmarc didn't consider it a guitar - the clue's in the name. Tutmarc's bass was not a success so I think it's not known whether it was an influence on Fender - quite likely not.

[robscott]

Just play the darned thing, that's what it's for......

[iconic]

9 hours ago, robscott said:

Just play the darned thing, that's what it's for......

This 100% and, ensure you have lots to choose from😉

Edited March 2, 2022 by iconic

[Boodang]

10 hours ago, robscott said:

Just play the darned thing, that's what it's for......

Well you could say that but you could also say why read a BC thread when you could be practicing!

Of course, by discussing what defines bass guitar you are digging into it's provenance and the wider question of how we see its role in music.

[mikel]

Its got 4 strings and its lower in pitch than the other stringed instruments.