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Can't play 4-string anymore!!

#41
I'm actually about to put one of my 4 strings back together now. I haven't played either of them in months. Both are in pieces needing different repairs, but they're both playable as is. I'm gonna throw one back together tonight just to screw around on.

I plan to keep at least one of them, but 5s are where I'm at for now. It's just so comfortable now. My band's music requires a 5 or BEAD, and I still like having a G string. I guess if I ever join another band that doesn't require a the lower notes then I wouldn't bring the 5.

We'll see how familiar it feels in about an hour.
 
#46
I got a fiver back when Peavey first started offering them. Had a 5 string Dyna and loved it. After a couple years with it I was at a benefit jam one day and was asked to play with a group that was put together on the spot. I didn't have my stuff but the house band was generous and said go for it, use ours. I was pumped because it was a Fender J. I picked it up and struggled with it the entire set. fivers were still new and rare back then and I was afraid I would wind up being the only guy with one so I switched back to a 4 string. Not too long ago I got a call from some folks looking for a bass player for modern country and almost the first question was did I have a fiver. It felt good in a perverse kind of way to say no, and I don't have any real interest in getting one.
 
#49
A couple of weeks ago I received a very nice Peavey Cirrus 6 from a fellow TBer. I had been getting a hankering to try a 6-string again after selling an Ibanez BTB 6 in 2011...in the interim I'd gone back to 4-strings: I had an Ibanez ATK200 that I sold several months ago, and a Peavey T-40 that I still have. I'm really enjoying getting back into the sixer; the neck/board on this Cirrus is just as comfortable, if not more so, as the BTB I used to own. That was my biggest fear, that after having gone back to fours for awhile, I just wasn't going to be able to adjust to the neck of a six, partly based on the fact that I tried out a newer Ibanez BTB Premium 6-string last summer, and it did not work AT ALL for me comfort/playability-wise. However, as it turns out, my gut was right, and I haven't had any issues with this Cirrus (loving the 35-inch scale too.) - My poor ol' T-40 hasn't been out of the case since the Cirrus showed up, and I am a little concerned that when I do eventuallly pull 'er out again, I'll be like "What man would want you now??" :rollno::bored::D
 
#51
I never really choose to be a 5 string player, the 5 string bass choose me! After playing some 4 bangers for 25 years, I was in a store and noticed this lefty Warmoth 5 (FYI you almost never accidentally find a decent used left-handed bass in a used instrument store). I tried the bass and it was love at first sight...I bought the bass hence becoming a five string player.
My favorite thing about playing a five is the fatness you get playing in the middle of the neck on the B string. Perfect for reggae. Now, thankfully I don't have any with switching back and forth with the 4 as once in a while I like to use my P Bass.
 
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#52
I wish I was a stronger 4-string player. My second teacher played a 5, so I got one, too. My entire foundation was built on it to the point where playing bass without my right thumb anchored on a b-string feels unnatural to me. I see guys who can slay on a precision and I always have respect for them. Whenever I play one I have a hard time getting out of my head.
 
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#53
I envy the lot of you. I played piano just about my whole life, but fell completely in love with the bass about 5 years ago. Just for Christmas I got my first 5er, and I still struggle with it a bit, although I play it every day, if anything out of discipline. String confusion is actually my biggest issue, as I'm OK with different string spacings. But mixing the E and A string is clearly my biggest issue when I'm not 100% "in the zone".
 
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#54
I just bought 1 5-er around 2 weeks ago, a Yamaha BB425. I like how the B-string sound. Also noticed that the spacing between strings are narrower thus allowing me to fret a little bit faster. But feel-wise, I am still used to the feel of my 4-string bass with 3-years old string ( I never change since the day I bought it and it sounds somewhat warm).
 
#55
Hi
I'm kinda in the same boat, I've picked up a 6 stringer 2 months ago moving from a 5 string. I couldn't play the 6 string due to the closer string spacing. I finally got the hang of it and whipped put my 5 string yesterday and I'm thrown off my the string spacing on her now :(. I can play my 4 string not a bother. Anyone have the same issue?
 
#56
John patton said:
Hi
I'm kinda in the same boat, I've picked up a 6 stringer 2 months ago moving from a 5 string. I couldn't play the 6 string due to the closer string spacing. I finally got the hang of it and whipped put my 5 string yesterday and I'm thrown off my the string spacing on her now :(. I can play my 4 string not a bother. Anyone have the same issue?
Click to expand...

It's harder for me to do slapping when the string is closer to each other but it could be my slapping is not accurate enough.
 
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#58
I started playing Fives about 15 years ago when my band was doing some of that heavy metal rap stuff (Limp Bizkit, etc...). We're more Top 40 covers now, but I still find use for it. There's obvious songs that were written on a 5 ("Absolutely - Story of a Girl", "Uptown Funk"), but I also try to tastefully toss in a low note here or there. But, aside from the obvious where the line was written with notes only playable on the B, there's the a) expanded fingering possibilities and b) different tone/timbre. An F on the B string just sounds different than an F on the E.

Strangely enough, I'm the only bassist on my Top 40 circuit that plays a five. When I ask dudes if they want to sit in, I routinely get the deer in the headlights look, "No way!! Not on THAT thing!!"
 
#59
Baird6869 said:
Not to speak for the OP, but for me there are a few songs that I wouldn't touch the B if I played them. I don't really play Sweet Home Alabama, Brown Eyed Girl or Mustang Sally, but they would be good examples of songs I likely would just play as recorded. If basic songs like that are in E or D, I would likely go low on the B if it fit, but I wouldn't play an easy song like Sweet Home on the 8th-10th frets on the E and B strings. Just my weird way of playing, I guess.
Click to expand...
Actually, that makes sense to me. For example, the E on the D string, second fret sounds totally different from the E on the A string 7th fret. My fingering is often driven by where I want to play a specific note. And I would agree 100% with your statement. I actually tried playing Tough Enough using the E on the B string, but it didn't sound right at all.
 

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