Aversion to five strings: actual dislike, or unfamiliarity?

[ctmullins]

One more comment from me:

As with nearly everything we encounter in life, the things that are the most fulfilling and bring the most reward tend to be things that require more than the minimum amount of effort to come to grips with. If you only want to put in the least possible investment of time and effort, well, then you tend to come away with the least meaningful experiences. More effort and investment yields greater, deeper, and more lasting benefits.

My advice, therefore, is: Stick with it. Push through your initial unfamiliarity and discomfort*. Spend a decent amount of time and effort with the 5, and you will probably come to appreciate and enjoy the extended range and expanded capabilities.


* Not talking here about physical discomfort caused by poor ergonomics - don't injure yourself. I am talking here about spending a decent amount of time outside of your "comfort zone".

 

[Snert]

^^ Hear, hear.

 

[TTPbass1]

I have owned and played a series of 5 a 6 ring basses in the last 10 years from Fender, G&L, Ibanez and Sire; and I keep coming back to my 4 stringers. That is maybe because most of the music I actually play doesn't require a 5 (or a 6), and also because of a neurological condition that makes very uncomfortable to play wide necks. That said, I have nothing against 5 string basses, but just wanted to share my personal experience and opinion.

 

[Boneless]

In pursuit of upgrading from my Yamaha RBX 374 I have taken multiple trips to local music stores and have tried about 50 or so basses at different price points.

I have tried multiple five strings as an upgrade option and I have not liked any of them.

I think I can largely attribute this to two things. The thicker necks and tighter string spacing.

Did anyone have the same reasons for disliking 5'ers and learn to love them? Is this something that you can get used to over time?

There have really only been two basses that have really caught my attention in terms of comfort and playability in this search. An Ibanez SR500e and a Schecter C-4 GT. Both have pencil thin necks and slim profiles. Maybe I'm just so used to the thin Yamaha neck that those feel more like home?

I feel like I can really only justify my purchase if it's offering something drastically different from the Yamaha.

I'm considering that if I get more time with a fiver, maybe that will be my new home and I can learn to love it? Any experience on this will help. Thanks.

Do you actually need a low B (or a high C)? Do you often play in positions that require you to play notes on the lower frets of the E string while you play something higher up? (Or the other way round with a high C). Do you find yourself moving across octaves that much? If you only use the lower range, why not string a 4-stringer with a low B like Rammstein's bass player does?

 

[Beej]

It's pretty cliche at this point, but worth noting that all of my 5s and 6s have 4s built into them. There's no need to ever return.

If a 4 string player stumbled across a forum where everyone played 3 string basses and made all of the same arguments about them, wouldn't you wonder a bit?

 

[Passinwind]

I'm considering that if I get more time with a fiver, maybe that will be my new home and I can learn to love it? Any experience on this will help. Thanks.

I never felt any need or want to own a fiver for any music that I play but my luthier friend was very insistent that he wanted me to have one in my shop to facilitate preamp development, because fivers make up a substantiual majority of his builds. He kept lending me FSOs and I kept not wanting to play them enough to really come to grips, the fact that all of them were fretted didn't help much since I hadn't owned any fretted bass since 1983. Then one day I noticed a one-off fretted singlecut that an endorser had returned, picked it up , and bingo, something that felt worth investing som time into learning. Did a barter deal, put away the fretless fours and EUB for several months, never even cracked the cases. Took the fiver out on a few casual gigs, which went much better than with the FSOs I occasionally tried that with. One act even requests that bass now and I dig the change of pace. Fretted bass will never become my "home" thing, but I can pick up most fivers and at least enjoy the ride a bit by now.

 

[mikewalker]

I am ok with a fiver tuned EADGC, the B string notes don't thrill me. Something about four strings is 'more right' for bass guitar. I am fine with five on my arpeggione and six on my viola da gamba...

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Finding the right five string bass is really important. For years I had no desire to ever play a five, mainly because every one I played had an uncomfortable neck with way-too-tight string spacing. Then in like 1997 or '98 Sean Hurley came over my apartment with his new Lakland five string- it was so comfortable, really easy to play. I eventually settled on a Music Man StingRay 5, before finally coming around to a Lakland 55-01.

 

[Snert]

I am fine with five on my arpeggione

I didn't even know they existed, so it's been a fun half hour or so reading up on them. I'd love to try one one day, but suspect they are thin on the ground. I have some clips queued up to listen to later. Cheers.

 

[skycruiser]

I've spent too much money trying out various sets of strings for several 4-string basses I've owned. I don't want to have to repeat that for even more expensive 5 string bass string sets, which is why I've been avoiding trying a 5 string bass.

 

[rashrader]

Disliking things that people don't understand is part of our culture. So, if you're comfortable with where you are, why change? I switched to playing a 5'er in 1993. Never quite exclusively, but the majority of my playing is on a 5 String now. I've actually grown to prefer 17.5-18mm Bridge spacing at this point. Anyway, I truly think it's one of those things where you've gotta take a leap of faith in yourself. Enjoy.

 

[MacaroniShrek]

Do you actually need a low B (or a high C)? Do you often play in positions that require you to play notes on the lower frets of the E string while you play something higher up? (Or the other way round with a high C). Do you find yourself moving across octaves that much? If you only use the lower range, why not string a 4-stringer with a low B like Rammstein's bass player does?

I mostly play in church. We commonly play in Eb. Also, I can see the positioning aspect being useful, as I commonly find my self playing side to side, but maybe that's part of my style?

I don't mind traversing the neck, but I do sometimes wish that I had more low end playing in D and Eb. Also, having the low fifth available from the E string will be nice.

On the flip side, I can see myself not fully utilizing the B string from pure analysis paralysis.

In terms of comfort, I probably can get used to a thicker neck. The only explanation I have for why I tended to prefer the thinner necks is probably due to familiarity. I have above average sized hands, but not massive ones.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I used to have 4-5 5ers, now I keep just one and seven 4 stringers. I play different and better on 4's.
There might be different factors, but I play more creatively with 4's despite gigging 5's for years.

 

[Fynn]

In pursuit of upgrading from my Yamaha RBX 374 I have taken multiple trips to local music stores and have tried about 50 or so basses at different price points.

I have tried multiple five strings as an upgrade option and I have not liked any of them.

I think I can largely attribute this to two things. The thicker necks and tighter string spacing.

Did anyone have the same reasons for disliking 5'ers and learn to love them? Is this something that you can get used to over time?

There have really only been two basses that have really caught my attention in terms of comfort and playability in this search. An Ibanez SR500e and a Schecter C-4 GT. Both have pencil thin necks and slim profiles. Maybe I'm just so used to the thin Yamaha neck that those feel more like home?

I feel like I can really only justify my purchase if it's offering something drastically different from the Yamaha.

I'm considering that if I get more time with a fiver, maybe that will be my new home and I can learn to love it? Any experience on this will help. Thanks.

I've tried a 5 string (and still own a harley benton one), but it's not usable for me most of the time. Thing is, I play completely differently on a 5 string and all of my melodic playing is gone the second I pick up a 5 string. Sure, this is a problem with discipline, but I just don't have a reason to play a 5 string more musicially. I don't really ever need the low b and I just love really thin 4 string necks, because I got used to using my fretting hand thumb for muting and such. I don't have a problem with the string spacing or the wideness of a 5 string fretboard per se. Instead I just feel like it's not inspiring to me at all. And I want to make very clear, that I learned most of my technique on a 5 string. Meaning I'm not just too lazy to learn how to play them.

 

[Deleted member 368008]

Tony Levin used to play 3 string bass. When asked by journalists "why3"? He replied "why 4?" and nothing came back as a reply. Why 5? Why 6? Why...why... nothing to dislike here. If you don't like them, then don't buy them or play them. Simple as that.

Even Colin Edwin from Porcupine Tree favored different tuned 4 string basses for each occasion, rather than 5 strings. I have come to the conclusion myself that those 4-5 lower notes aren't much needed in my music. If you playmetal or modern nu-metal, djent, then that down-tuning is almost a prerequisite these days. I have owned several 5 strings, even fanned fret Dingwalls, but settled on a 4 string Dingwall with fanned frets tuned BEAD instead. Nut changed out accordingly.

And guess what? I figured out that the low B string didn't sound that bad up there, past 12th fret, so I occasionally use a capo on 5th fret. Then the bass turns out a normal tuned bass, but actually not sounding like a short scale bass. If anything it sounds quite "regular". If I happen to be in a situation that I play with horns, or dropped Eb tuning to play Hendrix, or SRV tunes I put the capo on 4th fret. Dropped D? well, then I put it on 3rd fret. Playing "Born Under A Bad Sign" ? Yes, 2nd fret for a low C-sharp. And if playing metal (which I have yet to do) clip that capo onto headstock and rumbling around on that low B. I do learn to play regular stuff instead with this tuning, but sometimes slap/thumb/pop suits better with the capo on. I think below drop D the tone/note disappears no matter what amp/speaker you have. The fundamental "drowns" and sinks. I do want to do songs in G with alternating bass on D below G. And in Eb it's too high up when playing regular tuning methinks. I know only of one other person that does this too, but no famous one. Beats me. It needs to be explored. But I guess it has to do with that people want to show off, how many different basses they can bring to a gig, 4 and 5 string, fretless, whatever. And tuned for different songs. Probably...

Capo on a regular fretted 4 string tuned BEAD doesn't come across that well though. The low B sounds too thin and and sour up there, when used like that. One must have some multi scale thing going on. The best thing with capo, is that I don't have to retune ever, or use hip-shot drop d-tuners or whatever. It changes the tension too much, and goes out of tune slightly anyway in the middle of a song. People often thinks it's a bit of a crutch, but I tell you, it's the other way around. You can't rely on the fret dots anymore. You have to just listen and feel. Don't look!

If you dislike or taking too much time to appreciate 5 strings, that's fine with me. We can't tell you to what to dislike or like. It's a tool. For you, not for us. We choose whatever. So should you. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[pbass2]

I grew up on 4 bangers, having started as a kid in the 70's. Have had various fivers over the years--L2500, Dingwall, Tune, and others. I think it's an "old dog" thing w me. Even when I was in a band where I used the fiver exclusively for nearly a year, I just never felt truly natural on it. And the concept of just ignoring/using the low B as thumb rest and playing it like a four never really worked for my brain. I'm considering another fiver as we speak though!

 

[lermgalieu]

I have played 5 string basses and can deal with them ok, but I will likely never own one. Not because they are hard to play or I don't want to invest in learning to do so, but rather because I am not particularly into the sound of the electric bass at that register. There are definitely exceptions - I like plenty of music that requires 5 strings to play, but it's just not my bag to play personally. Call me old school or stubborn or whatever. If I end up needing lots of notes below E someday, I am more likely to get a synth going.

 

[bucephylus]

There are a number of aspects of the 4 string "vs" 5 string instrument choice worth noting.

For one thing, the 4 string basses just feel more rock 'n roll to me; by which I mean I can grab my 4 banger, throw on a pair of jeans and social commentary tee shirt, and go fit right in at the local biker club. Add an inconspicuous HipShot detuner, and you get a couple of very useful lower notes, but need to relearn some fingering. Worth noting is that those lower couple of notes can sound better than their counterparts on the 5 string instrument. Physics.

My happy spot is my 4 bangers, and I'll grab one any time the gig allows.

The 5 string bass is in some ways a very different instrument, requiring substantial design / construction changes / choices; and also requiring development of new playing methods - muting techniques etc. The various design considerations mean that there are an array of very different purchase options, each being more suited to some players vs others. In short, between learning the new skills and coming to terms with the different instrument options can require a considerable degree of patience and persistence on the part of the player. Any given 5 string bass is def NOT representative of the rest of them.

I do most of my gigs these days with 5 string basses. I use them mainly because vocalists I work with are increasingly transposing tunes down, such that the bass lines are either difficult or impossible to render faithfully to the original recording on a 4 with detuner. But, at this point, I am being more concerned with serving my parts well as opposed to being rock 'n roll.

So, the good news about 5 string basses is that they provide new ground for learning and performance. The bad news is that they require new learning and performance. Just depends how one chooses to look at it.

 

[pbass2]

Thing is, I play completely differently on a 5 string and all of my melodic playing is gone the second I pick up a 5 string.

Same here, absolutely. On a fiver I immediately start playing way less melodic, intuitive, natural. I'd love to be able to play with the same natural feel and musical expression on a fiver as I do on a four, but it just doesn't happen, and I have tried!

 

[fishdreams]

I never got 5 strings either, however as a committed 4 string player I have gravitated to 6-stringers on occassion, because I have been keen on that high C. Part of it is a different thinking to navigate the fretboard - one can remain much more within the same position than on a 4 string, but apart from playing chords, I am not sure if I actually like that. Anyway, i got a custom 6-stringer now, a Martin Keith build designed as a no-nonsense-and-frills all-purpose working-man bass, with 1 Delano Xtender in a Pbass position. I have used it in the church band I sometimes sub in and it worked great there. I can see a lot of potential to enjoy it more (the bass is ridiculously resonant, so a lot of practice to damp properly required before i can take it into soundwise more risky territories) but once I am there, like @two fingers, I'd appreciate 5 stringers quite a lot better.