Depends on the person, but based on my time here, most people seem to make an addition rather than a replacement, as stated before.
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I think they do. Then again, most bassists prefer four bangers. Whatever you like!
a lot of people are talking about drop D. Usually I'll keep my 5 string in standard tuning. But if the song requires raking in D, I'll drop the E to D. Raking just can't be done over a string.
a lot of people are talking about drop D. Usually I'll keep my 5 string in standard tuning. But if the song requires raking in D, I'll drop the E to D. Raking just can't be done over a string.
There is no rule that says someone can't like one instrument better than another...
IMO, no. When my 5-string was my main bass, I also took my P-Bass to gigs, and used it on songs that the P-Bass sound was needed.
That being said, I don't play my 4-strings very often, and I personally prefer my 6-string over my 5-string, but that's just me.
That being said, I don't play my 4-strings very often, and I personally prefer my 6-string over my 5-string, but that's just me.
I added a 5 string about 2 decades ago, just to have in case anyone ever asked me to play one...so far no one has asked.
12 pages into what has to be the third thread on 5 vs 4 string basses in a month and I'm still waiting for the few people who claim the 5 is always superior to any 4, no matter how they are tuned, to admit that by their logic the 6 string makes their 5 obsolete. After all, there's notes on a 6 you just can't possibly ever play on a 5....there's a 5 string built in free in every 6....you might have to shift your hand on a 5......you can tune a 5 EADGC if you want higher notes but it will still be woefully inadequate compared to the 6.....it doesn't matter if you can cover 99.5% of available gigs on a 5 that you can on a 6, you can't get that last .5% without bringing a second bass tuned with a C....and so on. It's a silly argument. 4s will never be obsolete. They're mentally and physically the easiest to play for the majority of the population, they've got a look that is pleasant for most people. Fanned frets, extra strings, these change the ergonomics of the instrument and they aren't always considered changes for the better. No matter how badly a few people who use those seem to wish it.
I play both 4's and 5's depending on the songs and what I'm feeling. I have two passive 4 string p-basses. My 5 strings are active jazz basses. So for me, it just depends on what sound I'm feeling. I play at church and today our setlist just felt better to me on a passive 4 string p-bass. Last week I went with the active 5 string. Neither is obsolete or not necessary any more. Just different tools for different tasks.
A couple of thoughts on this:
I started off with a budget 4 and about three years later I got a nice 5 string (not TOO nice.. I got it in High School) I kept my 4 string but spent my wood shedding time getting accustomed to the 5 string.
I played in bands - literally anyone who wanted to jam and played bass in the High School Jazz Band as well as helped out during mass service. A lot of that music benefits from having a low C, D, or Eb. Sure I could have downtuned that string - assuming I knew it was coming up and NOT sightreading. Several problems with that- the tension loosens and sounds sonically off to the rest of your instrument and ( more importantly) it throws the rest of that string off to where instead of really extending it you're SHIFTING it and you now have to do the " Fretboard Math" in your head to play the rest of the notes on the E string because now the note positions you have spent so much time learning are off by a fret (or 2 or 4 or whatever)
The 5 extends the bass in the region I NEED. I don't have to concede that the 6 is even better because it extends it further.. it gives me 5 extra higher notes that no bass player is usually asked for and we typically don't run into in a band environment and almost ever in a sightreading situation.
If altering the tuning of the instrument's tuning to not need a 5er (or a 6 for that matter) you could argue that tuning in fifths or 6ths would be even more ideal.
People don't need to be so defensive- I own 8 5ers, one medium scale 4, and a six. The 5 is definitely my instrument of preference. I can do ALMOST everything on it that I can on a 4 with more advantages (less shifting when playing lines, not having to bring multiple instruments like an BEAD one and an ADGC one, no tuning between songs for immediate transitions without wasting the band and - more importantly- the audience's time, and finally going deeper into the sonic range that my role is there for)
I said almost only because there are some bass styles where the thumb over the top of the fingerboard to fret notes is extremely uncomfortable on a thin neck, wide-spaced 5er.
I can see all sides but I definitely don't knock people for playing a 4 even if it's lower tuned.
I wish I could spend more time shedding on my six to feel comfortable enough to gig with it and not have to constantly look down for string jumps. Having more of the notes in a single position without having to shift as much is appealing to me... NOT the higher notes.
I started off with a budget 4 and about three years later I got a nice 5 string (not TOO nice.. I got it in High School) I kept my 4 string but spent my wood shedding time getting accustomed to the 5 string.
I played in bands - literally anyone who wanted to jam and played bass in the High School Jazz Band as well as helped out during mass service. A lot of that music benefits from having a low C, D, or Eb. Sure I could have downtuned that string - assuming I knew it was coming up and NOT sightreading. Several problems with that- the tension loosens and sounds sonically off to the rest of your instrument and ( more importantly) it throws the rest of that string off to where instead of really extending it you're SHIFTING it and you now have to do the " Fretboard Math" in your head to play the rest of the notes on the E string because now the note positions you have spent so much time learning are off by a fret (or 2 or 4 or whatever)
The 5 extends the bass in the region I NEED. I don't have to concede that the 6 is even better because it extends it further.. it gives me 5 extra higher notes that no bass player is usually asked for and we typically don't run into in a band environment and almost ever in a sightreading situation.
If altering the tuning of the instrument's tuning to not need a 5er (or a 6 for that matter) you could argue that tuning in fifths or 6ths would be even more ideal.
People don't need to be so defensive- I own 8 5ers, one medium scale 4, and a six. The 5 is definitely my instrument of preference. I can do ALMOST everything on it that I can on a 4 with more advantages (less shifting when playing lines, not having to bring multiple instruments like an BEAD one and an ADGC one, no tuning between songs for immediate transitions without wasting the band and - more importantly- the audience's time, and finally going deeper into the sonic range that my role is there for)
I said almost only because there are some bass styles where the thumb over the top of the fingerboard to fret notes is extremely uncomfortable on a thin neck, wide-spaced 5er.
I can see all sides but I definitely don't knock people for playing a 4 even if it's lower tuned.
I wish I could spend more time shedding on my six to feel comfortable enough to gig with it and not have to constantly look down for string jumps. Having more of the notes in a single position without having to shift as much is appealing to me... NOT the higher notes.
Well, there is an historical significance to this. Seems I remember reading the history of the lute one time. IIRC, it started out with a minimal number of strings and was quite popular in its day. Then over the years, more and more strings were added to do this and that. It went from six to fifteen strings or more. At some point, it became so complex that it fell out of favor. That's about when that simple six string instrument called the guitar started to become more popular. And now where is the lute? Sure, there are still a few players and you see them now and then. But I wouldn't exactly call them "a thing" these days.
Don't get me wrong: I don't have a dog in this fight. I play/have played 4, 5, 6, and 12 (but tend to stick with 4). But, logically, when will we have enough strings on our basses? Where will the string adding stop? 7-strings are not all that uncommon. 10? 15? Just wondering. Imagine a harp with frets (only a joke, builders!).
I’ve played 4,5,6, and even 7 string. My current go to is a 5 but I also dig 4 strings in standard tuning and especially bead tuning. There are times when less strings has its benefits. Like you don’t have to control/mute that extra string. Which is part of why slapping is easier on a 4 string than a 5 and easier on a 5 than a 6 for me. Sometimes limitations can be a benefit. There’s been times where I was playing a 5 or 6 and struggling to come up with a line for a song that I was happy with. Switched to a 4 string or a different tuning and boom, I naturally played something different and dug it, then I just figured out to play the part on a 5. This song went like that. Guitar is in drop B tuning but the song doesn’t actually go below D. I picked up a standard tuned 4 string and tuned it to drop D and within minutes had something I was happy with. Learned to play it on 5 and recorded it on a 5.
You can do as you like, but i think the 5 is the best way, between 4th and 6th. The most comfortable.
As i said in the second sentence of my post my go to is my 5. The OP isn’t asking what we prefer as far as 4, 5, or 6 string. They are asking if their 4 string will become useless once they get a 5er. I was giving an example of how I’ve used 4 string even though my main player is a 5.
No. Why would it be? I play a 5er because sometimes I have to sing and/or play MIDI synth via footpedals. The 5 makes it easier for me to do this (across the f/b vice up and down). But if we're just playing fun, dirty, 4/4 rock (which doesn't happen often enough IMO) I loves me my 4.
If manufactures and builders had shied away from the idea of ERB's several decades ago we would still all be playing 4 string basses and been none the worse for it, we would just have gone along being creative with what we had.
If they decided that the 7 string was going to be the new thing a lot of players would get right on that and declare it to be so much better than a 5 string etc. The manufacturer gets famous name players to endorse there new product and "Voila ! " the 7 string bass is the new must have. Much the same way modern cars have all the electronic gizmo's and people keep upgrading there Iphones to the latest model, "I cant back my car up without a camera" or "this phone doesn't have all the apps I need to function in the world today" but it is still a phone that you could use to make a phone call on if anyone even does that anymore. and last I checked cars still had mirrors.
If they decided that the 7 string was going to be the new thing a lot of players would get right on that and declare it to be so much better than a 5 string etc. The manufacturer gets famous name players to endorse there new product and "Voila ! " the 7 string bass is the new must have. Much the same way modern cars have all the electronic gizmo's and people keep upgrading there Iphones to the latest model, "I cant back my car up without a camera" or "this phone doesn't have all the apps I need to function in the world today" but it is still a phone that you could use to make a phone call on if anyone even does that anymore. and last I checked cars still had mirrors.
One BEAD 4 string would accomplish everything you need. If you don't need the C string, why would you need to bring two basses? Your reason for playing a 5 are simply preference, not a "need". Again, there's nothing in your post that renders a 4 "obsolete". Which is the argument of a few and the reason for any defensiveness shown by people.
Bad news dude. Everything Jaco did on his limited range bass has now already been said. Most of us are now looking for something new to say.
