When did low B become a thing?

EricTheWeary · February 2023

I was having a chat on Twitter about Rock On by David Essex. 1973 hit, the bassline by Herbie Flowers is a bass tuned down to B (or at least C#, I'm not 100% sure), doubled an octave up and a distinct delay added.
[It's quite an odd piece of music for a pop hit with no chordal instrument at all]
I think that tuning a bass down to Eb goes back to at least Hendrix. But Rock On is the first song I'm aware of with such a low tuning. Was it the first? Was someone already tuning down to B?

Funkfingers · February 2023

The credit for commissioning the first solid body electric bass guitar is usually given to American session musician, Jimmy Johnson for his Alembic. (I have been mostly knowing of JJ because of his stint with Allan Holdsworth.) He also plays orchestral contrabass - sometimes with an E string extension. This is probably where he got the idea.

It is possible that lower than standard pitch has been achieved on recordings by tape speed trickery.

stickyfiddle · February 2023

Yeah, JJ in the early-mid 70s is the generally accepted "first 5 string" but I'd bet you had guys in the studio occasionally tuning the lowest string down to D or further before that

EricTheWeary · February 2023

Bit of googling suggests 1976 for that Alembic, does seem to have been the first usable 5 string with a low B. Cheers.

fretmeister · February 2023

The Stenholm Extension for Double bass was from about 1880 - that went to a low C as a lot of music at the time needed it.

5 string double basses were around in the 17th Century but the actual tuning had not really settled so the players tuned to whatever they wanted or the piece needed.

Svartmetall · February 2023

Antony Jackson came up with the idea for the 6-string bass as we know it (i.e. with a low

in about 1968, but couldn't find a builder who would make him one until Carl Thompson did in '73 or '74. He then went on to work with Ken Smith and then finally Fodera, with whom he's most commonly associated.

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When did low B become a thing?

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