After playing a 4 string for ~30 years I decided to try a 5’er. I just couldn’t get the hang of it. That B string threw me off every time. Maybe if it was strung EADGC it woulda been easier. Just saying...
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5 String stigma?
- Thread starter Titanium
- Start date
Might have been. But then maybe you'd have mistaken the C for the G instead
You can get used to anything if you spend enough time with it, but 5 strings aren't for everyone and I get why players would rather detune a 4. I greatly prefer a 4, too, and only bring a 5 if there's no way to get out of it by using a Hipshot Xtender. But you don't need to play a 5 if you want those notes. Just need a BEAD bass.
- Jan 26, 2014
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- Disclosures
- I teach lessons and perform live music in and around San Diego CA. Sometimes I even make money doing it!
Like I said in my comment on that post, 5 strings are:
1) wider, and often neck heavy unless you buy a well designed instrument, which can be considerable playability issues
2) harder to play cleanly- A big part of the job of a bass player to make sure notes are played cleanly without open strings ringing out, and the extra string makes that job harder, whether you use a pick or fingers.
3) confusing at first. It’s weird to have a B string on the wrong side.
4) bonus! I forgot to mention in that post, B strings can also sound like crap, and it can take picking through several instruments to find one where the B string has the same timbre as the other four strings. As a player and repair tech for 30 years, there is no one simple fix for a flabby B string, and many basses are hopeless. Thin B strings are the best advice I can give for that, but some basses are just cursed.
No stigma here, all of these issues can be addressed, just matters how difficult a learning curve you want, *for 5 extra notes* (that are often “too low” for a proper mix, that depends on the music you’re playing of course, but I wouldn’t show up to a classic country gig with a 5 for example).
I can switch between my fretted and fretless 4 and 5 string basses, acoustic and electric guitars, and 4 and 6 string ukuleles with relative ease, but that didn’t happen overnight.
tl;dr: 5 strings are significantly more difficult as a first bass instrument after playing guitar, for physical and cognitive reasons, but if that’s what you’re inspired to play, go for it! The most important purchasing factor for any instrument is how much it inspires you to play it.
- Jan 26, 2014
- 1,525
- 1,946
- Disclosures
- I teach lessons and perform live music in and around San Diego CA. Sometimes I even make money doing it!
Might have been. But then maybe you'd have mistaken the C for the G instead
ah yes, the Peter Steele tuning
I play 4 & 5-string SS almost equally & don't have any issues transitioning between them. I prefer the 4 simply because of the 1.5 v 1.75 nut width. Go to a good music store & play 4, 5 & 6 (or more) string of different scale lengths. You'll end up playing one that feels & sounds just right.
I play 7 string basses. I tune them like 7 string guitars... just an octave lower. I lost a 1/2 step in range, but gained a billion chords. Anything a guitar does (minus alt tunings and some whammy stuff), I can exactly copy it. You would think a guitar player could just pick up my bass and feel at home. You would be wrong. LOL
Going from 4 to 5 string bass was the hardest transition I've ever made. Going from 5 to 6 was cake and 6 to 7 was even easier than that. The problem is that your brain anchors yourself to that upper-most (physically) - lower most (note-wise) string. When you set your hands on your guitar, your brain automatically maps that string as an E. When that note changes, your brain twists.
It's hard enough when you do drop D stuff... you just write for that and keep going. When you add another string and make it a B... your brain will lock up a few times. However, once you get over that, it's all good. It's just the getting over it that counts. If you're okay with that challenge on top of learning the philosophy (playing bass is a philosophical journey as much as a musical one) of a different instrument, go for it.
Going from 4 to 5 string bass was the hardest transition I've ever made. Going from 5 to 6 was cake and 6 to 7 was even easier than that. The problem is that your brain anchors yourself to that upper-most (physically) - lower most (note-wise) string. When you set your hands on your guitar, your brain automatically maps that string as an E. When that note changes, your brain twists.
It's hard enough when you do drop D stuff... you just write for that and keep going. When you add another string and make it a B... your brain will lock up a few times. However, once you get over that, it's all good. It's just the getting over it that counts. If you're okay with that challenge on top of learning the philosophy (playing bass is a philosophical journey as much as a musical one) of a different instrument, go for it.
Be careful not to mistake your own experience as a universal rule.
I grew up playing the French Horn. The standard instrument is in F. The orchestral parts were written in keys related to the tonality of the work, so I got used to playing music written for Horn in D, Eb, E, F, G as a matter of course, unconsciously transposing the music down a minor third or whatever. So I was playing in all sorts of keys, but the music in front of me was almost always written in C major. A Mozart concerto is written in C major, my fingers would automatically transpose the notes down a tone, the music would come out in Eb major.
When I came to learn the guitar and later the bass, that sense of having a localised tonality remained. If I tell myself the 5th fret on the A string is my root note, in my head the notes around it dont have their standard A=440 names, but are known by their relationship to that chosen root. Up two strings and along two frets is an octave; up three strings and back three frets is also an octave; down a string and back two frets from the root is the sub-dominant. I never know the name of the actual pitch.
Even when reading music, I'm not telling myself, play D then F, I'm saying something like, start on the root and go up a minor third. A chord sequence isnt D, Bmin, G, A but I, vi, IV, V. Excluding those with perfect or relative pitch, the same is being done when singing: the eyes read the interval, the voice moves that distance.
Consequently would make as little difference to me what pitch my lowest string was tuned to as singing at A=415 does to a choir (Drop D on the other hand would frighten the life out of me as I've no experience of playing with strings a 5th apart
)[/boringselfsatisfieddroningon]
I think especially for a guitar player who is moving to bass, getting a 5er makes a certain sense - the fret spacing at the 5th fret is way smaller than it is at the nut (or at the 0th fret if you have one), so you can use the B string 5th fret as your low E and the fret spacing is closer to that of a guitar. Your left hand will be closer to your torso as well so there's another ergonomic familiarity there as well. I'm not saying you couldn't acclimate to a traditional 4 string bass, but I think a 34-36 inch 5 string bass offers benefits other than "5 lower notes".
I believe, that the OP was surprised, as a guitarist, how many Bass players (on TB) have an unyielding opinion as to the decision on playing a 4 or 5 string Bass, period.
Stigma of the 5 string Bass?
I think though the point is more about the nature of the original question, and how it brought about unsolicited answers. Originally I asked about some opinions and specs on two specific basses. During that conversation, there were some mentions of “why do you want a 5” , or suggestions to just play a 4. I suppose it was a little disappointing, and made me wonder if there was a stigma with 5’s, hence leading to this thread. I know I’m a guitar player and not a bassist, but I’ve played for over 20 years, and we have more in common than some think. And I suppose I didn’t think it needed to be mentioned that I had 7 string guitars and 5”a 5 string bass, because I wasn’t asking for opinions on what to play, only specs and opinions on two specific models. I hope my tone is not coming off as cross because I don’t mean it like that, just filling in some gaps since the original post.
"Unsolicited Answers"...... If I may...and then I'll sign off of this topic for good.
Part of the problem with ANY Discussion board is Technology. While I ONLY (perhaps one or two exceptions...but no more than that) sign in with an iMac, that means I can read ALL the Posts, except for those I've got on ignore, in a VERY short period of time.It's a fact that MOST people now view the Web using their phone. Why does that matter? Phone Users/Posters most often see just the last few posts and the subject matter in those posts is what they respond to.
In this thread there have been insertions about basses, amps, the weather, cameras, the lack of females responding, pedalboards, B.S., etc. ....While those of us who have been locked up for a Year due to Covid are added into the mix, problems result. On the bright and Bassilicious side, you've managed to get a 12 page thread Chugging right along. Many posters get two comments and the thread dies. I wish you well O.P.
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Perhaps unsolicited was not the correct word to use. Basically just meant that I got answers to a question I didn’t ask. But that being said I appreciate where you’re coming from, and at no point have I had any ill will towards anyone that replied. Best wishes to you and everyone else that responded!
Perhaps unsolicited was not the correct word to use. Basically just meant that I got answers to a question I didn’t ask. But that being said I appreciate where you’re coming from, and at no point have I had any ill will towards anyone that replied. Best wishes to you and everyone else that responded!
You're not sounding cross to me, and I hope mine in turn didn't read as anything other than a statement of fact: a little more experience of this forum teaches you to never expect replies to questions to always stick to the given alternatives. There will always be people who suggest a third, a fourth, an n-th option they believe to be superior to the two you asked opinions about, even if they have zero experience of the aforementioned two.
As for citing your gear history, you'll begin to insert "full disclosure" background summaries yourself, even if they're "unsolicited" as in: not directly pertinent to the question at hand, the more you learn to anticipate objections such as guitarist=bass neophite->lowest note needs to be E (plus "start on a 4, it's easier", which is, as you saw, many a member's take, with many others adhering to "might as well start on a 5").
hey, don't forget about the breakfast tacos!"Unsolicited Answers"...... If I may...and then I'll sign off of this topic for good.
It's a fact that MOST people now view the Web using their phone. Why does that matter? Phone Users/Posters most often see just the last few posts and the subject matter in those posts is what they respond to.
I've found that as a covers band you need to be able to play what other people have written. A lot of band now are using 5 string basses. So to play what they do you need a 5er. But guess what. When you get a 5 string you might find it has a four string built in!
You can always play 4 string bass lines on a 5, but not the other way round.
You can always play 4 string bass lines on a 5, but not the other way round.
Being bisexual doubles the number of potential sexual partners, and yet some people insist on being exclusively homo- or heterosexual. Fools!
I’ve done BEAD tuning on a 4 string a couple of times with some basses i& am considering doing it again
Might have been. But then maybe you'd have mistaken the C for the G instead
