What would I be missing out on if I were to go with a standard 4-stringer bass?

[sven kalmar]

ive had a yamaha 6 string and a squire 5 string. Eventually i went back to the roots. the classic workhorse P bass. A big advantage with 5-6 strings is that you can play runs and scales without moving the hands so much. its easier to play higher on the neck. But then again. Im not a bass player, im a drummer. I like the bass for pure fun and riffmaking etc

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Hobobob

Wanna know something cool about 6 strings? There's a 4 string hidden in the middle! Always amuses me when people assume 6'ers can't be played like a regular bass.

It's not that people assume that you can't...it's that they assume that you WON'T And I must say, bass players on the whole don't give them a whole lot of reason to assume otherwise.

[IronLung1986]

OP, you should go with whatever inspired you. if it was chordal stuff on an extended range bass that made you want to play again, then that's what you should do. your bass should allow you to do whatever you want. the people who get all patriotic about the amount of strings on their bass don't really care what the instrument means to YOU. they're just having the same old argument in a different thread.

save your money and buy what you really want. the extra strings will make a difference once you learn to use them.

[mizedog]

I played a 5 string for several years of church music - mostly because the keyboardists LOVE the key of Eb. With the 5, I could easily play the low Eb.

Then, I got into the club seen playing 70s, 80s hard rock. I sold the 5 string and bought several 4 strings. The 5 just couldn't cop a thick, rock sound.

What I discovered was that my playing style really changed with the 4 stringers! I didn't have to remember there was a 4 string hidden in the 5 string, and didn't have to mute the low B string. But the biggest deal was that I felt like I could just throttle that darn neck. For rock, it just felt like I was playing rock; aggressive, simple, straight forward. I did put a drop D switch to use on some songs. Anyway, it really did feel more like I was in command of the instrument, and could concentrate on stage presence, connecting with the audience.

Now, I'm back to playing church only, have three 4 stringers, but REALLY would like a 6 string for the chordal aspect. There's room in the music for it.

So, what kind of music will you be playing?

[MaddAnthony_59]

What would you be missing out on?

A Low "D" off of the "B" string, which can be remedied with a D-Tuner, and a Cool place to rest your thumb, which is what I do with the "B" most of the time. A 4-Banger will do the trick!

But nothing exceeds like excess!

I just got my first 6-String, and to top it off, it's Fretless! I think I will like 6-Strings, but the Fretless part might be a bit too much of a jump all at once.

It sounds like you should get at least a 5-String, but a 6 is where i think you want to be. Exceed!

[scottfeldstein]

I get two things out of my low B. First, when I'm composing a bass line I can incorporate a fifth below the root--even if the root is, say, G. Second, I can incorporate "shock" notes that are so low they give you vertigo, like a yawing chasm just opened up under your feet.

Anyway, having a fifth string in no way makes me more inclined to engage in a bunch of noodly wankery. That's having a high B.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by scottfeldstein

I get two things out of my low B. First, when I'm composing a bass line I can incorporate a fifth below the root--even if the root is, say, G. Second, I can incorporate "shock" notes that are so low they give you vertigo, like a yawing chasm just opened up under your feet.

Anyway, having a fifth string in no way makes me more inclined to engage in a bunch of noodly wankery. That's having a high B.

Actually, I found that the low B can incline people to wankery - just a different kind than a high C allows. When I switched from 5 back to 4 a few years ago I was amazed at how much cleaner many of my lines became. In my case, I had a tendency to use the B-string for ghost notes. When it went away, I found I preferred the lines I was playing. While that can be chalked up to lack to discipline on my part, going without the extra string for awhile is an interesting exercise.

[scottfeldstein]

I need to practice up on my noodly wankery.