Do I need a 5?

[mbell75]

That's funny.
I'm retired (for now) from tribute work, but for awhile there it was paying the bills. During that time, among others, I worked in Godsmack, Soundgarden, and Bon Jovi acts that were definitely 5er requirements. yeah, Bon Jovi. Old Hugh was actually leading from behind, if you will, on the applicability of 5 strings to top 40 rock. As for Soundgarden, they use way too many wierd tunings for me, so I played in all in standard with a 5.

And I've played for years in a Rush tribute band (apparently you're familiar with them), but I used a 5 string for that. Know why? Cuz I _can_. Anything GL can do, I can do on a 5. And it meant I didn't have to take collectable Ricks on the road with me.

But again, I notice you're still hung up on the Rock thing. You don't notice Jazz guys using 5ers? If i'm doing a Jazz session and show up with a 5er, the guys are stoked. Fortunately, Bro-Country isn't really a thing in my area, but if it was, I know i'd need a 5er for that. The Praise and Worship guys all swear by their 5 strings, although I don't know myself cuz if I walked into one of those places it would be like a line from an Alice Cooper song.

The long and short of it is, you have an opinion to express. But it doesn't seem to be a very informed one. And you insist on expressing it anyway, doubling down on the Confirmation Bias fallacies every time someone points out facts you didn't consider. It's like popping into the effects forum and declaring that all you need is a cable to an amp. You're not really helping the OP, and you don't really mean to either now do you?

Read his post again, he doesn't NEED a 5. Just asked about adding one and I gave my opinion. Thats cool you needed a 5 string to play Godsmack, SG and Bon Jovi. I can play them on my good old 4 string. This great thing called "alternate tunings". Hell, I play SS basses and Ive even tuned all the way down to C# Just tonight in fact! lol. Not sure why you say it required a 5'er when Godsmack, SG and Bon Jovi's bassists all played 4 string basses primarily....

 

[Bipslapper]

...Dead Horse.....

 

[kkaarrll]

I, personally

NEED a 5

what I learned on, what feels natural

 

[pappabass]

It's all up to you. I played 5 for years, bought a 4 for practice, now is pretty much all I play. The little venues I play at a 4 fits better. 5s are great if you play a lot of country music also.