20" scale second octave bass

[Basvarken]

Cool idea.
It's not for me. But still cool.

http://www.bassplayer.com/basses/1165/stonefield-musical-instruments-unveils-the-20-scale-stinger-bass/64654

[Chris P.]

Cool. It reminds me a bit of those piccolo basses.

[amptech]

Again with the upside down fender jack socket. Where is the world going? 

[ilan]

Cool. It reminds me a bit of those piccolo basses.

No no no. Piccolo bass is the opposite. Guitar range (low 4 strings) but 34" scale neck, a combination that gives it a special timbre.

[Highlander]

Was it Stanley Clarke coined that expression in the 70's...? seem to remember it on some of his earlier works...

[Chris P.]

Ow, yes, I played the Alembic of Armand Sabal-Lecco once with those strings. But there was another tiny bass you had to play with an octaver. Let me think...

[ilan]

A friend of mine once pulled the frets off an Ibanez SDGR series bass, strung it with piccolo strings and tuned it in fifths. He got something between piccolo bass and cello guitar. Cool sounding instrument but the fifths drove me crazy trying to play it.

[Dave W]

"piccolo bass" -- not a bass.

Doesn't matter that is has the scale length of a bass guitar. Bass is a tonal range. If the instrument isn't tuned to the bass range, it's not a bass.

[ilan]

Piccolo bass is in fact bass register. What we call "bass guitar" is really a contrabass register instrument. It's written like a bass instrument but actually is transposed an octave. 5-string basses (and of course multi-string monstrosities with an F# string) go into subcontrabass register.

[Dave W]

Details, details. Technically you're correct but you know what I mean. It's not in the note range commonly identified as the range of a bass instrument.

[4stringer77]

I thought you had to be at least as far south as Costa Rica to be considered in the subcontrabass range. 

[ilan]

Details, details. Technically you're correct but you know what I mean. It's not in the note range commonly identified as the range of a bass instrument.

I agree that if you don't supply a low end harmonic backbone to the music then you are not playing bass. OTOH is a guitarist playing through an octaver, considered a bass player? He's in the bass range. But he's playing like a guitarist.

[Chris P.]

That's a nice discussion. Last year I saw four different bands in a month in which the bass player played bass on keys and bass guitar. So a P or any other bass for some songs and a Moog Phatty / Novation Bass Station or other keys for other songs. I found that quite interesting so I asked a contributor to my magazine to make a synth special. He interviewed some players who used both and we made an article about it. Always nice to see other instruments used. Also think The Band and tuba:)

[Dave W]

I should take up playing bassoon.

[uwe]

If that helps with your mood swings, I'm all for it. (ducking)