Q&A # 6 - Piccolo bass strings, 7-string basses, and reverse stringing
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 2 авг 2024
- Support me on Patreon!
/ adamneely
Thanks to Syzmon Iwulski, Sky Onosson, ruairihair, Guilherme Motta and Jake Jones for your questions, and of course to Gary Goodman as well for his insightful commentary!
Keep the questions coming, guys, this is super fun.
Follow me on the internets...
/ adamneely
/ its_adamneely
Peace,
Adam 
Кино
Reason for piccolo bass: Some people dislike the string spacing of a guitar but want to play in the higher octave
Piccolo bass with an octaver sounds mad. Furthermore, there's a bunch of harmonic stuff that happens there that's cool. Doing banjo-style stuff also sounds pretty mad.
Very true! I have a Yamaha TRBX174 Bass with Piccolo Strings......... For TAPPING! 🤩
I remember this era of Adam's channel so fondly. It has some really iconic moments. His new stuff is great, it's really cool to see as his style has grown.
I found this video again as I was searching some videos about 6 string bass. I might be buying one this weekend, but I am honestly a bit terrified of being known as "the 6 string bass guy". I'm definitely a 5 string guy. Hearing your perspective on 7 strings already helps....I'm probably buying it.
Dia dareooo. That's just gold right there.
Goodman must be mad because you plugged your bass into an amp and pretty much played the piece in time. Maybe?
The dia dareooo is one of my favorite ethnic instruments.
Hey, thanks for answering addressing my question!
Just a comment on tapewounds. I've used a lot of different strings in the 30+ years I've been playing, and I currently have tapes on 3 of my 4 basses. I find they are not really like flats as you mentioned. They have a unique low tension to them (although Ernie Ball Cobalts are a bit similar in that regard) and they get a lot more snap and high end than flats as well, though not as much as rounds obviously. They are by far my preferred string these days, and highly recommend giving them a shot! I have a set of LaBellas on my fretless which are great, but I actually like the cheap Fender tapes on my Jazz and P-bass, they just seem to work great and are quite versatile.
Good video with good information. I had the same 7 string and a nice thumb nt6 six string. Now I have a 5 string Dingwall and a 4 string Mexican p bass setup in bead tuning as my backup. For me weight was definitely an issue also and the additional high strings just didn’t cut the same in the mix. The low B is basically required for me at this point. Playing modern rock and the guitars are all in baritone tunings and you’re right an octave pedal can be cool for more electronic tones but it’s just not the same as a low B string for some genres.
Your videos are so interesting man! I hope you keep getting more subs
Bring the 7 back!
Very informative vid. I was considering the whole piccolo thing but instead I think I'll go w/ thinner bass strings like 90s or something. Want thinner strings but still have that bass sound. Thanks
Hey, Adam, I really enjoy your Philosophy on music and bass. I've been playing for about seven years (now i'm 16) and recently noticed, that older bass players educate themselves in much faster time than i educated. I've met few guys who have started playing at age 17 and at age 19 can easily improvise using type of Coltrane "licks" on giant steps and shitt. Have you noticed that kind of correlation? Thanks
Please post more videos using your 5 string. It's a great bass and, I think, deserves to be used more :')
Man your videos are amazing, great content over here! Would you mind giving your P-bass specs, specially the pick ups? Thanks.
Share and just keep watching, got it. You make it easy, man.
Hello, I recently discovered your channel (and became a Patreon (SP?)) I'm posting this comment and I know its since this is an older video of yours you may not see it.
I have been playing bass for almost 48 years (yes I am a dinosaur!). I also was a music major in college for a stretch (2 years but ended up pursuing computer science instead). I can't say that time has made me a particularly good bass player but I love the instrument. I believe drum and bass are the key to any decent rock band. Playing the bass and being in a band has been some of the most fun I've ever had. I went on to also learn guitar and I probably play the two instruments about the same amount. (I only forced myself to learn guitar as it seemed to give me a little more opportunity to play out and I am starting to think picking up keyboard may also be in order, I also drum) I've been in a number of small garage style bands over the years an my musical taste mostly live in the "power pop" wheelhouse.
I decided to comment on this video because you talk about basses with more that 4 strings in this video and I sadly think of them as a curse more often than not. In fact when I go see some local band in some bar and I see a five string bass it is almost always a warning sign! Or if I hear the bass player used to play lead I again brace myself for a rough night! I've decided the only "more than 4 string" bass I'll ever own will be one of the curious older eight string basses that were strung with the doubling string like a 12 string guitar. And just because the seem like a fun novelty.
Anyways, I suppose that is the old folk in me reacting about the more than four strings thing but I just wanted to say I love the channel. I'd point anyone interested in the challenges and rewards of pursuing music to it!
Your content is great, I have no idea how you find the time to create it! Thanks for doing it!
Thanks for the shout out!
hi, i came across your video because i play a bass with reversed srtings...im right-handed. im always lookin out for anyone who plays like me. ive seen plenty of leftys but havent found a right hand player with reversed strings yet...i flipped my strings becaus i have tiny hands and its more comfortable to have e ans a strings at the bottom, and it makes more sense in my head.
First video of yours I’ve seen......subscribed 🙂👍
Nope, I refuse to keep watching. In fact, I am NOT going back and rewatching your old Q&As. 🤣 great job on these videos, the info is still relevant.
There are some people like Eric Czar that are doing cool extended range stuff with a fretless 6,and 7 string bass. His compositions are wonderful, and he isn’t the YAWN, predictable slap; aka bucket of beans...bucket of beans player.
put piccolo strings on my shergold marathon fretless ... world of discovery!!! ... bought cheap 5 string fretless from well known german supplier ...rhymes with "thomann" will fit piccolos im loving this new set of tones and responses ... not entirely fixed on where these would be welcome but as the vuvuzela guy said " everyone hates them and i cant sell enough "
Hey Adam, wanted to point a (not so) obvious advantage of reverse stringing:
Ascending runs, and scales are easier to play, but descending ones aren't harder to play. That'd be about it. I tried my mate's lefty ibanez for a while and played it as a righty, and that's the conclusion I came at.
For piccolo base used as a guitar for, as i can see, tonal reasons, check out Portuguese band "Clã". Great solo (bass or guitar solo? My take on that - It doesn't matter) on the tune "Problema de expressão".
I love the thump of that low B!
Have you made a video on the use of Harmonics in bass playing? if not, that could be a cool topic for a future video. Thanks for the cool content.
Interesting what you had to say about 7-string. I think I have the same one you played in that video (conklin groove tools) but the way I use it is for a a much different application. I play in a metal band with 8-sting guitars which are tuned to F#, so using a 7-string with a low F# lets me double all their parts down the octave while still being able to use the high-c. IMO the 7 string tuned this way is the most you would want for ensemble playing.
+Bazzlemedazzle I tried tuning that 7 to low F# tuning once - I think I got a .170 low F#. I just didn't have much practical application for those notes. Honestly, I have never been in a situation where I needed anything lower than a Bb (for gospel songs). If I hit those ridiculously low notes in the musical situations I find myself in, they'd just be distracting and not add anything of value, but I can't deny that its fun as hell!
+Adam Neely It's definitely a musical context thing. if I am the only bass range instrument it def makes most sence to play in typical bass range. it is also nice to be able to play b-d# in higher position with the low 7 string
Hello Adam, you're a great teacher! :) Question: I'm considering buying a high mass bridge for my bass, the only purpose being improved sustain. Have you ever tried one? Does it really work for that matter? Are there any other ways to improve sustain that you would recommend?
When I look at basses with more than 5 strings, I tend to look at it from a comfort to range level, ideally to me I'd use as many strings as I can comfortably play and mute properly, so if for whatever reason a 7-string bass meshed with me then I'd probably use it as my primary instrument.
Ive sen u being in some metal projects but when it Comes to modern metal what do u like? What about veil ofta maya The basist there plays 7string bass and I love his playing really clean
Brian Bromberg plays piccolo really well. I also enjoy the poppy fun stuff that Wayman Tisdale did. May he rest.
Bring the 7 back
how nice of garry
Left Handed "Right" Side Up Part: Also the Guitarist from Bloodbath plays upside down.
If Neely does Neely, do you ever need to Neely on the Neel?
Also, where do you get Neely?
But I would be interested in seeing how you produce your music and possibly videos. How you use EQ, compressors etc
Adam, did you post on the mxforums back in the early 2000's?
"Piccolo bass" is the most ironic thing ive ever heard of.
BASSically two affixes made into a word
soprano tuba
"Baritone Tenor Guitar" is a similarly poor term.
It's a literal oxymoron
Hey, thought I'd share my exp with "reverse stringing". I'm a lefty player, who learned bass "rightside up" ; but learned to play guitar "upside down"( out of lack of knowledge as to restringing, etc.) I can't see how a right-handed player would go to the trouble of doing this; I learned it out of necessity, primarily. I can play a bass "upside down" (given a few minutes of re-calibration), but there isn't any tangible advantage in doing it that I can't get playing "rightside up". The main issue is where your picking-side arm comes down directly over the volume/tone knobs, which causes me headaches. You either must go very far forward in your pick hand (which will pop and click the sound like hell, unless you're VERY dainty) or very far back, which will tire you out quick, given the extra effort that every note takes. With a guitar, you can "float"your pick arm, as an acoustic strummer does, but not really with a bass. Thank you for discussing this, tho'; Maybe if this becomes a viable trend for right-handed players, I'll actually have a better selection of basses to choose from. As of now, it's terrible. I might as well have to pay to get one custom-made as pay the premium to order a production model that I might want (and can't play beforehand to see if I'd want it). Sorry for the novella here; but as always, your videos make me want to think, engage, and share. Keep up the great work.
lefty here.i've never played bass with lefty strings, always flipping the bass. then again, i do it for my guitars, too. i like having the pots and selector next to my wrist. doing it for so long, i don't need fingers to fiddle, just a flick of the wrist or forearm. try oddball shapes for bass and guitar. i recommend the epiphone flying v (58 style), whose pots and selector are off-axis re: the bridge pup. it's fully symmetrical, and doesn't come in lefty. regarding bass, i found a lot of comfort from the cort a4 bass, as the pots are sufficiently wide apart as to lodge my arm between them, allowing me to play fingerstyle, or pick and slap.
as for advantages, it pushes you out of your comfort zone, meaning you have to think of the easiest way of doing something. making you better by finding your comfort zone again, and thus widening it. bends across strings are a pain, and most shred is out of the question, so you rely on sweeping, tapping, and a lot of legato. string skipping comes easily once you're used to it. on the theoretical aspect, if you can play it one way, you can play it the other. sometimes i pick up my spare righty to figure out how to play something more fluidly on my lefty. hope this helps.
Hello mr. Neely. I'm a big fan of your work! Question; I'm a beginner and have a little U-Bass. I love the big sound, ones amplified and the light action but because of its unique shape I find my right hand technique a bit wonky. It is hard to keep my wrist from over-bending and it often hurts. Are you familiar with this kind of instrument? Any suggestion to help me keep my wrist straighter? Thank you very much.
Can you talk a little bit more about your set-up for wedding performances and things like that? Me and a few other folk have just launched a band with a goal of working towards that market, so any info we can get is greatly appreciated - and the videos you have referencing it so far have been excellent!
My particular areas of curiosity regarding your setup are:
1. How do you find it to read sheet music on that small tablet screen? Does it act more as a quick-glance reminder or do you genuinely find yourself *reading* it at times?
2. How do you deal with page-turning, or scrolling, or whatever the tablet involves.
3. Are you just using a PDF viewer or is there a good app you could recommend for sheet music?
And anything else you think might be relevant that might not occur to those who haven't had the hands on experience yet (not necessarily relating just to bass).
Answer as much or as little as suits you, any little is appreciated. Cheers from Scotland ;)
+Iain Shanks 1. I actually do read off the tablet screen, but it can be a little bit of a pain sometimes. I might invest in an iPad Pro at some point, because the 13 inch display would actually be pretty damn ideal for reading music.
A great advantage that tablets have over regular music is the fact that they're backlit, so you don't need to worry about stage lighting or stand lights in dark rooms.
2. I don't have the bluetooth pedal, if that's what you're getting at. The page turns haven't really been a problem - they're treated differently depending on what app you are using. ForScore, for example, just requires you to lightly tap on the right side of the screen, which is extremely useful and time-efficient.
3. It depends on the gig. ForScore is absolutely incredible for a lot of things, but I actually end up using Adobe Acrobat for the majority of my gigs, because it has vertical scrolling, which I tend to prefer. Both offer superb annotation options as well.
Hey Adam, what's your opinion on acoustic basses? I have my eye on one because I like the idea of it but I've read that they're kinda low sounding. This is my first bass btw.
+Roland Ramos
Check this one: goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldtone/instruments/m-bass
I have an acoustic bass and i really enjoy it.But you really should start out on the electric bass.
I just realised that it`s been a year since you posted this comment.So how has your bass playing adventure gone so far mate :)
Necro posting, screw acoustic basses, they are way too low sounding. Always learn on electric, acoustic is nice but way to quiet unless you use a pick and light gauge strings, to the point that your basically playing a thicc guitar
Jimi Goodwin from Doves is also a 'reverse stringer'.
Your 5 string is a BTB yeah? Which model did you get, and what do you like about it over any other 5? I really love my btb, but I wanna hear your take.
I have that same 5 string!
The background music sounds really familiar. Is it from Phantasy Star?
Very late comment, but Mononeon is actually right handed, says on his wiki page. Very unusual approach.
Haha think that Goodman is a bit salty for some reason. Great video as always =)
+ruairihair maybe its not his channel. just a poser or a fan? the channel description reads 3rd person
+NitromeSupporter ruclips.net/user/GarryGoodmandiscussion No, it's clearly him.
+Adam Neely My assumption was that it was kind of a self-deprecating joke. Can't imagine anything else given his background.
Adam Neely do you know eric gales? Reverse stringed guitarist and bliuesman...
+luchadorito Great player! Some of the great blues guitarists played reverse stringed and I think it offers advantages for bending. Otis Rush and Albert King are the best examples. Also check Igor Prado!
Can i use Piccolo Strings on a Cello, tô play It tunned in EADG?
@UCnkp4xDOwqqJD7sSM3xdUiQ
The fun thing about a 7 String bass is once you purchase a fresh one you can use it as a Portable Piano & with it you can play John Clayton's arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner called "The 7 String Bass Spangled Banner" arr John Clayton & Adam Neely.
I follow you on the interwebs ;) 👍
i read somewhere that Mononeon is actually right-handed, he just learned to play the bass that way
Mononeon is legendary
nice
Andy McCluskey of OMD plays his bass with strings reversed. In the beginning IIRC he could only afford a lefty bass and stuck with that.
Adam Neely 7 String Basses are kinda fun. For a Chapman Stick you can play Demi Lovato's version of our national anthem on it.
Big up to my reverse stringers! (All 10 of them on the planet...) Honestly see no real playing disadvantage to having strings that way round on bass, other than conventional slap, and palm mute technique. And to be honest, if I worked harder at either of those, it would be fine...
im a right-handed player that plays reversed strings, its has its pros and cons
Good info, Mini-me.
I've watched, enjoyed, and shared a ton of your videos. Especially the ones about the fastest and slowest music possible, and the craziness of black midi. As a pretty bad bass player myself, i have to respect your knowledge and opinions. Except now! I mean, how can you diss the piccolo bass when there's Joey DeMaio and Manowar in the world?! Best hope he doesn't hear this. :-)
I'll keep watching.
who is the producer/7 strings bass player you mention toward 5:30 again ? I can't get his name right on the video
Yvan Cluet Johnathon Stein
Bass !
did just gain 40k subscribers in a few days?
Pick a low bass
I play like mono neon and jimmy Haslip
is a 6 string bass with piccolo strings is just a guitar?
is a guitar with piccolo strings a bass?
do the strings of the instrument determine what a string instrument is?
A guitar with piccolo strings would be a piccolo guitar, a term I've seen used with small guitars that are pitched a perfect fourth above a standard guitar.
If you tried to make an "octave guitar" with strings pitched down an octave, you'd quickly understand why bass necks are as long as they are (even "short scale" basses have scale lengths 5-6 inches longer than most guitars). You wouldn't have enough string tension on such an "octave guitar" to get a good feel when playing, and the intonation would probably suffer as well.
Scale length matters a lot. For most people, it would define the instrument just as much as string pitch. Scale length affects timbre and it affects playing technique. To say a 6-string picolo bass is actually a guitar, because the string pitches are identical, is...well, you can define it that way, but in the real world, the two instruments play differently, sound differently, and are used for different purposes. Just like electric guitars and acoustic guitars. Most musicians don't consider them interchangeable, though they clearly are related to each other.
Lol mannn, why does goodman want to e thug you? I like your tapping vid duder, plus damn you were 17 and playing that?! Muy bueno friend
Use Picallo strings on my Jazz fretless from time to time.
And to connect up Picallo and Reverse string playing check out.....hold on....that guy......
Anyway....
Ill get back to you but,
I use flats, Semi-flat, tape, Round, 5, 6 on a 5, A-D-G-C.....any configuration that you can name.
Its FULL SPECTRUM BASS.
MGBass 9 string basses.
Strange. Not there.
Does Adam Neely ever speak of what kind of camera he uses to record his videos?
What strings do you prefer for the 7 string bass. I have broke 2 "F" strings. What are the strongest bass strings I can buy to put on my bass to take the licks???
+Joe Brazil Kalium sell 7-string sets, but they have a plain steel at the end, for longevity I'd think getting a 6-string set of 136-29 balanced tension and buying a separate wound 22 or 23 which gets close to balanced in the set as well, you can check the tension specs on their calculator.
Thank u so much! I will jump on that! Great video! This is a much needed post! I am loving my 7 string bass. I still play my 6 as well. The 7 does get un-wanted attention !
+Joe Brazil Using a thinner plain steel with less tension might also work, though I'd assume a wound string would last longer.
Ok Bro, good looking out
but i'm left handed and i play a right handed bass like a right handed bass...
I know a couple of southpaw guitar players doing good with a right-handed guitar.
Same
Same
have a friend who is right handed but plays a left handed bass
I would have mentioned how 5 strings allow for more versatility. E.g. Playing something in F# on the middle of the neck rather than near the nut.
+OkonkwoPlaysBass True, you can do that, but that certainly is not an "essential" element in any style of music - I was talking about the objective necessity of playing 5-string, versus the benefits. Sure, positional playing becomes easier, and you have access to a few extra chords which are nice, and the sound of an F# played on the B string is different, but the real reason why you get a 5-string with a low B is for the sound of those low notes. Some musical situations really do require that.
+Adam Neely hey, have you heard Jeff Schmidt? he does some awesome "upside-down bass"?
+ruairihair Oh true, thanks for mentioning him. He also would have fit in perfectly with the discussion of piccolo bass!
+Adam Neely I've got an old Westfield (reallllly crap bass tbh) and think I'm going to try flipping the strings to see how it works out... Hopefully I won't need to change the nut.
Stanley Clarke wis the piccolo master.
Jeff Schmitt.
5 string, reverse string lefty, fretless bass player.
Hes one of the best Ive seen.
Check him out.
and also piccolo strings, all the boxes checked, awesome stuff this guy makes. just one bass and a shimmerverb, but so cool. heavily reminds me of Michael Manring. i also like Eric Czar (on a fretless 7), but i know almost nothing about him.
@@swancrunch i would put him in the same class as Manring and Czar. Maybe better in some ways.
And that Pedulla Pentabuzz......SO NICE.
Check out his fretted work as well.
Peace.
BASS!!
He played Pick-o-lo bass
Was I hearing Star Trek music in the background?
The chimes stand out to me! Driving me crazy!
Pre-Davie
...is that Doctor Fate on the wall to your right?
fretless!!!!!
did you say four string. Or fore skin?
but the harpejji
I absolutely hate the P-bass sound. HATE it, but have to use it on certain songs,
or you could get a octave pedal and play like micheal league with the octave up
Foley and Marcus were never in the same ensemble.
6 string bass is the standard !
How dare you say tapping bass is clunky. Haven't you ever heard of Scott Fernandez?
Can you do a colab with Davie504? Please. Idk what you guys will do but Yea just do one pls.
i'm right handed and i just want my g on top and e on bottom....
why the fuck is this not standard?
and every reason given is fucking stoopid...
will you ever pick up your eating channel again?
Amen to that comment on all the two-handed tapping "stuff". IMHO, none of it sounds good. Just seems like something a high school student would think was "cool".
(Oh, wait...)
Noice, some recognition for Jonathan Stein.
Ah yes, Gary Goodman. That's the guy that posted the 12 string bass cover of the Super Mario theme.... and butchered it. The dude's a fucking hypocrite.
Glad you ditched the neckbeard look. ;)
Wait, you were known for being unique, but instead you wanted to be known for being just another bass player.
Think of it more as the wrong distinctive feature. Imagine you're very proud of the depth of your pastries and you want to be recognized for it, but when presenting your pastries, you have horrible hair, so you quickly grab an old Mickey Mouse baseball cap to hide your hair-do.
Next thing you know, everybody talks about the dude with the Disney hat. Some of them acknowledge that you have some deep pastries with you but really, it's just the hat. You could follow down the path and always wear that hat for recognition but you'd have to accept that nothing you actually do matters to anyone and sooner or later, you'll see other dudes running around with Mickey Mouse hats, surfing on the wave of popularity you're unintentionally creating for the brand.
Or you can ditch the hat and focus on your pastries and get a way to get them recognized because they're really deep.
Piccolo is good for bassists that was to record high registers but are not proficient on guitar. LOL this Garry Goodman guy - he's the stereotypical basement dweller; him mum didn't give him the money for the amp so he's got the big angry.
fuck tapping, if you're gonna tap you might as well get a warr guitar and throw your bass away, way too overdone, like shredding.
The reverse stringing is probably causes bassists dont even know how to string a guitar. xD They hardly know how to spell bass or 'The' usually. Hopefully one day one learns how to play! I was gonna buy a bass so i could be the worlds first bassist who knew how to play,exactly why im here to learn about piccolo
Many thanks. Dump the annoying background 'music' - genuinely annoying!.
The music is fine. Also, I believe he uses his own music, so you're thanking him and dissing him at the same time. Genuinely uncalled for.
@@albaal7035 I wasn't dissing him. I was saying that the music is unnecessary. It continues to be so despite your also unnecessary and somewhat foolish comment.
@@j.d.hughes3728 "genuinely annoying!" 🤪
Tamber is not a word. Timber is a word and it is used in music. This guy is not educated. Go somewhere else for knowledge.
yeesh. Timbre is pronounced "tamber". Trying to dunk on Neely's musical education and knowledge, come on man, this is a facepalm comment.
@UCnkp4xDOwqqJD7sSM3xdUiQ
The fun thing about a 7 String bass is once you purchase a fresh one you can use it as a Portable Piano & with it you can play John Clayton's arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner called "The 7 String Bass Spangled Banner" arr John Clayton & Adam Neely.