Does anyone have any experience with 6-string basses??
A used ESP Ltd B206-SM showed up in a classified for about 350 dollars. Would love to hear any comments… thanks!
Oh sweet! Joerg is getting a metal bass!
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Haha, somehow I knew you were going to say that 
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Seriously I love both the look and sound of most ESP’s I have heard. Very clean and modern sounding, high quality instruments.
They are a standard here, rock and metal bands routinely use them.
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quite popular in Europe too, at least for metal bands. it’s somewhat considered as the “standard” metal gear, with Ibanez.
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Yup, I have Brice 6-string but tune EADGCF… I’m not very “metal”. lol
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My vote’s that you get it Joerg. 
If it’s in good shape, etc., of course! For US $350, it’s more for the experience of trying a 6 string, and, for a thinker like you, you may find you really dig it (or really don’t!). I just looked up online prices, and you’re not overpaying. I’d say the only thing to think about is if you didn’t like it, and tried to re-sell it, it could take awhile, you’d have to find that person that really wanted it to buy it from you.
That spalted maple body seals the deal for me, hope the one you’re looking at is similar. Keep us posted.
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I’ve never owned one, but I’ve played on a good few of them. More strings = more options!! I love messing around on 6 strings.
If you’ve got a budget for it, and an ear for high melodies and chordal playing, you can’t go wrong.
Even a cheap 5 string (if it is set up well) is a good time!
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Theoretically you should be able to hear down to F0 at 22Hz. Which fits nicely with basses tuned by fourths. So F#BEADG should theoretically be doable.
The F# string is going to be like a bridge cable though
edit: google shows that this is not an uncommon observation
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Thanks, guys!
To all the “metal” comments: guess I walked right into this one 
As for tuning: I think I would most likely go with the standard setup (BEADGC) - @Korrigan: yours seems almost like a guitar 
How hard/easy is it to get an F string? Or do you tune up a second C string?
@howard: really not sure I would ever need/want a F# string for the music I am ultimately interested in 
In the end, a 6-string would indeed be interesting for melodic/chordal stuff, like @Gio suggested.
@vik: buying a decently priced one, playing around with it for a while, and then re-selling it if I don’t like it seems like a valid strategy - with the one caveat that it could be a bit more challenging to re-sell a 6-string 
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While I won’t use my small hands as a reason to play sub-optimally on a 4 string, I can’t see them cooperating with a 6 string. Might give it a go in a shop someday. Haven’t even tried a 5 string yet, but I have doubts. I also just like the simplicity of four strings and that it matches an upright, though I might never play one of those either.
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Harley Benton (Thomann’s own brand!?) has a 6-string with a through-neck and a faux-ebony fingerboard for pretty much the same price new (as the used ESP), I just saw:
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5 strings are easier than you might think. Yes, the fretboard is wider, but the strings are closer together and the E string is often actually a shorter reach than on the equivalent 4-string.
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In the end, a second 5-string with EADGC might be a good option for me as well, I figure
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Although I said I’m a one bass guy, I already have a whisper in my head telling me to consider a 5-string for modern music.
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I hope you have very long fingers. Not only is the nut width 9 mm more than on my 5-string, and a whopping 16mm more than on a jazz bass, It also has a very long scale at 890mm.
If the quality of this instrument is as good as the few Harley-Bentons I’ve seen, you’re going to wonder how this is at all possible for this kind of money. I have a HB 5 string fretless, and Sebastiaan’s dad has a short-scale fretless viola. Both instruments are much better than they are allowed to be.
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I guess they are average in length. My “problem” is my pinky, where I almost can’t avoid touching/pressing on the higher strings when reaching to fret on the E-string. This will certainly be even worse on a 6-string 
They even have a 7-string version of this bass - might as well just go all the way 
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Ha! Free string damping! 
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