Extended-range bass

An extended-range bass is an electric bass guitar with a greater frequency range than a standard-tuned four-string bass guitar.

One way that a bass could be considered 'extended-range' is to utilize a tuning peg that allows for instant re-tuning, such as the popular 'Xtenders' made by Hipshot, however it is more so those bass guitars that have a low-B string such as the five string bass guitar and/or a high C-string - the six string bass guitar - that are most normally considered extended-range bass guitars. Basses have been made with seven, eight, nine, or even fifteen strings with extremely wide necks and custom pickups. These too are considered extended-range basses.

Michael Manring's 'Hyperbass' by Zon guitars and Les Claypool's main Carl Thompson piccolo bass are both four string basses but with necks that exceed the standard 24 frets (24 being the 'standard' for most commercially available bass guitars). Les Claypool's piccolo bass has 32 frets whereas Manring's Hyper Bass is a fretless instrument (however if it were a fretted bass it too would also exceed the 24th fret).

"Extended-range bass" does not refer to bass guitars with double or triple courses of strings such as the eight-string bass guitar or twelve-string bass, both of which could be considered as standard four string basses but with the addition of piccolo bass strings, tuned in octaves. These strings are generally played in unison with the bass strings, thereby producing a natural chorus effect.

The Ibanez Ashula bass guitar, though having six strings, would also not be considered as an extended-range bass because the first four strings - E A D G - lie over a section of the fretboard that has frets whereas the last two strings are - D & G again - lie over a fretless part of the same fretboard.

History

Pat Fairley of Marmalade changed from playing rhythm guitar to a 6-string bass in 1965/6, the band then had two bass guitarists, the other being a 4 string played by Graham Knight.

In 1975, Anthony Jackson asked Carl Thompson to build him a six-string bass guitar tuned (from low to high) BEADGC, which he called the contrabass guitar. Jackson's bass extended the range of the bass both lower and higher than a four-string. Though Jackson initially received much criticism for the new instrument, the deep sounds of the low "B" string has become a standard in many genres including metal, R&B, funk, gospel and now country.

In the late 1980s, luthier Michael Tobias made the first bass with more than six single course strings, a custom order seven string bass for bassist Garry Goodman, tuned BEADGCF. In 1988, Atlanta luthier Bill Hatcher also made a seven string bass tuned EADGBEA and later tuned BEADGBE. This bass can be verified with serial number and date on it. Since that time, luthiers have been adding strings to their custom basses. In 1995, luthier Bill Conklin made a nine-string bass for Bill "Buddha" Dickens and in 1999 luthier Alfonso Iturra made an eight-string bass for Igor Saavedra.^[1] Subsequently, other luthiers built instruments with up to twelve strings. Custom bass builders have added both lower strings (such as F# and C#) and higher strings (such as F and B♭) to the six-string bass guitar.

Construction and tuning

While the extended-range bass instruments are built using the same design methods as the more traditional electric bass, some performers view it as an entirely new instrument, since its expanded range permits high-register melodies, four- and five-note chords, and other techniques.

Construction of basses with more than seven strings has largely been the realm of boutique luthiers, with the exception of several production-run models including Galveston seven- and eight-string basses and Conklin Groove-Tools line of seven-string basses. Some extended-range basses are tailor-made to a player's specific preferences, including much variation in scale length, appearance, and electronics. Due to the fact that the scale length of a typical bass guitar (34" or 35") produces excessive tension on the highest strings of extended-range basses, many builders opt to use slanted or fanned frets to achieve a variable-scale instrument (such as the instruments by Novax Guitars ) and prevent these strings from breaking.

Usually, extended-range basses are tuned in 4ths, and the most common methods include tuning seven-string bass to F#BEADGC or BEADGCF, an eight-string to F#BEADGCF, a 9-string to F#BEADGCFB♭, a ten-string to C#F#BEADGCFB♭ or F#BEADGCFB♭Eb, an eleven-string to C#F#BEADGCFB♭E♭ or F#BEADGCFBbE♭A♭, and a twelve-string to C#F#BEADGCFB♭E♭A♭ or BEADGCFB♭EbA♭D♭G♭.

Playing styles

The techniques used to play the extended-range bass are virtually identical to those used for standard 4-string basses, including pizzicato (finger plucking) or user of a plectrum (a.k.a. 'pick'), the slap and pop technique and tapping.

The upper strings of an extended-range bass allow bassists to adopt playing styles of the electric guitar. One such style is the practice of "comping", or playing a rhythmic chordal accompaniment to an improvised lead. The increased polyphony of extended-range basses allows for voicings of five or more notes, as well as wider voicings such as "drop 3", "drop 2+4" and "spreads." Walking a bassline and comping at the same time is also possible, which is useful in jazz combos lacking a chordal instrument, or in accompaniment of a chordal instrument during their lead portion. Two bassists notable for adopting this style are Todd Johnson and Oteil Burbridge.

The added strings of the extended-range bass compound the muting problems that many bassists encounter. Because of the sympathetic vibration of the bass, a plucked note will cause that same note (and its octaves) to sound on all strings if left unmuted. Extended-range bassists often turn to hairbands or advancing muting techniques, including the "floating thumb" technique (allowing the thumb of the plucking hand to mute lower strings), to achieve a good sound.

Many extended-range bassists, because of the extreme range of their instruments, choose to practice a technique called "two-handed tapping," in which the player uses both hands on the fretboard to press down the strings and creates sound with both hands (similar to the way one plays a Chapman Stick). By using both hands, extended-range bassists can create sophisticated chordings, harmonies, melodies, and contrapuntal music.

The role that the extended-range bass plays in music is still largely a matter of situation and personal preference. Many extended-range bassists play the bass part in bands, but many also perform their instrument in a solo setting, often using advanced techniques such as two-handed tapping or chording. Still others are exploring the extended-range bass's potential through the art of looping by layering complex bass parts, melodies, and harmonies on top of each other.

Examples

Five-string

Six-string

Seven-string

Twelve-string

Notable players

Jazz

R&B

• Al Caldwell^[9]

Rock

Metal

• John Myung of Dream Theater
• ChaotH of Unexpect

Five strings, primary

Six or more strings, primary

References

External links

• Stewart McKinsey's article, "Approaching the Extended Range Bass"
• Dave's Guitar and Bass Resource Pages This site includes numerous scale and chord charts for five and six string basses.
• RESTRUNG - A documentary about Wyn Guitars and the creation of many extended-range basses.

See also

• Sub-bass
• Seven-string guitar
• Eight-string guitar
• Nine-string guitar
• Ten-string guitar