4, 5 -Or- 6 String?

[smothersjon]

I learned how to play on a 5-string and love the extra B string. I currently play a 4-string. You can tune them BEAD if you are used to playing a 5-string, but truly love my bass vi tuned like a standard guitar for the versatility. Granted you don't get the super low end you would out of a standard 6-string bass. Figure out what you like best and feel more comfortable playing and roll with it.

 

[NickBEADG]

I learned on 5 too, I feel like 5 string should be the traditional. 6 string is pointless though because you're getting up into guitar gauges strings up there. That's just my opinion though.

 

[two fingers]

Yes!
4 is very necessary for teaching-most beginning/intermediate players use them
5 is good for Commercial Gigs and sometimes I notice that my solos are better received on them.
6 is my first choice, especially for Jazz and Jazz/Fusion and Reading gigs.

Anyone else here still stoked that Roy Vogt just swings by to offer up opinions from time to time?

Anyway...... back on topic.

I have landed squarely on the 5. I just never solo enough in the upper range to justify the high C string. And I would surely miss those lower notes on the low B if they weren't there. I think most pro (or semi-pro) players should have a good standard 4 banger around (traditional Fender-ish J or P-ish bass) for gigs that just seem to call out for that kind of thing. But I play my Fender Roscoe Beck sig V almost exclusively these days.

 

[xUptheIronsx]

I stay with 4 cause I feel like I have not doen everything I can with 4 yet.

If I ever get a 5, I would actually add a B string above the G.

I did have a student of mine's 8 string on loan for about a year. It was fun, but my hands are too small for it

 

[SteveC]

I have landed squarely on the 5. I just never solo enough in the upper range to justify the high C string. And I would surely miss those lower notes on the low B if they weren't there. I think most pro (or semi-pro) players should have a good standard 4 banger around (traditional Fender-ish J or P-ish bass) for gigs that just seem to call out for that kind of thing. But I play my Fender Roscoe Beck sig V almost exclusively these days.

I pretty much agree with this. I am a 5 string player. I tried playing only my Geddy Lee for over a year. It was fine, I got by, but I did miss the B string. Not always, but often enough. I have my Geddy Lee for sale,but if it doesn't sell, maybe it's OK to have laying around. It's a great passive jazz bass.

I tried a 6 for a while. I liked the range as I used it for "contemporary jazz" type stuff, but thought the C string wouldn't get the use to justify it. I am thinking about getting another and giving it more time. I don't know how much I'd gig it, but I would use it a lot for "noodling" around at home. Maybe it would work it's way into the rotation eventually.

At this point, I am happy to grab either my fretted or fretless 5 and go.

 

[rtav]

Played 4 string basses exclusively for 37 years (P-basses, J-basses, Ricks, Steinies, Jacksons, etc.) Switched to 6 strings last June and have not looked back once... I only wish I'd started with them sooner. It really depends on your genre - we play a lot of progressive/progressive metal and fusion stuff, and I need the extended range to cover everything. If I were playing other types of music, I'm sure it wouldn't be as big an issue.

 

[SteveC]

It really depends on your genre - we play a lot of progressive/progressive metal and fusion stuff, and I need the extended range to cover everything. If I were playing other types of music, I'm sure it wouldn't be as big an issue.

True. You can play any genre on a 6 (assuming people won't judge you with their eyes) as you don't HAVE to use the B and C strings, but you can't necessarily play any genre on a 4 string.

Comfort, style, options. They are all factors.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I prefer 4 string,had a 5 string that I played for about 2 years out of the 35+ years that I been playing,sold it and all my basses are 4 strings,besides I'm still learning a 4 string (always learning no matter what)...and the main reason is ,is that I cant find a 1961 Fender 5 string P bass...lol...

 

[bobicidal]

Anyone else here still stoked that Roy Vogt just swings by to offer up opinions from time to time?

I didn't recognize the name google images shows he has worked with just one string. LOL

I am one of the old guys who has never played anything but a four and had not even considered a five for my next purchase until I saw this thread. I want to be a player capable of at least faking through a wide range so it looks like I better get on the five string train.

Very helpful thread, thank you.

 

[klokker]

I play a 5 when I have to but prefer a 4. I'd never use a 6 string. I don't even like using the low E on a 4 that much.

Just don't like that big huge low end, in basses, cabs, amps etc.

 

[AngelCrusher]

Hi Bob, you very well may never need a 5er. It just depends on what you like to do and what your current style is. I personally think owning one 5 string is a good idea, but IMO, you really want a good one if you want to record and have a nicely defined low B.

I had a cheaper ibanez 5 for years as a kid, and while I got tons of work with it, once I started doing a lot of sessions, the engineers hated the hiss it put out when they ran it through a limiter/compressor..just an FYI.

 

[jim777]

I mostly play 5's but I play 6's as well. the only 4's I play are fretless, and I could easily see myself swapping them out for 5's too.

[MINIRANT] I never really got the whole 'Jaco only needed 4' train of thought, or worse, the, '6 if you are a wanna-be guitarist' nonsense. What Jaco played or would be playing today if he were alive affects me not in the slightest. Also, I've been playing guitar since '72, bass and keys since '75 so there's no 'wanna be' in me. Whatever I've got in my hands, be it my BB75 or my ES-175 or a Motif under one hand and a Minimoog under the other they are all just tools to get the music out. [/MINIRANT]

So yeah, 5 or 6 for me, and active please

 

[SteveC]

[MINIRANT] I never really got the whole 'Jaco only needed 4' train of thought, or worse, the, '6 if you are a wanna-be guitarist' nonsense.[/MINIRANT]

These statements drive me crazy as well. It has nothing to do with anything. Of course, that's what we get for joining in yet another why do you play 4, 5, or 6 thread, right.

 

[Fuzzbass]

4, 5 or 6 string?
What is your playing preference and why?

All I play now are five strings. Here's why:

I played four-string exclusively for two decades. All of my fours had Hipshot Xtenders so I could easily downtune, and I got used to transposing the low D -- or low C, Db, or Eb, if I needed those instead. So, in Y2K I got a fiver. After a few months I got used to it, and now I play them exclusively.

The reason I love fiver isn't just the low notes, it's the extended range in every fingering position, even when playing above the 5th fret. I play so-called "wide" fivers, that have the same string spacing at the bridge as four string basses. That keeps my right hand happy.

I can play six string without too much difficulty, so why don't I play six? First, because I've never heard a high C string that I've liked, and I don't like the way they feel either. Second, because with a six I'd have to deal with either a wider neck or narrower string spacing, and I'm not comfortable with either. This is what prevents me from getting a six string tuned F#BEADG.

Finally -- there is no wrong decision, however a bass with five or more strings will give you additional range and make you more marketable: you'll be able to hit those sub-E bass lines, and keyboard bass notes too. I've done sub gigs and been told "I wish our regular bassist had a five string, he doesn't play those low synth notes". Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard is just one of a bazillion examples. I'm much happier playing those low notes on five string than on a downtuned four.

 

[khutch]

My favorite is a 4 string. Not sure why, its simple elegance perhaps? I did start tuning in fifths a year ago so my four strings will do everything a fourths tuned five will do. And that was the motivation for the new tuning. I had been playing a fiver for a while and just could not get used to it so I sold it off a bit after retuning the four. Since December I have been trying a five again because I wanted the higher voice available for chording. It does work well for that but some days it plays well for me, other days it just seems all wrong. I've been doing most of my practice with it for months now and it just never really feels right consistently. So I don't know where that is going. Lately I have been considering a six as well though not a traditional six string bass, a bass VI. Maybe the guitar-like layout would work better for me. So far the instrument I grab for when I really need to dig in and play bass has four strings.

Ken

 

[Digital Man]

I love the wide feel of 6-stringers. I had played 4 for three years and I never felt satisfied with narrow feel of the neck and sound on higher frets. Then, I purchased a six-stringer and I felt that im home. I tap melodies and stuff a lot and that's much easier on 6 strings because more strings gives more freedom. With four, you have only four to play at the same time but with six there's more space. I play mainly Prog, Soul, and funk. Of course it's harder to slap with smaller string spacing, but fingerfunk sounds better in most cases.

 

[Roy Vogt]

I didn't recognize the name google images shows he has worked with just one string. LOL

I am one of the old guys who has never played anything but a four and had not even considered a five for my next purchase until I saw this thread. I want to be a player capable of at least faking through a wide range so it looks like I better get on the five string train.

Very helpful thread, thank you.

That's for a drummer buddy of mine, Mel Watts (Little River Band, Bo Diddley, Del Shannon) who long maintained that bassists should only use one string lest they get into trouble! Love ya, Mel!

 

[bobicidal]

That's for a drummer buddy of mine, Mel Watts (Little River Band, Bo Diddley, Del Shannon) who long maintained that bassists should only use one string lest they get into trouble! Love ya, Mel!

That is awesome.

And thanks for sharing your experiences and insights on the forum!

Bob

 

[TigerInATrance]

I play six strings. I can deal with a five, but I hate having to change positions for those higher notes. I prefer only changing positions for the REALLY high notes. I cannot, however, play a four string bass. Perhaps that makes me some kind of weak bass player, but I pick up a four string bass and it just feels wrong. The neck is too skinny and, the way I play, I end up having to slide up and down the neck like a teenager with a playboy. Jazz basses in particular are rediculous.

In the end, if there's ever a situation where a sixer isn't going to fit in with the "image" I just assume not join the band. It's happened a few times and I've never felt that I missed out on something worth doing...

 

[sxaxsx]

Another one of these threads ehh?
Some of these posts are disappointing. Above its been said that 4 strings are for old people, punk rockers, and someone else said that they play a 6 string because they "are a man."

Ive also never understood this concept that so many people seem to have that a 4 string is what you learn on and then you graduate to a 5 or 6 string.

I have only ever used a 4 string. But I also use flatwounds, and passive pickups, so I'm kind of old school. I have never felt limited by a four string. But it depends what music you play and your approach to the instrument and your place within the band you are playing in.