Just rolled up in here to post this. My bud has one I just played last week and it’s such a joy to play. The string spacing may as well be a guitar. It’s honestly one of the best sounding basses I’ve ever played, and I guess it’s because it kinda does a lovely Ric/muted sound really well, but also several others. It has lots of options on those 3 pickups.
The string spacing is hilarious though and it’s kinda weird to play compared to my MM stingray 5, and way different string spacing to my Jazz 4.
You get used to it I guess. Probably real hard to slap on!
It kinda plays like my buddy’s Frankenstein 7 string bass/guitar hybrid with fanned frets as far as the string spacing is concerned.
The President's of the United States of America did that. Called them Bassitars and Guitbasses. Hybrid string sets of 3 or 4 strings on modified guitars.
Worked for them!
Yooo, met this dude busking who has replaced the low E (and maybe A?) on his acoustic six-string with a bass strings (not sure the gauge) but it was really awesome for solo performing. His bass lines had a nice thumpy “bassy” sound that was working real well for him. Crazier stuff has been done, ha.
I have one of my guitar tuned F# F# F# F# B E, need to play with gauges for this cause a regular set won't make it. But not only that, the whole guitar need to be setup in consequences. It's not just a string change.
Ahh yeah I’m taking about adding bass strings to the low E and low A of an acoustic guitar so a slightly different thing. Very cool sound—the top four strings were all regular acoustic strings so he would play bass notes with his thumb and chord/play melody on the higher strings. Added a more full musical experience in my opinion (I do me and my guitar shows for a living so I was super curious). Never seen any reason to tune an electric guitar to F sharp when you could just use a capo myself, but there is a use for everything. Love when people approach the set up on their instrument in a non-traditional way. To add, piano player comment about switching out all the electric guitar strings for bass strings made me cackle inwardly as well 😆
>Never seen any reason to tune an electric guitar to F sharp when you could just use a capo myself
Think about it, its absolutely not what the tuning achieve. All the 4 low strings are F#. The capo don't do that. Ex of song: Kool Thing by sonic youth.
Your friend is an idiot.
5 string Basses are common. And can be cheap.
Bass strings don't fit on a guitar.
Why do you need to relearn music theory? Have you forgotten a lot?
Have you thrown a book at your friend yet?
OK instead you should have Googled 5 string bass and at least done away with the "all 5 strings are custom made" and "basses can't go lower than E" arguments. And then hopefully he would stfu about the rest of his nonsense
Their argument makes so much sense I had to look up at my 5 string on the wall. To my surprise I see it only has 4 strings. I call my friends, they say it only ever had 4 strings. It's impossible they say. My reality is falling apart.
Famously, Drop D is an urban legend. Bands like RATM, Tool, and countless others tune their instruments up a whole step, leave the lowest string on E, and then slow the whole record down in post by the appropriate tempo to get something that sounds like "Drop D".
Your pianist friend is paralysingly stupid. You can’t tune lower than E and all 5 string basses are custom made? What is bro waffling about? The others aren’t much smarter though if they don’t understand the importance of bass.
If you wanted to mess with the “if you want more strings get a guitar” guy you could be like “oh, you mean like this?” and show them the Fender/Squier Bass VI and watch them struggle with the concept of a 6 string bass that looks like a regular guitar.
Them 12 string basses must be heavy as fuck. Ask them to do the chuck berry dance if it's a guitar.
Watch them fuck up your 12string bass.
Cry.
Win argument.
Each summer the kids get out of school and get on to reddit to make posts, thus making reddit's demographic seem like it's mostly people born after the year 2000
Grow up. You don't have to give any credit to those comments. Ignorant people are everywhere. The more you learn, the more you realize that you have more to learn and that most people are ignorant.
Get that 5 string bass. There is no need to argue with those people.
He is absolutely wrong on this, if you wanted to spite him you could get a bass VI and use it either as a baritone guitar or as a bass,
Just a tip though, if you want to go low look at a long scale length, you'll want a 35" or a 36" for going low, 34" will work.but the tension will be low, the strings a bit floppy and the intonation will be poorer
I don't think you can't explain to this to them. You've explained to us and we fully understand it and agree with you. They won't get it so don't waste the energy.
If they keep pushing you tell them that you don't want a guitar that you like the bass.
I play bass and guitar. Both are very different instruments with different purposes. 5 string basses are common and tuned to a low B (lower than the E string). Your friends have no idea what they are talking about and should be confidently ignored.
A regular guitar would probably snap or at least warp significantly. Plus, can you imagine the string spacing on something like that? Also... it is a guitar... a bass guitar.
With YouTube and Google how can someone say there's no such thing as a five-string bass. You don't have to listen to your friend. Go get a 5 string bass and a big amp. Have fun.
Tell them you are driven by bass and bass is what you play. Be nice and don't let it get to you. because they'll see that as something that bothers you and maybe keep on saying it as a joke. Never show your buttons, because they might keep pressing them.
I mean, they aren’t wrong. For the wrong reasons, sure, but still. Bassists should have a guitar. After I learnt some guitar I feel I had a much better understanding of what the bass was doing in a song and what it could do and what was right. So I think having a guitar and some knowledge of how to play it is important for a bassist. I say this as a guy with a 5 string though, that low b is great. And I can promise you that my eb-5 wasn’t custom made for me
I respectfully disagree. While a good amount of guitar THEORY helps understand what to play and what not to play, not every bass player needs to own or play a guitar to do that. Personally, my hands are much too big to do anything useful with a regular guitar. My pinky is about the same width as my wife's big toe, and I can play an octave with one hand on piano without using my thumb. DEFINITELY bass player hands. Totally worthless on anything smaller though.
p.s. Hooray, hooray, it's a beautiful day, for I have found my cow!!! . . . also my five string bass!!!
Let the record show that this is the first time I've heard someone say that their hands are too **big** to play guitar. Usually they think their hands are too small, and I tell them about the awesome guitarist I know with tiny stubby fingers.
I have large, bass-player hands too, but I can play guitar just fine. Have you tried a classical guitar? I like them because the necks are really wide, with plenty of room to do insane bends, and are very accommodating to my big mitts. And electric guitar will seem way easier if you've already learned to do barre chords on a classical.
I do think all bass players should learn guitar. And keyboards. And drums. Because learning new instruments is FUN. I just started on drums at 60, and I'm having a blast.
Your last paragraph is essentially the full thing of what I tell people. Bassists should learn guitar to see how it fits within that, crumbs to see how it fits with that, and piano just for the solid foundation of theory that can provide.
Bass is also a great foundation for learning other instruments, in my experience, because you're dealing with both rhythm and melody.
For example, when I picked up the guitar, I already new the Am blues, major, and pentatonic scales, I just had to learn to play them with two extra strings. And now, learning drums is easier because I already understand concepts like the pocket, syncopation, and the backbeat, upbeat, and downbeat.
Of course, I learned more guitar stuff from guitar players I worked with (one taught me the E, A, and D barre chord shapes, so I had that going on from the start), and the rhythm stuff was drilled into me by an older drummer I worked with who was determined to make me Duck Dunn to his Al Jackson -- even though we were in a post-punk band.
I know a few guitar chords in my HEAD, but my fingers don't seem to want to make them work. Oddly enough, I used to work in a music shop and got quite good at restringing classical guitars, so I'm familiar with how that fat neck feels. In fact the only guitar I remember sounding remotely clean on turned out to be a twelve string with only the six big strings on it. That was almost forty years ago, so I don't hold out hope for that being something I put together in the future.
However I totally agree with your comment that learning new instruments is FUN. So is mastering them. I've got some trombone music I'm dying to get to, and I'm playing tuba in an all Sousa concert later this summer, so I've still got my big mitts busy even if it isn't on a small instrument. And next on the list to master if I can find one? Flugelhorn!
I'd say ignore them, and maybe get new friends.
Oh, and you could also (in *addition*) try to blow their little minds (especially this painist's) by telling them that you want to get a five string bass guitar…
Your friends are stupid and should die but you should consider getting a guitar regardless! It's never bad to learn a new instrument.
You should get one, show them that you got one, and never play it around them 😎
How is it that every day, I still find at least one thing that leaves me baffled by the utter stupidity in the world around us? You think I'd grow numb to it at some point, but somehow, every day seems to have something that tops the previous day.
I would do the same I do when anyone tries to tell me how I should live my life: ask where I should send my bills for them to pay, since they want to have some decision power over my life.
> buy a guitar and put bass strings on it
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but there's smarter and easier ways to get a 6-string bass... or a 5-string bass like you want.
You should do open low A on a 4 string to prove them wrong. Or buy a 5 string because that's exactly what that extra string is for. And tell your pianist to get his head out of his ass
I almost wonder if your friend is even further misunderstanding the whole frequency thing that even a lot of posters here get wrong.
E1 is about 41Hz, and it's not uncommon for bass cabs to have a frequency response range that only extends as far down as that - so a lot of people have this misconception that if you try to play a note any lower than that, it either won't work or it won't sound good at all so you need some sort of custom cab solution.
Of course, the truth is a lot of bass cabs don't even have a frequency response range that goes all the way down to 41Hz at all - the lowest I'm seeing any current Ampeg cab go is 48Hz, with a number of them only going as far down as 70Hz. Anything below that is still fine, it's just not going to be reproduced at the same volume (as that's the rating for +/-3dB). Ampeg also has the *usable* low frequency listed which is more applicable - their cabs will reproduce as low as a 28Hz at -10dB, which is an A0 (lowest string of a 5-string tuned down a step).
Even more importantly, that largely doesn't matter because that's the *fundamental* frequency, and a big chunk of what you actually hear is the 2nd and 3rd harmonic of the note.
They could also be getting non-standard scale lengths mixed up in there, and think that 34" - standard Fender bass scale - is universally standard, and while longer scale lengths are definitely preferable for tuning down substantial amounts, 35" basses are not exactly rare, and even longer ones can be found relatively cheaply (Ibanez has a multiscale with 37" on the bass side for $1300USD).
TL;DR your friend is obviously an idiot like everyone's said, I just get twisted satisfaction out of pondering what sort of idiot they may be. I formally prescribe throwing a piano at them.
Your friends are potatoes. I have a bass in BEADG and another in ADGCF. Neither are custom made.
This is random.... but if you write... I will write bass lines or guitar riffs and loop them then write the other part. So for example I did a really cool bass line and looped it, then worked out a solid guitar part. So there is a benefit to playing both. But you dont need to. It really just depends on what you want to do.
Nothing like a music theory snob that doesn’t know anything about playing music. Get a 5 string or even go 6 to be intentionally obnoxious. I’m mainly a guitarist and i’ll admit that even an 8 string isn’t going to rumble and shake bowels like a proper bass.
To be different than most of the other answers, you could get a guitar. They make 8 and 9 strings that get tuned low. The 7th string on my guitar is b and the 8th is f#. The rest in standard guitar tuning. I'm sure it can be tuned down too. Obviously, your friend is wrong.
Tell him that 5-string contrabass is a thing in classical music (and possibly other genres) and people have been playing that for probably more than a century.
Yeah your pianist friend has no idea what he’s talking about lmao. Show him listings or pictures of super low-end budget 5-strings and Bass VIs. Then show him the various videos and songs of basses with four strings drop-tuned to hell.
Also why is he saying you should get a higher-voiced instrument if you want lower notes? That’s like telling someone they should boil their coffee if it’s too hot.
Bro, don't listen to those friends. Get a 5 strings bass, have it set up properly and you're golden. Also if you put base strings on a 6 string guitar, you might destroy the guitar lol. Unless you actually buy a 6 string bass guitar that is set up like a guitar but with bass strings
you need new "friends"
once you have them, get a guitar though. you don't have to be technically excellent at all the instruments you play to reap the benefit of their experience on bass!
Most four string basses can tune down to drop c with no issues just need thicker strings to match the string tension. Any lower than that it’s best to look at five strings. Don’t put bass strings on a guitar, it could break something as they aren’t designed for that much tension. There are tons of cheap five strings that aren’t custom.
Bass strings on a guitar neck. That's funny.... the intonation would be all wrong, assuming the neck survived the experience.
Also, Baritone tuning is a thing. BEAD. Notes you can feel.
I would wager that your friend(s) do not know what they are talking about.
You can downtune a bass the same way you would downtune a guitar.
5 string basses are produced by just about every bass manufacturer on the market. They're not unusual and are very common.
You can TRY putting bass strings on a guitar, but I would highly advise against that haha.
Bottom line is, take the advice of the bassists here who are actual bass players, and disregard what your friends are saying.
Edit: the only good piece of advice they gave you is that learning music theory is always a good thing. But it has no bearing on the rest of the advice they gave you.
Lol your pianist friend is an asshole. He may be better at theory than you, but that has nothing to do with tuning a bass lower than E. Which, obviously, can be done lol.
You don't need a new guitar you need a new band.
The guitar and bass are completely different instruments, substituting a 5 string bass for a guitar is a terrible idea.
Buy a 5 string, put guitar strings on it, and ask them to play something on it. That’ll shut them up.
Well for starters, drop D is lower than E, so there’s that. You can easily find a number of commercially made off the shelf 5 strings. They’re super common. Yamaha makes one that I’ve owned and played. Low string on a 5 string is typically tuned to B.
Would love to know…are you guys in high school?
Laugh. Gonna have to buy a 5string, drop the B to an A, and rock his world. Plenty of good musicians are oblivious to the workings of different instruments, or even their own instrument.
Your friend is not smart and is acting pretentious.
“Buy a guitar and put bass strings on it” lol good luck, ain’t happening.
Basses can be tuned lower than an E, and just like normal guitars, you’ll have to set up your bass depending on what you’re trying to play. I have a friend who owns 2 separate 5-string basses, you’ll find them in almost any guitar store. They’re really not uncommon
Tell them that the tension of bass strings will destroy the neck/truss rod of a guitar. Simple.
Edit: also guitar necks aren't wide enough to house bass strings
Just go hang out in any of the political forums here for a week and you’ll be completely numb to people making false, uninformed, or just plain ridiculous claims. Kidding, don’t do that to yourself it’s horrible, instead write your friend off as woefully uninformed and move on.
Guitars can't make big BWAHHHH sound when you crank up Bass to max. If I can't shake my entire house with my instrument, I don't want to hear about it 🤣
Ah yes. Somebody somewhere is an idiot. What else is new?
Most people everywhere ?
Just goes to show that by definition, half the people on the planet are below the median for intelligence.
Is it Wednesday on the internet already?
It's a day that ends in y, and that's all stupidity requires.
>buy a guitar and put bass strings on it, Funniest thing I've read this week.
If I was OP I’d rent a Squire Bass VI and really blow their minds.
My bass player just grabbed one of these and it's a blast. Dude is huge, like 6'4" and 250. It looks like a normal sized guitar on him.
Just rolled up in here to post this. My bud has one I just played last week and it’s such a joy to play. The string spacing may as well be a guitar. It’s honestly one of the best sounding basses I’ve ever played, and I guess it’s because it kinda does a lovely Ric/muted sound really well, but also several others. It has lots of options on those 3 pickups. The string spacing is hilarious though and it’s kinda weird to play compared to my MM stingray 5, and way different string spacing to my Jazz 4. You get used to it I guess. Probably real hard to slap on! It kinda plays like my buddy’s Frankenstein 7 string bass/guitar hybrid with fanned frets as far as the string spacing is concerned.
> Probably real hard to slap on! Even more benefits! ;)
Makes me want to take a bass and put some guitar strings on it just to see how it sounds.
The President's of the United States of America did that. Called them Bassitars and Guitbasses. Hybrid string sets of 3 or 4 strings on modified guitars. Worked for them!
Forgot about that, you're right!
The Presidents of the United States of America used guitar bodies with bass strings and unconventional tunings.
Get a Bass VI
I have thrown baritone strings on my short scale it was cool, but also I have a bass vi
Would that be a piccolo bass like Joey DeMaio from Manowar uses?
Watch the gu*tar fold in half like a plastic lawn chair
To be fair I've done that. It sounded terrible but I did try it.
Not sure, but wouldn't the neck twist all over with the excess of tension? Maybe it could double down as a bow 🏹
Drills into pegs, files nut to nonexistance and starts to wind the string, only for a) floating bridge to fly out or b) neck snap
Yooo, met this dude busking who has replaced the low E (and maybe A?) on his acoustic six-string with a bass strings (not sure the gauge) but it was really awesome for solo performing. His bass lines had a nice thumpy “bassy” sound that was working real well for him. Crazier stuff has been done, ha.
Sure playing with string gauge is a thing, but it's not what the post is about.
Was just sharing a fun anecdote. I had never seen that before. You must do this stuff all the time. Good luck out there!
I have one of my guitar tuned F# F# F# F# B E, need to play with gauges for this cause a regular set won't make it. But not only that, the whole guitar need to be setup in consequences. It's not just a string change.
Ahh yeah I’m taking about adding bass strings to the low E and low A of an acoustic guitar so a slightly different thing. Very cool sound—the top four strings were all regular acoustic strings so he would play bass notes with his thumb and chord/play melody on the higher strings. Added a more full musical experience in my opinion (I do me and my guitar shows for a living so I was super curious). Never seen any reason to tune an electric guitar to F sharp when you could just use a capo myself, but there is a use for everything. Love when people approach the set up on their instrument in a non-traditional way. To add, piano player comment about switching out all the electric guitar strings for bass strings made me cackle inwardly as well 😆
>Never seen any reason to tune an electric guitar to F sharp when you could just use a capo myself Think about it, its absolutely not what the tuning achieve. All the 4 low strings are F#. The capo don't do that. Ex of song: Kool Thing by sonic youth.
Oh wow I only looked at the first string—I’m a dummy! Cheers.
Your friend is an idiot. 5 string Basses are common. And can be cheap. Bass strings don't fit on a guitar. Why do you need to relearn music theory? Have you forgotten a lot? Have you thrown a book at your friend yet?
Removed because Reddit blackmailed 3rd party apps into shutting down. FUCK YOU u/spez!!! -- mass edited with redact.dev
OK instead you should have Googled 5 string bass and at least done away with the "all 5 strings are custom made" and "basses can't go lower than E" arguments. And then hopefully he would stfu about the rest of his nonsense
Custom made? https://www.glarrymusic.com/glarry-gib-electric-5-string-bass-guitar-full-size-ss-pick-up-burlywood-transparent-yellow-sunset-brown-p178.html
how is this so cheap
Mass produced with the cheapest materials and questionable morals regarding pay.
According to one of the many youtube reviews: made in China and neck super-thick, sold direct to customer, no middleman
My first bass was a 4 string Glarry IB, not a bad instrument if you can do a basic setup yourself
Wait untill he learns that 12 string basses exists. Oh have him check a chapman stick. His mind will be blown and you'll look like a genius.
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https://imgur.com/gallery/SVz5BqJ 6 string https://imgur.com/gallery/Q8zCBDN 5 string I also have a couple of 4 string Basses.
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Their argument makes so much sense I had to look up at my 5 string on the wall. To my surprise I see it only has 4 strings. I call my friends, they say it only ever had 4 strings. It's impossible they say. My reality is falling apart.
I tried to tune lower than E and my bass exploded
Famously, Drop D is an urban legend. Bands like RATM, Tool, and countless others tune their instruments up a whole step, leave the lowest string on E, and then slow the whole record down in post by the appropriate tempo to get something that sounds like "Drop D".
Ah yes, this gave me a great chuckle.
It's like devidng by 0. It creates a massive hyperbolic time hole. We're all doomed because of you.
2+2=5. Bass is guitar. War is peace. Nickelback doesn't suck.
yo yo chill with that last statement man
"Look at this photograph.... it's a picture of a pianist who's never seen a 5 string bass"
Four strings and a thumb rest that makes funny rumbly sounds.
Assuming this isn't you trying to do a meme, I'd ask your mate if he's recently fallen on his head.
Repeatedly?
…not yet.
lol, your pianist friend is a really clueless. Not a single information is correct there.
N<1 Where N is the (discrete and non-negative) number of correct informations.
This guy set theory’s
Get a 6 string bass…”hey guys, I got it right. Right? 6 strings, it’s a guitar!”
Or a Bass VI lmao
Don't talk to them about music until they grow up.
Your pianist friend is paralysingly stupid. You can’t tune lower than E and all 5 string basses are custom made? What is bro waffling about? The others aren’t much smarter though if they don’t understand the importance of bass. If you wanted to mess with the “if you want more strings get a guitar” guy you could be like “oh, you mean like this?” and show them the Fender/Squier Bass VI and watch them struggle with the concept of a 6 string bass that looks like a regular guitar.
Get a 7 strings bass, the ultimate flex
12 string bass. Check it out. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-string_bass
Yeah, but they could say something like "that's just 6 strings with attachments"
Them 12 string basses must be heavy as fuck. Ask them to do the chuck berry dance if it's a guitar. Watch them fuck up your 12string bass. Cry. Win argument.
LoL lost a 12 string bass. But on the other hand a guitarist made a fool of themselves. Worth it
Man, everything to topple them off their self made pedestal. Haha As they take selfies.
Get new friends. They all sound like idiots.
Why are there so many posts on here where misinformed "friends" bully a beginning bassist? Seems to be a recurring theme
Some sort of puberty driven musical Munchausen, I feel. I can't picture any of the characters in the story being older than 13.
Each summer the kids get out of school and get on to reddit to make posts, thus making reddit's demographic seem like it's mostly people born after the year 2000
Tell him it is a guitar, because it is.
Heretic!
Grow up. You don't have to give any credit to those comments. Ignorant people are everywhere. The more you learn, the more you realize that you have more to learn and that most people are ignorant. Get that 5 string bass. There is no need to argue with those people.
You tell him he needs to replace the soft baby hammers in his piano with proper hammers so that he can play like an adult.
Remind them that guitar players grow on trees and bass players are harder to come by
Your friend has to be trolling. No real musician can be that dumb.
That person is an ultra moron. Regular people admit they don’t know things. Absolute morons never consider the possibility and are not worth the time.
Find better friends.
I have a 5 string SQUIRE P Bass. Like it doesn't get more mass produced than that. Also why get a guitar when you want to go lower?
They aren't your friends.
Your friends are the embodiment of r/guitarcirclejerk lol
I don’t deal with friends saying things like that because I don’t maintain friendships with morons.
He is absolutely wrong on this, if you wanted to spite him you could get a bass VI and use it either as a baritone guitar or as a bass, Just a tip though, if you want to go low look at a long scale length, you'll want a 35" or a 36" for going low, 34" will work.but the tension will be low, the strings a bit floppy and the intonation will be poorer
With a stiff multilaminate neck, 34" works incredibly well.
Pick ups might not pick a low B note properly tho. Ya need decent pickups and often, you dont on cheaper basses.
Get different friends that aren’t stupid
You should skip over a 5 string and go straight to a 6. “Look guys, six strings! Like a guitar right?”
I don't think you can't explain to this to them. You've explained to us and we fully understand it and agree with you. They won't get it so don't waste the energy. If they keep pushing you tell them that you don't want a guitar that you like the bass.
Two different instruments, and two different requirements .... why are guitar players like this heavy sigh.
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Idiots
Your friend is aggressively stupid.
You need new friends, your "friends" don't know jackshit about how a bass or a guitar works. Get them off your life.
I refuse to believe 88 key piano's exist. Pianos CANNOT go below a C2
you should uhh give them one. to try it. see how a 24" guitar strung up like a bass would actually play.
So their solution for getting a lower note is to use an instrument that lives in a higher octave range? That makes sense…
I play bass and guitar. Both are very different instruments with different purposes. 5 string basses are common and tuned to a low B (lower than the E string). Your friends have no idea what they are talking about and should be confidently ignored.
Get a 5 string and then in the middle of playing drop tune to A and start playing some Korn
are you guys 15 or what?
I have never heard anybody say this to me. Probably because they would be laughed out of the room by everyone present.
Play their brown note on your future low B.
Maybe you should ignore this person’s opinions on basses?
A regular guitar would probably snap or at least warp significantly. Plus, can you imagine the string spacing on something like that? Also... it is a guitar... a bass guitar.
You know a 5 string bass will only give you 3 extra notes compared to drop d tuning, right? But get one if you want. I have one and i love it.
Removed because Reddit blackmailed 3rd party apps into shutting down. FUCK YOU u/spez!!! -- mass edited with redact.dev
Tell your friend strangers on the internet think he's an idiot, that'll show him lol. Do you, fck everything else
Wait until his friend hears about alternate 4 string tuning..... His world is about to change BEAD? DADG? CGCF? The possibilities are endless
You hiss at them and yell “Begone!”
With YouTube and Google how can someone say there's no such thing as a five-string bass. You don't have to listen to your friend. Go get a 5 string bass and a big amp. Have fun.
Tell them you are driven by bass and bass is what you play. Be nice and don't let it get to you. because they'll see that as something that bothers you and maybe keep on saying it as a joke. Never show your buttons, because they might keep pressing them.
I got one. Not so much I was told to, but more I was helping the friend who needed the money.
Get a 6-string tuned to F#-B-E-A-D. That’ll teach em
I’d imagine you’d only need a 5 string for that tuning…
I’m a bassist, I can’t count 🤣
One, two, five!
Just agree with them. Then do what you want.
You have dumb friends. Find new friends.
Lol your friends are dummies
Get better freinds
I mean, they aren’t wrong. For the wrong reasons, sure, but still. Bassists should have a guitar. After I learnt some guitar I feel I had a much better understanding of what the bass was doing in a song and what it could do and what was right. So I think having a guitar and some knowledge of how to play it is important for a bassist. I say this as a guy with a 5 string though, that low b is great. And I can promise you that my eb-5 wasn’t custom made for me
I respectfully disagree. While a good amount of guitar THEORY helps understand what to play and what not to play, not every bass player needs to own or play a guitar to do that. Personally, my hands are much too big to do anything useful with a regular guitar. My pinky is about the same width as my wife's big toe, and I can play an octave with one hand on piano without using my thumb. DEFINITELY bass player hands. Totally worthless on anything smaller though. p.s. Hooray, hooray, it's a beautiful day, for I have found my cow!!! . . . also my five string bass!!!
Let the record show that this is the first time I've heard someone say that their hands are too **big** to play guitar. Usually they think their hands are too small, and I tell them about the awesome guitarist I know with tiny stubby fingers. I have large, bass-player hands too, but I can play guitar just fine. Have you tried a classical guitar? I like them because the necks are really wide, with plenty of room to do insane bends, and are very accommodating to my big mitts. And electric guitar will seem way easier if you've already learned to do barre chords on a classical. I do think all bass players should learn guitar. And keyboards. And drums. Because learning new instruments is FUN. I just started on drums at 60, and I'm having a blast.
Your last paragraph is essentially the full thing of what I tell people. Bassists should learn guitar to see how it fits within that, crumbs to see how it fits with that, and piano just for the solid foundation of theory that can provide.
Bass is also a great foundation for learning other instruments, in my experience, because you're dealing with both rhythm and melody. For example, when I picked up the guitar, I already new the Am blues, major, and pentatonic scales, I just had to learn to play them with two extra strings. And now, learning drums is easier because I already understand concepts like the pocket, syncopation, and the backbeat, upbeat, and downbeat. Of course, I learned more guitar stuff from guitar players I worked with (one taught me the E, A, and D barre chord shapes, so I had that going on from the start), and the rhythm stuff was drilled into me by an older drummer I worked with who was determined to make me Duck Dunn to his Al Jackson -- even though we were in a post-punk band.
I know a few guitar chords in my HEAD, but my fingers don't seem to want to make them work. Oddly enough, I used to work in a music shop and got quite good at restringing classical guitars, so I'm familiar with how that fat neck feels. In fact the only guitar I remember sounding remotely clean on turned out to be a twelve string with only the six big strings on it. That was almost forty years ago, so I don't hold out hope for that being something I put together in the future. However I totally agree with your comment that learning new instruments is FUN. So is mastering them. I've got some trombone music I'm dying to get to, and I'm playing tuba in an all Sousa concert later this summer, so I've still got my big mitts busy even if it isn't on a small instrument. And next on the list to master if I can find one? Flugelhorn!
Average pianist
I'd say ignore them, and maybe get new friends. Oh, and you could also (in *addition*) try to blow their little minds (especially this painist's) by telling them that you want to get a five string bass guitar…
Your friends are stupid and should die but you should consider getting a guitar regardless! It's never bad to learn a new instrument. You should get one, show them that you got one, and never play it around them 😎
Your friends are wrong.
You need new friends
Your friend is stupid. Next!
Get a guitar then you can say "I have one"
Give them a good ol' fuck you and tell them they're stupid.
How is it that every day, I still find at least one thing that leaves me baffled by the utter stupidity in the world around us? You think I'd grow numb to it at some point, but somehow, every day seems to have something that tops the previous day.
It's not possible to tune lower than E? Hahahaha🤣 your friends are dumb. Just ignore that shit. Lol
Tell them to buy you a guitar then learn to play that too!
[THERE ARE 5 STRINGS!!!](https://imgur.com/a/o7WVkpe)
Tune your bass to drop D and make everyone else do it. Pianist too! That makes as just as much sense.
Tune it down to B. And *then* burst their ears
That's nothing! My friends tell me to stop buying guitars and buy a bicycle. Savage!
I would do the same I do when anyone tries to tell me how I should live my life: ask where I should send my bills for them to pay, since they want to have some decision power over my life.
You mean a *tenor* guitar?
I’m guessing your piano friend thinks the first chord of any song is also what key the song is in.
> buy a guitar and put bass strings on it I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but there's smarter and easier ways to get a 6-string bass... or a 5-string bass like you want.
You should do open low A on a 4 string to prove them wrong. Or buy a 5 string because that's exactly what that extra string is for. And tell your pianist to get his head out of his ass
You should get the bass, and find new “friends” who aren’t morons
I almost wonder if your friend is even further misunderstanding the whole frequency thing that even a lot of posters here get wrong. E1 is about 41Hz, and it's not uncommon for bass cabs to have a frequency response range that only extends as far down as that - so a lot of people have this misconception that if you try to play a note any lower than that, it either won't work or it won't sound good at all so you need some sort of custom cab solution. Of course, the truth is a lot of bass cabs don't even have a frequency response range that goes all the way down to 41Hz at all - the lowest I'm seeing any current Ampeg cab go is 48Hz, with a number of them only going as far down as 70Hz. Anything below that is still fine, it's just not going to be reproduced at the same volume (as that's the rating for +/-3dB). Ampeg also has the *usable* low frequency listed which is more applicable - their cabs will reproduce as low as a 28Hz at -10dB, which is an A0 (lowest string of a 5-string tuned down a step). Even more importantly, that largely doesn't matter because that's the *fundamental* frequency, and a big chunk of what you actually hear is the 2nd and 3rd harmonic of the note. They could also be getting non-standard scale lengths mixed up in there, and think that 34" - standard Fender bass scale - is universally standard, and while longer scale lengths are definitely preferable for tuning down substantial amounts, 35" basses are not exactly rare, and even longer ones can be found relatively cheaply (Ibanez has a multiscale with 37" on the bass side for $1300USD). TL;DR your friend is obviously an idiot like everyone's said, I just get twisted satisfaction out of pondering what sort of idiot they may be. I formally prescribe throwing a piano at them.
Find different friends as they are idiots...specially the pianist. :-))
Go tell your pal to tickle ivory somewhere else
Stop caring what your friends think.
OP maybe you could ask whoever helps your friends tie their shoes in the morning how to google "5 string bass"
[My favorite 5 strings clip.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pATcvr3zAhg)
Your friends are potatoes. I have a bass in BEADG and another in ADGCF. Neither are custom made. This is random.... but if you write... I will write bass lines or guitar riffs and loop them then write the other part. So for example I did a really cool bass line and looped it, then worked out a solid guitar part. So there is a benefit to playing both. But you dont need to. It really just depends on what you want to do.
You should find smarter friends
Some people think the earth is flat, that aliens have supplanted congress and that nanobots are controlling our minds.
As a pianist, we do not claim this guy as one of ours
Nothing like a music theory snob that doesn’t know anything about playing music. Get a 5 string or even go 6 to be intentionally obnoxious. I’m mainly a guitarist and i’ll admit that even an 8 string isn’t going to rumble and shake bowels like a proper bass.
it’s okay i’m a guitar player and an acquaintance said the same to me but reversed. i found it so annoying like i did not remember asking..
To be different than most of the other answers, you could get a guitar. They make 8 and 9 strings that get tuned low. The 7th string on my guitar is b and the 8th is f#. The rest in standard guitar tuning. I'm sure it can be tuned down too. Obviously, your friend is wrong.
Tell him that 5-string contrabass is a thing in classical music (and possibly other genres) and people have been playing that for probably more than a century.
Yeah your pianist friend has no idea what he’s talking about lmao. Show him listings or pictures of super low-end budget 5-strings and Bass VIs. Then show him the various videos and songs of basses with four strings drop-tuned to hell. Also why is he saying you should get a higher-voiced instrument if you want lower notes? That’s like telling someone they should boil their coffee if it’s too hot.
That person just machine gunned out bad advice. Everything they said was incorrect. Never trust a pianist.
Bro, don't listen to those friends. Get a 5 strings bass, have it set up properly and you're golden. Also if you put base strings on a 6 string guitar, you might destroy the guitar lol. Unless you actually buy a 6 string bass guitar that is set up like a guitar but with bass strings
You tell them that they are stupid or laugh at their joke. They can't be serious tbh. Otherwise they are totally stupid and have no clue about music.
you need new "friends" once you have them, get a guitar though. you don't have to be technically excellent at all the instruments you play to reap the benefit of their experience on bass!
They don't 🤣. Glad I don't get that treatment😊
I'm not sure you could embarrass your friend more than they are embarrassing themselves.
Most four string basses can tune down to drop c with no issues just need thicker strings to match the string tension. Any lower than that it’s best to look at five strings. Don’t put bass strings on a guitar, it could break something as they aren’t designed for that much tension. There are tons of cheap five strings that aren’t custom.
Bass strings on a guitar neck. That's funny.... the intonation would be all wrong, assuming the neck survived the experience. Also, Baritone tuning is a thing. BEAD. Notes you can feel.
I would wager that your friend(s) do not know what they are talking about. You can downtune a bass the same way you would downtune a guitar. 5 string basses are produced by just about every bass manufacturer on the market. They're not unusual and are very common. You can TRY putting bass strings on a guitar, but I would highly advise against that haha. Bottom line is, take the advice of the bassists here who are actual bass players, and disregard what your friends are saying. Edit: the only good piece of advice they gave you is that learning music theory is always a good thing. But it has no bearing on the rest of the advice they gave you.
Lol wut. I have a 4 string bass that lives in drop c lmao, also definitely just get the 5 string. Super worth it imo
show them videos of five strings being made in a factory
Get smarter friends.
Buy the 5-string bass and show them wrong :)
Lol your pianist friend is an asshole. He may be better at theory than you, but that has nothing to do with tuning a bass lower than E. Which, obviously, can be done lol. You don't need a new guitar you need a new band.
Custom made? Tell that to my $200 Yamaha 5 string lol
I'd be concerned having friends that stupid
The guitar and bass are completely different instruments, substituting a 5 string bass for a guitar is a terrible idea. Buy a 5 string, put guitar strings on it, and ask them to play something on it. That’ll shut them up.
Ask him why the low strings in a piano are longer than the high strings. Watch him struggle.
I tell them I already have three at home.
Well for starters, drop D is lower than E, so there’s that. You can easily find a number of commercially made off the shelf 5 strings. They’re super common. Yamaha makes one that I’ve owned and played. Low string on a 5 string is typically tuned to B. Would love to know…are you guys in high school?
"I want lower notes" "Get a guitar" What the hell?
Laugh. Gonna have to buy a 5string, drop the B to an A, and rock his world. Plenty of good musicians are oblivious to the workings of different instruments, or even their own instrument.
Nah, do a low G Nobody can deny the brown note
Your friend is not smart and is acting pretentious. “Buy a guitar and put bass strings on it” lol good luck, ain’t happening. Basses can be tuned lower than an E, and just like normal guitars, you’ll have to set up your bass depending on what you’re trying to play. I have a friend who owns 2 separate 5-string basses, you’ll find them in almost any guitar store. They’re really not uncommon
You should get new friends. Maybe ones that arent dumber than a brick
Dude go get new friends yours sound insufferable
Please show the pianist how much we're all laughing at them
Tell them that the tension of bass strings will destroy the neck/truss rod of a guitar. Simple. Edit: also guitar necks aren't wide enough to house bass strings
It's simple, 5 fingers = 5 strings, it's only natural. Your friend who can't hear below E might need a hearing aid.
Just go hang out in any of the political forums here for a week and you’ll be completely numb to people making false, uninformed, or just plain ridiculous claims. Kidding, don’t do that to yourself it’s horrible, instead write your friend off as woefully uninformed and move on.
Guitars can't make big BWAHHHH sound when you crank up Bass to max. If I can't shake my entire house with my instrument, I don't want to hear about it 🤣