5 String stigma?

[jwoiton]

I am playing in a band now with a 4-stringer and they keep telling me how great it is because the previous player had a 5-stringer. I don't give a flip about what bass you play as long as you can play it well. Here are my reasons for me using a 4-string bass:
1) 4 fingers, 4 strings, just seems natural. The electric bass was modeled after an upright bass which has 4 strings.
2) I don't try to play very complex bass parts and I don't need that lower range. Maybe if I read music charts to play, someone might throw in a note that is beyond a low E. I usually make up my own bass parts and I make them fit into 4-strings
3) I'm cheap. There is more variety in 4-string sets and they cost less.

 

[A9X]

I am playing in a band now with a 4-stringer and they keep telling me how great it is because the previous player had a 5-stringer.

Did they say why?

 

[krfoss]

If you hang around here long enough you’ll figure out not to drink the everyone must play a 4 string Pbass with flats and must have a tort pickguard kool- aide.

Play what YOU like and LIKE what you play I always say.

Hey, I represent that comment!
While Im a huge fan and proponent of 5 string basses with my 5502, I'm lusting after a 6 string, and think everyone should have a 5'r, I sure do love my sunburst fender p with ti flats and tort... As you said, play what you like.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

It's sorta like breakfast tacos vs. breakfast burritos.

There are Breakfast Tacos???

 

[pbass2]

My first bass was a Ric 4001 and I used to catch quite a bit of grief that I wasn't playing a Fender. That grief tended to subside after they heard me play though .

Funny. Me too--first bass was a 4001, in the 70's, and I played with a pick. Man, the s#*t I used to get from some people!

 

[ElectricBass72]

The Low B on a 5-string is a nice string to have at one's disposal.

 

[76JazzRay]

I go back and forth between 4 and 5. Takes me a day to adjust going from 5 to 4, but it seems easier for me to go from 4 to 5. I play the 5 mostly because modern Christian music typically demands it. But when the songs fit, I love to pull out my 4's. Play 'em or sell 'em! No closet queens!

 

[pbass2]

Did they say why?

My guess is (a) they didn't like the sound of those extra low notes in the music they play (b) the bassist overused the low notes - pretty common IMO or (c) they have a preference for a trad-looking bass, i.e. 4 banger Fender, and the sound wasn't part of it at all. Or...it could even be something like he had an active bass and they like the sound of a passive better. Or maybe, the new guy is just simply a better player for the band!

 

[Herrick]

Weird. I've only played 4s but I'm thinking about getting a 5. I started a thread just a few days ago about it and not one person has made any negative comment about moving to a 5. In fact, most of the replies have been helpful suggestions about which 5s fit what I'm looking for.

I always see those types comments in those threads but I've never really seen them as negative comments.

I read through that thread the OP made and the people suggesting 4-strings sounded like they were just trying to help.

 

[Killing Floor]

There are Breakfast Tacos???

 

[LBS-bass]

Hello, I posted a thread the other day about opinions on two bass models. I’m a veteran guitar player picking up a new bass, and one thing I noticed was how many people suggested that I buy a 4 string bass instead of a 5. I was a bit confused, because I was only asking about specific models, not whether to get a 4 or 5. Is there some stigma with 5 strings that I’m not aware of? I know everyone has opinions and I respect that, but I was surprised to see it pop up so much.

People on here are constantly answering questions you never asked, while ignoring the one you did ask. It's just part of the territory, if a bit annoying.

If you stick around long enough you'll see that there are a few Big Issues that people feel very passionately about. For some reason, 4 vs 5 strings is one of those issues.

Now comes the unsolicited advice from me! Play what you want to play. If I were starting today, I'd start with a fiver. The reason for that is that you can do everything that a four string will do, but you'll also have the lower notes in case you need them. Depending on genre, that might never come up, or it might come up a lot.

Five string basses are somewhat harder for a four string player to play, because there's more string muting involved. We normally have to change our habits to play it well, especially where we typically rest our thumb. If you start there, you'll never develop any habits that need to be relearned. It's a cleaner way into whatever your future might hold, IMO.

That said, I am partial to my 4 string basses because they are my nicer basses and since I have played them for years I find them easier to play. I should probably play the fivers more to get better on them, but I don't have the incentive to do that right now.

 

[Rabidhamster]

There are Breakfast Tacos???

They are amazing. For me one of the "hardest" things living in the Northwest after growing up in the South was not being able to find breakfast tacos, and that what restaurants served as "fajitas" had mushroom soup on them. If you can find a "Mexican" restaurant around you open for breakfast, and can find an employee that is not from the northwest originally, but California/Texas/Mexico, they'll usually know what breakfast tacos are and be able to hook you up with what they have on hand, if you're really nice and make it worth their while.

But if you can get fresh flour tortillas, you can make them yourself. It's easy. The popular ones, in rough order:

Bacon and Egg taco = scrambled egg, bacon, butter - easiest to make at home
Bean and Cheese = refried beans, shredded cheddar cheese - great refried beans are harder to make than you might think, but this is my favorite breakfast taco. The hot beans melt the shredded cheese.
Potato and egg = I don't like these but very popular - scrambled egg and soft cubed potato, like small cube fried potatoes but generally not fried crispy. cheese optional.
chorizo and egg = grill cooked chorizo sausage and scrambled eggs. Very popular, but maybe good luck finding good chorizo at the store in your neck of the woods. Delicious but I just can't eat sausage and keep moving. Not health food, great for hangovers. If you make this, the crumbled sausage will make SO MUCH fragrant spicy grease. And you will dump off NONE OF IT. Cook the chorizo first, then scramble your eggs in the sauce it makes and incorporate it all together, the eggs will turn a reddish-orange. You won't need any butter for the eggs on this one.

The taco will be folded up, sometimes with the two ends tucked in slightly, and wrapped individually in a foil sheet. The foil will be thinner than home foil but it doesn't matter - you may want to use the foil even at home though as it changes the consistency of the tortilla.

There are others, but those are the main staples you'd find in nearly any restaurant or truck that serves breakfast tacos. A semi-popular variant supposedly from L.A. would be bean and cheese with a slice or two of avocado, I'll sometimes see that with stuff like bacon and shredded iceberg lettuce and tomato or pico de gallo added for the after-hours crowd.
Some places will also grill the outside of the taco, usually inside the foil probably, makes the outside a little more crispy, thats not my favorite but a lot of people really prefer it.

I like breakfast tacos any time of day, with some salsa and cilantro, maybe some guacamole and chips along side.

 

[Rabidhamster]

@killingfloor
Thats a great looking breakfast taco, where's that from?
[weird, quote isn't working...]

 

[DRBP]

They are amazing. For me one of the "hardest" things living in the Northwest after growing up in the South was not being able to find breakfast tacos, and that what restaurants served as "fajitas" had mushroom soup on them. If you can find a "Mexican" restaurant around you open for breakfast, and can find an employee that is not from the northwest originally, but California/Texas/Mexico, they'll usually know what breakfast tacos are and be able to hook you up with what they have on hand, if you're really nice and make it worth their while.

But if you can get fresh flour tortillas, you can make them yourself. It's easy. The popular ones, in rough order:

Bacon and Egg taco = scrambled egg, bacon, butter - easiest to make at home
Bean and Cheese = refried beans, shredded cheddar cheese - great refried beans are harder to make than you might think, but this is my favorite breakfast taco. The hot beans melt the shredded cheese.
Potato and egg = I don't like these but very popular - scrambled egg and soft cubed potato, like small cube fried potatoes but generally not fried crispy. cheese optional.
chorizo and egg = grill cooked chorizo sausage and scrambled eggs. Very popular, but maybe good luck finding good chorizo at the store in your neck of the woods. Delicious but I just can't eat sausage and keep moving. Not health food, great for hangovers. If you make this, the crumbled sausage will make SO MUCH fragrant spicy grease. And you will dump off NONE OF IT. Cook the chorizo first, then scramble your eggs in the sauce it makes and incorporate it all together, the eggs will turn a reddish-orange. You won't need any butter for the eggs on this one.

The taco will be folded up, sometimes with the two ends tucked in slightly, and wrapped individually in a foil sheet. The foil will be thinner than home foil but it doesn't matter - you may want to use the foil even at home though as it changes the consistency of the tortilla.

There are others, but those are the main staples you'd find in nearly any restaurant or truck that serves breakfast tacos. A semi-popular variant supposedly from L.A. would be bean and cheese with a slice or two of avocado, I'll sometimes see that with stuff like bacon and shredded iceberg lettuce and tomato or pico de gallo added for the after-hours crowd.
Some places will also grill the outside of the taco, usually inside the foil probably, makes the outside a little more crispy, thats not my favorite but a lot of people really prefer it.

I like breakfast tacos any time of day, with some salsa and cilantro, maybe some guacamole and chips along side.

great, you write this and all i have is a flimsy ham sandwich for lunch.... thanks a lot.

 

[Rabidhamster]

great, you write this and all i have a flimsy ham sandwich for lunch.... thanks a lot.

sorry! Now you have something to look forward to for dinner though maybe, eh?

 

[DRBP]

sorry! Now you have something to look forward to for dinner though maybe, eh?

i think we are making beef stew tonite. but i am thinking this weekend you have some mighty fine ideas i may need to work into a meal! well we have certainly veered right off the topic road i guess...

 

[Rabidhamster]

@Titanium sorry to go off topic OP, I have seen some instances where 5 strings were frowned upon, but plenty of instances where it wouldn't matter.

Would I audition for The Foo Fighters with a neck thru active 5 string? No, not unless it was my only choice and I'd tell them it was an emergency replacement or something as I opened the case.

Not because 5 string wouldn't work but because it wouldn't fit the bands stage presence or tone, in my opinion of their opinion. Its not because a 5 string is inherently bad, it just wouldn't fit the look necessarily and they don't use that low note sound in any of their material so it would be out of place.

 

[Hummergeist]

I've heard that one as well. Also none of LK's musicians get to play on his records. He plays all the instruments.

I know a bassist, a 6 string Warwick Thumb player, who auditioned for Gary Moore. Before they started GM told him that he would be required to play a 4 string Precision if he got the gig. IMO that's OK. The "Star of the show" and the guy who pays the bill call the shots. But the LK story is his personal preference and has little relevance to any other bands or bass players experience.

I guess Kravitz and Moore were both 'theme park' artists, where it's all about evoking the styles of a bygone age. Maybe also with Moore he didn't want any competition, and associated 5+ string basses with shredding. No offence intended to LK or GM.

 

[JimmyM]

Agreed. But are most of us here in that situation?

Of course not. That's why the previous paragraph prefaced the list.

 

[LBS-bass]

The only auditions I ever took my 5-string to were auditions where I needed to play the lower notes. One was for an original artist whose original music made extensive use of the B string, and the other was for a new country band, where 5-strings are mandatory. I walked into that audition and the BL said, "Oh, thank God, you have a 5-string." That's also the only time I ever walked into an audition and had anyone make a comment about what kind of bass I brought.

Everything else I bring the 4-string because it's just more playable for me at this stage. My #1 is a 4-string and I really love playing that bass, so I am always drawn back to it wherever it will do the job, and that's almost everywhere. But it is helpful to be able to do both, and I'm not stuck on tradition for the 4, it's just what I'm comfortable with. But these are tools that we use to do a job, so the tool should fit the job.