Do I have 5 String envy?

[esa372]

Get a 5-string, and tune it E-A-D-G-C.

That's what I did. Even after a year, I could never warm up to that low-B. Tuning to high-C made the bass far more familiar and playable, and a lot less... precious.

 

[malthumb]

I am so totally tempted to go for a five string bass (or six) but just cannot find one with a satisfactory B sting. I cannot tell if it's the basses I've tried or just the b string itself: seems all wobbly and when not fretted, just "farts." (kind of like a drunk chick) Seems like the readily available string sets have humongous b stings that just dont cut it for me.

Am I missing something? I know the 5 string would allow me better access to lower notes, and keep me from having to dip below the 5th fret for "standard" notes.

Does anyone ever tune the 5th string to D instead?


I like bassists who stick to 4 strings (Entwistle, Dusty Hill, Mcartney, Jamerson) but also 5 stringers like Lesh and Gordon...Plus, the older I get, or rather the older my singers get, the less likely they're able to sing somehting I dont have to tune down for.

Looks like you live in Roscoe territory. PM Gard and set up time to spend a couple hours at Roscoe. Bring a drool cup.

 

[spade2you]

The B string varies greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Dingwall has the best I have seen as the 37"+ length allows the notes to be clear with sustain all the way up the neck. Carvin has an amazing open B but it does get overtones around the 12th fret (their 35" might be slightly better I don't know). Ibanez SR and GIO are meh but BTB is alright. EBMM and Fender are meh. Warwick is decent, some Epiphone are decent. (import)Peavey and Yamaha are some of the worst I have seen, granted I haven't played high end offering from either only up to around the $1200 range. Those are all personal opinions, I am sure some will differ with me.

I'll echo that not all basses are equal in the low B department. I used to have minimal interest in 5-6 string basses because the ones I saw and heard locally back in the day were kinda floppy sounding.

I think 35" scale helps for less expensive basses. Neck rigidity seems to be what makes or breaks the quality of the low B string. Something like a real USA Curbow with a Rockwood neck sounds solid as hell!

 

[Gard]

Looks like you live in Roscoe territory. PM Gard and set up time to spend a couple hours at Roscoe. Bring a drool cup.

....huh...uh...whuh.....er....um...who, ME?



...oh, yeah, man, come on over for a visit, I'll convince you B strings are useful when correctly done!

 

[nurnay]

Love the B on my Bongo. Tight and BIG.

 

[bassbenj]

Part of it, for me personally, might be one part of my brain's way of doing this behind the back of the other part of my brain that wants to avoid a 'real' fiver.

I've gotten by with D-tuners, but I am uptight about my low string feels. When I have had D-tuner equipped basses I feel I am compromising either the E or the D position with my low string size choice. Also because of this feel phobia I have never taken to fivers tuned to the typical B, the feel is more than my feeble brain can handle.

The DGCFBb tuning would make my personal issues go away, then it is simply an issue of learning the instrument.

I did know a guy in high school who had a five string tuned DEADG. He thought it was cooler than detuning the E. I could not play that one.

There are people who do the DEADG thing and other non-standard tunings but they are just that: NonStandard. You fill your brain with scales etc. that really aren't universal. I'm not saying, don't do it because some do it and love it, but I never would. And the reason you don't want DEADG is because you want to retain tuning in fourths. The ability to move up and down the neck or side to side from string to string with the same scales and patterns is one of the things that makes a 5 or 6er so useful.

But I can see where you could take a 5er and tune it in 4ths starting at D or even better Db, and just learn to play it like that. Sometimes I'll use a low C but B? I don't think so except when tuning. A different starting point would be a sort of bass capo kind of thing. Probably not too hard to deal with. But 5 and 6 set string sets are already hard enough to find locally. Non-standard tunings would be much worse.

I think D-tuners are too much of a compromise for me. Anyway the deal with 5ers and 6ers is they are standard and hence (supposedly) optimized for what they are. I've got quite a few basses with excellent B strings. My Modulus is best and it's to DIE for! But then it's a Modulus. My Ken Smith 6 and Alembic 6 are virtually as good. (I think you are getting the dollar picture here of what it takes for a good B string) Now I just got lucky to get those used (except the Alembic which was new because I was in love with it) My G&L 5ers have excellent B strings. Cripes even my Ibby GSR206 and SR506 both have great B strings and they were a bit over $200 used.

The secret is to just go play them. If the B is floppy then just put the thing back. If the E on the B string can't be made to sound virtually the same as open E and on the E string then you need another bass, a decent setup and strings, or a change in technique. Cripes, I was at GC the other day and they had a nice used Stingray! So I'm thinking: I wonder if it's time to upgrade the old OLP to a "real" 'Ray? And then I played it. Bleah! THE worst floppy B string I ever played/heard! I've played a few 'Rays so I know it was just that particular bass, but that's the point. THOSE are the 5ers you DO NOT want to buy or you end up sorry forever. I know. Been there. Done that. But those are gone now. Whew!

 

[Reggiep]

In many cases what is needed (IMHO), for 5 string is to adjust your plucking technique. Can't bang away on the B the same as the other strings and pluck closer to the bridge. Currently I'm playing a EBMM Stingray5, a Carvin B50, and a Carvin LB76P. No B string issues whatsoever.

 

[chris_b]

....Am I missing something?....

Have you tried a Lakland or a Lull?

If those don't work for you maybe you're just not a 5 string player.

 

[AngelCrusher]

I have a 5 and a 4 right now. Playing the 5 way more. It feels better in my hands. I cant explain why as I do not have big hands, but I have always been able to rip on a good 5 string. I am debating selling the 4 string just to save some $$$.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

My Carvin LB 75 is great. I down tune to C and it is still very clear and crisp.

You are actually tuning up to C, unless you mean you are almost a whole octave down, then I have to ask what gauge of strings you use.

And yeah, I cannot gush about the Carvin B enough. When I bought my LB76 I did a lot of research on the B, Carvin kept coming up over and over again. The first thing I did when my LB76 arrived was pluck the open B... I had a grin from ear to ear. Tight and responsive, just like the other strings.