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Are 5 strings on the way out?

I bought a Dan Electro doubleneck bass a long time ago. It was a 4/6 string. I used it a few times. It looked cool, sounded great, and it weighed a lot and was unwieldy to play. I sold it after a few months. I wish I still had it for those special occasions, and just because.

Usually the audience gets impressed a lot by double necks because they think that you can play "two times the quantity"
 
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4,5, and 6. not in that order. What difference does it really make as long as you're happy?
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While that's true, the only notes you're losing are the 5 highest you'd have on the G string, since most of what is on the G string can be found out the D string, albeit just in different positions. I'd be willing to bed that 95% of bassists won't miss those 5 highest notes. I'd much rather lose them than lose B to Eb by not having a B string.

To the point, I don't see 5ers declining. In the cover band scene, I see more 5s than 4s.

I have two five string basses. A Rob Allen tuned g-d-a-e-b, and a Carvin tuned c-g-d-a-e. Both work quite well.

S
 
Seems largely genre dependent. I still see a lot of them in Metal, and in genres where you are adapting to the singer (Modern Country and R&B) so you might end up in funny keys. They seem less prevalent in general rock right now, which seems to be having sort of a throwback period and is a little more vintagey. Personally, I gig a 4 and a 6 (the 6 where I need flexibility, the 4 for most of the set because it's more comfortable)
 
I grew up in a time when 4 string was the only option (the vintage Fender Bass V and Bass VI weren't exactly true basses). It's awesome that bassists have so many options these days: 4, 5, and 6 strings are all easy to find at reasonable prices. Basses with more than 6 strings (non-paired) are also available from multiple manufacturers.

Certain string counts will increase or decrease in popularity, but bass guitar hasn't been a "four stringed instrument" for decades now. Again, that's a good thing.
 
P.S. A bandmate recently asked me "Oh, I see you're playing a 5 string. When did you start doing that?" (Answer: Y2K). This is a trombone player I've been gigging with a few times a year for 14 years, and he plays multiple instruments including guitar and bass. Our band is a 60's/70's classic rock/R&B band, so I took his question as a great compliment. I frequently play the low B string in that band, but usually above the 5th fret... I try to be careful with notes below low D in that band. So, in this case it was good that he was unaware that I was a 5-string guy.


In the 'bone player's defense, the horn section of this band takes the front of the stage, while guitar, bass, and drums are behind. Also, I play Fender-style/Precision-style fivers as opposed to fancy boutiques: even musicians see the P-bass shape and automatically assume 4 strings.
 
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