5-string bass going from 4-string: Does it get better?

[tvbop]

"there is something undeniably comfortable about 4-string instruments"
Totally. Ive played all types of music on an old p bass for 40 yrs and under 'MY' fingers it kills. I also to a lesser extent play Cello and to play that instrument you simply have to learn to move ur hand all over the board so its no biggee. Put it this way. I have never, ever been told my playing is no good... in fact quite the contrary.

 

[GTHintz]

Okay, so for a bit of background: I own and play 4-string basses only. One is a PJ-bass with 38 mm nut width, the other is a modern 2H bass with 40 mm nut width. I also play the guitar, and own two Ovations. One is a 6-string acoustic (43 mm nut width), the other is a 6-string classic (48 mm nut width). I find all of these very comfortable to play.
There is a reason why I'm mentioning nut widths, bear with me.

I usually play bass with a different group, but a friend is organizing a group for an upcoming event and I will be doing PA and vocals, while his friend is playing bass on this one.
He brought a Markbass J-type 5-string and I asked to try it yesterday. I played it for a moment, or rather tried to play it for a moment, and it was an extremely strange experience.

The neck felt so wide and so thick that I had to do a double take. Nope, the specs say it's 45 mm nut width. But it feels both thicker and wider than the 46 mm nut Ovation, even though specs say it's not.
When I compared the guitars to the basses, I thought that it makes a lot of sense since the bass necks don't feel any thinner than the guitar necks, so I was probably expecting too much from the 45 mm 5-string neck if I thought it would feel right.

Everything about a 5-string made me think it's a perfect fit and that I'd love it, but I realized it would be a very toxic kind of love where she would constantly berate me for the small… hands and their lack of girth, and I'd tell her I'm sorry, I'll improve, I'll get better, I'll grow… as a musician.
But I'm not sure.

So the questions are: Is my experience common? Did any of you have the same feeling when you tried a 5-string? Does it get better, did you give up on it or do you soldier on?

It felt awkward to me at first but just stretching out my wrist and feeling where it sits vs the 4 strings I played made me realize that it was a good move. After some playing I got faster and felt more at home on the 5 string than any 4 string. To me it came down to tighter string spacing and the slight difference in wrist position on the b and e strings letting me be in a more comfortable angle as well as the tone. My palms are larger than my fingers almost so thick necks like the Warwick is what feels best. Thin necks my hand fights it and I have to play a little differently. That being said I have a thin neck Ibanez SR that I really like. If it was 4 string I likely wouldn't however. The natural curve in your wrist is something I didn't think about until I switched and was suddenly wondering why my comfort and technique improved.

 

[bigjames]

It gets better for sure. I switched from 4 to 5s and 6s exclusively about 25 years ago and have never looked back. I can still play a 4, but it feels weird and too small now. Keep at it!

 

[Old Fart]

I bought my first fiver several months ago for a new music band/project. I'd always been a 4-string player. I like the fiver a LOT. Just just for the five extra notes. It also gives me another string on which to play notes like E, F, F#, etc. Here is another fun fact: Once you get used to a five string, four-string bass necks seem WAY smaller than I remember them.

 

[J Wilson]

If you're an experienced four-string player, at first, regardless of the five in question, you're just going to feel like a bear on roller skates at first.

If you think about it, FIVE strings at a reasonable string spacing is just going to have to be wider than a four string neck. However, nut width/string spacing is only part of the feel of a given neck, as you're finding out.

Just like when you started playing fours, there's going to be a certain amount of time necessary to get your hands around a five. Probably not as much time since you already play bass, but nonetheless it's simply going to take a while to gain fluency on a five.

You'll simply have to make the commitment and put in the time to get there.

For a slimmer five string neck, the default answer around here is almost always some model of an Ibanez Soundgear.

 

[ardgedee]

For a slimmer five string neck, the default answer around here is almost always some model of an Ibanez Soundgear.

There are other options too -- Dean and Cort for example, I've tried a Dean 5-er with a neck about the same size as a Soundgear's -- but Ibanez is the one with general distribution at all Guitar Centers so they're the easiest to find.

 

[pbass2]

The whole string spacing thing, for me, is more of an issue down at the bridge that up towards the nut. Think of a 4 string Jazz with a super skinny nut but the classic Fender 19mm bridge spacing. Tons of people play that configuration, for good reason. Sucks to feel too cramped down there.
I would advise the OP or anyone who's concerned about the neck width of a fiver to also equally consider how their plucking/picking hand is gonna feel. Both my fivers are around 17.5mm at the bridge and I wouldn't play a bass if it was any narrower than that--even that is bordering on too tight but I've adapted.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

While this may make things easier punctually, I think it's better to just think of the notes you're wanting to play, and where on the fretboard they are.

Relying on memory can backfire spectacularly. At least for me.

Muscle memory is involuntary. Were aren’t talking about memorizing the Gettysburg address here.

 

[toughluck]

It looks like the 45 mm (~1¾") nut width is just about the standard, with Music Man being ~1% shorter (at exactly 1¾", 44.45 mm) and Fender being almost 6% longer (at 47.6 mm). All the usual brands use 45 mm, though.

I don't mind the slightly more cramped strings at the bridge (16.5 mm vs. 19 mm spacing), I feel I could adapt to the bridge spacing (though definitely relying on muscle memory fails spectacularly here).

I'll have to hit up music shops, there's no way around actually checking the instrument in detail without the time pressure.

 

[fishdude101101]

What I've learned over the years playing 5's is the neck profile matters more to me on a 5 than 4. Best 5 string necks I've ever played are Laklands. Companies that make baseball bat thick neck on 4's usually do it on 5's as well and it's more of an issue, for me at least.

 

[bassdude51]

4 pages here. I'd love to read them all but I'm lazy and tired.

5 string basses. I'm not saying that they are good or bad or saying play one or don't play one.

Reality. Wider neck. More weight. An extra string. And what do we get? Only 5 extra notes. And, they are low, low notes which we don't play all that often. Are 5ers worth it?

5 strings? Obviously, many play 5 strings. Many others don't.

You'll have to figure it out.

(I messed with 5ers but gave up on them. Just not for me. Also, IME, 5ers require 35" to 36" scale necks in order to get that low B string to sing!) (Many bass cabs can't do justice for those lower notes.)

 

[toughluck]

4 pages here. I'd love to read them all but I'm lazy and tired.

5 string basses. I'm not saying that they are good or bad or saying play one or don't play one.

Reality. Wider neck. More weight. An extra string. And what do we get? Only 5 extra notes. And, they are low, low notes which we don't play all that often. Are 5ers worth it?

5 strings? Obviously, many play 5 strings. Many others don't.

You'll have to figure it out.

(I messed with 5ers but gave up on them. Just not for me. Also, IME, 5ers require 35" to 36" scale necks in order to get that low B string to sing!) (Many bass cabs can't do justice for those lower notes.)

Finally a 4-string-player dared to venture into this thread

Reading this thread as well as other posts, the conclusion is that it's not optimal to use both 4-string and 5-string basses at the same time. But while that's difficult, but still possible, it's impossible to adapt to different scale lengths.

I have a limit of no more than two bass guitars at once. I might get a third one for a short time if I plan to switch and put the other ones up for sale, but for me at least, it's an all-or-nothing situation.

 

[BassBrass]

He brought a Markbass J-type 5-string and I asked to try it yesterday. I played it for a moment, or rather tried to play it for a moment, and it was an extremely strange experience.

The neck felt so wide and so thick that I had to do a double take. Nope, the specs say it's 45 mm nut width. But it feels both thicker and wider than the 46 mm nut Ovation, even though specs say it's not.

I have one (Markbass gloxy jazz) and the neck is very deep (fatty but not a baseball bat like 60s) like a C more than a D shape (which is indeed more comfortable), but on this bass I think the mass helps the sound, the B is Excellent, and it's Punchy, the jazz tone is strong, and it's just a 34" and the bridge is simple (not heavy) and top loading, width is narrower than Fender jazz 5, probably 18mm. Compared to my Yamaha or Schecter the neck feels Fat.

 

[poochiecheeks]

Finally a 4-string-player dared to venture into this thread

Reading this thread as well as other posts, the conclusion is that it's not optimal to use both 4-string and 5-string basses at the same time. But while that's difficult, but still possible, it's impossible to adapt to different scale lengths.

I have a limit of no more than two bass guitars at once. I might get a third one for a short time if I plan to switch and put the other ones up for sale, but for me at least, it's an all-or-nothing situation.

I started on a 4, learned how to use floating thumb on a 5, went back to a 4 and my technique improved considerably. I spend more time thinking about how I could use those low notes or how to not overdo it rather than playing the music. 4s look cooler anyway

 

[Not yet]

Like most have said practice and then more practice.

Did it as a challenge to myself in late 50s and took solid year to get comfortable. Play 5s exclusively now, 4s feel too easy, but 10 years later still occasionally get lost for a millisecond on gigs

Love the ability to go low but also the repositioning ability is awesome.

Worth the effort

 

[joeLowB]

Love the ability to go low but also the repositioning ability is awesome.

Boom. That's the summary!

 

[L-u-A-R]

Finally a 4-string-player dared to venture into this thread

Reading this thread as well as other posts, the conclusion is that it's not optimal to use both 4-string and 5-string basses at the same time. But while that's difficult, but still possible, it's impossible to adapt to different scale lengths.

I have a limit of no more than two bass guitars at once. I might get a third one for a short time if I plan to switch and put the other ones up for sale, but for me at least, it's an all-or-nothing situation.

Once you are used to 5, it should be easy to switch back and forth.
We can even get used to switching back and forth.

On a meta level, you get better at adapting.
Once you are used to adapting; it's definitely not impossible to swap between string counts, or scale lengths, or tunings.

I have a 37-35'' multiscale, standard 35'', standard 34'' (All BEADG) and 30.3'' (EADGC)
Spacings from 15mm to 19mm.
I regularly switch between them during practice. This with small hands.

It is very possible.
Once you get past the difficult parts, it's easy!

 

[31HZ]

Both times that I made such a change (4 to 5, then 5 to 6), I made a point to *commit* to playing -- for a year -- a single bass with the new string layout. This kind of sink-or-swim immersion is what works for me.

Last night at rehearsal I went back to a 5-string just for funsies, and I really missed that 6th string. (To be fair, going from my preferred 16mm to 18mm didn't help either.)

 

[Ggaa]

When I got my first 5er('85)I took it straight to a gig, learned to not look down for a while(B looks a lot like E). After a couple weeks, had it down.

 

[chris_b]

4 pages here. I'd love to read them all but I'm lazy and tired.

5 string basses. I'm not saying that they are good or bad or saying play one or don't play one.

Reality. Wider neck. More weight. An extra string. And what do we get? Only 5 extra notes. And, they are low, low notes which we don't play all that often. Are 5ers worth it?

5 strings? Obviously, many play 5 strings. Many others don't.

You'll have to figure it out.

(I messed with 5ers but gave up on them. Just not for me. Also, IME, 5ers require 35" to 36" scale necks in order to get that low B string to sing!) (Many bass cabs can't do justice for those lower notes.)

Reality? I don't think so.

Everything depends on the bass. Necks on 5 string basses are not always wider (a 14mm 5 string is narrower than a 20mm 4 string), these basses are not always heavier (as my 6lb Sandberg, 7lb Cort and 7lb Ibanez prove) and, if you read these threads you'd know that 5 string players value the flexibility of playing across the neck above the low E.

I'm happy that you don't like 5 string basses but but some accuracy would be helpful.