Q. How are basses tuned and how is music notated for them? Answer. Four string electric basses, like their upright counterparts, are tuned in Perfect Fourths, E A D G from low to high. Music for basses is notated on the Bass, or F clef. The written music is transposed up one octave from what the bass actually plays, to reduce the necessity for ledger lines. Q. How about five and six (and seven) string basses? Answer. Five string basses usually come in one of two flavors. The most common configuration is to add a low B string to the standard E A D and G strings. The second configuration is to add a high C string instead of the low B. Six string basses usually have both the low B and the high C. One reason for these configurations is to extend the range of the bass lower, higher, or both. Another advantage of these configurations is the ability to play a two octave range without having to shift position. Some manufacturers even produce seven string basses, with the usual configuration being to add a low F# to the normal six string layout. Q. What are eight and twelve string basses? Answer. Eight string basses are similar to twelve string guitars. A second string is added to each of the four standard strings. This second string is tuned one octave higher than the standard string, so two notes one octave apart are sounded. The twelve string bass takes this further by adding a second "octave" string to the pair. The result is four sets of three strings. The twelve string bass is credited to Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick and Jol Dantzig of Hamer Guitars. Doug Pinnick of King's X also uses 12 strings extensively. An eighteen string bass was actually built by Modulus Graphite for Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick. It is now in the posession of Allen Woody of the Allman Brothers Band. It has a 6" wide neck! Q. What is the difference between a J pickup and a P pickup? Answer. There are actually three major varieties of pickups for electric bass. The P, or Precision Bass, pickup is made of two distinct parts. The two parts are mounted in an offset manner so that each one picks up the vibrations of two strings. The signal is combined before being sent to the volume/tone circuit. These two distinct halves of the pickup are each a single coil and are wired in opposite directions to reduce hum. P basses usually have one pickup. The J, or Jazz Bass, pickup is made in one piece and is slightly narrower than the P style and is long enough to pick up signal from all of the strings. The J style pickup is a single coil. J basses usually have two pickups, one nearer the neck, and one nearer the bridge. The bridge pickup tends to produce a thinner tone than either the other J pickup near the neck, or the Precision style pickup. The third type of pickup is called a "soapbar" due to its shape. It is also a one piece pickup, like the J style, but is usually about twice as wide as the J style. The soapbar can be wired in several configurations, including single coil and humbucking. Q. What are the different types of strings? Answer. There are two main types of strings, roundwound and flatwound. The roundwound type is most commonly used now, whereas the flatwound was more popular in the Motown era. All wound strings are made by holding one strand of wire straight and then wrapping one or more layers of additional wire around that "core" wire. Roundwound strings use a round wire as the wrap, while flatwound strings are wound with a flat ribbon wire. Roundwound strings provide a much brighter sound but also emphasize squeaks. Flatwound strings have a duller sound, but don't have as much extraneous noise. Roundwound strings tend to lose their brightness after some period of time, but may be rejuvenated by boiling in vinegar or detergent solutions or soaking in alcohol. Flatwound strings tend to maintain a more constant tone. James Jamerson used flatwound strings on his Precision Bass and is said to have only changed strings if he broke one. There are also some variations on these two types, such as the pressurewound strings which have the round wrap wire slightly flattened as it is wrapped around the core. In addition, some manufacturers freeze their strings, which is supposed to add to the string's brightness and/or longevity. One manufacturer is even black-anodizing their strings! Q. What is biamping? Answer. Biamping is a method of amplification where the signal from the bass preamp is split using a crossover. The highs are split from the lows and each is sent to a different amplifier power stage and subsequently to separate speaker cabinets. This is particularly useful when using one cabinet with smaller drivers (e.g. four 10") for the highs, and one cabinet with one or more large drivers (15" or 18") for the lows. The lower frequencies require more power to achieve the same volume as the higher frequencies, and some manufacturers design their amplifiers to produce more power in the lower range. (The Gallien-Krueger 800RB is a good example of this, having 300 watts on the low end and 100 watts on the high.)

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