Has anyone come up with a clever way to add a fifth string without redrilling the pegbox to fit 5 gears? The bassist seems to want to do something that will be easily reversible, and is hoping for some sort of add-on gear. I don't quite see it myself, but I thought I'd put it up.
Robobass
That sounds good. The tailpiece can always be replaced. Can you give some details? How was the string secured in the pegbox? I suppose you could easily put a BG tuner on the tailpiece.
Robobass
What are you going to do about the finger board, bass bar, and bridge? I'm guessing that would all fall into the category of not being easily reversed? Adding a fifth string will put about 25% more stress on the table and bass bar. Will the bass hold that?
On the tuner question, check this one posted on the really long five string thread:
__________________ Silversorcerer There are no secrets, just ignorance or knowledge- Anonymous
How about simply drilling another hole in an existing peg. You would have to tune the 5th string last, but I wouldn't think that tuning the 5th would affect the pitch of the original occupant of the peg. However, string replacement might be a little tricky.
Five String basses (with a low C or B) are very common in Europe, but not so much in the US. I had one in my shop one time and couldn't sell it. Everyone was interested in the bass, but they couldn't get used to the string placement, hitting the low B for example instead of the E String. The neatest conversion I've seen is on a bass owned by Joeseph Guastefeste of the Chicago. The fingerboard sticks out on the low string side enough to accomodate the extra string. That leaves all of the original strings in position. I found it very easy to play. However, I can't remember how it went into the peg box. Perhaps someone else has seen it and can enlighten us.
In the late 40s and early 50s a lot of jazzers put a high C oin the bass ala Chubby Jackson. I actually had an inquiry a couple of weeks ago from someone looking for a high C for his five stringer, so I guess some are still out there. I actually found 5 or 6 high Cs manufactured by some of the string makers, so it must be fairly common.
That looks like just the ticket. I saw the Concertgebou Orchestra in Cologne last week and one of the players had this. Another had a capo'd C-Extension. The rest was a mix of standard 4 and 5 stringers.
Anyone know what to use for the extra tuner?
Robobass
I'm guessing that would all fall into the category of not being easily reversed? Adding a fifth string will put about 25% more stress on the table and bass bar. Will the bass hold that? 
