5 String stigma?

[Peteyboy]

Jesus christ. This is why none of you guys get laid. 4 key trumpets are getting trashed on Talkhorn as we speak.

 

[JimmyM]

If you've ever seen anyone play one of those I'll stand corrected. Or if you knew that existed before you googled it.

I played trumpet in the school bands and I knew about different style trumpets that year, including those with 4 valves, and that was long before any silly Google. They actually spent a little time teaching that stuff every year...origins, variations, etc. for every instrument. Sometimes you might even catch someone playing them. But 4 valve trumpets are no secret in trumpet world and never have been. Most people just prefer the 3-valve designs.

 

[JimmyM]

Jesus christ. This is why none of you guys get laid. 4 key trumpets are getting trashed on Talkhorn as we speak.

Don't project your misery onto me!

 

[Wasnex]

If you've ever seen anyone play one of those I'll stand corrected. Or if you knew that existed before you googled it.

Yes, I knew they existed before I read your post. I worked professionally with concert bands for about 25 years, so I have heard discussion/debates about the relative merits of the extra valve. Although I don't have a specific memory, it's possible I have even performed with one of these instruments in an ensemble.

Trumpet sections in real professional ensembles tend to play a range of instruments. The instruments I remember off the top of my head are: Bb trumpets, Eb trumpets, cornets, and flugel horns. Each musician in a section will have a personal preference for the brand and model for each type of instrument, and some of them were a bit esoteric.

AFAIK, the reason for different instruments was to achieve different timbres and/or play comfortably in different pitch ranges (depending upon which instrument we are talking about).

None of this is relevant to the merits of the 5-string bass or the OP.

 

[joel406]

What stigma?

 

[JimmyM]

View attachment 4217397 View attachment 4217399
What stigma?

No fair! You have a drummer with bright red powder coated hardware to distract from your 5's!



Honestly, though, if fate stepped in and demanded that I only own one bass, I'd probably get a 5-string PJ of some sort, just so that one bass could cover everything I could possibly get called for. But nobody's forcing me to downsize, and I just never get that much work needing a 5 so a 4 with a Hipshot works fine, unless someone calls "Uptown Funk," in which case I'm scrambling for the 5 at the beginning and putting it down at my next opportunity

 

[Peteyboy]

I played trumpet in the school bands and I knew about different style trumpets that year, including those with 4 valves, and that was long before any silly Google. They actually spent a little time teaching that stuff every year...origins, variations, etc. for every instrument. Sometimes you might even catch someone playing them. But 4 valve trumpets are no secret in trumpet world and never have been. Most people just prefer the 3-valve designs.

I went to a pretty ghetto high school. Forgive my ad hominem Jimmy.

 

[JimmyM]

I went to a pretty ghetto high school. Forgive my ad hominem Jimmy.

A shame what they've done to school music programs.

 

[Peteyboy]

A shame what they've done to school music programs.

I'm the one who dropped out to play some crappy punk rock so what do I know.

 

[electricGstring]

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.

LOL!!! I would never presume to tell anyone else what (or what NOT) to play, but I had to laugh because I have a 4 string P bass with flats and a torty pickguard!! Olympic white, to top it all off, even..

 

[Wasnex]

LOL!!! I would never presume to tell anyone else what (or what NOT) to play, but I had to laugh because I have a 4 string P bass with flats and a torty pickguard!! Olympic white, to top it all off, even..

Regardless of whether you like Kool-Aid or not, it's cool with me.

 

[BlueTalon]

Kool-Aid is great with a little vodka in it.

 

[A9X]

A shame what they've done to school music programs.

Where I grew up we never really had any music program, not like many American schools. Yet we had a lot of talented musicians in the area including some who went on to international success.

Kool-Aid is great with a lot of vodka in it.

FTFY. Too sickly sweet otherwise.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Did they say why?

It's probably like telling you the former doorknob guitarist played Les Pauls... completely confusing where the issue actual was.

 

[Brad Johnson]

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.

That's an understatement. The herd mentality is strong.

I play with a lot of different people and get recommended for a lot of sub work. What I don't get is questions about how many strings I'll bring. I somehow missed dealing with folks like that, thankfully. In all these years the only negative feedback I got was from a subbing keyboardist who didn't feel that I should play five string fretless on "this kind of gig". I told him to talk to the BL... she's paying me and she loves it.

I show up with whatever I want. That could be seen as lucky... or just confident in my ability to please whomever hired me for that gig. I choose my tools.

 

[MAJOR METAL]

From what I've seen, 5 string has nearly become the standard with gigging pros.

 

[satjhmo]

4 string players seem to want to jump through hoops to NOT get a 5 string bass when the music extends beyond the limits of a 4 string bass.

All of them?

 

[chris_b]

No, of course. But it seems to be a trend amongst enough of them to make it a "thing".

 

[Jack Deth]

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.

You nailed it.

 

[buzzbass]

Is it really that hard? Genuine question.

I'm a fairly new player and just bought a 5 string to sit alongside my 4's, I really want to play both and switch between them whenever I feel like it.

All I can say is that some things are harder for some folks than others. I don't have a lot of natural talent, everything I learn is through practice and repetition. So, the less variables(over time) to trip me, up the better