I'm a 4 string guy. I tried owning a few different 5 strings since I first started playing about 4 years ago, and they never really felt right to me. I was always thinking about how to use those low notes.
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4 strings only?
- Thread starter southernrocker
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Plus, and, there are SO MANY under-25 five-string wankers now, who are convinced that they don't look cool enough unless their axe has AT LEAST five strings, and use the B string in musically inappropriate ways ("I gotta use it just cuz it's there and it sounds so cool and rumbly") that the five-string has taken on the aura of wankerage.
The time is coming soon, my brothers and sisters, when we 4-bangers will be seen as some kind of exotic creature....
Let the wankers have their day. We will be the cool ones, the last ones standing, on the stage of eternal tone and vibe.
It is wisely written.
The time is coming soon, my brothers and sisters, when we 4-bangers will be seen as some kind of exotic creature....
Let the wankers have their day. We will be the cool ones, the last ones standing, on the stage of eternal tone and vibe.
It is wisely written.
godofthunder59
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Love a five and a four, unfortunately I have a "connective tissue" disorder and now play 4-strings exclusively.
Me too! My 5 string is for sale at the local shop. It is a nice enough bass and it's quality was remarkable for the price, but the B string just ended up being a floppy thumb rest for me.
I may try a 5 again in the future, like when I actually learn how to play...
I may try a 5 again in the future, like when I actually learn how to play...
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I'm in. I borrowed a ESP 5 once, found it wasn't for me, I think it sounds better to down tune to D anyway
Bryan R. Tyler
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If you can't play bass with 4 strings, you don't even need 4 strings. You need more if you CAN play bass with 4 strings and still run into walls because of its limits.
I started on 4, went to 5 and then 6, and settled on 5. 6 is one too much for me and I didn't find any use for the high C and I found that 5 is my comfort zone. That said, I have an electric upright (WAV) which has 4 strings and I found that I'm playing completely different on it.
So out of 4 basses, the one 4-string is the EUB. My next purchase (after an amp) will most likely be a fretless 4 with a Hipshot D-tuner though. Or a 5'er
So out of 4 basses, the one 4-string is the EUB. My next purchase (after an amp) will most likely be a fretless 4 with a Hipshot D-tuner though. Or a 5'er
i only own 4's only plan on owning 4's. nothing wrong with 5's or 6's at all. just not for me. small hands is one reason. and i feel i can do everything i want in my range of 4 strings
Yeah, Playing a bass with one extra string doesnt automatically make a person a better player... in fact, a lot of times it's the opposite. ... me included
I've got one four string bass, a few fives, and a six.
In the original group I play in, the bass is sometimes called upon to be a soloist instrument. I like the upper range of a six string so that I can play solos that are above the harmonic foundation of the music, and that don't necessarily sound like a "bass solo". It gives me the ability to contribute to the song as a soloist voice, and not necessarily as a bass player, when doing so is appropriate and serves the music.
The low B makes sense to me as a bass player. For a few years, that lower register seemed "extra", but after a while it became part of the instrument's voice, equivalent to the rest of the range, and now I miss it when it is not there.
My EUB is a 4-string. I see that there are 5- and 6-string EUB instruments available, but to my ears the timbre of that instrument lends itself to neither a low B nor a high C, so I've stuck with 4 there.
I also recognize that 4 string basses are fashionable right now. There's a retro thing happening, and since 4 string basses were essentially all that was widely available until [maybe] 20 years ago, retro=4 string. That's cool, I get it, and if I were ever to consider playing with a band that had a very retro identity, I would think that playing a 4 string would be the most appropriate thing for that situation. But it doesn't change my own preference.
In the original group I play in, the bass is sometimes called upon to be a soloist instrument. I like the upper range of a six string so that I can play solos that are above the harmonic foundation of the music, and that don't necessarily sound like a "bass solo". It gives me the ability to contribute to the song as a soloist voice, and not necessarily as a bass player, when doing so is appropriate and serves the music.
The low B makes sense to me as a bass player. For a few years, that lower register seemed "extra", but after a while it became part of the instrument's voice, equivalent to the rest of the range, and now I miss it when it is not there.
My EUB is a 4-string. I see that there are 5- and 6-string EUB instruments available, but to my ears the timbre of that instrument lends itself to neither a low B nor a high C, so I've stuck with 4 there.
I also recognize that 4 string basses are fashionable right now. There's a retro thing happening, and since 4 string basses were essentially all that was widely available until [maybe] 20 years ago, retro=4 string. That's cool, I get it, and if I were ever to consider playing with a band that had a very retro identity, I would think that playing a 4 string would be the most appropriate thing for that situation. But it doesn't change my own preference.
I love all 3 of my 4 stringers. I read an article a while back on the (GREAT) Jeff Berlin.
He said that if you can't get it done on a 4 string you need to go back and re-evaluate your playing. I think this is some good advice from a man that can out play most of us.
Have a Great Day,
4 string player
He said that if you can't get it done on a 4 string you need to go back and re-evaluate your playing. I think this is some good advice from a man that can out play most of us.
Have a Great Day,
4 string player
Bryan R. Tyler
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Are you sure that's a direct quote? Jeff himself owns a 5-string (or at least did), and he's a fan of many 5 and 6-string bassists.
I know some of this is tongue in cheek, but I can say, for myself personally, playing a four string has NOTHING to do with retro sensibility, just like someone who loves a 5 or a 6 most likely isn't playing them because they "look cool". I play fours because they feel like extensions of my body, whereas five strings don't.
I suspect that if I had been introduced to 4+ stringers earlier in my life, they'd be my axes of choice since "why not?". Having an artificially imposed limitation seems like an odd argument for a choice (to me). But I've been playing bass for close to thirty years (I'm 41) and that's alot of habit to break. And while there are benefits, they aren't so overwhelmingly useful as to make it worth my while to live in a foreign land until I learn to think in a new language.
That's officially my two cents worth (and inflation may have devalued it, but oh well).
I suspect that if I had been introduced to 4+ stringers earlier in my life, they'd be my axes of choice since "why not?". Having an artificially imposed limitation seems like an odd argument for a choice (to me). But I've been playing bass for close to thirty years (I'm 41) and that's alot of habit to break. And while there are benefits, they aren't so overwhelmingly useful as to make it worth my while to live in a foreign land until I learn to think in a new language.
That's officially my two cents worth (and inflation may have devalued it, but oh well).
yeah never owned a 5string and never will,have nothing against them just not what i really need and theres just something about 4 strings
