The Piccolo Bass
The very concept of the piccolo bass seems like a paradox: after all, a bass guitar, tuned an octave higher
is surely a guitar?! Given its register, it’s certainly true that the piccolo bass cannot function as a bass
instrument as we know it, but nevertheless, it remains a part of the bass guitar family, albeit the highest-
pitched member. Piccolo basses, whilst once considered a niche area of the bass world, have gained
considerable popularity in recent years thanks to a number of high profile players who have used them to
stretch their creative wings.
Legendary bassist Stanley Clarke is generally considered
to be the pioneer of the piccolo bass guitar, having
commissioned New York luthier Carl Thompson to
build him one back in 1974. Clarke notes that he had
musical ideas that he could not realise on the traditional
bass guitar, and harboured a desire to work beyond the
accepted register of the instrument. Clarke’s piccolo bass
enabled him to explore chords with a clarity not possible
on a standard bass, and to develop his Coltrane-inspired
soloing approach. It also allowed him to step outside of
the traditional bass player role during his concerts, and
act as the main soloist. In doing so, Clarke found that he
had the opportunity to work with other bass players (a
rarity for most bassists) and has since employed the likes
of Abe Laboriel and Armand Sabal-Lecco to lay down
the low end whilst he plays the role of the soloist using
both tenor and piccolo basses.
Traditionally, the piccolo bass is tuned E A D G, an
octave above the standard bass register. However,
the longer scale length means that the instrument has
a different timbre to the guitar, whilst the use of common
bass playing techniques such as slapping and tapping
can be combined with chordal playing to create a
unique sound.
Since Stanley Clarke’s first ground-breaking steps with
the piccolo, many other bassists have added it to their
arsenal. Victor Bailey, John Patitucci, Bunny Brunel,
Michael Manring and Brian Bromberg are all well-known
bassists who have used the instrument to solo outside
of the bass register, whilst bassists such as Joey DeMaio
(Manowar) and Chris Hardy (3 Feet Up) have found a
home for the instrument within their respective bands.
In recent years the rise in popularity of solo bass guitar
performance has added to the profile of the piccolo bass.
Bassists such as Bunny Brunel, Rhonda Smith, Michael
Manring, Jeff Schmidt and now Zander Zon have all
contributed enormously to the growth and potential of
the instrument.
8 Z ander Zon So norou s Ba ss Tra n sc ri pt i on s
Setting Up a Piccolo Bass
Getting started on piccolo bass does not necessarily
mean going out and buying a brand new instrument.
Whilst some luthiers build piccolo basses with shorter
scale lengths such as 30” or 32”, a standard 34” scale
electric bass can be easily converted into a piccolo
simply by stringing it with lighter strings and adjusting the
truss rod and bridge saddles accordingly. If you intend
to leave the instrument strung this way, you might also
want to consider having a luthier recut the nut in order to
better accommodate the thinner strings. Given the nature
of some of the techniques that Zander Zon uses in his
music, you’ll find that the pieces transcribed in this book
are easier to play with a relatively low action.
Most string companies now offer piccolo sets -
D’Addario make a set with gauges .020, .032, .042 and
.052 and GHS offer a set of Bass Boomers at gauges
.018, .030, .040 and .050. As with regular bass strings,
you should experiment with gauges to find the set that
works best for you.
Zander used a Zon VB4 bass strung with D’Addario
strings to record all of the pieces on Sonorous.
Altered Tunings
Although Zander uses the same piccolo bass on
each track from Sonorous, he favours a range of
altered tunings as opposed to the standard E A D G
configuration. This is an approach that was inspired
by the innovative solo bassist Michael Manring.
Like Zander, Manring plays a Zon bass, but with a
difference: Michael’s bass is a ‘Hyperbass’, an instrument
developed specifically for him by luthier Joe Zon which
utilises detuners, combined with adjustable bridge levers
to facilitate an enormous variety of altered tunings.
The design of the instrument allows Michael to make
very quick tuning adjustments, meaning that multiple
tunings can be used within the space of one piece of
music. Perfect examples of this include ‘Helios’ and