"Guitars cover chords, and drums keep the beat, but it's the bass that makes you move your feet."
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Why "Sixandeightstringer?"
I have an affinity for musical toys. (CLICK HERE to visit my gear list.) I've long been enamored by extended-range basses (5 & 6 strings.) Since 1997, when I purchased my PBC 6-string (seen at right), my main basses have been sixers. So that accounts for the "Six" part.Also very interesting to me are unusual instruments like the 8-string bass. The 8-string works on the same principle as the 12-string guitar; each string has a corresponding string right next to it which is tuned one octave up. The strings are fretted and played simultaneously to create a large, chorus-laden sound that really fills out the bottom end. I was sufficiently inspired by the idea of owning such an instrument to build one, using a Warmoth neck and a project body I had. It worked well enough, but wasn't exactly pretty. I used it alongside my pair of six-string basses for a time; at that point, every bass I owned had either six or eight strings. Thus, the nickname "Six•and•Eight•Stringer." I used that nickname on several online message boards, and became fairly well known as "6&8" from board to board - even those that have nothing to do with music. I've since retired and sold my ugly "Frankenbass" 8 string in favor of a 12 string monster;  it goes by the same essential concept of the 8 string bass, but adds a duplicate high octave string to each pair (yes, that means you're fretting and plucking/picking three strings at once!) The result is a positively huge sound that cannot be matched by any other instrument. Obviously, I find it useful only for certain songs, and used it in two songs with Second Story. I also played it on some Din Within tracks.I guess it would be more appropriate, considering the gear change, to change my online nickname to "Sixandtwelvestringer, but I'm already signed on and known on so many internet sites as 6&8 that I'm content to live with the minor misnomer. CLICK HERE to visit my gear list.
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