NBD - a step too far?

[FinnDave]

Well, after getting on for 45 years of bass playing, exclusively 4 string basses, I suddenly bought a six string a couple of days ago. Mainly because since joining a band playing Grateful Dead cover exclusively, I've found myself running up and down the neck where Phil Lesh would be going across, and partially because I just fancied a new challenge. Ordered it on-line Wednesday (never played a six before) and it arrived yesterday morning, well packed and in perfect, straight-from-the-factory condition. Played it for a couple of hours yesterday, and I have to say for an instrument that cost £100 less than my last Mexican Jazz bass, it is very impressive, lovely wood, good hardware, useful active electronics, and, of course, an extra string or two!

Planning to play it as much as I can today and hopefully use it at tomorrow's gig in Melksham, playing with the Wirebirds, so material I've played for several years. So far just getting used to the feel of the wide neck, and mainly playing it as a four string using the middle strings, have started to use the low B string to save the effort of moving down the neck to get to nots between A and E, and once or twice just found the notes I needed on the high C. 

My biggest concern is how it will feel to pick up one of my lovely four strings once I've played this for a while!

 

 

Edited August 17, 2018 by FinnDave

[josie]

That's beautiful!

I very recently indulged myself with a Warwick Thumb 6 (bought on BC), and (being lazy!) I utterly love the easy options it gives me. Every note I want is there between frets 3 and 7 barely moving my hand. We do several songs in C with an R-8-7-5 or R-5-7-8 bassline, fast, sometimes in dim light at a gig, and across the neck is just so much easier than up and down. 

Only problem is, it's too heavy to gig. (Unless I spend some serious time in the gym 😞 ) So I still have to work on the up-and-down stuff. 

I might re-string one of my 5s EADGC - I do use the low B, but not as much as I'd use the high C. 

[FinnDave]

Thanks, it is a beautiful bass - and not as heavy as i had expected. I've never had a five, and had seriously considered EADGC as well, though in the two days I've played the six so far, I have surprised myself by using the low B more than the high C, not for the low notes, but, as you say, for the ease of simply moving across the board rather than down the neck.

I've got a blues/rock gig tonight in Wiltshire and will definitely be taking the six and use it for some of the numbers. The main difficulty I have had with it so far is getting used to the width of the neck, just need to get the left hand muscles exercised  bit more.

[songofthewind]

Ibanez SR’s are great basses, very good value for money. I just got an SR500 and it is lovely to play. I’m guessing yours is too.

have fun!

 

[FinnDave]

Thanks, mine is an SR 506, and also very good value for money, makes me wish I'd investigated Ibanez basses earlier!

[jezzaboy]

You should check out the latest Andertons "all about the bass" video on YT. It`s about Ibanez 6 and 7 string basses. Very nice.

[FinnDave]

I'll do that right now, if it makes me buy another, I'll send you the bill!

[FinnDave]

2 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

You should check out the latest Andertons "all about the bass" video on YT. It`s about Ibanez 6 and 7 string basses. Very nice.

Watched & listened, as a result I am confident that I made the right choice. Which is reassuring. I am taking the six with me to a gig tonight, and a Precision in case I either get confused (hopefully not, been playing most of the set on it today) or my hand gets tired due to the extra stretch over the wider fingerboard (quite likely, as I have been playing most of the set on it today!!)

 

[Happy Jack]

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with this, especially if you're not planning to use it for soloing.

[chris_b]

Good move.

[FinnDave]

4 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with this, especially if you're not planning to use it for soloing.

Nooo! Definitely not for soloing! To be honest, I think I got it mainly because Phil Lesh has played a six for years, and I play in a Dead tribute, so anything that helps get me closer to his mind set is a help - he's a very tricky one to imitate! 

I was finding that with that band, I was using the full length of the neck quite a lot, so hopefully I will have exchanged some of that for moving across, which makes it easier to know where you are on a dark stage.

I'll report back after tonight's gig, though as it's a blues/rock band, I think I am more likely to be using the B string for convenience than the C, but when I play with the Dead tribute, I expect that to be the other way round.

[Paulhauser]

I think you made one of the best choices with the 506 for entering the 6 string bass realm. 

I had one 506 before and liked so much that I later "upgraded" and now my two six string basses are the SR5006 and 3006.

I tried quite a lot of six string basses and the SR six string basses won me over with the ergonomics (especially with the neck and the balance)

They sound quite good, too 🙂

 

[FinnDave]

Well, it survived the first gig (more surprisingly, so did my wrist. Used it mainly as a five string, which is a new step for me as I've only played fours until I got this one Thursday. Certainly a good strong sound at gig levels, very impressed with this bass for the price. I ended up leaving the Precision in its case and played both sets on the 506.

[songofthewind]

How did the wide neck feel, playing it for a whole show? I briefly investigated an Ibanez sixer in PMT Oxford. It felt HUGE to me, but I have weedy little guitar player hands.

[FinnDave]

I had spent the afternoon playing in front of a mirror and checking my wrist position, so by the time I got to the gig I was keep my wrist straight and relaxed, so I had no real problems with the width of the neck. It's certainly very different to a Jazz bass, but manageable (for my hands, anyway).

I checked PMT on line but there were no six strings listed as being in stock in Oxford (my nearest PMT), so bought mine from GAK on line.

The main problem, and this only happened a couple of times during about 2 hours of playing last night, was completely loosing touch with which string I was on, with the four it seems so easy and natural (I've been playing for over 40 years) but my usual reference points have moved! But it was a very encouraging start, possibly a five would have been a wiser choice, but as I have said, I really wanted a sixer for the Dead tribute I play in, so will wait until we next play to how well is fits in there.

[songofthewind]

Thanks for that, Dave. I can totally imagine getting completely lost on a six string bass! Even though I’ve been playing six string guitar for a long time.

[FinnDave]

I've got two gigs next weekend, so I'll be spending this week making sure I know my way around the new bass.

[songofthewind]

Where are you playing?

[FinnDave]

Next week? Marlborough with The Wirebirds on Friday, a club in Harwell (not been given the details yet) with the Mighty Cadillacs on Saturday. Both blues based, the Wirebirds is more rock oriented than the Cadillacs. Both good opportunities for me to test my six string skills again!

[josie]

13 hours ago, FinnDave said:

The main problem, and this only happened a couple of times during about 2 hours of playing last night, was completely loosing touch with which string I was on, with the four it seems so easy and natural (I've been playing for over 40 years) but my usual reference points have moved! 

This may sound odd, but I wonder if it might be easier moving straight from a 4 to a 6, than getting used to both 4 and 5 and then going to 6, as I just have? It made me realise that I've been switching easily between 4 and 5 by mentally anchoring everything on the highest, G string and working down from there, and now I've lost that fixed point of reference and have to keep thinking about which string I'm on. Which made me wonder whether if I'd gone from 4 to 6 it would just be the familiar four strings in the middle with an extra on each end to get used to, and less disorienting? Does that make sense? Thoughts from anyone else who has made the same move? 

[FinnDave]

It's a thought, but I suspect that getting used to the five, using the G string as a reference and then later trying a six, and using the by-then familiar low B as a reference might be easier. I think that the top C string is not very useful for a lot of music (I barely used it at all during the blues gig last Saturday) but I know I will need it to play the Grateful Dead music that is my main interest. Using the six for the blues gigs is just to get used to it - next GD rehearsal is late October, and next gig is a week or so after that, in Leicester.

[Chris2112]

SR's are great basses. I've just this evening boxed up my SR3006 Prestige for shipping on Tuesday after three years of ownership. 

Before I got that, I'd always liked the SR but that bass was was the lightbulb moment for me in terms of why they remain so enduringly popular. Just a superb mix of amazing playability, great tone and great construction. There is an SR for everyone, at any budget. 

[Woodinblack]

I tried with a 6 but I made too many mistakes with the C string (and didn't find it useful enough for what I was doing). I think that although I always say I am a 5 string player, I do occasionally use a 4 string, and I have a common G string, which gets me confused where it is not there!