You really can look at a 6 string bass as being a combination of the two main types of 5 string bass guitars. The reason for this is that basses with expanded range like a 6 string are usually tuned in perfect fourths, instead of the 3rd that would have been created by tuning to B (B is the 3rd of G). It may seem a little weird to tune the 1st string to a C – that’s because if you follow the standard tuning method on a 6 string guitar you’ll find it’s E-A-D-G-B-E.

Going from low to high, the most common way to tune one is: There’s nothing super fancy about tuning a 6 string bass. This is done by adding two strings – one lower and one higher than what you’ll normally find. Not only that, but we’ll also get into what they were meant to do, how they are tuned (you may be a bit surprised with some of them), and how you might make the best choice for your particular needs.Ī 6 string bass is typically used to expand the range of the traditional 4 string bass. I’ve taken a good, hard look at what I think are some of the best 6+ string bass guitars around. But they can get a little intimidating and confusing. What IS in your best interest is to dig a little deeper and develop a better understanding of what instruments like these can do for you. There’s a ton of different bass guitar options out there, though, and it isn’t in your best interest to buy a bass with a quadzillion strings on it just because you’re trying to make some sort of fashion statement (I say that in jest, of course). Having a new type of instrument can do wonders for inspiring creativity and breathing life into some aspects of playing that may get kind of stale sometimes. Without a doubt, most bass players go after instruments with 6 or more strings because they want to shake things up a bit – and not just for the audience. I dare say there are just as many variants of the ‘regular’ 4 string bass as there are different types of guitars. It’s certainly not at all uncommon these days to hear of someone playing a 7 string (or even an 8 string) guitar.įollowing in that path, you surely can’t count bass guitars out of that league.

6 stringed bass