Can anyone tell me quite seriously what the advantages and purpose of a two headed bass guitar like this would be?
I would be interested to know in general but also for specific situations in serious terms.
For example in the serious documentary, the bassist had this guitar for a song where the band also had another bass, a bass synthesiser and a lead bass. Perhaps this helped them stand out tonally?
I am still a very green beginner in my bass journey… and my overall knowledge, musically, is limited… but do some bass songs need or want dropped tuning similar to normal guitars might do?
Perhaps that is why the double neck bass?
I believe I have seen that same serious documentary from a couple decades ago and perhaps multi-string bases were not as common? I would think that today’s more complex music that use 5 or 6 string basses that a 5 (or6) string in addition to the typical 4 would be more versatile as a double neck.
But seriously, that bass in the image is a very special instrument. I am not into numerology, but if that photo is rotated about 45 degrees counterclockwise it resembles the number 11.
Beside excellent back muscles work out, it would serves as 2 in one without changing instruments. Some wants 8 string/ 4 string, some wants fretless/ fretted, some may be alternate tuning.
It does. The four higher strings come through the back of the headstock and go down to four tuning machines behind the bridge. If you zoom in you can see them.
Yes. It’s a pretty unique sound. Best when used sparingly.
Even with the 8 string, I still say no.
This particular bass is an artifact of its time. It wasn’t just about verstility, it was about the whole look. Including the BDSM looking harness which was to support how incredibly heavy this bass was. The harness was for the weight and the strap was for controlling the angle of the neck (s).
There are some specialized uses, like what @Al1885 wrote. But, for the most part, there are too many other options, like stand up guitar stands, that make carrying around a 20 pound double neck unnecessary.
A double-neck stringed instrument — whether a combo of a 6-string/12-string guitars, a 6-string guitar and bass, or two bass necks of long and short scale, etc. — yes.
And, as has been cleverly alluded to by several posters here, you seriously realize that the image you posted is from the mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap”, right?
Not in dispute. But the guys are also supremely talented comedians and damn good musicians who created the band Spinal Tap specifically for the Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary.
Here are the boys in another musical incarnation as The Folksmen, a faux folk group they created for the Christopher Guest film “A Mighty Wind”.
… and actors, I can’t help but think it be Derek Smalls playing a straitlaced NASA recruiter in the Right Stuff… My favorite lines in this clip:
“Y’all wanna’ drink whiskey”
“'l’d like a Coka-Cola, in a clean glass”
