Given that I've been playing nothing but 5's (and 6's) for the last 20 years, yes, I need a 5. I don't like playing fours at all anymore, feels like something's missing.
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Do you have to have a 5?
- Thread starter TheArchitect
- Start date
I bought a Kiesel 6 string headless… I needed to make some ergonomic adjustments but once I did, it feels lighter than any 4 I ever played…. You might want to consider a headless. Ibanez makes some nice ones in the $1000 range.
If memory serves me correctly the only time you'd "NEED" a 5 string is working in the orchestra pit on theatre gigs, alot of those are written for 5 string basses.
Except it burned in a fire just a few years after he got it, so apparently bass was not meant to have 3 strings.
And he's mostly played a Stingray 5 since it came out in 1987.
I guess my attempt at dry humor was a bit too subtle ... lol.
I am a retired musician who played a LOT of musical theater up and down the East coast and a fiver was required for those gigs (with the exception of older musicals that used only upright bass). I play both 4 and 5 string basses and I love em both. So, I was just trying to add a little humor to your already fun post.
No confusion here! Carbon-Steel Wok - the Fender J of skillets! Fender P>J; cast-iron>carbon steel
Right-hand technique/habit is indeed a thing. I'm extremely left-handed and to deal with clumsiness I adopted floating thumb on 4, before transitioning to 5. It certainly helps!
I’ve been playing my Modulus funk 5 more lately since I’ve been on a MonoNeon listening binge. The neck is barely larger than a 4 string and is a dream to play. But it won’t replace any of my 4s
I’ve owned a few headless 4 string basses including 2 original Steinberger L series, and I really do like playing them, but I find most out of my price range. Even the new Kiesel’s are crazy expensive. A few of the basses I regret parting with were Carvin B50 5 strings. I had one that was just over 8 pounds, gorgeous, and I should never have parted with it. I think I did because I bought something else and I wasn’t in a situation where I needed a 5, but man I wish I had that one back. I’m sorry to see that Carvin, when it became Kiesel, went from a company that made quality affordable American basses to a wannabe boutique manufacturer that ceased making some of my favorite models. Just as well I suppose, a Kiesel B50 would probably cost almost twice as much as it did when it had Carvin on the headstock.
Sure, five-string basses are more popular now than ever before, but when I think of all the great bassists I listen to, I find most of them got by fine with four.
TL
R - but for me the answer is yes. I NEED a long scale 5 string and if I can't have one, I'm going home!
R - but for me the answer is yes. I NEED a long scale 5 string and if I can't have one, I'm going home!
A five string bass is a completely different instrument than a four. If you don't want to get out from your comfort zone, disregard a fiver. If you want to start thinking in a different way instead, having a new visual and physical approach to the fingerboard, then a fiver would be a boost, for you. One thing "to me" seems clear, anyway: the five string bass currently is the new standard. Since quite a large slice of time. But you can definitely earn your daily bread with a four, I guess. Btw: learn to use/play a fiver, anyway. And have a decent one at home; a Squier or similar, well setup. Practice with it, learn the tricks. Maybe bring it to the next audition, too. You never know what a bandleader might want from the bassplayer...
For the most part I like your reply a lot. I think I would find nuance in the statement "a five string is a completely different instrument" and would argue that point. It's not that it's so much a totally different instrument is that initially it can create sensory confusion. And I think I know why, having gone through the "conversion" myself.
A lot of us start out as guitar players. We start with "cowboy chords", then progress to "bar chords" (why some folks spell that as barrre illudes me"). But we begin by relating the roots of the chords to the 6th and sometimes 5th strings on a guitar. So we orient 6-1 rather than 1-6. So when we cross over to 4 string bass we're mentally playing a guitar 8basso, missing strings 1 and 2. No problemo. But when we add that low B- it messes with our heads. For whatever reason we can't, initially just ignore that low B strings (as I tried to do the first time I played a 5er). And the spacing gets spread a bit, so it's easy for our hands to get confused. I don't understand that part of it as I can easily move from a 5er with a 43mm nut to one with a 48mm nut.
A friend of mine told me something that I initially scoffed at. He said, when going to a 5, put your 4 under the bed for 6 months. He was mostly right. It took me about 6 months to become comfortable on a 5 and a year to feel natural with it in my hands. But the diligence of adapting to a 5 was worth it... and necessary in my case.
I guess my question is; What's the point of a 4 if you can play a 5 well? And yeah.. in modern times 5 has become the defacto standard- in spite of 90% of basses hanging on guitar store walls is still 4 string. I wonder how things might change were the ratio reversed? I guess my guitar crossover analogy proves itself (in a different way) at guitar stores
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Sure. But one could also say "better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it"? I wish someone had told me that in a short time, a 5 (for me) would be a requirement before I over-improved my Squier Jazz 4!Ok, so here's the real answer without any agenda pushing (like it validates anyone to convince others to do what they do
If you are a studio player or someone who freelances on a variety of different styles, you should probably get a 5. May not need it often, but you will probably need it at some point.
If not, play whatever you want.
Clickbait title for a video that actually endorses the use of a five-string as long as the player is prepared to put in the work (which really goes without saying). The message I got: Want to stay in your comfort zone and not deal with the challenges of playing a 5-string? Stick with the 4-string. Like a challenge and wish to enhance your musical experience? Play a 5-string.
