A contrabass guitar is a type of bass guitar that produces low-pitched sounds. It usually has six strings and is often referred to as a six-string bass guitar. A five-string bass guitar is not typically called a contrabass guitar, even though it can play the same lowest note as a six-string bass guitar.

History

Contrabass guitars were first made in 1899, when a "Grand Concert Contra Bass Guitar" was listed in Joseph Bohmann's catalog. Bohmann, who made violins, mandolins, guitars, and zithers in Chicago, created a large 6-string guitar. Some people believe this instrument was tuned an octave lower than a standard guitar (similar to an Acoustic Bass VI), but there is no confirmed information about its tuning.

A "classical contrabass guitar" (also called an Acoustic Bass VI) is tuned E1–A1–D2–G2–B2–E3, like a classical guitar but one octave lower. It is commonly used in Fado bands in Portugal and South America. In this way, it can be considered an acoustic bass guitar because it produces low tones similar to those of a bass guitar. However, since it is only tuned an octave lower than a regular guitar, it is more accurately described as an acoustic bass guitar rather than a contrabass instrument. Its strings are thinner than those on a typical acoustic bass guitar, so it does not have the deep, thick sound of those instruments.

Contrabass guitars from the 1970s are often tuned B0–E1–A1–D2–G2–C3 (B0 is the lowest B on a standard 88-key piano). Some players prefer B0–E1–A1–D2–F♯2–B2, which keeps the same intervals as a standard guitar tuning but lowered by a twelfth, making the top and bottom notes the same pitch. These instruments are usually electric with solid wooden bodies. After guitar maker Carl Thompson made an early, possibly unsatisfactory version in 1974, Ken Smith created the first fully functional electric contrabass guitar in 1982. This was requested by bassist Anthony Jackson, who later asked Vinnie Fodera and Joey Lauricella of Fodera Guitars to build several instruments based on his designs.