Are 5 strings on the way out?

[swink]

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.

As 5'er I use the same arguments for not becoming a 6'er.... it's all in the comfort-zone off the one who's playing...
I play for fun so I don't care about scenes ... if they don't like my 5'er I don't like them....

 

[jazzenfunk]

I'm just the opposite. The only low notes I truly miss when I don't have them are a low D and Eb, and I only miss them once in a great while, and that's why I have Hipshot Xtenders on three of my basses. But I greatly miss that high G-to-D range on the G string if I don't have it. I also don't get bothered much by position changes.

But what I do get bothered by is that darn B string So I do everything I can to avoid playing them. Once in a while, though, I get a gig where I need it, so I'll trot it out long enough to do the one or two songs that need it, and switch right back at my earliest convenience. I dislike switching basses in the middle of a set, and I dislike taking two basses to a gig even more, but I'll make an exception when I need to play a 5.

All you need is a five string. Just ignore the low b and it's an instant 4 string!

 

[bluesblaster]

Personally I don't care one way or the other, I play what works for me and I'm sure the rest of you do the same. Apparently its some sort of popularity thing now ? should I be concerned ?

 

[dramatwist]

All you need is a five string. Just ignore the low b and it's an instant 4 string!

I dig that. I play guitar as well, but I gig as a bass player because I'm lazy and don't want to deal with 5 or 6 strings, de-tuners, etc. I see the bass as a cross between guitar and drums... I keep the beat going and support the melody of the tune.

 

[socialleper]

I don't know where you come up with this stuff, but it's clearly not based on experience and clearly based on a general dislike of Fenders. Which is fine if you don't like them, but your prejudice against them is doing the talking vs real world experience. I can get any sound out of a Fender that I could ever need for any style of music, including these nu-metal styles, and I can also get the action as low as I can on any other bass. Now maybe it won't sound exactly like the sound Sven Armstad-Torgesson got on the second song on Baby Evisceration's 11th album using his Warwick Dingwall Mothman, but it will certainly sound good and proper for that type of music, and it will play as easily as you can make any bass play. And that includes their 5's. You may not like them, but just because you can't make them work for you doesn't mean others can't.

There is no magic on this planet that makes a passive Fender 5 jazz 34" scale bass sound like a 35" scale or longer with active dual humbuckers.
If Fenders, or the multitude of knock offs, could be used in fast aggressive music they would be. But they aren't. The closest I'm aware of is Brandon Michael of Allegaeon who plays a Fenderish looking 5 with a P and humbucker set up. There is also Gabe Crisp of Whitechaple who plays an ESP PJ that looks like a 4 string Fender, but he isn't quite in the same league as some others.
Fender 5 necks are massive, and very heavy. As I said, to the best of my knowledge there isn't a regular production 6 string Fender bass. They have never embraced newer electronics, and their finishes are firmly stuck in the past. I don't the they know the word Ergonomics.
Look, Fender isn't your girlfriend. A bass is a tool and you need to use the right tool for the job. My Spector basses are totally wrong for A LOT of genres. They aren't the right tool for that. If a Fender Jazz 5 was good for death metal, djent, metal core, tech death, groove metal, or death core, people would use them. But they aren't. And to tie this specifically to the OP, it is because they (we) use their B (or A, or G, or F#) in ways that someone playing a Fender, or Sadowsky, or Lakland generally wouldn't. And in these genres, where the full scale of the bass is used because of many techniques happening through out the song (sometimes in the same measure) they need 5 or 6 string basses. So as I see it, they aren't on their way out.

I pay very close attention to the players in the genres I'm playing. When I played doom\stoner metal I played passive PJ and J basses because that is what was required. When I switched to a more modern metal band I looked around at these absolutely insane bass players and realized that not a single one played passive 4 string classic\vintage style basses. So should I follow your advice, or take the lead of the guys playing, releasing, and touring on the music I'm listening to and playing?

PS- Is there a band called Infant Annihilator? Yes, they are hilarious. Is there a band called Dying Fetus? Yes, and they are awesome, as is their bass player Sean Beasley. There is also Decrepit Birth. I can name bands with F'ed up names all day long. Maybe you should check them out. Who knows, you might like them.

 

[LBS-bass]

5'ers aren't going anywhere. They're practically a requirement in some genres these days. I've seen auditions where it was stated up front they'll only accept a 4 string to keep their vintage/period correct look, but I've also seen auditions where the breadth of material required a 5 strings range. That's why I play my P5. Standard/Vintage looks and tone with modern range. I like being able to lock into a position on the neck and work within that area rather than having to travel up and down the neck. Granted I don't often need to get to those notes lower than a standard 4 string, as my current gig could easily be played with a regular 4 banger, but I'm glad to know those extra notes are available should I need them.

Totally dependent on genre/repertoire. When I auditioned for a modern country band, the 5 string was almost mandatory if I was going to get that music right. When I do Americana, I don't need it. When I am writing original music, I usually don't need it, unless the band I'm writing with is doing other music that requires it. Then I'll use it as I write, for the sake of consistency (i.e. since I'm already using it with that band it's OK if I write parts that include the lower notes).

But, as I said earlier, right now I don't need it, so I don't play it. I would like to get better with it but it won't happen without a significant need.

 

[hennessybass]

"The Pendulum of Popularity" ! Love it!

Good phrase and I think its right.

I do think Vintage 4s are gaining, but also don’t t think 5s are going anywhere.

I think it’s mostly about where you live and what scene you are into.
What’s happening in LA now might take years to catch up to a small town in middle America.

When I was in Austin, vintage vibe 4s were the thing. When I moved to a small town, nearly every bass player there (and many guitar players) repeatedly told me that I needed a 5, how much better they were, and some just couldn’t get how only played a 4.

Different places, different scenes, different styles.
Funny - there was one player in particular that rode me hard about switching to a 5 every time I saw him... me and my 4 string ended up getting his gig

 

[Ric5]

I think the 24 string bass is on its way out ...

so when was the last time you saw a live band with a 24 string bass?

 

[FunkHead]

I decided, based on this thread, to go back to 4’s. So 1st PM gets my 5’r

Not!

 

[chadds]

A well designed instrument isn’t missing anything. It isn’t burdened with additions. It’s made to be what the maker required.

I have P that is the perfect instrument. It sounds complete. I have a 5 bootekee that is perfect as well. Do I know which to take to which gig? Oh yeah! That’s why I’m the bassist. They don’t call to speak to my tools.

 

[dkelley]

just saw this thread.

imho, 5s are more common now than they were a couple decades ago, I'm 100% certain based on what I see, what I want to play, the stores I go to, the musicians I talk to.

 

[Doug Bright]

When I started this thread I was thinking about an interview with Sean Hurley on Scott's Bass Lessons in which he said he could "see the shift coming" to 4 string basses. This was for the LA session scene and for the live tours he was doing. In that interview Sean and Scott were saying something about the producer not doubting your choice of instrument.
Here in Nashville with huge amounts of competition for every gig and every session, every little thing matters and can make the difference in whether or not you get called back.
It's great if you are in a market where you can show up with the bass that you like, but here you have to show up with the bass that they like. You can play the other basses at home in your bedroom.

 

[jd56hawk]

LOL! Yep. Rock has been on its way out since the late 50s - and with no end in sight. Right up there with Barbara Streisand’s numerous “farewell” performances.

I heard Guitar Center is going out of business, too.
I heard it about 7 or 8 years ago, but...

 

[jd56hawk]

Do you mean they're going to stick around but sound worse and worse?

No.

 

[Charlzm]

I have been a loyal and true 5 string guy since 1991, but there certainly seems to be a decline in 5 string popularity.
Is the 5 string out of Vogue in the session scene these days?

In the session scene? Aren't most sessions for Nashville these days? Those guys seem to be using 5's pretty regularly.

 

[Medicine Man]

Number 5 isn't going out like a punk.

 

[Eidolon0274]

No. Where are you getting this opinion? Which session scene? Talkbass.

How many pros make even half their income on sessions anymore?

 

[LBS-bass]

When I started this thread I was thinking about an interview with Sean Hurley on Scott's Bass Lessons in which he said he could "see the shift coming" to 4 string basses. This was for the LA session scene and for the live tours he was doing. In that interview Sean and Scott were saying something about the producer not doubting your choice of instrument.
Here in Nashville with huge amounts of competition for every gig and every session, every little thing matters and can make the difference in whether or not you get called back.
It's great if you are in a market where you can show up with the bass that you like, but here you have to show up with the bass that they like. You can play the other basses at home in your bedroom.

Again, I think it's genre-based. I don't see it going away in new Country any time soon. But, as was mentioned earlier, Americana and it's brethren are more apt to use everything retro. Honestly, most Americana bands around here want a doghouse. But if you don't do that, some will begrudgingly accept a 4-string Fender.

So LA session people probably aren't doing so much new country, would be my guess. Don't know what's coming out of Nashville these days.

 

[bobdabilder]

I just order the same bass as a 6 string just to cast a little shade on this thread.

I decided, based on this thread, to go back to 4’s. So 1st PM gets my 5’r
View attachment 3549864Not!

 

[Wisebass]

Hi folks

What a great and funny thread!

I bought my fivers because the music I was doing required it.

I bought my first 5er to help our singer over a 3 hour set. Our originals were rather in D instead of E.

I tried drop D tuning on the E string which worked fine for our own songs. But we also played covers.

I had to tune a lot between songs! Bought a 5er and honestly,

I can' t imagine to use a 4 string as my mainplayer again!

It certainly doesn’t make people sit up and take notice when you take one out of its case these days. It’s just another bass.

I was the first guy in my hometown to play a five string. Everybody had to make a comment about that.

All the local "heroes" (bands that were a lot older than we were at the time)

had to tell me that "you need more practice not more strings" BS.

Either way they seem to have become as everyday as four string basses

They still sit up and take notice! I play a fretless 5er

greetings

Wise(b)ass