>>>>>Not even shure which forum to put this in.
I see what you mean!
I call it a clickety clack....no disrespect of course...I like their sound.
From what I understand......
The instrument was intended as a compromise between a Guitar and a Bass. Perhaps a higher register Bass...low register Guitar..., tuned the same as a guitar but an octave lower. Fender built their version to capitalise on the Nashville Tic Tac sound of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. My interpretation of Tic Tac is country music. In recording such, it was common to use one for double tracking bass parts…to emphasise the bass in unfavourable conditions…eg when listening to a record via the small speaker of a radio.
Played higher up the neck, it sounds the same as the lower strings on a normal guitar and can be used to play 2, 3 and perhaps 4 string cords. Jack Bruce first used one before joining “Cream”. The band he was in lost their guitarist and Jack found it useful in covering the function of both guitar and bass.....filling the gap. Of course, he also used one in “Cream” as well.
Session Bassist, Carol Kaye, used one while recording Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Linesman”….you can hear it in the lead break...if that's what you call it.
These days…don’t know….perhaps used for country music...any body!!!???
PS...just an afterthought...you can hear examples of the 6 string Bass in surf band instrumentals of the 60's.
I think their potential is still untapped....imagine one through a synthesiser....abstract jazz....whoaaaa.....
