Anyone notice the E string on a 5 string bass sounds different than the E string on a 4 string bass?
It's not as loud and full.
It's not as loud and full.
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5 Sting bass and the E string. Sounds different to a 4 strings E string
- Thread starter ics1974
- Start date
It's all relative and largely psychological. When you compare the E with the B on the same bass, of course it would sound "thinner", while on a 4-string the E is the "fattest".
No I mean on every 5 string bass. The E string sound different then a 4 string bass. I notice this on all of them I have ever played
I was going back and forth between 4 and 5 string basses not using the B and noticed this.
The same style of basses with the same type/gauges of strings?
I started on five string back in 1998. I've always felt the fretted E on the B string on my basses has a bit "fatter" than the open E. I use it to my advantage at times. I've always felt that open strings sound a bit fatter than the same not fretted.
On a side note, when I started playing 4 string basses I had to learn to play a lot of open strings. It took a while to get used to it. On my fiver I virtually never played open strings. Now I do all the time. One of the songs I sing is "The Thrill is Gone", in B, and it is about half open strings. Very easy. I've learned the same is true with Credence songs like Green River and Suzie Q. A fiver does nothing for those songs. In fact, I'm thinking of bringing one of my four string basses to shows and switching out for a lot of the old classic stuff (as long as it's not a long hassle).
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Just curious... What specific basses do you play and what specific strings?
No it doesn’t. Fix or replace your string
I could just be minor variations in the overall setup. The E on a 5-string may not be at the same distance from the pickup as the E on a 4-string due to the fretboard radius, etc.
If I ever noticed a difference, then it was that the fatter neck of the 5 string bass offered a better E (better in my personal preference) than a four string.
as a rule of thumb, it is easier to make good sounding pickups for less strings bc of the frequency range, resonance peak etc. More strings means compromise in some way or another
Also, on some basses a 5-str pickup is not 'exactly the same just with an extra string', it doesn't work that way. You can't have a 20% longer coil of the same wire , same magnet(s) but the same inductance. it has to be re-engineered
My experience is the same as el murdoque, I've always peferred the E sound on my fivers to the E on my 4's to the point that I no longer own any 4's.
Honestly, when I see someone with an issue like this, I would generally assess your right hand technique. 4 strings are far easier to keep muted, even when hitting the low E, which causes some people to pluck the E on a 4 string harder than when the E string is "surrounded" by other strings. I am not saying that is your problem, but its where I would start looking.
Just a hunch, but I’m not the only one to have it: if plucking, picking, or slapping you almost have to approach the E string from a different angle on a five-string than on a four-string, and that might account for the difference @ics1974 and I (seem to) notice.
OK, it might be a psychological effect but in general I have this experience. I even did a shootout between a 4 and a 5-string model Fender Am. Std. J bass otherwise identical, and the open strings sounded fatter, fuller on the 5-string one, and tighter, and more punchy on the 4-string one. I know there's a lot of factors that might cause this. I also know everything affects tone including the neck width etc. but I don't know what's happening really 
If I recall correctly, Marcus Miller said the same thing when he compared his 4 and 5 string models otherwise identical.
If I recall correctly, Marcus Miller said the same thing when he compared his 4 and 5 string models otherwise identical.
You put what I was typing into very different but equally applicable words as I was typing it
