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This 24-String Bass Is Incredible

Bet you've never seen an instrument like this before! Davie504

Posted by UNILAD Sound on Thursday, May 10, 2018

I can barely play four strings!

Facebook link so no click.

Is it 24 as in strung with guitar strings for multiple octaves per ‘string’? I really line the 8-string sound (Pearl Jam’s Jeremy being a good example), but it’s quite niche. I wouldn’t have one as my only guitar. I think Ament played a Hamer 12-string on Ten.

If it’s 24 in a row then I’m not interested. It’s a bit gimmicky.

Aye, I’m a vote for clown bass! no for me!

It’s this one:

https://reverb.com/item/6598240-prat-basses-godzilla-c3-wtf-24-24-string-bass-8×3-trans-dark-emerald-green-axe-handler-arc-stand

So an eight string with three strings an octave apart on each on the lower note and two octaves on the higher notes. If you listen to it being played by different people on Youtube you realise that it’s hard to hold all three strings down on the low notes. On the thin trings it sound different, interesting even.

Not for me though, I rarely use the G string on a four-string bass

Claire Sutton, guitarist with All Ears Avow from Swindon plays a 10-string guitar, but the strings are single spaced, and it’s basically a bass and six-string on one neck, so she can effectively play both at once. She only uses it for recording, the band has a very good bass player, and Claire is a very good lead guitarist as well, she told me it’s a pain to use live.

When I played bass, I even thought 5 strings were a bit, you know, w…k. Let alone that. But the the punk hatred of twin neck guitars and the like played a part. I suppose it depends what it sounds like, but I almost know I won’t like it (it’ll be jazzy won’t it? 😆 )

*now listened* god it was worse, what a horrible sound. Technically skilled player, no doubt, but eurgh.

8 and 12 string basses are pretty cool in the right context. I played 4 for years but then switched to 5 most of the time about a decade ago. My main bass is a custom 36″ scale 5 strung BEADG but I’ve also got an el cheapo 35″ scale acoustic 5 strung EADGC which I play lots of chords on, like a giant guitar. Works well as a solo instrument for singing along with, which is rare with bass guitar!

I’ve found once I go wider than a typical 5-string’s neck, the muting challenge really constrains what my right hand can do. It’s fine for normal fingerstyle but not if you want to do other stuff.

Yeah, but what do you think of the 24 string thing?

4 strings and drop D tuning is all that’s needed for me.

yeah but.. ahfergedaboudit

Not a bass player (not really a guitarist either) but that looks and sounds pants. 5 string seem OK but if you’re going to go silly then just get a Chapman Stick for the win.

it’ll be jazzy won’t it?

I’d say not. It’s too choral. Generally, bass needs definition.

yeah but..

OK. I think it’s a fun idea and does exactly what the makers intended. What I find a bit odd is that the bass strings appear to be below the octave strings, that pretty much fixes it as a finger-played instrument, which is weird considering that every ‘note’ is a chord. I can see it being quite difficult to adapt a pick style to get a good attack of all the strings; you’d have to get up and over the bass string to strike the octaves, or up-pick everything. The guy in the video is playing some weird fingertip strumming style, which, I suspect, is just how it’d have to be played. That’s quite a mistake, in my opinion.

I wouldn’t fancy tuning it

I’d say not

yeah, so did I

My stock of “cool” (which has never, ever been great) was never higher than when, in my band at school, I slowly worked my way through breaking strings to end up with a one string bass. Make of that what you will.

I Hofner-thing to say about it.

Check out davie504 on YouTube, he has a couple of videos playing that bass and also one about runnin it.

First was awful. Previous post was pleasantly surprising, though I think that has a lot more to do with the musician than the instrument which if listened to objectively, is awful.

Note to self: play your bass more funky white boy.

Can he play Stairway on it?

Bass playling has gotten all too up itself twiddle-de-dee for my liking. All started when that bloke Sheehan faffed around doing an Eddie, without creating anything like a structural backdrop for a song overlay.

Multi-string instruments have thier place, normally on their own exit stage left where all the attention seekers lurk huddled together vamping themselves into a froth over each other’s “prowess”

Go play a tune on it people will like, no need to be an attention seeking whore.

All started when that bloke Sheehan faffed around doing an Eddie

I used to think this but having seen him live many times I know that the fundamentals are taken care of

As usual a music thread inspired me to record something so here’s my 85e base and song that works well (IMO) with just a bass. The sound on vission and other noises are the camera rattling on the table as the whole house shakes.

Interesting instrument, always good to see people pushing the envelope.

As an instrument to be used in the traditional role for a bass guitar, it is utterly pointless though.

I’ve seen Sheehan too, was back in the early 90’s when he played stuff off his solo album.

Too much chorus, fuzz and phaser for my liking. He can turn a beat out but he looks bored doing it.

He’s perfected making a Bass sound like a rubber band on a loop IMO.

As usual a music thread inspired me to record something

You haven’t quite caught on to the multiple unnecessary strings thing, have you?

I thought I was being adventurous using three strings, that song can be played on 2 stings without going beyond the 15th fret. For the same note I find the thicker the string the rounder the sound on a base so play on the fatest string I can reach, unless as here I wanted root and fifth together with the root on the A string and the fifth on the D…

I was , once upon a time.Donald “duck”Dunne had 4 strings. Enough for me.

I saw billy Sheehan once , with that Vai and Roth fella. I was more influenced by hooky ,bass thing (rip)and neds atomic dustbin! Ha

JJ Burnell for me. He never needed 5 or more strings.

Greg Lake played an 8-string bass on ‘Fanfare For The Common Man’, IIRC, I think it was an Alembic, but the strings were in octave pairs, which gave it quite a distinctive sound. That 24-string is an interesting excercise in what can be done, but it’s not a real-world instrument. 4-and 5-string bass guitars are all most musicians actually need on stage, if you want more, learn to play a Chapman Stick. It’s apparently a bitch to learn to play, I’ve only seen two musicians play it, one of those is Tony Levin, who’s a phenomenal guitarist.

Here’s Tony playing a Stick, (I’m fairly certain DezB won’t like this):

This is rather impressive, a 10-string classical guitar:

https://youtu.be/5woVpVF0Bzs

I’m fairly certain DezB won’t like this

Ah-ha! A challenge! Listening to Actress at the mo, but I’ll be back 😉

Electric 10-string:

It’s too choral.

You’re too choral.

Here’s Tony playing a Stick, (I’m fairly certain DezB won’t like this):

See, that was ok, cos they’re using the instruments to make their own music. Quite funky really.

2/ 10 string classical was indeed impressive. Despite unnecessary number of strings.

Your 3rd one though, Tony Patterson – what’s going on there? All I could hear was chatter (talk talk it’s only talk! babble burble banter!) Can’t stand videos like that.

All better than the 12 string bass anyway,