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Do I need a 5?
- Thread starter Lepparda
- Start date
Flea and Wooten have both been known to play 5 strings also.
If you watch the rig rundown for flea he even brings a 5 on tour.
Of course, you've never played a Bass V otherwise you would realize it has nothing to do with the instruments under discussion. The Bass V had no low B string.
The modern 5 string bass (what we're talking about) was invented in 1974/75 and not widely available until the late 1980s, and even then it was rare because of the impact synthesizers had on music of the time. You'll notice that _all_ of the players you mentioned learned to play, and established their careers, long before that period.
Anthony Jackson designed the modern instruent and made quite a big splash with it. He's iconic. Nathan East is another. Maybe these guys aren't iconic to _you_ because you weren't listening to their music. Just cause the others were old dogs who couldn't learn new tricks, doesn't mean that others weren't out there blazing iconic trails. Which brings up the issue of how grateful we all are to have _you_ around to tell us who is iconic and who isn't.
Thanks!
I need a list of ironic bassists. Or maybe cobaltonic. I'm trying to expand my metal horizons...
Who cares if it does zero for you? You've just admitted you have limited scope for music appreciation. Why would anybody interested in exploring their musical horizons or artistic capabilities listen to a thing you say?
You've not quite so cleverly tried to shift the prerequisite of "needing" a 5 string (whatever that is) from being able to apply it in an (unspecified) musical situation to using a five string as a "main" bass.
There is no such requirement. And no matter how dogmatically you huff about your preference for music that came out before 1985 (Mars is retro), your failure to appreciate the technological, stylistic, and artistic developments of the last 30 years mean that your narcissistic assertions are simply.....irrelevent. Nobody cares what you like. If you stick to the 4 string and old music, more power to you. But your opinion is neither expert or interesting.
This forum includes people with alternative creative visions and artistic applications, and the desire to explore new techniques. You're not one of them. We know.
I had no idea The artists I mentioned were all pre 1985. I could have sworn I have seen Geddy, Flea, Clarke, Wooten and most the others (aside from Jaco obviously) fairly recently lol. Better watch the personal insults and attacks kid. It's against the rules and you look foolish getting so worked up over someones opinion on an Internet forum.
Also Jimmy Johnson (Flim and the BB's):
"In 1976, Johnson worked with Invalid Link Removed and GHS to create one of the first 5-string bass guitars with a low B string. Living in the Los Angeles area since 1979, Johnson continues to record and tour with singer-songwriter James Taylor and also appears with various groups at The Baked Potato jazz club in Studio City, California."
"In 1976, Johnson worked with Invalid Link Removed and GHS to create one of the first 5-string bass guitars with a low B string. Living in the Los Angeles area since 1979, Johnson continues to record and tour with singer-songwriter James Taylor and also appears with various groups at The Baked Potato jazz club in Studio City, California."
Anthony Jackson is pretty well known, yeah. Also both Wooten and Flea, as mentioned earlier, have used 5s. I think even Macca has at one point. I'm not sure, but I think Geddy has used a 5 for some things. John Paul Jones even has a 10 string (doubled, not 10 independent strings). One of the basses Les Claypool has played most is a 6.
Now, I don't personally like 5s. Tried them, they're not for me, nor do I think every bassist "needs" one, or that they're "better" than 4s. But to say that no one should play them, or that no great bassists do, or that you can't be a great bassist while playing one? That just seems silly to me. Everyone should just play the basses that feel and sound right to them and let them do what they want to do musically.
Pre 1985 as in started their careers and developed their bass playing style before then. Also Wooten, Flea, and even Geddy have played 5s at times.
Also calling anyone "kid" during a disagreement is basically never productive in getting the other person to consider your opinion. Unless someone is younger than you, and probably related to you or otherwise close to you, calling them "kid," or "boy," or "junior," or "youngster" is probably going to make them less likely to consider what you have to say, not more. In fact, generally bringing up someone's age either way in an argument doesn't usually help.
We can't answer that, only you can.
I played 4s for about 12 years before I bought my first 5. I need a 5 for the current band I'm in, so on stage I use a 5. When I'm at home though, I play one of my 4s unless I'm learning or practicing a song that I need the 5 for.
Precisely! Geddy used a 5 on Hold Your Fire. Macca had a 5 string Rick. Chris Squire used a 5 on 92015.
You know why? The music called for it. It's not like your nose - an intrinsic part of who you are (although these days you can change that too!). A bass guitar is simply an instrument. The right tool for the right job. You change it when you need something that fits the job better. Otherwise, you're bowing to limitations that don't actually exist, and that's not art, or music.
Jones' Zep career was over by the time 5s became a "thing", but I bet he would have experimented with it had Zep continued. His 10 string tho, is tuned E-C, not the configuration most associate with 5 string. Still it's a move into expanded range. Like Jones, Entwistle's career predated the common 5er, but both of these guys looked to 8 string instruments to expand their sounds. Because they could. Not because Jaco didn't.
On the other hand, Lemmy didn't pick up the 5er because he was afraid that it would make him shhite himself. Jack Bruce had an unfortunate facination with how things had been done before, so while he liked the idea of a 5, he was stuck in his ways (and unfortunately stuck on his EB-1 for the Cream reunion when he had a perfectly great Warwick available). Stanley Clarke wanted high notes, not low, so he stuck with the four strings but tuned them an octave higher (his "iconic" Piccolo Bass). Again extended range.
Geddy used a 5 string Wal on Lock and key. One song from HYF. I've seen them live 86 times, never once seen him use a 5 string, not even when they played it live. So let's not go there. Don't you think these brilliant bass players would have used 5 string basses extensively if it improved their ability and sound? Of course they would, it doesn't though. Move on.
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Like I said, 5s aren't my thing. Just don't like them. But that doesn't mean other people shouldn't use them, or that nobody good uses them. Not every product is made for me. Jason Newsted is a very underrated player, IMO, and he basically only plays 5s, IIRC. And an E-C is still a 5.
No one NEEDS a 5 string, but if you are curious and think it will add something or inspire you in some way, why not just try it? You can always sell it if things don't work out.
Any song (even those that were recorded with a 5) can be played sufficiently well on a four and no one in the audience is gonna care.
If someone is paying you to play bass and THEY require a 5, that's a different matter.
I have had and sold many, many 5s and now I just consider them another 'colour'. I personally don't worry about the extra 5 notes being there for me or not and have accepted that the B string will never really perform, react or play like the other 4 strings, but that's a small trade off for the occasions I might like to use those extra low 5 notes.
I still like returning 'home' to a 4 string as it just feels so much faster and comfy, so no, a 5 won't necessarily make you give up on your 4s either. All IMHO of course.
Peace,
Rob.
Any song (even those that were recorded with a 5) can be played sufficiently well on a four and no one in the audience is gonna care.
If someone is paying you to play bass and THEY require a 5, that's a different matter.
I have had and sold many, many 5s and now I just consider them another 'colour'. I personally don't worry about the extra 5 notes being there for me or not and have accepted that the B string will never really perform, react or play like the other 4 strings, but that's a small trade off for the occasions I might like to use those extra low 5 notes.
I still like returning 'home' to a 4 string as it just feels so much faster and comfy, so no, a 5 won't necessarily make you give up on your 4s either. All IMHO of course.
Peace,
Rob.
Maybe my preference for 4 string bass could be that I witnessed a lot of 5 string players with mediocre rigs or using an EQ that did not jive with my ears. Even with standard 4 string basses, cabs differ so much that knowing the EQ is king.
On the top of my head there was two live gigs i played at, where the 5 string bass was punchy tight and musical. One guy was playing a 35" yamaha trb1000 through a ampeg svt4 pro through a ampeg svt 610 HLF.. I the other case I cant recall what bass was played but the guy was playing through a EBS TD650 through a EBS proline 610. Both rigs expensive ones with large cabs with massive amounts of classic AB mosfet power not modern class D amps.
On the top of my head there was two live gigs i played at, where the 5 string bass was punchy tight and musical. One guy was playing a 35" yamaha trb1000 through a ampeg svt4 pro through a ampeg svt 610 HLF.. I the other case I cant recall what bass was played but the guy was playing through a EBS TD650 through a EBS proline 610. Both rigs expensive ones with large cabs with massive amounts of classic AB mosfet power not modern class D amps.
Hadrian Feraud. Henrik Linder. Federico Malaman. Countless others. Why do you insist on beating this dead horse? Why do you care? Is it not enough in life to live and let live?
No, he needs to feel validated because the only good bass players are the ones he listened to in high school. And they played 4s. And the rest of us must simply conform.
4s are great. 5s are great too. Unless you're @mbell75, for whom whatever you were playing on that poster he hung on his garage wall in 1980 is the only thing you can ever play for the rest of your life.
Okay, first crow of the year served up. I'll take it. I didn't get the context of your post.
I play fives, but by all means, one should absolutely play what they need or want to play and without the hoopla of the 4 vs 5 vs 6 or whatever. I see that you get it, too. You made a great point. My apologies. And take care...
You guys are making a mountain out of a mole hill. A 5 string ads 5 extra notes. Most of the time, there is a 4 string version of whatever 5 string you are hearing that would sound exactly the same except for those 5 extra notes which probably will not even be played 95% of the time.
The 5 string is a tool, just like a 4 string. A good player with a good rig will sound good regardless of the extra string or not.
The 5 string is a tool, just like a 4 string. A good player with a good rig will sound good regardless of the extra string or not.
This makes no sense. How would those players you witnessed, who played 5s, have been any better by playing a 4? How do you even know they played on their B string much at all in the songs you heard? It's 5 extra notes, I'm sorry but it's not going to change the rig and their sound that tremendously.
This is it totally. There are so many things to be upset about (musician's pay, insurance and taxes, competing and under-cutting players and bands, etc) than who plays how many strings. One of the great un-explained enigmas in life.
