Am I simply not a 5/6 string player?

[ewarren88]

Am I just being impatient or am I just a 4-string player?

Right now it sounds like you are “a 4 string player.” But you had to learn that at one point too! You CAN absolutely learn the 5 or 6 if you want to. However, if you no longer see value in a 5 or 6, there’s no reason to keep practicing and playing it.

Good luck!

 

[andruca]

Buying a poor quality 5er if you already own some nice 4 strings might be a turnoff if you're trying to incorporate it into your playing. My 1st. 5er, even tho' being a modest Ibanez CT (cheap MIK line, early '90s) was way better than any bass i had owned before that (all 4 string), so there was no way i was going back to my 4 strings often. The other thing is I unconsciously let 5ers change me as a bass player, they made me instinctively "lower", to the point i could use a 4 string bass strung BEAD for most of what i do nowadays.

 

[Ric5]

Some players just don't bond with a 5 string bass and will go to great lengths to not play a 5

like Billy Sheehan who plays a double neck strung BEAD and EADG

 

[red_rhino]

or you can ignore threads with topics you are not interested in ...

or, you can avoid making assumptions about my level of interest in a topic and how I choose to express it.

 

[Discount Bassy]

It took me some time to get accustomed to the 5. At first it was a 4 with a few extra low notes. After I started to embrace the idea that there were two octaves across one position things started to get interesting. Now I feel more limited on a 4 than a 5. Whatever you are comfortable getting comfortable with. Some folks like blues harps and diatonic instruments, some folks like chromatic noisemakers. Whatever floats your boat, just don't use your bass as a paddle.

 

[Charlzm]

I've been playing 4-string bass guitars for over a decade and two months ago I purchased a "starter" Squier Jazz V bass to test out playing a 5-string. Not sure why, but I'm just not feeling it and consistently fall back to my favorite 4-string bass. I'm not seeing the value in the extra string for my playing yet Am I just being impatient or am I just a 4-string player?

I had a fiver back in the early 90's. Sold it after a few years.
I bought another fiver in the late 00's. Sold it after a year or so.
I bought yet another fiver in 2015 and have had at least one five string bass since. I have four now. I now think of my five string basses as my mains.

So... it only took me about 20 years to decide I needed 5 strings.

 

[Jerry Guest]

If you don't need it, don't bother.

If you work with singers who to transpose songs, you might need it, and you'll soon realize it's not about the extra 5 low notes, it's about transposing by 4ths and 5ths with ease.

If you're playing rock covers in original keys, you don't need it. My $.02 worth.

I generally agree with this, but I'll have to admit I do like my 5 string for certain songs. Everything moves up from your 4 string, so there is no transition time except for the 1/8" or so wider neck. I play classic country, but on some songs it gives me the option of playing a lower version of a note I would otherwise be above the 5th fret on the E or A strings. But, mostly, I just stick to my beloved 4 stringer. (However, I am currently building a narrower neck 5 string for myself, so who nows from here?)
Cheers

 

[ThudThudThud]

Jaco only ever needed....... to play whatever he wanted to play.

 

[Jerry Guest]

Jaco only ever needed....... to play whatever he wanted to play.

Touche!!
Cheers

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You have to practice and learn how to use the extended strings. Muting is usually the first issue to overcome and I’d suggest looking into the floating thumb technique. Initially you’ll probably use the B as a thumb rest and just play B-> Eb on the B string. That’s fine. It’s part of the learning process. Start using the E and F on the B string. Add in F# and G. Depending on your B string you may start getting less than stellar tones after G or so.

 

[overit]

I like both but it did take me putting away a 4 for at least a few months to be able to feel almost as comfortable on a 5.

 

[GIBrat51]

Took me a solid year of playing extended-range before deciding to keep a six stringer around. It was my primary for eight years until I fell in love with fours again.

In my experience, I don't think you'll fall in love with the change immediately. Not even after a few weeks. If you want to see if it works out, I recommend soloing your fiver. If after a few months, you're still not feeling it, then sell it. This is how I determined that I was not a Precision Bass guy; 3.5 months of only playing that one axe.

^^THIS^^ Really. If, in your opinion, the kind of music you like/want/have to play is better served by a 5 (or 6) string bass, then... yes; put the 4-stringer away out of sight, and concentrate on the new bass. But, after doing your best to master it? If you just can't; or it turns out that it isn't really needed for what you play; or, you just don't like it? Well, you gave it your best shot, but... it ain't for you. And that's perfectly OK; they ain't for me, either. I figured that out very soon after I picked one up. Nothing I like to play (and, I don't have to play anything I don't like, anymore) benefits from 5 strings. At all. In fact, 4 strings is a luxury for a lot of it. On the rare occasions when a low B string might be nice? One of my 4-stringers - strung BEAD - works just fine...

 

[Jerry Guest]

I fully agree!!!! 5 or 6 strings just ain't for everybody. I never try to talk someone into a 5 string, or 6 string, for that matter. I have one they can try at any time. And with different width necks for the ladies, too!!!
Cheers

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

I've never played a 5,6, or more-string bass that really did anything for me. I think I've played fours exclusively for too long (20 or 21 years) and know too little theory to get anything more from them than playing 95% of the time on the E-G strings and occasionally hitting an octave or something on the 'extra' one(s). I'm fine with it, I like the sound of 4-string bass playing because of the way it makes people play due to not having 'extra' strings, it's what I know and what I prefer and it'll do everything anyone needs it to. The only 'downside' for me is that I have to own more basses for lower tunings when they're needed, but that's not really a downside, haha!

 

[Thumpin6string]

I moved on from 4 strings about 20 years ago and will never go back. Besides having more low end, having the low B saves moving all over the neck as much. Plus the lower octaves of B, C and D gives more girth than playing an octave higher. Besides, a 5 or 6 string is just a 4 string with one or two extra strings.

 

[Wavy]

25 years ago or so I almost bought a 5-string. Then I thought about all the players I like... Dunaway, Bruce, Entwistle, Squire, Lake, Pastorius, Clarke, Sheehan, Lee, Wooten... and thought if 4 strings suffices for those giants it's sufficient for me. YMMV

 

[Jim Carr]

@Honcho85 — FWIW, I play four-string a lot (upright and electric), and play 5-string whenever I get the chance. BEADG is great, but so is EADGC.

A BEADG five-string sort of opens up the repertoire and styles where they seem to predominate: Gospel, Modern R&B, Gogo, lots of Latin Jazz, Hawaii Reggae, etc. I have the opportunity to learn by imitation from some of the greatest living players who play fivers. It inspires me to grow.

Perhaps more importantly, I find it affects my creative thinking: a five offers different ways of thinking about lines that cross registers, which in turn changes my technique. I play more "across the neck" on a five. For example, two octave scale-like passages in any key require only one upward position shift. As a result, mixing high and low registers is way more available, so are 2 and 3 note chords—get it funky, Mon!

Tone is also affected because the sound of an E on the B string is so different than an open E, and as one progresses up the B string, the sound of the F, F#, etc. are all darker in the same way a B on the E string is darker than a B on the A string.

For me, the key was to practice 5-string every day—which I still do. I also really like 35" scale, but recently was given a birthday gift that is a great 34" scale 5-string Metro—I'm in love!

TLDR: all it takes is practice, inspiring models, and a desire to play music that really can use the instrument to good effect.

 

[Dincrest]

I'm primarily a 5-string player since some of the music I play does require lower notes in lower tunings, but it's not for everyone. You almost have to approach it like it's a whole 'nother instrument since it has a wider neck. It's like if you're used to driving your subcompact Toyota Corolla, but have to borrow your parents' van or SUV because your Corolla's in the shop. It just takes some getting used to.

It used to be, back in the 90s, that low-Bs on 5-strings were all over the place. But nowadays, it's possible to actually get a usable low B even on affordable instruments. And that low B can make or break a 5-string. It's also worth noting that if you like balanced tension string sets, the low B will throw that completely out of whack.

And I've said it before that I still keep a 4-string on hand, because sometimes songs just feel better on a 4. Slapping the open E on a 4-string with reckless abandon just feels more visceral on my 4 than on my 5.

I've spent plenty of time using 4, 5, and 6-string basses. 5 is home for me (though it took some getting used to), 4 is great, but 6 was always a struggle for me, even with quality instruments and plenty of time to woodshed.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I started down the 5 string route when I started playing with winds and keys - they love flat keys and we know what the second flat is in our circle of fifths, Eb. For me, if a B string only had an Eb note and that was all, it would be worth learning to play a 5 string.

 

[Jerry Guest]

OK, let's be fair about all of this. It's not really the low B that turns anybody off. You can always do what Ibanez does and tune it to EADGC, for crying out loud. It's the wide neck, isn't it? It is for me and I have looong fingers compared to my 5'-0" wife's hand. I have built a few 5 strings for some shorter fingered people. Male & female. You can buy 5 string bridges in 16mm & 16.5mm spacings. You don't have to settle for the 1 7/8"(19mm bridge spacing) or a 1 3/4" nut width(17 & 18mm spacing) and the 3" & 3 1/8" heels that accompany them. You can use a 1 5/8" nut and 16mm bridge. The neck is then just about the same size as a P-Bass neck. The heel is basically just a 1/16" wider in some cases. Basically the same as a 4 string. You can further improve the feel by doing an Asymmetrical shape on the neck. Keisel has been doing it for years. So have I and other savvy builders. So, to be fair, a 5 string can be great and less intimidating if you just use your head and talk to the right people before you buy. Basically, it's just that simple. And you don't have to go bankrupt doing it. Now, a 6 string; that's a whole new ballgame, right there...
Cheers