I've always been a passive 4-string guy.
But, find myself playing 5-string more and more.
It's 50% 50% now.
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Any players just can't get into 5'ers?
- Thread starter theophilus762
- Start date
I've always been a passive 4-string guy.
But, find myself playing 5-string more and more.
It's 50% 50% now.
I've always been a passive 4-string guy.
But, find myself playing 5-string more and more.
It's 50% 50% now.
I've been back and forth a lot but now I'm back to 5. I mainly play at my church and often have to play the lower notes so I'm not playing the same thing as guitars or keys or both.
I'd like to eventually get myself a G&L L2000 so I'd have a four and a five, but that's not a priority right now (I've got a Behringer amp that needs replacing!).
To my utter surprise and delight, I've been getting fantastic Fender tone out of this Squire 5 string I bought earlier this year for just $250!
The stock strings were junk and I never wanted to play it, but on a whim I put a set of D'Addario Chromes flats on it and WOW! The low B tone is incredible! Flatwounds made all the difference.
The ONLY 5er that I've enjoyed in my limited experience with 5ers is an SR5 HH that felt AMAZING! However, I couldn't get used to it. (I only played it in the store). I do occasionaly tune BEAD just for the fun of it (w/ .050-.105 Chromes) but never in a live situation. I must admit, I love tuning to DADG for church so I can hit the D w/o going to a 5er. Works for me!
I never did really like 5 string. I'm opposite of most of you, I prefer the 6 string over the 5. If I'm going to extend my range why not go a littler further. The main thing is that I like a super wide neck. I feel more at home on a 19mm spacing 6 string than I do on a 4.
I love those Tony Levinesque grooves, so the low B [or even A] is important.
Having said that, there's nothing so fun as slapping the hell out of some old school grooves on a 4 string
Having said that, there's nothing so fun as slapping the hell out of some old school grooves on a 4 string
Yup. The song resolves on a D, you play the middle D and then drop to the low D. Sounds really nice.
I played only 4s for a long time, but now i almost always play 5s. Nothing wrong with a four string bass, i still love em, but find even if i dont need the B i can play in one position more often with it, and goof off a little even with classic stuff.....drop down an octave just to spice things up. I also noticed that now that a lot of local people are playing 5s, if i get called up when watching other bands play, the string spacing feels more natural. I used to be a bit nervous when i did not play one regularly....it felt weird and took a song to get adjusted, even if just using the B as a thumb rest!
I want to make a 5 string bass, solely for the fact that I want to try something new. Gonna be fretless with the high C string. I dont care what you say about the B string, I just dont find it useful to me, and I think with a fretless, the high strings more useful to me. 5 is cool, anyone got a C instead of a B on their 5er?
I can't say I'm a fan of 5'vers. The only ones I'll play (and own one) are in fretless... I just dig the lower notes on a fretless... other than that I'll leave em. I never got used to slap'n on a 5'ver, however on a 6'er it feels just fine. (I don't know why... 
).
I always liked what Billy Sheehan said about playing 5'vers
" If I'm gonna confuse myself with more strings... it might as well be 6."
).I always liked what Billy Sheehan said about playing 5'vers
" If I'm gonna confuse myself with more strings... it might as well be 6."
I have a hard enough time with 4 strings.I don't need to complicate it with more strings.
+1
I like to keep it nice and even, either a 4 or a 6.
I tried a 5 and found it SO uncomfortable for that reason.
I tried a 5 and found it SO uncomfortable for that reason.
I've played a bunch of 5 strings and never really felt happy with the tone or feel overall. However, recently I fell in love with the feel of the Ibanez BTB series 6 strings and I have one on the way. For some reason, playing a 6 string was a lot easier to get the hang of than the 5... go figure.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
I used to play 100% 4 string, now not so much.....
60% 5 string
40% 6 string
0% 4 string............. for gigs.
30% 6 string
20% 5 string
50% 4 string.............At home
60% 5 string
40% 6 string
0% 4 string............. for gigs.
30% 6 string
20% 5 string
50% 4 string.............At home
I've never really found a SERIOUS need (personally) for a 5 string aside from if making it easier to play with tuned down guitars, expanding on scales and such, and giving some different slap tones.
I've never really needed to go lower than D on my bass, which is just two steps down on my E string and I'm there...so I havent really had a need for one. But I must admit, I do favor an all passive/4-string bass over something with a buncha active stuff and many strings on it. Balance, space, and character are all things I find important in any bass.
I've never really needed to go lower than D on my bass, which is just two steps down on my E string and I'm there...so I havent really had a need for one. But I must admit, I do favor an all passive/4-string bass over something with a buncha active stuff and many strings on it. Balance, space, and character are all things I find important in any bass.
