If you design your own Signature 15 string Bass???

[evrenyilmaz]

I am just here to hear from Bass players some opinion about their string setup...I recently grabbed a 15 string custom Bass and wanna re-d0 all the strings and trying to come up with my own set but really want to hear what would you guys do if you had your own 15 signature model...what gauges, what type of strings, in which order...etc ???

[tauzero]

This is one of those ironing board 15-strings, isn't it, not the next step up from a 12-string (a 5-string with two octave strings per base string). I'd take off the middle string, defret the treble half of the fretboard, and have a seven-string fretted alongside a seven-string fretless (B-F), like a bionic Ashula, then I'd never touch it again.

[MacDaddy]

[itu]

I am assuming this is a 3 x 5 string bass...

Playing with a plectrum or fingers, then the order of the strings can be different.

If there's a preferred string set (flat/RW, SS/Ni), I would start with that. Piccolo strings are pretty rare, there may be only few choices available.

 

I suppose the bass has to be well made: to push three strings at once would feel harsh under the finger if the trio is far away from the fretboard.

 

https://www.daddario.com/products/guitar/bass-guitar/xl-nickel-bass/exl280-nickel-wound-piccolo-bass-20-52-long-scale/

[tauzero]

12 minutes ago, itu said:

I am assuming this is a 3 x 5 string bass...

 

I'm not.

 

 

[12stringbassist]

12 is the limit for me.
The neck tension would be incredible on a bass with 3 courses of strings.

 

 

 

[Supernaut]

Can't recommend strings but can you give my clothes a once over now the wash has finished? 

[tauzero]

12 hours ago, 12stringbassist said:

12 is the limit for me.
The neck tension would be incredible on a bass with 3 courses of strings.

 

 

 

 

ITYF (as I've said twice already) that it's not 5 x base plus 2 octaves, but 15 separate strings (see video immediately above) as string selection for a 15 equivalent to a 12 would be similar to the string selection for my 10-string Dean (BEADG plus octaves) but with 5 extra octave strings.

[Doctor J]

I'd design it in such a way that you could take it apart easily to make one 3-string and three 4-string basses out of it.

[JoeEvans]

What's the argument for calling that a bass (with extra high strings) and not a guitar (with extra low strings)? 

[Doctor J]

Or a fretted piano?

[binky_bass]

15 strings, if running tuning at standard intervals, is pointless. I had a 13 string bass made for me some years ago, the thickest string was a G#00 that resonated at 18hz, so right at the very very lowest range of human hearing. The highest fret of the sharpest string was right at the top end of human hearing. It also had a near unplayable fanned scale of 41" to 24" to make the strings actually function correctly. It was a bit of an experiment, and while it technically worked, going beyond 13 string is a pointless exercise unless you're using alternative tuning.

 

Binky, my 10 string bass, is however right at the sweet spot of utterly ridiculous, completely awesome and totally useable!

 

For those that haven't seen it, this is Binky (and my 8 string Conklin!)

 

 

[gjones]

12 minutes ago, binky_bass said:

15 strings, if running tuning at standard intervals, is pointless. I had a 13 string bass made for me some years ago, the thickest string was a G#00 that resonated at 18hz, so right at the very very lowest range of human hearing. The highest fret of the sharpest string was right at the top end of human hearing. It also had a near unplayable fanned scale of 41" to 24" to make the strings actually function correctly. It was a bit of an experiment, and while it technically worked, going beyond 13 string is a pointless exercise unless you're using alternative tuning.

 

Binky, my 10 string bass, is however right at the sweet spot of utterly ridiculous, completely awesome and totally useable!

 

For those that haven't seen it, this is Binky (and my 8 string Conklin!)

 

 

 

Is it good for metal? 🤘

[zbd1960]

15? You need to try a theorbo. 

 

[Bassassin]

I'm pretty confident that I could design an aesthetically pleasing & functional 15-string bass, within the significant constraints of the design parameters imposed by that specification.

 

I am similarly confident that it would be fitted with eleven strings that were never touched.

[itu]

15 strings could mean a harp bass. No frets, no fretboard at all.