5 String - Freedom or Handicap?

[bluesblaster]

heres the thing, IF the music you want to play requires those really low notes from a 5, than play the 5(or 6) If you play mostly pre 90's style of music than a 4 is where its at, simple as that. Yes its a different animal the 5 or 6 string , there are techniques required you probably don't use on a 4. sometimes a drop tuning will suffice on the E string if you need to go there now and then, its what I do most of the time , I don't feel I'm missing out without the extra string.

 

[Woofer]

It's just an extra string or two. Don't sweat it.

By the by, I'm a sax player off an on. Played a Bari mostly, with an extra low A key. I look at my B string the way I looked at my low A key. Just because I have it, doesn't mean I have to use it all the time.

 

[DavC]

i think of my 5vers a having an extended range ... 1 has the low B , which i use mainly for lower notes and a nice thumb rest .... the other is strung E A D G C ... and has 24 frets for higher stuff ..

and i have a beater 4 strg ... just gotta have one around .. !

i played my first 20 yrs on 4 strg ... the last 20+ mostly on 5vers ... i don't think i missing a thing .. !!

 

[CORBS]

When I switched to 5 from 4, it was because 5s were used prominently in the nu-metal music I was in to at the time. The 5 string Warwick Thumb was the ultimate bass sound, for me. I learned that by playing the 5 almost exclusively for years, I became better at playing a 4, aside from a few awkward moments when I'd go for the B string that wasn't there. Forcing my medium sized hands to reach across an extra string and apply pressure necessary to hold down the B strengthened and elasticized my grip, making complex maneuvers on a 4 string easier and more fluid. There was also a mental easiness to going 4 (unless playing something that used a 5 and having to transpose the lower notes). I now use both equally, as it's hard for me to get the sound I like from my current 5. If they ever do a 5 string Jack Casady bass, I'm on it like you wouldn't believe.

 

[Sav'nBass]

Hello all!
I hope I am not angering any mods by making *yet another* 5 string thread, but I couldn't find the answer I was looking for in the older threads.
As opposed to instrument recommendation, I would like to talk about concept for a moment, and would be glad if both 4-string people and 5-string people reply here.

The first time I played on a 5-string I actually liked was this week - and this is because they're very rare here in the mainstream shops, and non-mainstream shops are kind of far apart so I can't just walk into one on my way to somewhere else. Anyway, while thinking about whether the B sounded good in relation to the other strings, I realized by accident that I could reach two octaves from any note on the B with a span of only 5 frets. This is opposed to 10 frets on a 4-string (from the E). Now, I'm not really technically strong, but most of the stuff I like to play aren't specific songs, but more walking bass or blues kind of jam stuff. This freedom, at a first glance, is a blessing! Two octaves, without super-shifting and mega hand-eye coordination! What kind of amazing things can be done with two octaves? And this is without pushing into the lead guitar's world (which is why I am not talking about 6-strings here).

But then another thought hit me - 4-string players have that ability to super-shift and hand-eye-coordinate. They do it all the time. If I play a 5, I will never have the need to develop this! Sure, if I want 3 octaves I can get it with 17 frets and 5 strings, but why would I? Would this mean playing on easy-mode forever? How will this impact my overall ability?

I am saying this because when I started playing bass (without even trying to play guitar first), I played for a year and a half solely on an Acoustic with Flats. If anyone tried that, you know this requires tremendous physical strength. So the first few months were rough, but then when I finally moved to an electric (due to volume issues) I've had absolutely no problem fretting on any kind of string anywhere on the fretboard.

So does this mean I need to reach a certain "achievement" of skill in order to feel safe moving to a 5? Like playing a two-octave span of any kind of chord anywhere, fast and with all types of fingerings, without thinking about it, etc? Or should I put the technical difficulty aside and focus on the music?
What do you guys think? Of this idea in general and my dilemma in particular.

For me it is freedom.. being able to resolve a song that is in a key between B and Eb with that low note ... that low bass note ... is for me what it is all about.. It took me about a month to get fully acclimated to a 5 but now it is just bass.. On some songs, in some spots I will hit the F# on the B string at other spots I may hit it in the E string.. but a 5 offers that freedom. I have two 4s... One I barely play but I can't let it go because it was my first real bass.. a 78 Jazz.. but the thing is 11.1 lbs.. so when I do play it it is just for nostalgia.. I don't even like the skinny neck.. not really. The other 4 is an ABG.. but for me a 5 is bass because it let's you do more bass than you can on a 4... As far as a 6 is concerned I can see that being a little problematic (conceptually) in the sense that an ERB that is a 6 or higher opens up another dimension of playing that is more geared toward solo work or more technical work.. ie chords etc... but even then it is still just bass. Like someone else said.. depending on what type of music you are playing a 4 may fit the bill nicely.. but just for the sheer musicality or musician ship ... more strings are better because they let you explore more of the music in one spot on the fretboard... freedom.

 

[friendlybass]

Handicap or freedom is 1000% up to you. If you are just using it to avoid shifting, then its a handicap. If you use it in conjunction with well practiced shifting, you will be able to do things unavailable on just four strings.

 

[friendlybass]

Ps I play 4's and 5's depending the mood I'm in.

 

[mpdd]

i'm primarily interested in 5 strings, because i want something that is going to be a challenge and outside of my realm of comfort, i already have three passive four strings that could be eqd to cover roughly the same tone, also on a final note, it's fun to watch the used godin, peavey, and carvin basses available to see if i might get a sweet deal

 

[Real Soon]

Funny thing, I played my first gig ever on a five string. It was fun and I still have that bass, but I almost exclusively play four strings currently in practice and for shows. A very sexy P that gets me stretching & working my left hand and a j-style that gets that cool passive J tone, and the better I get on those, the more quickly I can adjust to the narrower spacing of the fiver. And the smarter I am with using the B string, too.

But...in working on personal solo production stuff, I do a LOT of it on the five string, in part because of its fat active tone (Ibanez ATK with Aguilar OBP-2) and in part because it's got such a huge range and flexibility level.

And it takes a whole lot less work to switch between them than, say, between different kinds of trombones. A bass trombone vs large-bore tenor vs small-bore tenor vs vintage lead jazz tenor, you have to play them for a week to adjust, but as you get better at different kinds of basses, the more it's like languages where you can switch instantly. That's my theory based on limited experience, at least.

 

[JimmyM]

I have a 5 and I play it at home, but I hate playing one on gigs. I greatly prefer a 4. It's rare that I need the low notes (once in a great while I need them, but it's usually years in between needing them), and I greatly prefer having a bass that doesn't have features I don't need. But it is fun to play at home, so that's about all I do with it nowadays. Still, if someone needs it, I'm ready!

 

[Korladis]

I play 4-strings exclusively. They're just more comfortable for me. I use both BEAD and EADG tunings, depending on what I'm playing. I've tried 5s, but to me the neck is usually uncomfortable and the extra string gets in my way.

 

[Joebone]

OP - you are overthinking this.

If you want to work on position jumps, you can do it on either 4 or 5.

5 provides you with more options…

** More notes, reaching down

** More options re how to finger stuff - and if you let your ears guide you, you will find that playing stuff on the upper frets of the lower strings gives you a fat timbral options that you did not otherwise have on the 4, so maybe your fingering will be driven by timbral choices rather than seeming convenience.

You will, of course, have to deal with additional muting considerations, and if you are a wild slapper, 4 may likely be easier.

So make your decision based on musical considerations…the truth will set you free!

 

[thehangingmist]

I find it easier to play on a 5 string and I use the B string a lot and I think most usage may even be between the 12 and 5th fret on the B string if that makes any sense
I mean I mostly use it for the new positions I get and noy necessarily for the 5 lower pitches but those are handy as well

 

[Jrussblues]

I play 5s, they fit my hands well, I have large hands. I also thought you needed it to play older incubus stuff, 311 and primus...which were my main early influences. Now I'm just used to it, but I rarely use my 5th string. It's just where my right hand thumb likes to rest. Tried a 4 last year for a couple of months and it felt way too unnatural, tiny neck like it was a toy, not hard to play though. Tried a six after that and it was just huge, and I couldn't slap on it because of the tighter string spacing. So I went back to 5.

 

[Phalex]

I think more strings just mean I have to use less neck. Rather than playing up and down the neck you can just play across it. I'm not sure at what point you'd only need 7 frets, but I bet there's a number.......

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Why did it do little for you if half the fingerings are the same? Just like there are 4 strings right in the middle of every 6 string bass. But it's not just a 4 string with a few extra notes. There are extra things to deal with like wider neck, string damping, cross-neck scales and a different approach to what the bass is doing. Playing a 6 string bass really forces the issue as to what a 5 string is really all about. I think many people try a 5 string and try to play it like a 4 string, have problems and then just give up on it.

PLaying a 5 or 6 strings bring two things, wider neck that all the "thumb over neck" player may find it hard to adapt and of course you have to have a good muting technic.

But it isn't like a different instrument. It just shows your weakness and many may not accept that

 

[Ric5]

String - Freedom or Handicap?

FREEDOM!

 

[Plutonium244]

Just my opinion, but I think every bass player should be able to play a 4-string, it is the default "standard" of what a bass is. I just think that is something that needs to be in your tool kit. Kind of like driving stick.

But that said, playing a five is not "cheating" due to being able to play horizontally instead of vertically. That's just giving us a tool that guitar players already have.

I have both a four and a five (after 25 years of playing only 4), and play both. It took a bit of getting used to switching back and forth, due to string spacing more than anything, but they both have their place. Still most comfortable on 4 strings though, but the gap is narrowing.

 

[Dbassmon]

So a five string with a low B gets you 5 extra notes Eb, D, Db, C and B.

If you really know your fingerboard, I mean being able to play every scale/mode, every arpeggio, in every inversion, starting with any finger... then it does not matter whether you have 4 or 5 string bass, with the difference being the added 5 low notes. If you have that fingerboard knowledge, you can play any number of strings... no problem, You "see" the tone shapes.

What it does allow you to do is chose some additional and more convenient ways to to play a given line, it allows you to chose the best sounding notes on the fingerboard. A fretted E on the B string sounds much better to me than an open E for example. In my opinion of course. Some guys don't care, they play the line and that is enough for them.

I personally love dropping a low B or C once in while provided its done with taste and restraint.

The problem for some players is that they don't know their instruments. A five string bass will not teach them the fingerboard any better or worse than a 4 string bass. The player must have that commitment to learning the instrument.... then the added notes are just that, added range.

 

[Marc valero]

This is the whole key to the 5 string for me. Playing across the neck instead of up and down. You'll also learn that doing left hand stops on notes in some keys, rather than right, will be a lot easier when they are played in the middle of the neck instead of against the topnut or open. Much easier and sounds better. I hate playing 4 string in keys that have to be played against the topnut. So much so that all my 4 strings, with two exceptions, are strung BEAD. Also horn keys....F, Bb, Eb,etc...are a lot easier and sound better. Extra low notes are nice for ending songs where it fits. Low B at the end of "Comfortably Numb" is awesome.



This is too true if you want to keep your chops on both. Also helps when you get a chance to sit in.

I like to end some songs on a low note also, for example on Long Train Running I always (not just the ending) drop down to the low C note on the "without love ..... where would we be now."