tomaoz

Thanks @Baloney Balderdash- this all sounds great, cheers for the info on the string gauges. There's a chap who offers a good set-up service near me, so I'm sure between the two of us we can get things working. Looking forward to it. I was aware of a bit of snobbery from some quarters around SS basses (not on here, just seen a few posts elsewhere!). I have pretty big hands too I just find them closer to the cello's first position, so I'm more used to having my hands in those kind of poses. String bending's a bit easier too. Just generally a bit easier for me for fluid playing with lots of runs and arpeggios etc. My daughter who's 13 is playing on a full size bass, so that gets a few laughs though! Thanks again for everyone's info. I'm new to the forum but appreciate everyone's help, looks like a great resource and community. I'll be hanging around more 🙂

Hey everyone, thanks so much for the speedy replies, some really useful food for thought there. I've had a little experience tuning my bass in fifths many years ago. (I was once asked to stand in at very short notice for an AWOL bassist and found tuning it this way let me sight read straight off the bat! But I almost warped the neck in the process I think as I didn't have the correct string gauges on 😬) I did toy with getting a mandocello some years ago but couldn't find one to try. But I do have a tenor mandolin (and my cello) so I play in fifths a good bit already - and I'm really enjoying playing in standard bass tuning at the moment. But maybe it's something I'll revisit. And excuse my ignorance, but the mention of E-C tuning - that's just standard bass tuning with a C string above the top G? If so, that sounds ideal. (I was getting a bit confused as cello tuning (bottom up) is C-G-D-A - the same as this but upside down, minus the E string). Can pretty much any 5 string bass be tuned this E-C, if the correct gauge strings are used? Or are some models specifically designed to accommodate a top C rather than a bottom B? Thanks!

Hi @stewblack- thanks so much for the reply. Sorry, I'm not describing my issue particularly well! You're right, I can navigate through banks and patches that way. I'm actually using the 'Memory' function from within the main nav, toggled to via Footswitch 1. This lets me load a bank of four patches in, with each patch triggered via the bottom footswitches. Sometimes, a song may call for more than 4 patches. In which case, I'd need to either use the touchscreen to scroll to the next bank within the memory (I don't really want to bend down mid-song), or use Footswitch 1 to tap three times to get to 'Bank/patch', go up/down a bank via one of the bottom footswitches, then tap Footswitch 1 once more to reach the 'Memory' position to expose the four patches on the bottom footswitches. If I could have an external footswitch to navigate up/down banks while retaining access to all 4 patches within a bank via the bottom 4 footswitches, that would be ideal. But I'm not sure this is possible. Just wondering if there's any workaround for this at all that doesn't involved the iPad app. Thanks again.

Hi I've been playing the cello for many years and a couple of years ago started playing 4-string electric bass (Fender Jaguar Bass). My natural style is quite melodic (similar to cello counterpoint, I suppose), and I've found shortscale basses more suitable to my style. (This might be down to lack of technique, but hey!) I settled on a Fender Mustang and find it super easier to navigate and be nimble around. But I find the fewer number of frets up high a bit of a limitation. I've been wondering if a 5-string short scale bass might help open up new possibilities. I'd be looking for something that increases my range upwards, rather than in the lower register. Does anyone have any recommendations around ways I could approach this? (Other than moving back to standard scale!) Thanks!

I've just picked up a Zoom B6 and really happy with the sound, but one thing is niggling me. I don't have an iPhone/iPad so can't use the remote (and IU've not heard great things about it anyway). I'm trying to switch between banks without having to bend down to fiddle with the touchscreen, or do some fiddly tapping of the menu buttons. I can load 4 patches into a bank and toggle between these four via the 4x main footswitches. But sometimes I want to switch quickly to a different 4x patches within another bank, while I'm playing. Is there any way to do this with an additional external footswitch? There's an input for expression pedal, but this would need some kind of latching switch, I would think? Does anyone know if this is possible? Thanks in advance.