Extended Range bass discussion

[jazzyvee]

I'm listening to this berklee bass department discussion live now on Zoom and Jimmy Johnson is getting a lot of credit for the pioneer of 5 string bass.  Both Nathan East and Jimmy Haslip talking about how he influenced them in this respect.
https://berklee.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bhOEfcTgQvi2NZRisl0jng

[JimmyJ]

Hey Jazzyvee,

Thanks for the report.  Mighty nice of those guys to mention me but Anthony Jackson was really the innovator.  He was the first to go low (and high) with his "contra bass guitar".  And man, did he know how to operate that machine!  I'm still a huge AJ fan.  Recording engineers were afraid of those extra low notes at first.  It took a while before playing a low-D would not raise some eyebrows in the booth.   

Jimmy J

[goran]

Yea they talked so much about you Jimmy, it's was really nice to see all those people there!

[gearhed289]

I've been getting back into extended range instruments this past year. I played 5 string a lot in the 90s, but I've been a 4 string guy almost exclusively since 1999. Mostly low B, but I did some experimenting with a high C. Last summer, I became part of a newly formed Peter Gabriel tribute band called Big Time, so I got my old Guild Pilot back in shape with a great fret job and setup. I quickly realized that I needed a backup, and since I'd been getting curious, I bought a 6 string Peavey TL-Six (Tim Landers model). What a great bass! Made in USA, 5 piece maple and purple heart neck through, ebony 'board, and maple wings with purple heart laminates. A previous owner had swapped out the stock pickups (dual reverse P) and preamp with a Bartolini setup. I've been using this with a compressor and phaser to mimic Levin's early Stick work on those songs. Anyway... the 6er made me realize how much I like the high C, so now my dream Alembic is a 5 tuned EADGC. Preferably 32'', but that's going to be next to impossible to find with wide string spacing at an affordable price.