Can't play 4-string anymore!!

[Ric5]

If I played a 4 it would be tuned DGCF ... For me the low D is the foundation of my playing.

I am building an 8 string bass and I am torn between tuning it BEAD or DGCF.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I play both.
I prefer my 4, but there are tunes that call for 5. I'll always be more of a 4 string player, though.
Never could get my head (and hands) around the 6 string thing... But I got an Zon 8 a while back that is *the bomb* - I just have no where to gig it!

 

[Ric5]

one of a kind!

I love that bass!!!

 

[Stranger Danger]

A few years ago, I got bit by the 5-string bug and have never looked back! I LOVE my B string, the feel of the neck etc. Fast forward to now. My band is playing some songs that were very specifically 4-string songs (Hallowed Be Thy Name, for one) so I thought it would be cool to dust off my old (1965) P-bass and "Steve Harris out"! FAIL!! 4-string just feels WRONG now. 5s have made my "floating thumb" technique (finger player obviously) totally second nature now so the B string is often times where my thumb is. Also, I love having the A string in the middle. String orientation, playing a 4 now is confusing! I'm sure that I could re-learn it quickly but honestly, I love my 5s and I don't really see the point. Long story short, I now play Iron Maiden songs on boutique 5-strings..... The SACRILEGE!! Oh.... steel rounds too!!!!

Sorry bro. I feel for ya.

 

[Linnin]

I had a 5-string Yamaha BB and attempted to love it, but no dice. Thanks, but No Thanks. Not for me.

 

[Ric5]

I'm curious as to what it means for songs to be, "very specifically 4-string songs." Are we talking image here? Just that the line never goes lower than an E?

There are some songs that I don't play notes below the low E ... heck some songs I don't go below the low F F# or G notes. The flip side is the are songs that I don't play way up the neck. So would I want a bass that the fret board stops at the 10th fret ... heck no!

The 5 makes playing in the keys of D, D#, E and F a lot easier because I can play fretted low notes for all of those keys.

 

[Medicine Man]

I was a overzealous 4 string player forever, until playing in cover bands forced me to get my first 5. Hated it so bad. BUT since I needed to whore myself out to cover bands for a while I got used to it. I never bring anything but 5's to gigs anymore. Confession: When I get too drunk, I still slap around my p in the in the basement with a big old schlitzeating grin.

 

[FangusKlot]

I don't get how people "can't" play 4 or 5 or how you would have to "relearn" either one. Or fret/string spacing for that matter. I've owned both with varying scale length etc. and can switch between them with no issue. It's like those infomercials that make everything look ridiculously difficult. Its all in your head. You don't "need" one or the other and should be able to play any bass.

 

[Ric5]

I don't get how people "can't" play 4 or 5 or how you would have to "relearn" either one. Or fret/string spacing for that matter. I've owned both with varying scale length etc. and can switch between them with no issue. It's like those infomercials that make everything look ridiculously difficult. Its all in your head. You don't "need" one or the other and should be able to play any bass.

It is muscle memory ... when I play a for I start reaching for the low B and when it is not there I feel something is missing.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

There are some songs that I don't play notes below the low E ... heck some songs I don't go below the low F F# or G notes. The flip side is the are songs that I don't play way up the neck. So would I want a bass that the fret board stops at the 10th fret ... heck no!

The 5 makes playing in the keys of D, D#, E and F a lot easier because I can play fretted low notes for all of those keys.

I never understood that one. Is it because you stay in one octave and kinda moves a box pattern ? I was kinda thinking of going back to 4 strings just to force me to see inversion and know what I can play in whatever key because when your root isn't the lowest note possible, you may have the 3rd or the 6th or whatever as your lowest note, it can lead to very interesting line.

 

[Joedog]

I don't get how people "can't" play 4 or 5 or how you would have to "relearn" either one. Or fret/string spacing for that matter. I've owned both with varying scale length etc. and can switch between them with no issue. It's like those infomercials that make everything look ridiculously difficult. Its all in your head. You don't "need" one or the other and should be able to play any bass.

I agree for the most part. Every 5'er comes w/ a 4 banger included! I played 4's for a couple decades, then switched to 99% 5's. There are songs I play on a 5 and never touch the B string. I break out my 4 at least once a month and MOSTLY have no problem w/the transition. However, there are SOME songs, that I learned on the 5, that require a rethink. SRV songs (detuned to E flat) tend to give me fits on the 4, for example, simply because I've played them so many times on the 5. Sure I can think them out, but can't nail them on the fly. Most songs, however, nos problamos. I'll likely stay predominantly a 5'er guy, but will never sell my 4 string.

 

[Misfit Wookiee]

I remember when I first got into playing the bass, which was about a year or so after I started practicing it. I discovered Steve Harris through a VHS copy of Live After Death... to say it was life-altering wouldn't be far off the mark. That was the point where I realized basses could be melodic within the context of a song rather than just playing roots and fifths. At the time, I believed that having a lower string on the bass was pointless, more logical to have the bass strung up like the bottom 5 on a guitar instead...

I still have the first bass I ever bought, an Epiphone EBM-4 from GC back in the early '90s. I recently purchased a new Yamaha TRBX-305, my first foray into the world of 5 strings. It was originally out of necessity, as the band I'm in has a baritone guitarist and we use B a lot. I also work on my own stuff, and I'd rather not tune the Epi to BEAD, then back to EADG, then back ad infinitum.

Since getting the 5 string, I haven't picked up the Epi. They're both very similar in feel, but having that low range is really nice, as well as using it in the aforementioned thumbrest way (even though my 305 has pickups with thumbrests built into it, I like the muting). No telling when, if ever, I'll go back to playing a 4 for me. The next bass I'll be looking to acquire will probably be a Rondo fretless 5.

 

[Ric5]

I never understood that one. Is it because you stay in one octave and kinda moves a box pattern ? I was kinda thinking of going back to 4 strings just to force me to see inversion and know what I can play in whatever key because when your root isn't the lowest note possible, you may have the 3rd or the 6th or whatever as your lowest note, it can lead to very interesting line.

Well with a 5 you now have those lower that the root notes for G F# F E keys. Plus for blues in E a fretted E is wonderful.

Also I don't understand why more 4 string players don't use D standard (DGCF) as their main tuning.

Also the 5 just feels right for me ... the 4 does not. Even back in the 1980s when I was playing a 4 string bass with a blues band I wanted a low D and didn't have it. I should have tuned to DGCF back then.

 

[Ric5]

. Every 5'er comes w/ a 4 banger included!

YES YES YES!!!

 

[bassbenj]

Joedog said: ↑
. Every 5'er comes w/ a 4 banger included!

YES YES YES!!!

Hmmm. No. No No.

I know it's theoretically possible to grab your 5er and just use the B string for a thumbrest and it's just like the old 4 banger days, but I've never attempted such a thing. Not even been tempted. when I feel that 5 string (or 6 or 7) string neck I"m just in ERB mode and that's it. When I grab a 4 string (like the 1960 Welson I just restored) that skinny neck and 4 strings just triggers all those years of 4 string playing and there I go. It's NOT the same as what I do now. Now, I really do not want to go back "home" to 4 strings. Sure I would If the old school music called for it. I do when I play my 8 string. But it's not my current preference.

But to say I can no longer play a 4 after all those years of playing one, is silly. It's as silly as the head games people do with can't play 35" scales or string spacing you aren't used to. I've got basses with various scales including short scale, various string spacing, fretted and tretless, doubled octaves and what have you. Yes, if you haven't played one for a while may need to take just a bit to shift the gears in your head, but if you are already practiced enough on it, you'll fall right into line with it.

I agree with those who think all this "can't play this or that" is just head games. Hey I ALSO play 4 string banjo tuned in 5ths with thin strings and tiny spacing, and playing the bass did not make me forget how to play the banjo!

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

This is one reason why I like playing my six string.



I also cover the little breakdown part on the new Miranda Lambert song we do, "Little Red Wagon". It's kind of fun having all those extra notes available.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Not yet]

Haven't touched my four strings in couple months since got my first five and when I went to the four got confused as I was still just learning baby steps

This thread got me to pull a four out again and see what's what.

Interesting thing is different riffing and perspective picked up from different playing position and approaches

Think someone else said it, just tore up the four. Like shedding training weights

All good

 

[FrankLowend]

What cabinets are you using with 5 strings? I use a 1X15 more one 4X10 and when I drop my E to C sometimes for me the difference for a C# is not so representative, like the cabinets could not reproduce with fidelity. My cabinets are Ampeg and my head is a SVT4Pro.

 

[bholder]

I miss having the B string on a 4, but 4s are still "my main squeeze". I have a few 6s, but they're still a bit of a "wilderness" for me (tend to get lost) - 4s and 5s, I'm at home, though I do miss those extra notes on a 4 - I hate having to jump up an octave in the middle of a phrase, but it works....