How much range do you need out of a bass?

#61
By the way, one of the biggest myths of bass playing is "you need an extended range bass to play along with piano/organ/keyboard music, because of all the low C's and D's."

However, bass is a "transposing instrument" that sounds 1 octave lower than written. So when you are reading sheet music for keyboard, you should play it 1 octave higher than if you were reading sheet music written for bass.

Piano "low C" (2 ledger lines below the staff) is at the 3rd fret of your A string (or the 8th fret of your E string) and does not require a 5 string, contrary to popular belief.
 
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#62
I play primarily fretless and prefer 4 string and narrow-spaced 5 strings. I prefer 24 "frets" or more, or 21 frets as a fallback. Hate 20 frets, as I like having the 21st fret high E, 3 octaves above the open low E. My favorite fingerboard so far is the extended one on the Ibanez Portamento, which I think is equal to 30 "frets". I don't go up there too often, but on the intro to one of our songs I start on high B (28th "fret" on the G string). Now that I sold my Portamento, I play this using artificial harmonics.

Yes, a 6 or an E-C 5 would allow me to play that note on the 23rd fret of the C string, but I just don't like 6-ers, and I need the lower notes of the B string and prefer to only bring a single bass.

Unusual and finicky stuff, I know, but these are my personal preferences and a little background on why. :)
 
#64
it depends entirely on how far you intend to throw the thing. Some call 5 and 6-string basses "extended range", because the extra half inch on a headstock might extend your range a bit, but others say the added mass of the extra wood and tuners restricts your range a little bit. I encourage you to start throwing your basses and figuring this out for yourself.
 
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#65
Jaco only needed 4 strings/20 frets/fret positions...................... :bag: :D

Currently the bass I have with the greatest range is a 5 string (BEAD) that has 26 fret positions. :thumbsup: On the other hand, my basses that get the most play are 4 stringers with 20 frets.

Now if we add in all the harmonics/false harmonics I like to use, well................. Look up at the sky. :bassist:
 
#66
It depends on wot I’m playing, normally I can manage with a standard 4-string. However, there are instances where altering tuning isn’t enough. Most of those are for songs like classical and such that are written for the grand staff, I.e. both bars of the staff. For those I use my 6-string/ 24 feet bass.
 
#69
All my basses are 4 strings with 20-21 frets (or fret positions in the case of the fretless) except for my 8 string double course bass with 24 frets. It's got more than an extra octave over the others, but that octave is being played at the same time as the lower octave...... does that count? ;)

20190415_130124.jpg
 
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#73
Ideally, a 20 fret 4 string will be enough to do the job. In my actual experience, I think a 5 string (BEADG) is more versatile as you can handle most down or drop tuning situations without having to down or drop tune. Mine is a 35 inch scale 5 string, so it has 22 frets. It's nice to have those 2 extra fret positions, but I've only ever used them when practicing triple octave scales. I tend to stay down in the bass frequency ranges - usually have 2-3 guitarists, so upper register access is mostly cosmetic.
 
#74
bfields said:
Confession: I don't find that plinky top octave of a piano very useful....
Click to expand...

Same here! And I avoid that rumbly bottom octave as well. Not sure why I bought the 88-key model, actually...

But when it comes to bass guitar I definitely like to have 24 frets; "a full two-octave fretboard" , as the saying goes. My viola da gamba only has SEVEN (gut) frets! But my custom-built five-string arpeggione has 15 (just because I could...) :)

I think I might get along with a super-narrow-necked-small-string-spacing fiver tuned EADGC... I had one of those years ago and it was a lot of fun. But every 'traditional' fiver I have played to date has just felt incredibly wrong...
 
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#76
Passinwind said:
I don't generally play fretted basses much at all, especially "classic" ones, but even on those instruments there are plenty of higher available notes than where the fundamentals on the fingerboard end.
Yel_wink.gif


So on both my primary 4-string fretless BG and my EUB, a slide and/or bow can already get me pretty far above what most would expect from a 4, I think.
Click to expand...

I love fretless! More people need to play fretless!
 
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#77
My main band's current set list includes one song that can't be played without a 21st fret on a 4 string. And several I can easily play on my 2 string.

So, that's the range I need.
 
#78
It depends.

For a traditional bass role, give me a 4 string, preferably 24 fret.

Cover bands, I bring a 5.

The 6 string usually stays home if there is guitarist. Otherwise, you might be hearing solos in the style of sax or guitar. Michael Brecker , tenor sax, usually requires a 6 as he uses the whole range. Charley Parker, alto, was a middle of the instrument dude . A 4 usually suffices.

Wes Montgomery single lines sound better on a six, but can be squeezed into a 4.
 
#79
In order play every song I play now, I "need" a little less than two and a half octaves: Open E to the Bb located on the 15th fret on the G string. But even so, the notes that high are few and far between. There is only one song we do that has a bass note that high ("Shot by Both Sides"), and it is not one we play often. So most of what I need to do can be done with two octaves: open E to the E on the 9th fret of the G string.

The same applies not only to every song I play now, but to every song I have ever played, with the exception of a stint in one band that played in C# tuning with a drop B string. I was with them for about a year, just as a fill in. I outfitted the singer's Epi T-Bird as a B-E-A-D bass for that group. I viewed it not so much a range extension as it was a transposition.
 
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#80
I can get by on whatever, I mainly play 4s. I do keep a 5 string with a high c around to get the most out of effects pedals though. I don't see a whole lot of need for such a big range, when I need to I'll fly around and get the notes I need, that's half the fun! I feel like basses with crazy amount of strings are more for "working" folk, meaning like studio musicians are expected to play certain things and having such a big range makes getting there easier with less work. Like a racecar driver has everything made as easy as possible to achieve the desired goal, where a back yard stock car driver lives for the moments where flying by the seat of your pants is sometimes necessary! :D:bassist:
 
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