I have them on 3 of my basses, and love them - I would strongly recommend it...
- georgestrings
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- Thread starter Arron2882
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I have them on 3 of my basses, and love them - I would strongly recommend it...
- georgestrings
I have heard your appeal, Sir Smogg! I give you, as a token to seal the breach between the Lands of Progressive & Fusion and the Clans of the Four Strings
forty-five years of Rush, Yes, Stuart Hamm and Emerson, Lake & Palmer!
Take them in good faith, so that we shall all find common ground and enjoy the fruits of their four-stringed, yet jazzy and experimental, glory!
I accept your token with humility wise Malak, I shall take the token to the high council so it may be examined by all and pondered for its greatness.
There may yet be hope for peace between the tribes through out the kingdoms.
Yeah I wouldn't throw your 5+ away, necessarily. I go back and forth, but my limitations are my injuries in the fretting hand/wrist more than anything else. To be honest, if I weren't injured and half deaf, I'd play my Bunny 6 with the big old Steve Bailey style fingerboard full time and wouldn't own any 4's or 5's.
But even at that, these days, I'm back to my Bunny 6 again trying a kind of pad that helps me position it in such a way that it doesn't tear up my hand. But 6 months ago, I was back to my 4 strings full time and the 6 was in the case.
Really, In my view, the only reasons I can think of not to play a 5+ are ergonomics and tone. If you can physically handle the wider neck, extra weight, etc., I don't see why not. Also, sometimes the 5+ models of a bass have a different tone because of the different construction. My Bunny 6 for example sounds very different from the 4, even though they're utterly identical in every other respect (I ordered them that way with the same woods, pickups, fingerboard style, etc). The 4 is more wooly but the 6 has a sharper, harder sound, even with the big humbucker at the bridge. But its far and away the tone I prefer.
So, while I respect the cult of the 4 string, I do kind of go back and forth between it and the ERB cults too
LS
I'm not a "jazzer or fusion guy", either - and I *thought* I'd like to go BEAD for the lower range when needed, but the truth is, I still need my G string - so, it's a BEADG tuned 5er for me when I need to go lower than D...
In the end, use whatever works for you, I say...
- georgestrings
The history of the four string bass goes back to the 15th century, although many of the old ones had only three strings. The piano goes back to the 17th century if you count its antecedents and the piano itself appeared right around the turn of the 18th century. I think it is a little late to be claiming that the four string bass is useless. 
I'm not sure where I am in this debate. I mostly play fours and what works so exceedingly well for the violin family works equally well for the bass family. However I tune all my basses in fifths and that makes my fours equivalent to 5.2 string basses. When it comes to playability I think that four is king. I do appreciate the range that you get from a five string and I can get that by tuning in fifths so for me a four tuned in fifths is the best of both worlds.
Yet after trying a five, selling it to buy another four, tuning all my fours in fifths, I have returned to using a five, also tuned in fifths. The thing that inspired this madness was that I uptuned one of my fours by a fifth to get a higher voice for chording. That works quite well actually but at church I may want the low voice for bass work and the high voice for chording in the same song. Well, you can get that from a five string bass so I now have one of those too. Lately I have even been thinking of getting a Bass VI or baritone guitar and tuning it F to E in fifths to extend that concept further.
I view the five string and the possible six string as specialty instruments. When I really want to dig in and do bass work exclusively I want my fifths tuned fours. If I need to branch out to, say, cover for a missing guitarist the five and maybe a six some day can do that. If that makes me a four string cultist well then I am. Like many cultists here on TB I belong to several cults simultaneously and I see no problem with that. All it takes here to be classed as a cultist or fanboy is to express any degree of enthusiasm for what you play. I guess I would turn that criticism around and ask the critic if you are not enthusiastic about what you play, then why are you playing it?!?
Ken
I'm not sure where I am in this debate. I mostly play fours and what works so exceedingly well for the violin family works equally well for the bass family. However I tune all my basses in fifths and that makes my fours equivalent to 5.2 string basses. When it comes to playability I think that four is king. I do appreciate the range that you get from a five string and I can get that by tuning in fifths so for me a four tuned in fifths is the best of both worlds.
Yet after trying a five, selling it to buy another four, tuning all my fours in fifths, I have returned to using a five, also tuned in fifths. The thing that inspired this madness was that I uptuned one of my fours by a fifth to get a higher voice for chording. That works quite well actually but at church I may want the low voice for bass work and the high voice for chording in the same song. Well, you can get that from a five string bass so I now have one of those too. Lately I have even been thinking of getting a Bass VI or baritone guitar and tuning it F to E in fifths to extend that concept further.
I view the five string and the possible six string as specialty instruments. When I really want to dig in and do bass work exclusively I want my fifths tuned fours. If I need to branch out to, say, cover for a missing guitarist the five and maybe a six some day can do that. If that makes me a four string cultist well then I am. Like many cultists here on TB I belong to several cults simultaneously and I see no problem with that. All it takes here to be classed as a cultist or fanboy is to express any degree of enthusiasm for what you play. I guess I would turn that criticism around and ask the critic if you are not enthusiastic about what you play, then why are you playing it?!?
Ken
Don't play one more than the other (or play one more than the other). I just rotate them. There's a adjustment curve every time but that also makes for fun & productive mental exercises.
Agreed. If the correct answer was always more strings we'd all have those 12 or 18 string monstosities...
My main bass is a six. I have 4, 5, 6, 7 and 12 string basses. I play them all. I'm a bassist regardless of how many strings I have. I played a 4 for 12 years and a 5 for 10. This last year I moved to a six. I love me some low B string. I don't see my self going back to a 4 as my primary instrument but I'll still play it from time to time.
It's good to remain up to speed on lots of configurations if you float from band to band like I do. I just picked up a legion hall gig for a while; out comes the 5-string for some modern country. 4 strings will always be home for this old codger, but no harm in going out once in a while . Let there be peace in the land of the low!
. Let there be peace in the land of the low!
After playing 38 years of 4 string, I made the switch to 5 string about 10 years ago. A lot of the music I play today requires a 5 string and drop tunings weird me out. My first try at 5 string didn't work out because I wasn't ready yet. When I was, it came easy.
I primarily play 5 string today but take every opportunity I get to play a 4 string as I have a number of great old Fenders I love to play and don't get much of a chance to anymore. I love my 4's but still can't help but feel something is missing when I play them.
The bottom line is run what feels good and works for you and don't run down the other guy's choice to justify yours. Me, I can switch from 4 to 5, fretless or fretted every song if need be. It's all good. 6 strings are just a little wide for my stubby fingers.
I primarily play 5 string today but take every opportunity I get to play a 4 string as I have a number of great old Fenders I love to play and don't get much of a chance to anymore. I love my 4's but still can't help but feel something is missing when I play them.
The bottom line is run what feels good and works for you and don't run down the other guy's choice to justify yours. Me, I can switch from 4 to 5, fretless or fretted every song if need be. It's all good. 6 strings are just a little wide for my stubby fingers.
Nope, I DO NOT feel that way. In fact, I'm rather tired of people who want justifcation and support for leaving 5 string basses.
... if someone is happy with their limited 4 stringer instruments, that's fine with me. I don't need your approval for what I choose to play.
And here's the big hint: You don't need our approval for you to play a 4 banger either!
Sorry, but the "cult of the 4 strings" just gets to me sometimes...
PS.
You know, a lot of what you're describing really doesn't exist anywhere outside of your brain.
Then you went for the wrong reasons IMHO....
Not me. I simply can not play 4 stringers anymore. But I certainly don't begrudge folks who can!
Forgive my dear comrades, for they know not what they yield so easily. Our pact may remain, but the Cult of 4 have bounty all the way to River C. Let it be known to all that the Cult of 4 will vigilantly defend the waters of E, D and C and all their tributaries.
Thou wouldst shatter such a fragile truce so easily? Delving into the dark depths beyond the River E Flatt leading to the seas of D and beyond would be most treacherous for thy clansmen of the four. Once below the sea of D they would surely flounder in the murk of floppiness and rattle, only to be cast into the unholy realm of poor tone & week definition.
As a defender of the Tribes of the Five I beseech thee to tread with caution as there be dragons below the lands of the drop A. Do not anger the Rock Gods or they shall punish us all with the wrath of the evil goddess Ga Ga!
It is not a matter of concern as much as you might fear. The magicians and blacksmiths at the foundries of Hipshot have developed a carriage that may bring us safely to the far shores of the seas of D. Many of the Cult of 4 travel there often.
T'is true, one must be more wary of the dangers of which you tell, but life in any of the realms is not without peril.
