Open string, or fretted 5th which do you prefer?

[backup]

Originally Posted by MrLenny1

Fretted 5th. Opens are OK once in a while for effects,i.e. Red Barchetta riff,
but a lot to control when being played in faster sections.
Jim K's comment on "...the advanced player will not use open strings.
One reason for that is recording, i.e. over ringing.
Studio cats have to play very clean.

lets tell that james jamerson

[Geroi Asfalta]

I do a bit of both. I think open A sounds awesome, but (in certain circumstances) open D and G sound thin and wimpy. Open A vs Fretted A is hit and miss depending on the song.

In my group, some of our songs are slow or mid paced, and I simply have the extra half a second to shift to the fifth fret. One of our songs, though is a high speed high energy type thing, with a quick B-G-A progression, with a few other notes tossed in. In that song, its just easier to either play with the open A ot to play the entire run on only the E string.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by MrLenny1

Jim K's comment on "...the advanced player will not use open strings.
One reason for that is recording, i.e. over ringing.
Studio cats have to play very clean.

OK...that makes some sense. Although Jamerson used open strings alot (including the D & G)...could be his Labella strings were so dead they were devoid of any ringing.


Just looked it up-
Mel Bay Bass Method 1st published in 1963. Did any bass strings "over-ring" back then?


I have that book stashed somewhere; I want to re-read that section & see if I missed an explanation.
I am now wondering if Mel Bay's eschewing open strings was related to "Boogie" patterns...for ease of transposing, it would make sense to play everything in closed position.

[tmntfan]

Having put more work into learning upright bass I tend to play electric like an upright. The three finger "Claw", more shifting, and useing open strings. Open stings on upringt make sense for a few reasons 1: it helps with intonation 2: it gives your hand a rest and 3: it makes shifing easier, either running up the neck or doing falls ala jamerson/ray brown

but as I play more pop and rock music, where it is playing one note for a long period of time, cositancy of sound is more important so then I try to use fretted notes