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5 String stigma?

#141
A9X said:
Then they need to adjust. What if the guitarist had a better handle on the song but preferred a 7 or 8 string guitar? Should I say, no you must use a 6?

Agreed. But are most of us here in that situation? But that's sort of logical. I also wouldn't turn up to a job interview on site for a concreter's job with an electricians tools. Even if I don't prefer those instruments, I would play them if that was what was needed for the gig.
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Apparently you're reading more into my comment than was there. I never said anyone had to or should not play an instrument with a certain amount of strings. My point is simply that the phenomena of guitar players watching bass players' hands and getting thrown off by the "extra" string is something that can actually happen. It has happened with me, in those circumstances I mentioned.

If I was playing with a guitar player at a jam who was playing a seven string guitar, I might very well be thrown off by by watching his hands. That doesn't mean I should switch basses or that he should switch guitars. It just means the visual cues we sometimes rely on are, in these cases, not accurate.
 
#142
krfoss said:
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.
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I often take a sip of the kool- aide myself when I play my pbass. But it does take a back seat to my Jazz basses.
TI Flats and tort !! ;)
85C75E88-7509-42D5-9A6E-A5CDA81808B0.jpeg
 
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#145
Herrick said:
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.
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Exactly, I just read it myself. Absolutely no one in that thread was saying the OP shouldn't play a 5, they just suggested a 4 might be an easier transition.

This thread is chock full of misplaced indignation. And no one told the OP to buy a P bass with tort and flats, either.:rollno:
 
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#146
mambo4 said:
See any thread about down-tuning a 4 string. suggesting a 5r is inevitable there.
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My #1 is a 6, but I could see situations where down-tuning a 4 or even drop tuning might be useful. For example if the guitar is tuned similarly and both instruments play lot's of unison melodic lines on the lowest strings.

AFAIK, frequently a group like this will play a bunch of songs in one key, or have a couple of different instruments tuned for different keys.

The lines are easier to play on open strings and their is a reasonable argument that the lines sound better if both the bass an guitar are using open strings. Hopefully I explained that right.

I believe some bands down tune and drop tune 5- or 6-string basses as well, to play with 7-string guitars.

I don't tend to play these genres of music though. If I played one or two songs for some weird reason, I would probably just use my 6 and fake it :smug:, unless it was technically impossible to play on 6...which is actually possible. Some of the licks can only be played authentically with open strings.
 
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#148
Titanium said:
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.
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There's your mistake right there.
You should have *pretended* to want to get a 4-string bass and detune it to match the tuning of the guitarist in your metal band.
Members would have then flocked to show you the error of your ways, and tell you to just get a fiver:
New band tunes to c standard help

Last step, ask for guidance and slip in your original candidates for purchase, pretending they just came in a quick, repentant online search. Profit.

EDIT -
mambo4 said:
See any thread about down-tuning a 4 string. suggesting a 5r is inevitable there.
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Beat me to it. :thumbsup:
 
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#150
Ishmael_22 said:
My very first bass was a 5 string Steinberg that my dad bought me and then I sold that and got a 4 string precision and then I sold that and bought a 5 string squirt jazz. It will definitely mess you up going from a 5 to 4 to 5 again.
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My #1 bass guitar has been a 6-string since 1995. I own 8 basses, and only one is a 6-string. Most of the year the 6-string stays out on my couch and I play it probably five times a week.

I also own five 4-strings and two 5-strings. Once or twice a year I let each bass out of it's case for a couple of days.

I don't generally have any problem playing a 4-string or 5-string, but I do miss the Low-B and High-C, and I do have to think about how to navigate the fret board. Sometimes I will blank out a bit and have trouble remembering where the notes are.

When I go back to the 6-string, the experience of playing the 4-string or 5-string does have some negative impact on my my 6-string mental map of the fret board. This is part of the reason why I keep the 6-string as my #1. I believe if I do not maintain the 6-string mental map, that my ability to play the bass will be degraded.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I feel playing 6-string provides way more benefit and advantage than disadvantage. So my personal decision is to prioritize maintaining my skills on 6-string over other types of basses.

But if there is some reason I need a 4-string, a 5-string, or even an ABG, I am good to go. Not that I have any plans.
 
#155
HaphAsSard said:
There's your mistake right there.
You should have *pretended* to want to get a 4-string bass and detune it to match the tuning of the guitarist in your metal band.
Members would have then flocked to show you the error of your ways, and tell you to just get a fiver:
New band tunes to c standard help
Click to expand...

The OP of that thread was already using a 5-string at least initially. But there is some good entertainment in there like the people who say you don't need non-standard tunings if you "know the fretboard well" :laugh:
 
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#157
I have no skin in this game. Not for or against, just live & let live. But a devil's advocate would say that if a trumpet was introduced that had 4 keys instead of 3, all the equivalent pro-5 string arguements that get used here would not fly there. At all. Not trying to stir the pot, just pointing put that we bass players are strange people.
 
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#158
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