Why "Low B?"

[beaglesandbass]

Speaking as someone who’s played 5+ strings since the mid 90s, the vast majority of guitarists I’ve run into have no idea what your fifth string is. Just saying “B” wasn’t enough as they’d usually try to relate it to their own instrument and think it was a B above your G string. It’s almost comical how it still happens after all these years and with how mainstream 5-strings have become.

This. I've played with a few guitarists like this.

 

[bobba66]

I worked for the A.H. Belo company for many, many years. So, in my world, B+low was money in the bank.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Solely to screw with your mind.

 

[spade2you]

I call it low b because standard tuning for guitar has a b string. 7 string guitars tuned standard actually have 2. And the B for bass is lower

The original 7 string jazz archtops were often tuned to A. They were often used in duo or trio settings to more or less eliminate having to pay a bassist.

 

[Jeff Scott]

The original 7 string jazz archtops were often tuned to A. They were often used in duo or trio settings to more or less eliminate having to pay a bassist.

Exhibit A, although he did have a bassist with him!

Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2007 All rights reserved.

 

[Grumry]

Exhibit A, although he did have a bassist with him!

View attachment 2780876
Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2007 All rights reserved.

Has anyone ever actually stolen one of your pictures from a message board and used it somewhere else for prifit?

 

[spade2you]

Exhibit A, although he did have a bassist with him!

View attachment 2780876
Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2007 All rights reserved.

True.

I tend to keep mine tuned to B so I can easily grab the inverted 5th.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Has anyone ever actually stolen one of your pictures from a message board and used it somewhere else for prifit?

Yes, and that is why I post the copyright notice when I remember to do so.

 

[HaphAsSard]

The original 7 string jazz archtops were often tuned to A.

The lowest string on Brazilian 7 string guitars (appeared around 1920) was traditionally tuned to C, and now ranges between A, B and C depending on the song or the player's preference; Russian 7 string guitars (introduced at the end of the 18th century) are tuned to open G - same as blues guitar open G, or Hawaiian "taro patch" slack-key tuning, but with another B string in the middle (where our normal 6-string open G has a 5th-wide gap between the lower G and the middle D): their lowest string is, then, a D.

 

[Giffro]

I call my Low B string "Big Bertha" cause she loves to throw her weight around and make herself known.

 

[Drgonzonm]

I don't call it low B, I call it B0, because of its location on a piano. The "Low E" on my 4 string is called E1, even though its typically the fifth white key on a piano. If my understanding is correct, E0, would be at the lowest end of my hearing.

 

[socialleper]

Some people do say high C string.
It might be because of different tunings. Technically, an A string can be tuned up to B. Maybe it is because of guitar players, who have a high B.
It isn't something I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels about.

 

[MrLenny1]

I got my first 5 string low B bass in 1991 and have played it
exclusively. I still get comments from guitar players, " a five string?"