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5 or 6??!! Please help!

#21
I play a six. I don't want any more strings, but I don't want any less.

About ten years ago, I found myself between band commitments, and indulged my curiosity about stringing E-C. I loved it. I play a fair amount of chords, and a lot of my bass lines are derived from melodic motifs. That is just the way I function, and I don't fight it.

At the same time, I missed the low notes for the extra impact they provide, and because some musical styles rely heavily on low bass. I am interested in a lot of different music, and so I wanted those notes back.

I got a six. Problem solved.

One thing to think about with the six is it can be a LOT harder to mute cleanly. I sorta feel like a lobster could do a fair job of muting a four string. A six is in another class all together as far as your right hand goes.
 
#23
Justin Urry said:
I am stuck choosing a 5 string or 6 string bass. I play everything from Muse to Tool to Jazz and I want lots of versatility. I feel like having a 6 is more versatile but I'm not sure if I will use the highest and lowest strings a lot. Please help.
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A six-string IS more versatile. And many six-string players in fact DON'T use the B string and the C string often. That doesn't mean they're not valuable or useful.

That said, a five-string also can be very versatile, as usual depending very much on how much versatility the player brings to the process. It's a matter of "how versatile is versatile enough"?

A six-string offers more musical possibilities. It's also more difficult to play cleanly, more difficult to learn to play - becoming adept at muting the unplayed strings is especially crucial. Only you can determine whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Having started on a four-string many years ago, I resisted the idea of transitioning to a five-string for a long, long time. Not so much for ideological/philosophical issues, as the fact that every five-string I tried had a B string that just didn't feel right to me. Way too much flop & slop. It was only when the five-string finally began to call to me, i.e. I began hearing music in my imagination that really required the lower notes, that I took the plunge - successfully and gladly, as it turns out. So I made that transition, but not until I was really ready.

I personally love the idea of a six-string. It's just the actual implementation of one that doesn't work for the kind of music I play. And unless I could resist the temptation to overplay that a six-string bass presents, it could prove to be more trouble than it's worth...for me.

MM
 
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#24
I've had many 4, 5, 6 and even a 7 string. I now have no 4's, 6's or 7's, but have 3 5'ers now. What everyone has been saying. I had a beautiful 6 string Thumb NT that was amazing and the weight of it almost ruined my shoulder after a night of playing, the sheer weight of it killed it for me. There is just more to a 6+ string bass. I have found 5 string basses to sit really nice in what ever it is I am doing. With the Low-B I never play an open note anymore.

And with ALL of that said, I am gassing for a 6+ string right now. Not for the 3.5 hour gigs, but for solo playing at home, composing, and heavier chording and tapping sounds fun but I would not be considering it if I didn't have the 5 stringers covering all the NEEDS. The 6+ string would satisfy a want.
 
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#25
Which weighs more, a ten pound four string or a ten pound six string?

The weight thing is a non-issue. A heavy bass is a heavy bass regardless of how many strings it has. My Roscoe SKB 3006 damn near floats it has such good strap balance.
 
#27
I had a six and sold it because it required too much thought. A few years later, I bought another and had the same problem. I said it confused my fingers. Mind you, I had played only a four for over 30 years. I just bought a 5, and so far I can play it with only an occasional hiccup.
Sixers are more versatile, so if you're relatively new to the instrument, you might be able to make the leap to a six easier than me.
 
#28
For me, a 5-string works better. I own a 6, but it's not nearly as comfortable to play. It's wonderful being able to drop notes down an octave for some added punch when needed, and not having to retune is nice too. Low notes aren't a problem on the 5 for me, but it's a bit of a reach on the 6 since the neck is so wide (even though I have a pretty slim neck for a 6), and it fatigues my wrist a lot more.

I'm pretty spoiled on the fivers now, and generally only look at 4-string instruments if there's something special about them. On the positive side, playing a 4 after I've been playing the 5 or 6 is like greased lightning.
 
#29
Interesting replies here, and I suspect more than enough information for you to make something of an informed decision - except I'd say that you really do need to play both as much as you can to get a feel for what you are comfortable on.
Having said that, there were a few comments here about the high C string being a hindrance, or that the string is simply in the way. How? That, I'd suggest, speaks of a poor plucking technique to me. I really couldn't say how a string could be in the way, but that's just my opinion of course.
There is no right or wrong. I play a 6 because that's what I enjoy playing. The size of the instrument fits me... it just works for me. But then again, I've been playing a 6 for more than 20 years.
If a 4, or 5, or 6 woks for you, then that's what you need to play. Unless you are a session musician and the producer/MD asks for a specific instrument, then play what you want, not what you're pressured into playing.
And lastly - a piano has seven octaves (plus a minor third), a harp has six and a half octaves, and an organ can have a whopping eleven octave range!!!!! So don't worry about stepping into someone else's range from time to time... it's music and since when has music ever confined itself to conventional wisdom?

GO FOR IT!!!!
 
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#31
Justin Urry said:
I am stuck choosing a 5 string or 6 string bass. I play everything from Muse to Tool to Jazz and I want lots of versatility. I feel like having a 6 is more versatile but I'm not sure if I will use the highest and lowest strings a lot. Please help.
Click to expand...
Personally I have never hard a high C string that sounded good to me and would go 5.
 
#32
To the OP, does soloing, playing chords or tapping figure a lot in your playing style? If they do then you could probably make good use of a 6 string.

Me? I'm just a Duck Dunn Plus player, so a 5 er is great for my style.

IMO if anyone is having trouble adjusting to an extra string or two, it just means they aren't practicing enough.
 
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#34
I just put a down payment on my fourth 4 banger... a P-bass. Until I decided I just had to have a P-bass... I was totally going to get a BTB Terra Firma 5 banger. I now own four 4 string bass guitars. One of which is a total piece of crap.. but I had already determined for myself that the fretboard of a 6 string is just too much for me and I have relatively large hands. My next bass.. probably a year or so down the road is going to be a 5 string, because I want the extended low range, and I want to be able to play lower notes higher on my fretboard.. If I want to play higher notes I can just move up the fretboard. Sure, the 5'er has limitations that aren't there on a 6 string.. but I'm not trying to do Steve Bailey style lead riffs either. My high notes are just fills between the root notes for the most part. The addition of a low B string offers more of what I need than the addition of a high C. I'm not saying that high C is a bad thing, just that I don't think I'd have as much use for it as I would if my bass had a low B on it.

You are correct in thinking a 6 string has more versatility.. but for my personal style, the 5 banger has more practical usage. That being said.. I'm still having a lot of fun playing a 4 banger. Versatility comes as much from your ability as a player as it does from having an extra string.
 
#35
bevan lurrito said:
Which weighs more, a ten pound four string or a ten pound six string?

The weight thing is a non-issue. A heavy bass is a heavy bass regardless of how many strings it has. My Roscoe SKB 3006 damn near floats it has such good strap balance.
Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying and while a ton of feathers weights as much as a ton of bricks, my 6 and 7 string have been my heaviest basses that I have owned. Wood selection certainly had a factor in that, but also being made of more material to accommodate the additional tension on the neck and to accommodate the additional width needed. There are key elements that are just bigger. In some but not all cases wider pickups, wider bridge, wider neck, and in some builds additional reinforcement in the construction are all factors that add weight.

For me weight is a factor that may or may not be a factor for the original poster. My shoulders are jacked from years of lifting so weight is a major consideration. Even an extra 16 ounces over 3-4 sets can really have it's toll on my body.

I think ERB's a awesome fun and would love to have one myself some day and have seriously considered getting one sooner than later but it will more than likely be a custom that I can make sure I can keep the weight down. Another requirement on the 6+ string for me would be even tones across the strings. I found my 7 to have a brittle high end. The 6 wasn't bad but it was a different class of instrument all together.

I really comes down to the instrument, not the number of strings it has IMO.
 
#37
For me the thing that makes a 5 the standard is that it gives me more of what the bass is supposed to do.. More of the low end.. For me having that extra B-Eb on the low end is priceless.. For me a 5 has become bass. I had a 6 .. and it just did not appeal to me..
 
#39
bradjonesbass said:
For me, some sixes are actually more comfortable than 5s, and my 7 was extremely comfortable. But, I've come to realize, I'm a groove player and really don't utilize the full range of a 6 or 7 with the way I play, so I sold them off and now play 5s exclusively. YMMV.
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I have no problem with 5 or 6 but a 7 for me is less comfortable than a 5 or 6. In fact, I'd rate a 7 as at the limit of what I can reach. I'm wood shedding my 7 and I find that the wide neck makes it more difficult to get that vibrant bass tone even when playing scales. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. I can see where some people might find the same thing between 5 and 6 though I never had that problem.

As for 5 o 6, it depends if you need that upper range. Do you do Jazz? Do you do chords? Does your style need it? Does the music need it? I have no problem playing a 6 for situations where a 5 will do, but fact is that 5 tends to be a bit easer to manage (though not seriously so) and more important some basses don't come in 6 string. So my Carvin AC50 or G&L L2500 have no 6 string option. If you want what they offer you live with it. (I did have the AC50 strung with High C for some years though but eventually I wanted the easy transpositions of a 5er back).

So for some time I played my 6ers because I needed the range. Now I'm playing 5 because I want the G&L tone. And so it goes. Playing blues the G&L flies under the Blues Nazi radar. But I can assure you from experience that bringing a 6 string to the blues gig will generate a ration of crap!

I originally had the idea that if I played 6 that would also cover what a 5 could do as well. And there is a certain truth to that. But on the other hand there are also some practical considerations, which include some basses aren't made in 6 string, 6 string string sets are harder to find in local stores, the appearance of 6 string basses tend to be more "coffee table" which puts off BLs and others in certain styles. And in general where almost any Fenderish 5 string (including my Fender V) seems to fly right under the Fender Nazi radar, ANY 6 string seems to set all the sirens off (note I haven't tried my burst-tort SX in the avatar yet to see what happens... ) and God help you if you were to show with 7 and it wasn't a Jazz gig. Just the way some people are.
 

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