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5-string bass....worth it?

#21
Rockin Mike said:
Five strings shall ye play, no more, no less. Five shall be the number thou shalt play, and the number of the strings shall be five. Six shalt thou not play, neither play thou four, excepting that thou then proceed to five. Seven is right out. Once the number five, being the fifth number, be strung, then playest thou thy bass guitar towards thy audience, who being naughty in My sight, shall rock it.
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:D
 
#23
I'm a big Fender fan, but I just couldn't get with their 5 strings. I tried a MIM jazz 5 and a MIA P 5. They both had thick big necks that I couldn't get my hands around to play with any comfortability.

Then I got an Ibanez sr-885. Love it. Luckily it already had upgraded pickups (basslines soapbars) and preamp. Doesn't sound as great as the Fenders maybe, but at least I can play it.
 
#27
Twenty2AcaciaAv said:
Well I'm looking for a 5-stringer in the 500 - 800 range (not counting tax). I'd prefer to go new unless I know the person I'm buying from it well or has a very well established rep. So as far as new, any recommendations?
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I only buy new if I can't find what I want used. You really are just "giving" away free $$ that can be used on a setup, strings, new rig, etc.. Plenty of excellent pieces to be found JUST on the Talkbass classifieds alone. I just scored probably one of the nicest Ibanez 5's they've ever made for mid 800's yesterday here. Just keep your eyes open.
Simply put, if a bass looks like it's been trashed and worn out, it probably has been. If it looks clean, nothing fishy, and is from a TB member with multiple feedbacks and all signs point to good, it's basically BEEN like "buying new" IME.
 
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#29
rockstarbassist said:
I only buy new if I can't find what I want used. You really are just "giving" away free $$ that can be used on a setup, strings, new rig, etc.. Plenty of excellent pieces to be found JUST on the Talkbass classifieds alone. I just scored probably one of the nicest Ibanez 5's they've ever made for mid 800's yesterday here. Just keep your eyes open.
Simply put, if a bass looks like it's been trashed and worn out, it probably has been. If it looks clean, nothing fishy, and is from a TB member with multiple feedbacks and all signs point to good, it's basically BEEN like "buying new" IME.
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I agree! I only buy new when what I want is not available used. I will even concede an option here or there (i.e. color/fretboard etc) if its a good deal!
 
#31
Twenty2AcaciaAv said:
Define "higher end" price-wise. I'm not currently in the market for one but this is for sometime later in the year.
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I don't know. I mean, the Prestige ones are a grand or so, I think. I got a used sr-885 MIJ for $225 recently. Those might usually go for double that. All I know is they play nicely. I think the previous owner put in a Seymour Duncan preamp that scoops the mids when you pull the volume knob...really helps. I got lucky. It had a crack in the body around the tone/volume knob, whick is why it was cheap. Doesn't seem to affect the sound.
 
#32
Sixpack324 said:
I switched to 5-string years ago and haven't looked back since.

No more drop D tuning.
A whole new world of "patterns" to work with.
Singer needs to do 1 or 2 songs down 1/2 step? No problem.

Like you said.....It takes some getting used to, but the learning period is pretty quick.

I have no opinion on the bass you're looking at, but I say go for a 5-String......You won't regret it.
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+1
 
#34
rockstarbassist said:
if you guys are so scared of "drop tuning", why do you even bother to get to E standard in the first place? cant you just "transcribe" from wherever you end up after you change your strings?
:o
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You make a good point:eek:

Personally going to drop-D doesn't bother me all that much. Still, would be nicer to just have a 5-string and have that extra "thump" and be able to go down to a low-B.
 
#35
Rockin Mike said:
Five strings shall ye play, no more, no less. Five shall be the number thou shalt play, and the number of the strings shall be five. Six shalt thou not play, neither play thou four, excepting that thou then proceed to five. Seven is right out. Once the number five, being the fifth number, be strung, then playest thou thy bass guitar towards thy audience, who being naughty in My sight, shall rock it.
Click to expand...

And a, "....bass humor, it isn't dead it's just restin..." to you too..
 
#36
I never gave any thought to playing a 5 string bass until I joined the music team at my church. I was amazed to hear how many of those songs used a 5 string bass. Got my first 5 string in December of 2010 and it was....."oh, yeah!!" Keep in mind that I was 57 at the time! Who says you can't teach an old dog some new tricks?

Fact is, this past December I bought a Fender American Standard 5 string Jazz bass. Blows the MIM 5'er I had right out of the water in every way.

I still play my 4 strings but I love the 5 string.
 
#37
I learned on a 5, have been playing on a 4 for a few years and am getting ready to buy a 6 so I have no prejudice either way. There isn't anything that I can do on a 4 string that I can't on a 5 or 6. Thats not true the other way around. All that said there are times when drop D is better than a 5 for somethings I want to play. One song we have the entire intro, first verse, and most of the chorus is D, G/D, D, G/D. Playing with a drummer and acoustic its nice to be able to hold that pedal D and move up the neck to fill space and add some flavor. Not quite as easy on a 5.
 
#38
(Pre warning here: I don't agree with this sentiment. However....)
Here in the NYC freelance musician scene and the session scene, there is a major stigma attached to the bassist that plays a 5 string. The general sentiment running through this is that the 5 stringers overplay, and that's not considered a good thing.
I've had a number of conversations with many of my fellow bassists and non-bassists on this subject, and it is the pretty much the consensus, even though some might recognize that just because you have 5 strings, does not mean you play too much.

Here's a conversation overheard too many times for me to count:
Guy 1- "oh man, some new dude showed up at the rehearsal today and he pulled out a 5 string!!"
Guy 2- "oh ****....sorry dude. You should've called me...I had someone I could've recommended for you!"
Guy 1- " yeah, I'll be calling you next time..."

So, to recap: I don't believe that playing a 5 string makes you an overplayer. But it is a common belief. My two cents, folks....
 
#39
Calderdash said:
But it is a common belief. My two cents, folks....
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Heard it plenty before. Heard about a guy the other day who was calling bass players for auditions and he'd say on the phone "look at your bass. How many strings do you see?" if they answered 4 he'd continue talking if not he'd say thank you and hang up. Just as well. I'd rather not play with ignorant people like that anyway.
 

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