Piccolo bass

[jsaylor]

Are Stanley Clarke singature basses piccolo basses?

[mica]

Clarke Signature basses are short scale standard tuning unless otherwise specified. You need to order them strung piccolo or tenor.
 
You can change the strings to piccolo or tenor tuning after the fact, but for best setup, the nut and string saddles should be replaced and reslotted to fit the narrower strings.

[jsaylor]

Hi Mica,  
I have a few questions about Piccolos.
1. Since it is one octave above bass, then isn't it the same octave as guitar?
2. How does it sound compaired to guitar and bass?
3 And what guages are usually used?
 
Thanks.
 
(Message edited by jsaylor on February 09, 2007)

[bassjigga]

It doesn't necessarily have to be one octave above. One of the benefits of the thinner strings is you have all kinds of altered tuning options. Guages will vary. D'Addario's are 0.052, 0.042, 0.032, 0.020. Check out Michael Manring's music. That'll give you some idea of the piccolo sound - as well as crazy amounts of altered tunings.

[hb3]

Here's a couple piccolo bass samples....
 
http://hb3.com/mp3/venus.mp3
 
http://hb3.com/mp3/sugartits.mp3

[hb3]

also, if you go here
 
www.myspace.com/fromthelaboratory
 
The song Turkish Delight is all piccolo bass, including the guitar solo....

[dnburgess]

1. Typical tuning is the same as the bottom 4 strings of a guitar.
2. The best way to think of piccolo bass vs guitar soundwise is that piccolo is more like a piano - or Fender Rhodes.
3. D'Addario (.020-.052), GHS (.018 - .050), Ken Smith (.018-.045 or .020-.050) and La Bella (.012-.030 or .030-.080) have piccolo sets  
 
I have tried the D'Addario and GHS and prefer the D'Addario. Also breakage of the GHS .018 can be an issue with more robust playing styles.

[jsaylor]

hb3,
Is venus really on a piccolo? I LOVE that sound. Like a more melodic guitar. I have always loved guitars and basses, and this seems like the best inbetween thing for me. Screw those million string monstrosities, I think I found my dream instrument. Plus I love the Lenin thing you have going. Are you a communist or revolutionary, comrade?
 
(Message edited by jsaylor on February 09, 2007)

[to_81_0190]

I found amazing 5string piccolo player. Check this thread.
 
Toshiaki

[hb3]

Venus is piccolo. And I sort of look like Lenin in those pics, actually....

[jsaylor]

Toshiaki,
That Kind of disappointed me. Sounds more like a bass in that video. I was wanting a good mix between a guitar and a bass. Something more on the lines of a guitar than could do guitar stuff.

[dfung60]

jsaylor -  
 
The tuning is the same on piccolo bass and guitar, but the sound is quite different because the piccolo bass has 30 scale instead of 25 or so.  More scale length = more tension which leads to a sound that's more defined and has more attack.  
 
When you break away from standard tuning and string gauges, you may get more of the guitarish sound that you mention.  Lighter strings will be more guitarish, heavier will be more bass-like.
 
From what you're saying here, it actually sounds to me like you'd probably like baritone guitar.  Typically the baritone guitar is around 28 scale (like adding two extra frets on a regular guitar neck).  Different people set them up differently, sometimes tuned to D (furthering the +2 frets idea) or lower with heavier strings.  Very thick and deep tones are common.  I'm not sure whether it's actually played on a baritone guitar, but that the main guitar part in 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins (a huge hit for them) sounds like baritone guitar to me.  There's a lowish guitar part that's interwoven with a conventional bass line which sounds like baritone guitar to me. If you played the same line high on a bass it would have a heavier tone and if it were played on a guitar that was tuned down it would sound to floppy and indistinct.
 
David Fung

[jsaylor]

dfung,
I get what your saying. However, just because it has a 27 or 28 scale does not mean it's a baritone.  Baritone I believe is tuned half a step down (not positive). Have you seen the new 8 string guitar from Ibanez? 27 scale, normal guitar as far as I can tell, just longer scale( to keep more tension on the low D and B strings) with 2 more strings. I wonder how the sound is affected. But I don't understand your point of  more attack. Basses have a longer scale length, but because of the size of the guitars strings, and the tuning, it seems to me that guitar has more attack. Wouldn't the thicker strings on a piccolo reduce the tension? I know alot of people have problems with 5 string basses with a 34 scale because the B string is so big.
 
As for 1979, yes it can be played on a baritone, or a regular guitar aslong as its tuned Eb. Instead of going baritone, I think I'll just go with guitar, then move up to a 7 or 8 string. I'm just starting guitar so thats a ways off for now. I wonder how these 8 string guitars compair to basses, and If I'll need to keep mine around...

[David Houck]

jsaylor wrote, just because it has a 27 or 28 scale does not mean it's a baritone.
 
Alembic's Baritone guitars have a scale length of 28, as for instance the Orion, California Special, and Spectrum Baritone guitars.  So generally, when we're talking about Alembic Baritone guitars, we're talking about guitar models with 28 scale lengths.

[David Houck]

Toshiaki; Wow!  Thanks for posting that link!