Lfalex v1.1 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 [quote name='jezzaboy' post='603596' date='Sep 20 2009, 02:37 PM']Thank god for that! I thought I was the only one to use 3 strings, although it`s the G I dont bother with. Jez[/quote] I have a "3"; Is this [i]sub[/i]-standard (no offence to budget MM owners!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='604776' date='Sep 21 2009, 05:52 PM']I have a "3"; [/quote] DROOOOOOOL......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 [quote name='Telebass' post='604759' date='Sep 21 2009, 05:33 PM']Nope. Double bass > electric bass. The family resemblance is only that. Only the playing position is guitar-like. Even frets were on upright basses once, y'know... Look at the old Jazz headstock, it specifically says "electric bass"; look at a Fender VI, and it specifically states "electric bass guitar". The Musicman Silhouette is similarly titled. The VI is also erroneously called a baritone guitar - they're tuned to A or B, not EADGBE and are usually 27.5" scale or similar. Not to say you can't mess with different strings, of course... At the time, remember, if you played bass, it was either an upright or a tuba... A bass that can easily be played by a guitarist, yes. A bass guitar, no. However, I realise that this particular bit of pedantry is considered old-fashioned. So be it. I am too! [/quote] If you told an orchestral player that you played "electric bass", his answer would be exactly the same as that suggested by bassassin... "Bass what?". Bass is the [i]pitch[/i], not the instrument. It'd be like a soprano sax player arguing that his horn's proper full name is just 'soprano'. Exhibit A... if it was a good enough name for Leo, it's good enough for us... [attachment=33244:Fender_B...r_Patent.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 [quote name='Telebass' post='604759' date='Sep 21 2009, 05:33 PM']Nope. Double bass > electric bass. The family resemblance is only that. Only the playing position is guitar-like. Even frets were on upright basses once, y'know... Look at the old Jazz headstock, it specifically says "electric bass"; look at a Fender VI, and it specifically states "electric bass guitar". The Musicman Silhouette is similarly titled. The VI is also erroneously called a baritone guitar - they're tuned to A or B, not EADGBE and are usually 27.5" scale or similar. Not to say you can't mess with different strings, of course... At the time, remember, if you played bass, it was either an upright or a tuba... A bass that can easily be played by a guitarist, yes. A bass guitar, no. However, I realise that this particular bit of pedantry is considered old-fashioned. So be it. I am too! [/quote] But what you call a 'double bass' is actually a bass violin (as opposed to a bass guitar). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 [quote name='Telebass' post='604759' date='Sep 21 2009, 05:33 PM']Nope. Double bass > electric bass. The family resemblance is only that. Only the playing position is guitar-like. Even frets were on upright basses once, y'know... Look at the old Jazz headstock, it specifically says "electric bass"; look at a Fender VI, and it specifically states "electric bass guitar". The Musicman Silhouette is similarly titled. The VI is also erroneously called a baritone guitar - they're tuned to A or B, not EADGBE and are usually 27.5" scale or similar. Not to say you can't mess with different strings, of course... At the time, remember, if you played bass, it was either an upright or a tuba... A bass that can easily be played by a guitarist, yes. A bass guitar, no. However, I realise that this particular bit of pedantry is considered old-fashioned. So be it. I am too! [/quote] It's pedantry you want, is it? Anyway ET & Rich are spot-on - the electric bass guitar is part of the guitar family, the "bass" prefix refers to its pitching. Technically it is a hybridisation of electric guitar and double bass, but it really only inherits its number of strings & tuning convention from its acoustic forbear, since it was primarily developed to be a more portable and louder substitute. Everything else - its design, construction, components, electronics, even aesthetic appearance - is taken (very specifically, in the case of Fender basses) from the electric guitar and that's clearly the family of instruments it's part of. The "Electric Bass" as you're defining it is indisputably the EUB - didn't Gibson come up with the first one in the 20s? J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny-lad Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 [quote name='Bassassin' post='605183' date='Sep 22 2009, 12:12 AM']The "Electric Bass" as you're defining it is indisputably the EUB[/quote] IME, electric bass is often used to describe electric bass guitar, especially in genres/situations that can involve doubling on both electric bass guitar and double bass. ie. Acoustic bass would be the double bass (regardless of whether you use EUB or acoustic double bass) and electric bass would be the electric bass guitar. Outside of those specific genres/situations where these terms are commonly used and accepted as adequate descriptions, it can seem over-generalised in that acoustic bass could be double bass (or even EUB, despite the fact it isn't acoustic, as double basses are generally amplified anyway), acoustic bass guitar, tuba, and electric bass could refer to electric bass guitar, EUB, synth bass, hammond pedals/left-hand bass. In this case, a more specific description would be needed, rather than just electric or acoustic bass. Having said all that, the standards ie. double bass and electric bass (which was initially a fender bass) both have 4 strings, although things have changed more recently and much more music is written for 5-strings, which is why some people now consider 5 to be the standard...There are even 5-string double basses available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshorepunk Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Both my basses are 5 string, but I consider 4 as the standard, I choose to play 5's as I like to have the option of varying some of the riffs I play with some lower notes, I was probably inspired to do thos by listening to the likes of Stuart sender on tracks like space cowboy! Got a gig in November with aziz ibrahim, he who replaced john squire in the stone roses and wrote a fair amount of ian browns first solo album. He's playing on two of our songs and we're also doing two of his tracks, corpses and my star, both of which go down beyond E. No problem on my 5, but I am told he will insist I play it on a 4 strin p bass, detuned, cos that's what sounds right! Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 One string per finger. Therefore 4. You people from the Fens may need more though....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickH Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 It's a shame that so many new players go straight for a 4-string then have to adapt to 5 or 6 later on and find it a chore. A kid I started giving lessons to a few years ago borrowed his mate's bass for his first couple lessons so his folks could see if he liked it before they splashed out for his own bass. Given that he was into the whole nu-metal thing at the time (2001, /sigh), I told him to go straight onto a 5. You can get perfectly good budget beginner's 5s out there and he wouldn't have to bother "re-learning" the instrument when he made the inevitable change later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakenewmanbass Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) I'm sure I've said this before, but I'm old enough and it was long enough ago for me to repeat myself (something my friends and family are coming to enjoy with warm affection in the years before 'I don't realise I've pissed myself' happens) A five string bass [i][b]is[/b][/i] a four string bass too, it just has a bit of extra scope on the odd occasion it's needed... It's also a three string, a two string etc etc Edited September 23, 2009 by jakesbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcrow Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 [quote name='JimBobTTD' post='603372' date='Sep 20 2009, 09:45 AM']I recall reading a seemingly throwaway comment on Talkbass a while back which went something like this: "[blah blah blah], which is why five string is the new standard for bass guitar." Has there been a shift towards 5 strings to such an extent that playing 4 strings equates to being old fashioned? What do you people think? Do you play "the new standard" or not? Does the author of the aforementioned comment have too strong a bond to modern metal music, and perhaps sees [i]this music[/i] as standard?[/quote] i think the 4 is the one...its similar to the upright bass and can cover quite a few notes if you need to go lower...and you can reproduce the notes...then a 5 is acceptable...but not just for looks i had a 5 and only used it for fretted E and the low D i think its a bit of a extra type of instrument Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkypenguin Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 i'd pitch my tent in Anthony Jackson's camp and go for 6 (BEADGC) being the new standard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickH Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 It's like learning keyboard (my first instrument). The beginner's 61-note one is well and good but a 76-key is better. It does everything the 61 does, at no extra burden except for being slightly bigger, but when you need the extra range it's right there for you. Ditto going up to an 88-note. Why limit yourself, unless your hands are so small that the extra width of a 5 or 6 is really impractical to play? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XB26354 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) [quote name='funkypenguin' post='606889' date='Sep 23 2009, 05:56 PM']i'd pitch my tent in Anthony Jackson's camp and go for 6 (BEADGC) being the new standard [/quote] ...adding in that as the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family, it should always have had 6 strings The 4 is standard only because a. Fender derived electric bass from double bass (esp the tuning) and b. every other manufacturer followed suit. If Fender had created a workable 6-string bass guitar first then that would be the standard today. It might have been like a baritone guitar or tuned straight in 4ths as the most common incarnation is now. Anyway, a great player is great whether they play 2-string or 12-string. It ain't the bass that makes the sound happen, it's the player. The 4 was the classic bass throughout the 50's, 60's and 70's so it will always remain the "standard" bass. However there is enough potential in 5- and 6-string basses for them to be perfectly viable alternatives - again, it depends on the player. Edited September 23, 2009 by XB26354 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Only one sample but at GAK online: 4-string: 251 5-string: 95 6-string: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 5 strings are certainly popular. but there's no way that they're even CLOSE to being the standard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 yeah yeah.. leave the standard at 4 strings.. I've never been one to follow the rest of the crowd, so 'non standard' for me is just fine! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I can't remember the last time I saw someone playing a 5-string bass. It must've been a few years ago. I think they were more common in the '90s, actually. They may be getting [i]less[/i] popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Why do you think I refer to it as Talkbs? What, you think that's been a spelling mistake all these times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basska Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) I learned how to play on a 5 string so i play 5 string but 4 string is still the original and that's just how it goes! if you played a string attached to a stick inside of a bucket i'd say you were oldschool Edited September 25, 2009 by Basska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcrow Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 leo knew best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) Think I read somewhere that during the 60's and 70's if an electric bass was called for it was labelled as "Fender bass". Not the number of strings but the manufacturer (bit like Hoover I suppose). Even though the first popular electric bass guitar was a Fender, we've come a long way in 50-odd years. Now we have fretless, instruments up to 10+ strings, different woods and so on and on. Bass has come a long way indeed. Just look at the electric guitar over the same timespan. Still 6 strings and a lot of Strat copies. More strings hasn't really had a sniff at all. Doesn't matter how many strings a bass has or should have. The point is that we are way more open-minded than guitarists and that makes us better than them By the way, I have a 1 string. Edited September 25, 2009 by 7string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 [quote name='7string' post='608828' date='Sep 25 2009, 11:09 PM']By the way, I have a 1 string. [/quote] And what's the scale length on that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) [quote name='7string' post='608828' date='Sep 25 2009, 11:09 PM']Think I read somewhere that during the 60's and 70's if an electric bass was called for it was labelled as "Fender bass". Not the number of strings but the manufacturer (bit like Hoover I suppose).[/quote] I'm still advertised as 'Electric Upright Bass & Fender Bass' on the publicity for one of my bands (but we are quite retro). Edited September 25, 2009 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telebass Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 [quote name='jakesbass' post='606413' date='Sep 23 2009, 09:18 AM']I'm sure I've said this before, but I'm old enough and it was long enough ago for me to repeat myself (something my friends and family are coming to enjoy with warm affection in the years before 'I don't realise I've pissed myself' happens) A five string bass [i][b]is[/b][/i] a four string bass too, it just has a bit of extra scope on the odd occasion it's needed... It's also a three string, a two string etc etc[/quote] I like that definition! And everyone's right about my bit of pedantry. But I don't care! As I play a 51RI, I'm as close as I'll get, historically, to a double bass, and I'm happy with that. 1957-style? Waaaaaay too modern! To (finally) put my own answer to the original question, I think the 5er will eventually be the standard, but there's a few years to go yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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