Five, Six, Seven, Eight ... etc., ... Strings ... Why?

[hb3]

anyone get the feeling jeff berlin is kind've a dick?

[alanbass1]

yep

[keith_h]

That's the impression I've always gotten.

[ajdover]

Wow!  Didn't think I'd stir up such a $%^T storm with my comments on fives, sixes, etc.  Wasn't meant to impugn anyone's choice of instrument.  I was just curious as to why some guys use them since I've never fancied them myself.  Hell, I have enough trouble with four strings as it is!
 
All great responses, and very insightful for me, thanks to all.  
 
Now, if we could just get Jeff Berlin and Carol Kaye to understand .... :-)
 
Alan

[bigredbass]

Jeff Berlin, for me, only presents one real problem:  He's usually right!  And he and Carol Kaye have forgotten more than I'll ever know about playing my instrument.  To me, they have more than earned the right to their opinions.
But it does remind me of how Buddy Rich used to always rag Louis Bellson about nobody needing a double kick kit, but boy could both of them drum for the ages.  
 
J o e y

[ronl513]

I'm not sure who some of the above mentioned folks are, but if Victor Wooten can burn the hair off of a five string--and he can!--then there is obvious merit to the use of the instrument. The six string has never sparked my curiousity, but I've seen it in use, and it can get the job done as well. I feel fortunate to have been able to do as well with a 4 string as I have, and like Alan, more strings are quite possibly beyond my capability as a musician. As Clint Eastwood says in Magnum Force, A man's got to know his limitations. I've been able to work within mine and keep up with some great players. I feel priviledged to have been accepted by my fellow musicians as a viable addition to the groups I've played with. In short, I run what I brung and don't get too far out of the box.
 
Ron

[adriaan]

Looks like Eastwood knew his Goethe: In der Beschr?nkung zeigt sich der Meister.

[gare]

Hope this isn't to far off course, but I'm also curious as to how many people are playing multi stringed basses..like 8, 10, or 12 strings.
 
G

[bigbass]

Since I was a child, I have always felt amour for low frequencies and the instruments that produce them. I never thought that the low E on any electric bass or up-right was low enough. In the musics after the Middle Ages, bass instruments called Gambas and Bass Viols appeared and had as many as seven strings. Their strings were intended to be lower in pitch than our modern instruments of today. They were fretted instruments and played with bows just like a 'cello and double bass. When Mini-Moog came out in the '70s, many bassists I knew were envious 'cause it had notes that went below that of the bass. It also rivaled the sound of the bass because of its quick attack and ability to articulate. Similar feelings accured when Yamaha came out with the DX7 keyboard in the '80s. Many felt they would be put out of work because of the ability to reproduce low frequencies. Technology has allowed us many possibilities. In pursuit of low frequency sound, I have two instruments the currently set up with low F# strings on them. I love it and am still intrigued!

[beelee]

I started playing a 5 string in the mid 80's not to be fashonable, but so I wouldn't have to tune down to E flat, D or D flat etc. instead of getting a Hipshot De -Tuner, playing covers from Sabbath, Van Halen and all those tuned down tunes  ) I figured it was better to have the lower string, since then I have moved on to 6, 7, 8, 12 string and Chapman Stick, but I still have some 4 strings and enjoy playing them.
 
Some of the material I cover can't be played on a 4 ( like Dream Theater ) the tuning and harmonics, but do I use the extra strings all the time ? No, I play what the song requires and use the other strings to incorporate some of my own ideas into what's already there.
 
Bass playing has come such a long way and there are so many talented players, 4, 5, 6 etc. people have played/used  more than 4 strings since the 1960's , its all about trying something different and breaking the rules and pushing the boundries of the instrument, the sky is the limit.
 
Bruce

[bigbass]

I had a lot of friends say: You want a high c string? Why don't you just play a guitar? I can't stand twangy c strings. I use a very heavy c string (.40 or .45) on my 36 scale basses. It sounds and responds just like a bass. No kidd'n. No comparison.

[alanbass1]

I agree that guitars do not get close to the sound and feel of a Bass with a high C. The guitarist in one of the bands I play in uses a baritone guitar to get the tone and textures a detuned guitar just cannot do.  And I still think this is what it's all about, getting the right textures to compliment the song, not just playing the notes.

[jazzyvee]

At the moment I only play 4 string. A good few years ago I did have a 5 string bass but eventually sold it, mainly because after i got an MM Sterling bass, i realised how sh*t the old 5 string sounded.
 
  Now I use a SC deluxe 4, and have been happy with that. The reason I'm considering adding a 6 string to my kit is because I'm getting more RnB gigs these days where the extended low B is really useful also i'm all for economising in movement which is really where these basses are at.
 
Currently I do have to re-tune the bass for some songs just to keep the bottom end heavy, or sometimes take the long scale MM along but de-tuned a tone down.
 
I love my 4 string and would always keep it but in order to keep my options open and gigs coming in I need to extend my range so they still call me and not a.n other bass player :-)
 
Incidentally I was teaching a female friend of mine to play bass a couple of years ago and encouraged her to early on to go to 5 and she's not looked back.  
 
She's hardly played a 4 string so to her 5 string is a normal bass.

[ronl513]

As to the question about the 8-10-12 string basses: I've owned a Kramer XL8 8-string since the 80s and I've used it mostly strung with 4 strings; however, I have used it in the studio as an 8 string, and it has a nether-worldly sound to it, but not the crisp and punctuated tone that a bass--in my opinion--should have. The songs I recorded with my 8 were very melodic, and I used it only in segments of one tune. Still an 8-string gave me a variety of tones that a standard bass or any guitar could never achieve without a lot of electronic help.
 
Ron

[bigbass]

Sometimes in the morning I find hair in my food. Rather unexpectedly so, but it makes you think.