thats not always true...theres alot of bassists who prefer 5/6 string variations of bass. You need a better way to tell them apart...

and that generally is thicker strings / way of playing (if your watching) a bassist wont use the pick for chords or anything, some bassists dont even use picks at all..

Geddy Lee could pluck your head off with his thumb

i dont doubt it

i bet neil peart and stewart copeland could lob my head off with a tree branch

i had an 8 string bass, my friend a 12

While we're talking odd string numbers, I once played on a custom left handed Ibanez 8 string with a scalloped neck, loosely modeled after a Steve Vai Universe. That thing was wicked fast, and absolutely whaled on the extra high string with the active DiMarzio's. The extra low string thundered beautifully as well, especially considering I was playing through a Randall Warhead half stack. All in all, it would have been well worth the $4500 price tag...pity I didn't have it on me at the time.

Bass and guitar are essentially the same thing, physically, except the bass plays in a lower register- usually each string is an octave lower than the guitar. Your typical bass has 4 strings, but there are many that has 5, 6, 7...etc. The fundamental difference is what they are used for. On a bass, you will never really play chords, as the low register doesn't really suit groupings of notes. You can, but it isn't practical or usual. The bass typically plays single lines that outline the chord changes.

you could land an airplane on those fretboards


but a bass = guitar just lower, the reason for bass is to fill the empty just 1 guitar would leave

bass players and guitar players and play the same thing,same strings..even if you added a 5 6 7 8 string...it would be the same as a 5 6 7 8 string on a regular guitar, but if you are in band and you both play the same rhythm and chords, it sounds boring, which is why guitar players use chords, and bass players use bass lines but of course they are never limited to just that