jmf1234

for me it should be 6 strings on lead guitars and 4 strings on bass guitars. I think the guys in KORN look really stupid with their 7 strings and i just think having just one string difference does not give the bass guitar a different instrument status.

But i dont care what i think what do you think?

__________________
Let's go Pitt, we're set for victory

Sex is like bridge: If you don't have a good partner, you better have a good hand.
-- Charles Pierce

vermin

What about 12 string guitars? Or 6 string basses? Or the many, many, strings of a harp? Number of strings on an instrument is pretty irrelevant. What really counts is how you play the instrument.

__________________
If puns were sausages, this would be the wurst.

meanSpleen

Musicianship is the only thing that matters. If a person can play a one string guitar as well as a six-stringer, then that is all that matters.

__________________
Like TFP? Donate To Keep It Alive!!

JadziaDax

I love the sound of an acoustic 12 string playing classical... nothing else like it in the world.

(and I love my little 6-string nylon)

Lebell

There are standard string sets, but non standard actually used to be a LOT more common, especially if you go back to the rennaissance period.

Since lutes were hand made and there were no 'standards' you never knew from lute to lute how many strings it would have. That would drive me crazy, personally, but that was how it was.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU!

Please Donate!

Junchbailey

I agree with 6 on a guitar and 4 on a bass. However, the sound of a 12 string acoustic is nothing to be contended with.

__________________
Hey guys -- I finally got a semen sample after pumping on my wiener for 2 whole days

dankitti

let's not forget the two-string bass of the late Mark Sandman of Morphine. or tom petersson of ceap trick playing 12-string bass.

__________________
Aw' little girl, there ain't no time
To wash yer stinky hand
Go 'head 'n' roll over
I'm goin' in you again
In you again
In you again
In you again...

--Frank appa
I Have Been In Yo

apetaster

Being a big fan of the whole dropped D sound, I do like the meaty, fat sound that the low B produces. Didn't Steve Vai attempt to come up with his own mode (lydian, dorian, etc.) specifically for 'his' JEM 7 string series of guitars?

Fly

if the bass has a fifth string,you get another octave outta it.and....if tuned differently,that fifth string can add a whole new dimension to the sound of the bass.

i wish my bass had another string on it.

__________________
BASTARD

SterlingStudios

gibber71

I prefer 6 strings since the horizontal and vertical possibilities are endless.Also good point flyman with the 5 string bass.It really opens up lots of quartal harmony possibilities

ols

the great thing about music is there is no right or wrong, no real judgement. but all my axes have 6 strings, my bases 4. and i have a mandolin with 8 !

josh_s08

I love my 5 string bass. It just gives you so much more to explore.

4 or 5 on a bass and 6 or 12 on a guitar.

KWSN

7 string guitars are AMAZING... with my band I get to use my friend's 7-string on some songs, and I LOVE it... unfortunately I don't have my own.

7 on a guitar is the best, but 6 is the most natural... same with 5 and 4 on a bass, respetively.

__________________
Your arms are broken!

GuttersnipeXL

I think Vai called it Super Locrian...I could be wrong though.


As for string count, it really doesn't matter. Just play that thing.

__________________
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. HST

woolley bear

6 strings are my favorite on a guitar, 12 strings dont count in my mind , its like a mandolin the pairs are tuned in sync so it has a better tremolo sound and allows a whole different picking method. That said I love a five string Bass especially a Fender Fretlless, options are endless. If you want to play around without buying new guitars plunk down 200 bucks on a Korg Pandora special effects box you can drop octave and several hundered other special sounds awsome toy.

warrrreagl

And Michael Hedges played the bizarre, yet beautiful "Harp Guitar" from the 1920's, I think. It had 9 strings???

__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.

OMFUG

Yeah, Vai was the inventor of the 7 string, and his mode was Super Locrian. I don't care how many strings an instrument has; a ggood musician will be able to recreate any sound they choose with whatever is on hand. 12 string acoustics being the exception, simply because of thier whole octave deal. I have 6 guitars, one of which is a Schecter Scorpion (I'm looking at getting the bass to go with it) that has dual graphite truss rods in the neck and is designed and set up to be tuned to B. If you wan tlow, meaty sounds, look no further. Why buy a seven string, then>> Because that way you have the upper range as well. That being said, I love my schecter.

__________________
This space intentionally left blank.

MSD

I don't remember who it was, but I once saw a guy on TV playing a 12 string electric with one melody on the downstroke, and another melody one the up. They were simple, but very interesting to hear.

Dustallica

I usually prefer to play on a 6 string but think of it this way, more strings more opprotunities

cjgallen

On guitar, 6 strings is plenty. On bass, well, I play a 5-string, and I love that low B, but when you add a 6th string, the neck gets a little too wide for my taste. But it's all in how you use them. If you got an 8-string bass and can use all 8 of them effectively, more power to ya!

Magpie0001

Thats hilarious, "from lute to lute"

dankitti

how about the SynthAxe Drumitar? as played by Future Man, "drummer" with Bela Fleck & The Fleck-Tones. it is a digital guitar with drum samples, used to "play" the drums. how many strings should your drums have?

__________________
Aw' little girl, there ain't no time
To wash yer stinky hand
Go 'head 'n' roll over
I'm goin' in you again
In you again
In you again
In you again...

--Frank appa
I Have Been In Yo

Fly

not a one.....

sticks are for the drums not strings.....

__________________
BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Antagony

I have a 4-string bass, but I really really want a 5-string.

There have been so many times when I'll be transcribing some music, and I'll run into a spot where I actually need that low B string. Instead, I end up having to move things up an octave, and it doesn't sound the way I want it to. Very sad.

__________________
On the outside I'm jazz, but my soul is rock and roll.

Sleep is a waste of time. Join the Insomniac Club.
"GYOH GWAH-DAH GREH BLAAA! SROH WIH DIH FLIH RYOHH!!" - The Locust

The Cotb

6

I am not good enough of a player to handle anything more... yet.

__________________
I'm no gynecologist, but I'll take a look at it.

Xenophobik

I have both 6 and 7 string guitars. I love em both and it doesnt really matter how many strings really...just the player. I really like the feel of the neck on my 7-string. Just my opinion but i dont really think it matters...its just prefrence

Melwas

Does standard tuning apply to 7-strings? would it be EADGBEA?