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Double Bass Extensions or extra strings?

When playing notes below E, do you prefer an extra string or an extension?

  • Total voters
    125
#21
BassAxe said:
I ought to suggest we add Beethoven to my bands' set lists so I can exercise that B string, then?

I think it would be a fun challenge to give ol' Ludwig's tunes a touch of Bluegrass, Olde Tyme, & Irish styles!
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Ha, Ha, but don't laugh too hard. I have seen Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple play Ludwig Van's 9th in it's entire length on a Stratocaster. Roger Glover accompanied on bass. Poor guy had no BB or extension, just a Fender 4 string. I think that Don Airey on organ made up the slack. There was a whole theatre of rock & roller's casting extremely puzzled looks around the room for what seemed like an hour, then the "Ode to Joy" starts.... WOW....:bassist:
 
#22
bbates77 said:
I guess you don't play much Beethoven?
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I have used both a 5-string in Orchestra as well as a 4-string with a C-extension. Mostly, I have used the Extension as I recently sold my 5er in favor of the Extension with 4 strings.

In the last two years I have done Beethoven's 3rd, 5th, 9th and next week we start rehearsals on the 6th. The 6th has the fastest moving parts for the Extension in the Storm movement and is one heck of a challenge. The 5er is easier on those parts only but only slightly. I just can't get used to the 5 strings on the Bass as I am and will always be mainly a 4-string player.

If the original question is for any other use other than a Symphony Orchestra then my experience may not mean much in the other venues. The person that bought my 5er re-strung here with a high 'C' down to the 'E' with a full set of Spiro reds. He is a classically trained Jazzer and Bass soloist and a great player all around. That Bass never sounded so good as it did once we changed the strings around so maybe that Bass was not the best for me as a low B 5er. Still, it found a home and I made my final decision after going around that block at lease two times.

I hope this is ok here. I did a search and found several Threads I started about 5-string DBs and DBs with C-Extensions... here are the TB links; http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=234845
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156592
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155821
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152793
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150257

Mods, edit as necessary per the rules!
 
#32
Back to the question:
What do I choose, if I don't like an extension and I don't like an additional string, but want to stay with a "standard" 4 string bass ?
If I really need a lower node, I would prefer retuning the bass. Tune down the E string to D for a song, if that is needed sometimes or else retune in quints, if I think a wider range is necessarry for the instrument.
Extensions look ugly and are difficult to play fast, an additional lower string makes the room between strings smaller and damps the instrument.
 
#33
Ludwig said:
Extensions look ugly and are difficult to play fast, an additional lower string makes the room between strings smaller and damps the instrument.
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I don't find extensions ugly at all, but I suppose it's a matter of taste.

Your assertion about a fifth string is a generalization, and in fact what you say is often true. But NOT always. My current five string has spacing identical to my four string (on which the spacing is generous), and the sound of the bass is tremendously open and projecting.

Playing a good five string CAN be like playing a four string, except that you have the low B there when you need or want it.
 
#35
Ludwig said:
Back to the question:
What do I choose, if I don't like an extension and I don't like an additional string, but want to stay with a "standard" 4 string bass ?
If I really need a lower node, I would prefer retuning the bass. Tune down the E string to D for a song, if that is needed sometimes or else retune in quints, if I think a wider range is necessarry for the instrument.
Extensions look ugly and are difficult to play fast, an additional lower string makes the room between strings smaller and damps the instrument.
Click to expand...

Well, unless you are willing to play a 5er, I would suggest a high quality fingered/chromatic extension like the ones made by Bollbach, Schnitzer and Robertsons.

Tuning in 5ths will change everything and it's a one way ticket. No way back once your mind is re-trained. It's actually just like playing a HUGE Cello. If you can play Cello, then not so bad as long as you have huge fingers, fast shifts and great intonation.

5ths tuning was abandoned over 100 years ago and for a good reason. The Bass is just too damned big!
 
#36
Ken,

Do you know of any notable bassists, in either the classical or jazz world, that are playing in 5ths today? I know that Red Mitchell tuned his bass in 5ths but haven't heard too much about others.

As for the rewiring of the brain to play in 5ths, I think it really just depends on the musician. Guitarists switch between alternate tunings all the time. DADGAD to standard to drop D to a whole pile of other alternate and open tunings. They do this to achieve a particular sound for a given piece. Leo Kotke comes to mind. Fiddle players also switch between standard tuning and other alternate tunings. There are whole categories of fiddle tunes written specifically for alternate or cross tunings.

Most of the styles of music that I know of where alternate tunings are common are primarily aural traditions and I can see how relearning the entire canon of orchestral repertoire in an alternate tuning would be a challenge.

All that being said, if I were in need of the lower notes, I'd get an extension.
 
#38
I'm pretty sure I now have THE answer to this question: it's simple.

A good, well-set up five-string bass is preferable. Period.

The problem is that there are very, very few of them, especially in the U.S. And since U.S. luthiers don't see a lot of five strings, I suspect most don't really know how to set one up (and most players, new to the five-string game, don't know what to ask for).

But a good five-string is as easy to play as a four string, sounds good, and the low notes are easier to play than on any type of extension.

What else is there to say? A good five-string beats any other solution to this problem.

Next question?
 
#40
Stan Haskins said:
I honestly don't think my bow technique would adapt well to a fiver. When the time is right, a c-extension it shall be, though I think alternate tunings are a great idea, too.
Click to expand...

That's really my point. If the five string is set up well, you need to make very few technical changes to adapt. Far fewer than, say, learning the notes in an alternate tuning.

I'm not against extensions. I've had two of them, and I was convinced they were the best solution until I played a good five string, and the scales fell from my eyes... (and fingers).
 

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