Any Reason NOT to buy a 5 stringer?

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I continue to be bewildered as to why other companies can do a good Fender style 5 and Fender still struggles with it.

Fender does not struggle with a 5.
People that buy them and do not know how to set up a 5'er have problems.

The B on my P5 is every bit as good as the B on my friends Sadowsky after a little TLC

 

[Fuzzbass]

Who says I have lack of experience, Ken? I own one 5-string. I've played many.

Jimmy, it was your claim that you haven't encountered a B string that sounds good above the 5th fret. The logical conclusion to me was that you might not have looked very hard.

IME a decent quality fiver with reasonably fresh strings and proper setup/intonation will have a B string that's usable much closer to the 12th fret. With high quality fivers (e.g. Modulus, MTD, Sadowsky) the B string sounds great above the 12th fret.

But intonation and setup are especially critical for the B and E strings, which also tend to go dead more quickly than the rest. It's also worth mentioning that few fivers at big shops like Guitar Center will have decent sounding B strings: they rarely if ever get fresh strings and proper setups, and on top of that, the first thing most GC customers do when they audition a fiver is to pummel the B string. So, that's some additional speculation as to why you've had bad luck w/B strings.

 

[Mike M.]

Fender does not struggle with a 5.
People that buy them and do not know how to set up a 5'er have problems.

The B on my P5 is every bit as good as the B on my friends Sadowsky after a little TLC

Agreed about Fenders. I have an AM STD Jazz 5 string and like any other bass it's a matter of finding the right strings for that particular bass. For my bass in particular, D'Addario's and Rotosounds with a 130 B work very well. Pretty good tension. I once tried Elixirs with a 130 B and I couldn't make it happen as the B was too floppy. But I also have an SR505 and Elixirs on that bass are perfect.

 

[phillybass101]

Nope. No reason not to buy a 4 banger either. Because of the discipline I have developed by playing 5's in terms of right hand and left hand techniques when I slap on a 4 banger man I can straight up funk it out. I have two JB 4 bangers just for that purpose but can slap equally as well on my 5's.

 

[hibachiduck]

Better shot. It is an amazing instrument.

As for 5 not being "harder to play" - it depends on what you're trying to do. There is a reason that Victor and Marcus play a lot of 4-string. For certain techniques and approaches, the B-string just plain gets in the way.

There is no "right" answer. Play what you like. But preferring a 4 isn't necessarily based on ignorance of 5s or vice versa. I don't own a bass with a B-string right now and that decision isn't based on lack of knowledge. I gigged a pair of Zons (B-G) for ever a decade. For right now a 4 and 5 E-C serve my needs in multiple bands better. That doesn't mean that the OP shouldn't try a 5'er. But it isn't automatically needed either. I consider 4 and 5 string to be different instruments. They sound and speak differently, and can require changes in technique or thinking. Or not. Depends on how/what/why you play.

^ this

 

[MontzterMash]

One nice thing about this topic: I've been puzzling so much over "should my next bass be a 5, a 6, or neither?" that I haven't bought a new bass in a year and a half!

 

[baba]

One nice thing about this topic: I've been puzzling so much over "should my next bass be a 5, a 6, or neither?" that I haven't bought a new bass in a year and a half!

You are approaching this all wrong. The prudent thing to do is buy both. Problem solved.

 

[bassbenj]

I continue to be bewildered as to why other companies can do a good Fender style 5 and Fender still struggles with it.

Personally I wondered the same thing. Cripes Fender doesn't even offer a P/J fiver! and if you want a nice Fender-style passive 6er for fun, it seems that SX is WAY out ahead of Fender that discontinues everything they come up this that is decently cool!

My 2002 Fender 5er took a LOT of work and change of pickups (to the old SCN that used to be standard but are now discontinued, natch) to get it to be decent. But remember mine is a 2002. Word on the street is that after 2008 Fender got it's ERB to together and they began ariving from the factory playing like mine does now.

So it depends on "when" and there is some hope. But it's clear that the basic thrust at Fender is to cater to guys like Boomie and not to guys like me. They have a million 4 string models for sale with the tinyest of variations between them, and yet, they hardly cover the most basic models in 5ers. And 6ers? fergeddaboudit.

 

[SteveC]

One nice thing about this topic: I've been puzzling so much over "should my next bass be a 5, a 6, or neither?" that I haven't bought a new bass in a year and a half!

This worked for me for a while as well. Until I could decide what to do for a year, and over-thought my next purchase, it kept me from buying anything. But...

...now that I decided what I wanted to do, I have bought a Roscoe fretless 5 and ordered a Roscoe fretted 5 string to be built over the next couple months. SO much for not spending money.

 

[rotis]

I really appreciate all the input, though somewhere around page 3 folks no longer cared about my question and discussed the benefits of 5 string in general, and Fender's ability to produce one in particular.

I only play religious music. Nothing against any other music, I just am never going to be in a bar band, an originals band, I play in a (church) cover band. I am eyeing THE bass I will have for years to come, was looking at the Fender American Standard and considered for a little more money I could get the five string.

The biggest arguments against getting one, it seems to me, is the inconvenience of learning to play it. I am new enough in my playing that I don't think that is a problem. I am not really good enough to "deserve" a great bass but I am old enough that I can afford it. I want to make a long term investment and don't want to have to do it over in a few years. And I don't play (well) enough to have a half dozen basses laying around without me looking like a idiot. If playing is a major part of your life you can get away with it. I cannot.

My feelings right now is that I am going to get a playable used squire 5 string while waiting for the perfect Fender to pop up. I will give this one to my son when that happens. Hopefully I can get him to learn to play.

If fender had a candy cola 5er I might have already bought it. That thing is sick.

Anyway, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it. If anything in this sounded like I was insulting anyone, please know I wasn't. Thanks for all the well thought out help.

The bottom line is there are so many different basses because there are so many different people playing so many different things for so many different reasons. And in the end we have to find the one that works for us. I think this thread helped me do that.

 

[Fullback32]

If fender had a candy cola 5er I might have already bought it. That thing is sick.

Actually they do.

http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Americ...315388&sr=1-2&keywords=Fender+bass+candy+cola

http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Americ...315388&sr=1-5&keywords=Fender+bass+candy+cola

Jazz, Precision...your choice!

 

[awilkie84]

Fender does not struggle with a 5.
People that buy them and do not know how to set up a 5'er have problems.

The B on my P5 is every bit as good as the B on my friends Sadowsky after a little TLC

Completely agreed.
The B on my Fender P5 isn't as good as the B on my Spector Rebop5, but it's every bit as good as the Music Mans & Laklands I've played. It took some playing with strings to find a set that works for me, and I settled on a set of DR Marcus Miller sigs.

 

[SteveC]

I play in a (church) cover band. I am eyeing THE bass I will have for years to come, was looking at the Fender American Standard and considered for a little more money I could get the five string.

I am not really good enough to "deserve" a great bass but I am old enough that I can afford it. I want to make a long term investment and don't want to have to do it over in a few years.

My feelings right now is that I am going to get a playable used squire 5 string while waiting for the perfect Fender to pop up.

And in the end we have to find the one that works for us.

My main gig is church. I think a 5 is very valuable in that setting.

You don't have to be "good" to have or deserve a nice bass.

I think finding a playable used 5 until you can get what you want is great.

In the end, play what works for you.

 

[basscase42]

If you don't want to get used to the extra string there, don't want to pay the little extra price for strings, things of that sort. I have a 5 string and I like it, for a lot of songs you no longer need to go down to drop-D like you would have to on a 4 string for example. There's ups and downs to getting one.

 

[Ace Marconi]

Ahh Rotis, I actually know what you are asking. I had the same question I believe when going from 4 to 5. The most important/difficult thing for me was changing scale length from my learner shortscale to the full size Fender Jazz. The extra string was like finding an old friend. Not a difficult adjustment imo. I do some P&W from time to time, and it's nice to be able to get those low D's & Eb's, when the organist can't find the pedals.

To the rest of you TB folks. Buy lots of 5 string Fender Pbasses, and then sell em used. I really want one, but I only buy used stuff (I'm poor as a church mouse) and my Jazz V is getting lonely!

 

[walldaja]

There's no reason I can give you either for or against it if you just don't like it.
Recommend you try some out and see how they work for you. I would suggest using the E on the B string (5th fret) as your open E on a four. Advantages are more notes in one position, frets slightly closer together, tone more continuous (no open notes), and you don't get your wrist at a weird angle at the head of the neck. Best wishes with your quest!

 

[Fuzzbass]

The biggest arguments against getting one, it seems to me, is the inconvenience of learning to play it. I am new enough in my playing that I don't think that is a problem.

Frame of reference: I switched to five string after playing fours for twenty years. It took 2 months for me to get minimally gig-ready. I suppose I was a slow learner, but then some never get used to fiver.

Point is, I agree that those with less experience will have an easier time adopting to the additional string. As for me, the time investment was well worth it: I now play fiver exclusively... it's perfect for me.

I am not really good enough to "deserve" a great bass but I am old enough that I can afford it.

More perspective: the most recent bass I bought cost over $4,000. I can't read music and can barely follow a chart so I don't consider myself deserving either, but I got the bass I really wanted and could afford.

Note: the bass (a Sadowsky) looks very Fender. In short, I wanted a high end instrument that didn't look like a high end instrument, precisely because of my insecurity.

So, I understand what you're saying, but as Clint Eastwood said, "deserve's got nothin' to do with it". I know some non-gigging, no-band, occasionally-noodle-at-home players with gear collections that make me look like a pauper. I'm not trying to be an enabler; just saying that your goal is perfectly reasonable.

 

[Fuzzbass]

P.S. Here's TB's "crappy bassists with expensive gear" club. I'm a member.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/official-crappy-bassist-expensive-gear-club-726351/

 

[georgiagoodie]

You only have 4 fingers?

 

[cinnabar]

To play devil's advocate, why stop with a 5-string? Just go buy the 6-string. That's my thinking anyway.