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Anyone moved away from bothering with a B-string?

#101
I added a five and gigged it for a few years. I didn't like how it changed my way of playing, more modern than 'classic', so I went back to 4s. However, I missed the low B on occasion - so I built a bass strung BEAD and added Hipshot D tuners to a couple of my 'regular' players.

Now I really don't miss the 5 at all... 'cept it looked real cool! ;)
 
#102
Bongolation said:
Yeah, within a week of getting a 5-string.

There are just so many cumulative hassles innate to the concept relative to any compelling advantages that to blow off 5s was a very easy and obvious decision.

I think if people understood the traditional, formal role of bass instrumentation in ensemble music, they would make a lot more conservative and sensible choices in their gear.

"Modern bass guitar" has become something very different from bass.
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Who cares?
 
#104
Templar said:
Not all that valid, really. You'll need more than five strings to cover the "whole" range.

With a low B you're merely covering "more" of the bass range than with four strings.
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I said 'usable', which I suppose alludes to practical limits not of the instrument itself - taking those into account, I still think B0 is fine for me. Maybe A0 if you're offering.

Floyd Eye said:
Why not take it a step further and say that it isn't a bass if it has less than 12 strings and doesn't go down to 17.32Hz?
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The "If it doesn't..." line was clearly just talking about how I felt, and was just meant to be cute, not taken literally...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

But the idea that there's life below E1 is clearly a popular one, or we wouldn't have 5 string basses.

Templar said:
Besides, a "real" bass only has four strings, commonly known as... The double bass, the string bass, upright bass, bass fiddle, bass violin , doghouse bass, contrabass, bass viol, stand-up bass or bull fiddle.
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I had one for a while, but didn't like it - every note resonates totally differently. Of course some people love that.
 
#107
Haha. I dont dislike 5s. I just enjoy playing 4s and the string spacing is much more comfortable. The guitarist friend I jam with has to get used to me. He plays 5er basses as well. He will be telling me how to play certain notes like I am on a 5. But then we adapt and get it done. I dont need to go lower! I use the E on my 4 like a thumb rest most times. :D Let me play my bass and fit what you're doing and shush. :ninja:
 
#108
I've owned a Stingray 5 for about 9 years, now. It hasn't changed anything about how I play. For most of the gig, these days, the B string doesn't get used much. I still love the bass, though. I play it a lot. I also have a '70's Jazz with a Hipshot, a four string P/J and another four string Jazz. I have no trouble switching from bass to bass, now (it hasn't always been that way). Last weekend it was nice to play only four strings. Next weekend I'll play the 5 string again. To imply a B string is somehow a "bother" is kind of silly, to me.
 
#110
I play both 4 and 5 string. For the 3+ hour country/rock band I play 5 string. Why? because some of the songs we do (both covers and originals) are recorded and sound better using the B string. You could play notes an octave higher on a 4 string, but me and the rest of the band agree that it doesn't sound good. You can also tune down a 4 string but that's going to require learning songs in a completely different position on your neck, or switch back and forth between basses. The 5er is simply more versatile for the songs I play without having to down tune or switch basses all night. I don't understand the hate by some on the 5 string, if your band is cool without you playing one fine.

i actually prefer playing a 4, but there can be no argument that versatility in any player (in sound and style) can potentially land you more gigs.
 
#112
Solarmist said:
That's a good question. My 5er is active, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It seems to me that a B string on a passive bass would sound like it's seriously missing the earth shaking lows of an active bass IMHO............
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Not Really: Remembering my Old Ibanez TR75 it sounded amazing. I'd buy it back if I could Find it.
 
#113
georgestrings said:
I play a 5er when I need one, and play 4s when I don't - pretty simple, actually...

Regarding a good sounding B string, I've had no problem with that by using 5ers by EBMM, Spector, Ibanez, or Schecter - thru amps by either Mesa, Genz-Benz, or G-K, into cabs by Mesa... I'd say to have a good sounding B string, you can't go cheap when it comes to amplification...


- georgestrings
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This!
 
#114
I use a 5 in my main band and a 4 in my second band. There are definitely songs with my main band, which plays all kinds of styles, where I like to go below low E on the B string and play a D or a C down there. My second band is blues/classic rock and I don't need the B string so I don't use it.

5s and 4s both great, I really can't see spending so much time debating it ... but that's TB I guess. :bassist:
 
#115
I love the extended low range of a good 5 banger. I swear, nothing sounds better than playing up high and then being able to throw in a low open B that's just fat, growly, and super supportive of what everyone else is playing. That in mind, I just can't 'rawk out' on a 5. They just seem too big for me to move around with comfortably, and I find myself doing more of an Ox thing the entire time I'm playing one. Right now it's a toss up between which I prefer more because of that one difference. Fortunately, I have no trouble switching between the two as I'm just as comfortable with both.
 
#116
Played a 4 banger for 17 years then moved primarily to a 5er for the next 21 years.
In the last 7 years I've moved back to the 4 string, fretted and fretless.
Yeah I know that's 45 years. I just realized that while figuring out the numbers for this thread reply, damn!
I do still use a 5 string, it's just not my prime instrument.
I bring a 4 & 5 string fretted and a 4 string fretless to most gigs.
 

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