You don't see these every day...

Was at my local GC for about 34 minutes before it was sold online...

Somehow, I can't stand more-than-four string Fender basses :wink:
But it's not bad.

They (more than 4-string Fender basses) do seem somehow...wrong. Like a 4-door Camaro or something.

Someone needs to tell bass players that 4-strings can already handle all 12 notes just fine as they are... but, you know, that's just me and every single record ever made up until the 80's in every single style of music which gives me that impression.

They (more than 4-string Fender basses) do seem somehow...wrong. Like a 4-door Camaro or something.
+50
Someone needs to tell bass players that 4-strings can already handle all 12 notes just fine as they are... but, you know, that's just me and every single record ever made up until the 80's in every single style of music which gives me that impression.
+50

:grin:

Real basses have four strings. Everything else is figment of your imagination. Or a bad dream. Or a not very funny joke. Or boobs on a bull. Or... I'll shut up now, I think I've made my point...

So, how big a mullet would you have to have to drive a four door Camaro?

They (more than 4-string Fender basses) do seem somehow...wrong. Like a 4-door Camaro or something.

Things I learned today. Blowing Dr Pepper through your nose hurts. Made a mess of my T-shirt too.

Some years ago, one of the most recorded and most sought after performing bass players in the world---Tony Levin....went a 3-string bass. HE th inks that is all that is needed.
ON the other end of the spectrum, I saw a 'Galveston'....imported set neck....with 8 strings....single courses. I have worked on double course 8 strings before....and I have a customer who has a triple course 12-string. But, this 8 single course stringed thing has a massively wide neck on it.
Different strokes, right?

Someone needs to tell bass players that 4-strings can already handle all 12 notes just fine as they are... but, you know, that's just me and every single record ever made up until the 80's in every single style of music which gives me that impression.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Yeah, the 6-string Dano Longhorn, the Fender Bass 6, the Fender V and their imitators never existed and never were used on any recording.

5-string and 3-string uprights were around as long ago as the 1800s, 4 strings became standard much later.

I've always been strictly a 4-string player but other players have different needs. They should use whatever works for them.

Looks like you could use that neck to paddle a kayak. What's the radius on that board?

Maybe I'm just old fashioned but Leo made his original electric bass with four strings and his original electric guitar with six. He was an very innovative entrepreneur and I respected that man. So out of further respect my Fender basses all have four strings and my Fender guitars have six.

If Leo thought that was good enough well then it's damn well good enough for me too.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Yeah, the 6-string Dano Longhorn, the Fender Bass 6, the Fender V and their imitators never existed and never were used on any recording.


Oh, yes, please educate me, dear eye-roller.

The last time I checked, the most high profile artist to ever use a fender bass VI was Robert Smith, and he hadn't had specially made strings with a low B on them for it.

Fender seem to be trying to trump the boutique makers by making 5+ string basses. They have a reputation for making really bad active electronics as well. I think they are too iconic for making 4 string passive basses for unleashing coffee table finish basses on the world.

Not sure why 5-6 string basses are getting hated on in this thread, although I don't personally own any.

The Jazz Bass V is a beautiful instrument IMO. I want one. About the bass on the picture; I think (and hope) the camera angle contribute to making the neck look like the Autobahn. If it doesn't, there's also something very wrong with the head.

Maybe it's one of these?
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhtw3jUYD61qfwvab.jpg

Oh, yes, please educate me, dear eye-roller.

The last time I checked, the most high profile artist to ever use a fender bass VI was Robert Smith, and he hadn't had specially made strings with a low B on them for it.

I thought I'd read that Jack Bruce did a lot of recording in the Cream days with a Bass VI... Or, I could have that totally wrong. Many things in my brain are kinda fuzzy. But I'm nearly 98% positive I read that someplace.

FWIW, I do not consider the Dano 6, or the Bass VI actual basses. They are instruments unto themselves. Not the same thing at all of a 6 string bass. YMMV.

Oh, yes, please educate me, dear eye-roller.

The last time I checked, the most high profile artist to ever use a fender bass VI was Robert Smith, and he hadn't had specially made strings with a low B on them for it.

Educate you? Well, at least you admit your lack of knowledge.

Robert Smith? That's a joke, right? He's not the band's bassist, doesn't play his Bass VI as a bass, and AFAIK didn't play it on a recording before the 80s. Remember your standard? but, you know, that's just me and every single record ever made up until the 80's in every single style of music which gives me that impression.

Having a low B string (or not) has nothing to do with it.

Jack Bruce recorded all of Fresh Cream and part of Disraeli Gears on Fender Bass VI. That's a lot higher profile than anything Robert Smith has ever done bass-wise.

Thousands of Nashville session recordings from the late 50s into the mid 60s featured 6-string Danelectro Longhorns doubling the lines of upright basses.

Rick Danko played and recorded with a Bass VI in the 60s with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. Carol Kaye had a Bass VI, although I don't know which session tracks she used it on. At least one Beatles track was recorded with a Bass VI (George on Maxwell's Silver Hammer) - there may have been more. John Entwistle used a Bass VI for a short while in the 60s and John Paul Jones used a Fender V for a short time in the 70s, although I'm not sure either recorded with them.

These players were playing their instruments as basses, on recordings, well before the 80s. I wouldn't be surprised if there were many more.

Honestly, though, I'd like to have an 8 string bass - the double four string two octave one, strung in a fashion like this one:
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/5837/bcrichwe7.jpg
Played this particular bass once on a bass players meeting, incredible sound.

(On pic, Filip Hałucha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filip_Ha%C5%82ucha), one of the best black metal bass players in Poland)

Fender seem to be trying to trump the boutique makers by making 5+ string basses. They have a reputation for making really bad active electronics as well. I think they are too iconic for making 4 string passive basses for unleashing coffee table finish basses on the world.

Not sure why 5-6 string basses are getting hated on in this thread, although I don't personally own any.

Agreed on both counts. I sold my Jazz Deluxe because no matter how great it played the active noiseless pickups just seemed soulless. I think Fender's forte is and always has been with 4 string passive basses.

I don't hate 5 strings but I won't play a Fender fiver. I played a Modulus five for quite a while and now I wish I'd never sold it. In my experience a 35" scale makes for a much better five string but I have to admit that as a vocalist playing a five string was a bit more of a pain in the ass and I still tended to gravitate back to my Jazz Bass when I had a lot of vocals to do.

I guess I can't see the need for a 6 string unless you consider your playing style to be that of a virtuoso bass soloist. I don't play in that style and the neck is way to wide for any kind of reasonable comfort as far as I'm concerned. More power to the guys who have mastered them though. Just not my thing

There's no reason why a bass shouldn't have more or less strings, for whatever range of notes, it all depends on the player's requirements and what is appropriate for the music. I play 5 strings simply for the additional range. Keyboard players have it, why not bass? It's especially useful in improvised music and singer-songwriter stuff I've done with my bands.

As for the bass in question, I like the concept, and it looks good to me, but the proof is in the playing.

I own and gig with a Fender Jazz Bass with SD active pups and I love it, although the guitar player is fond of noting that I usually have the tone controls set pretty near the midpoint (equiv. of a passive circuit). The active circuit also allows for the little switch that cuts out the mids when one wants to play something fusion-y or 70s funky.

I have owned several 5-strings, both electric and acoustic-electric, and while that low B is great for resolving certain chords I have never owned one where the dynamics of the low string matched the rest. It was always rubbery and lacking in tone. Maybe I owned the wrong axe or bought the wrong strings, but it was constantly disappointing and I always went back to 4 strings.

i like cake

Someone needs to tell bass players that 4-strings can already handle all 12 notes just fine as they are... but, you know, that's just me and every single record ever made up until the 80's in every single style of music which gives me that impression.

That would include The Shadows' Jet Harris playing his Fender VI Bass then?

http://www.freewebs.com/crazylighthouse5/Guitars%20n%20Amps/Bass%20and%20guitar-medium.jpg

Jack Bruce used one too ...

My 2001 Jazz V doesn't look that odd to me. Plays pretty well and sounds fine since I upgraded the pickups.
I grab it when a tune really wants the lower notes.

i like cake

I like a girl with a short skirt

and a looooong jacket

Immo, the only bass that I have worked on and played that could put more fear of the unknown into a person than a double-course 8-string was a triple-course 12 strign. IF you think the 8 is big, find a 3-course 12 to play!!

PUmpJockey, most of the tiem when I see a 5 or 6 string bass withth e 'loose low string' that you describe, I am looking at an instrument that is not well set-up. I am not afraid of setting an instrument up where it functions well even though looking at it might scare the uninitiated. Taht is, that low string has to be off of that fretboard in oreder to creat correct tension. Many set-ups leave the low side of an instrument at roughly the same height as the treble side. That doesn't function..for me. I like an instrument to feel the same at every fret position. The only way to do that is to elevate the radius on the bass side. This will create even and proper tension....and better sounds. The instrument will feel better---even though some of the strings are hgiher than some people thinkthey should be---because the tension is uniform everywhere on the fretboard. The instrument will intonate better. The player will relax and play better. The girls will dance more....therefore the guys will dance more. The world will smile more. Peace will come to the planets, and love...love...comes shining through. This is the age of.....uh---uh....Hey, man why did you wake me up in the middle of that beautiful dream!?!?! (:^)

Bass VI doesn't count!!

Bass VI doesn't count!!

Go back under your bridge.

4, 5, 6 strings.... It's just a tool. It's up to the carpenter to make use of it or not as he sees fit. Saying that real basses have 4 strings is just dumb. I use my 5 string fretless with horn players a bunch. Do I use it to just wail on the low B ? No... It's for the low Eb, D and Db mostly. Another option available in the turn around doesn't bother me a bit... Also nice to get under they keys on some latin tunes as well. I'm way more comfortable on a 4 but the 5 has it's place in my stable. Not in your's ? maybe you should discover why not ...

Honestly, though, I'd like to have an 8 string bass - the double four string two octave one, strung in a fashion like this one:
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/5837/bcrichwe7.jpg
Played this particular bass once on a bass players meeting, incredible sound.

(On pic, Filip Hałucha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filip_Ha%C5%82ucha), one of the best black metal bass players in Poland)

What kind of bass is that? I saw one of those at a pawn shop and had no idea what the heck it was.

holy moly, I opened a can of worms with that pick :lol:

I have seen a Waterstone TP-12 once, but I didnt pick it up because it scared me. When someone knows how to utilize all the octaves its an amazing instrument.

What kind of bass is that? I saw one of those at a pawn shop and had no idea what the heck it was.

It's an old BC Rich. Very high quality stuff. The early USA BC Rich guitars and basses are some of the best instruments ever built. Works of art. Not everyybody's cup of tea in the looks department, but certainly very nice stuff.

FWIW, I do not consider the Dano 6, or the Bass VI actual basses. They are instruments unto themselves. Not the same thing at all of a 6 string bass. YMMV.

I'm with you on this the Dano and Bass VI have narrow string spacing (like a guitar), short scale length and are really geared up to produce a thin trebly (although low in pitch) sound.

These are very different beasts from the 5 and 6 string basses that retain the same between string spacing as a 4 string bass, long scale necks and are often tuned even lower in pitch (with a low B string).

Whilst there is some crossover (people have used a VI or a Dano as a "traditional" bass in the same way as people have used cellos instead of a double bass to play a bass part) I think they should be classified as different instruments.

I'm with you on this the Dano and Bass VI have narrow string spacing (like a guitar), short scale length and are really geared up to produce a thin trebly (although low in pitch) sound.

These are very different beasts from the 5 and 6 string basses that retain the same between string spacing as a 4 string bass, long scale necks and are often tuned even lower in pitch (with a low B string).

Whilst there is some crossover (people have used a VI or a Dano as a "traditional" bass in the same way as people have used cellos instead of a double bass to play a bass part) I think they should be classified as different instruments.

The number of strings, the string spacing and/or the tuning have nothing at all to do with whether or not a bass has a thin trebly sound. That's determined mainly by how well the pickups reproduce the fundamentals and overtones the notes (regardless of the frequency) of each note. There are other factors, of course, including how well the wood and strings reproduce the notes.

The scale length does affect this somewhat, but it's a fact that the shorter the scale length, the fewer upper harmonics are produced. i.e. somewhat less trebly, not more.

If you think Danos and Bass VIs naturally sound thin and trebly, then you must have a tin ear.

They're basses because they cover the bass clef, regardless of how you think they ought to be classified.

It's an old BC Rich. Very high quality stuff. The early USA BC Rich guitars and basses are some of the best instruments ever built. Works of art. Not everyybody's cup of tea in the looks department, but certainly very nice stuff.

interesting... I would of never guessed BC Rich!... any idea of price ranges on them? The pawn shop has one that looks real similar but 4 string for $400. I need another bass like a I need a hole in the head but if its a good deal....

http://www.stickcenter.com/Interview/Levin/levinstickx.jpg


tony levin like lots of strings sometimes

There is a solo using 16 strings...

Go back under your bridge.

It's really more of a low-tuned baritone guitar and it's not a great bass qua bass from what I've heard from them. Some people like 'em, though. A long-scale 6er sounds rather different. Personally, aside from the standard 4 I would only play a 5 string or an 8 double-course. It's all up to the player. If he can make a Bass VI work with his band, more power to him.

Someone needs to tell bass players that 4-strings can already handle all 12 notes just fine as they are... but, you know, that's just me and every single record ever made up until the 80's in every single style of music which gives me that impression.

Anthony Jackson started using a Carl Thompson 6 string in Bass 1976....He used that on quite a few records prior to the 1980's.....

Anthony Jackson started using a Carl Thompson 6 string in Bass 1976....He used that on quite a few records prior to the 1980's.....

Jean-Luc Ponty's Demagomania for one. My mom got that record when I was just starting out - she was hoping I'd pick up the violin again, which I did, but I kept playing bass too - and that album drove me crazy. I could not figure out how he got those awesome low tones for a couple of years.

I have three five-strings at home right now and ran my #1 in BEAD tuning for years, I didn't feel like getting in a frequency war with my guitarists, and that low string is a great way to get around them and get heard without maxing out the amp.

That being said, as re: the OP, Fender's five and six strings are **** and their active electronics for bass are as well.

They (more than 4-string Fender basses) do seem somehow...wrong. Like a 4-door Camaro or something.

Or like lowered pickup trucks wearing 50 series tires....:eek:

4, 5, 6 strings.... It's just a tool. It's up to the carpenter to make use of it or not as he sees fit. Saying that real basses have 4 strings is just dumb. I use my 5 string fretless with horn players a bunch. Do I use it to just wail on the low B ? No... It's for the low Eb, D and Db mostly. Another option available in the turn around doesn't bother me a bit... Also nice to get under they keys on some latin tunes as well. I'm way more comfortable on a 4 but the 5 has it's place in my stable. Not in your's ? maybe you should discover why not ...

These guys that are hating on 5+ strings... :rolleyes: I think it may be fashionable to prefer 4 strings around here.

Just tossing this into the piranha tank...

http://www.electricalguitarcompany.com/index.php/model/Tom-Peterssons-12-string-bass/fuseaction/models.90be07af.htm

These guys that are hating on 5+ strings... :rolleyes: I think it may be fashionable to prefer 4 strings around here.

It's a pose. Makes people feel like they are rugged "no nonsense" folks. It is the telecaster board. You have to figure it comes with the territory.

:mrgreen:

These guys that are hating on 5+ strings... :rolleyes: I think it may be fashionable to prefer 4 strings around here.

It's a pose. Makes people feel like they are rugged "no nonsense" folks. It is the telecaster board. You have to figure it comes with the territory.

:mrgreen:

It's not just around here. 4 string basses are fashionable everywhere; none of the top ten selling basses are 5 strings. You do see 5 and 5+ string basses discussed more at Talkbass but they're still a small slice of the market.

I suspect the trolls in this thread and a couple of other recent threads are not bassists. None of the many bassists I know care one way or another if you play a 5 or 6 string bass. It's just another tool that some bassists find useful.