How often do you venture above the 12th fret?

[JTNuney]

I started on DB, but I was lousy in thumb position (above the octave), which translated into a 12th-fret mental block when I switched to BG that persists to this day.

Past those two dots, thar be dragons!

 

[Jason Bonilla]

All the time at home, but when playing at church, usually only when the drums slowdown and theres lots of space that we can fill, i might noodle a little melody down there.

 

[mambo4]

And how often on an average does material demand that?

Back when I was doing band stuff
out of maybe 40 songs I think 2 or three of them required working above the 12 fret
so maybe 5% of the material? Is that rarely or occasionally ?

 

[dbsfgyd1]

How often do you play above 12th fret, and what is the highest fret you fairly frequently play at?

Personally I frequently play above the 12th fret, fairly frequently up to the 16th fret, occasionally up to 18th fret, and on rare occasions above that, and all the way up till the last 22nd fret.
Did use the 24th fret on rare occasions back when I had a 24 fret bass as well.

Where I play on the fingerboard depends on what I'm trying to accomplish and that is driven but the music at hand. Generally speaking, most of the music I play is better served with notes below the 12th fret. However, if I'm playing something like jazz fusion, it's going to get there a lot more often.

 

[Geepers]

Not enough.

 

[MCS4]

Pretty often, albeit situationally. For original rock/metal I find a fair amount of use in the upper register for song intros, playing chords or arpeggios during quieter or more ambient parts, doubling guitar lines that also use their upper register, and even occasionally playing a solo with some effects thrown on.

At home I also spend a decent amount of time in the upper register for songwriting purposes, playing around with chords for music theory practice, and just for fun.

 

[ELG60]

When the song requires it.

 

[JimmyM]

Fairly frequently, but in short and very effective doses.

 

[H K]

I play every note as part of warming up, so if that counts then, every day
Also, I like to go up there during practice. So even if those notes dont see too much live action, I definitely play em

 

[TheReceder]

In a worship group I'll play between 12 and 19th frets during quieter sections, sometimes doing counter melodies with a flute and french horn. Very seldom when playing in the bar bands, unless that's where the original bassist ventured.. IE the bass break in Free's "Alright Now".

 

[pbassnut]

How often do you play above 12th fret, and what is the highest fret you fairly frequently play at?

Personally I frequently play above the 12th fret, fairly frequently up to the 16th fret, occasionally up to 18th fret, and on rare occasions above that, and all the way up till the last 22nd fret.
Did use the 24th fret on rare occasions back when I had a 24 fret bass as well.

For the most part, I play gut bucket blues, soul, and r&b and subscribe to the old adage "there's no money above the 12th fret".

 

[J-Bass RMR]

Occasionally.
but certainly much less than I use to. ; )

 

[Gervais Cote]

The closer you get to the body, the less sustain I get and this turns me off.

I also noticed that on most of my basses, from about the 14th fret and above, the sound is meh, kind of all sounds the same from one bass to another just like if there no more sound signature if I may say.

I play rock, blues and disco exclusively but if I was playing jazz rock or fusion, that would be a different story.

 

[Lowbrow]

Very seldom when playing in the bar bands, unless that's where the original bassist ventured.. IE the bass break in Free's "Alright Now".

Confess that I'll often play the first 10 notes from The Real Me when I start home practice, but that's about my limit. Long-time habit.

 

[Jim Nazium]

Depends on the context. If it's a straight ahead jazz gig and I'm expected to play a solo on every tune, then I'm up there all the time. If it's church, R&B, or classic rock covers, then hardly ever.

 

[Pilgrim]

In response to the OP, not once in 50 years.

 

[Pelagic]

I don't do it all the time, but will if playing a harmony part OR using the octaver. That's about it really. Oh, and when covering the Grateful Dead as Phil likes the higher registers.

 

[TheReceder]

An example of one of my favorite (pretty) bass lines that effectively uses the upper octaves.
I just told my wife she couldn't die before me or I'd end out looking like him... wish I could say I'd be able to play like him too.

 

[Topkat13]

I didn’t check a box because it’s not anything I fret over.

 

[micguy]

My basses have 22 frets. The last 7 are there to bounce the strings off of - to get clank and grind. The other real reason to have a neck with more than (in my case) 15 frets is that the more frets there are on the neck, the more the body is cut away for "access". I don't care about access, but I do care about weight, and the wood that is cut away for upper fret access is dead weight that I don't need.

In my case, I'm often on a stage with 4 guitars (2 electric, 2 acoustic), a couple of keys players, and sometimes a violin, clarinet, or the like, and 6 to 8 singers. On Easter of last year, there were a bunch of string players and a choir - 50 musicians on stage. There are more than enough folks wandering around in the treble clef - me going up there would just make a bigger mess of it.