Five Strings or Stick with Four

[ggunn]

These days a bass player needs a low D ... you can string DGCF or get a 5 ... I tried both and I prefer a 5.

4 string basses seem unnatural to me now.

Me, too. Now when I pick up a 4 string I can't seem to keep my thumb on the back of the neck; the neck keeps falling into the gap between my thumb and forefinger.

 

[Illini10]

I bought a Squier VM 5 string Precision about a month ago. I got it set up, took it to practice with my newly set up fretless FrankenFender Precision and only used the 5er for a few songs. It sounded good, I loved using it for our drop-D songs but the guys loved the way the fretless sounded and prefer that I play that instead. Oh well, I have a good time playing the 5er at home and it may find its way back into the rotation. I found it for $250 so it isn't like I dropped a ton of money on it. I'm not really a gear flipper either.

 

[ArtechnikA]

It sounded good, I loved using it for our drop-D songs but the guys loved the way the fretless sounded and prefer that I play that instead.

'tis but a short path to a fretless 6 - it works for me ;-)

 

[Ric5]

'tis but a short path to a fretless 6 - it works for me ;-)

I really like 6 string basses BEADGC. I am scared that if I get one I will like it so much I won't want to play my 5s any more.

I have for years converted 4 string basses to 5. I think I will have to do a 5 to 6 conversion.

 

[shwashwa]

6

 

[madmaxreach]

I love having a 5 when I know I'm either going to be transposing on the fly a lot, or there's any chance I'm going to be playing with horns.

I often played in situations where I'd learn a chart written in one key, and then, depending on who happened to be singing, we'd perform in a different one. Having the 5 gave me a bigger box to play in before I'd get stuck finding a new fingering - handy on more technical tunes.

Since horns often play in flat keys, I also really enjoyed having the root notes for keys like Eb and Db on the bottom string, or the fifth of keys like Gb or Ab available down there. Great for orchestra keys.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

This has probably been covered before, but I would appreciate some opinions. If you have a 5-string bass, do you use the low B enough to make it worthwhile? I don't play metal, but what types of music benefit from a 5-string?

Well here is my thought : if you do some cover you may want a 5 because you never know when you might need it. If you do your own music well ... depend if you hear those notes

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Try DGCFA#

Bb is better than A# as Bb is a fourth high while A# is an augmented third. I know they are the same but y'know it makes more sense.

 

[DavC]

played 5vers for 30 out of my 40 yrs of bass playing ... but now my 5ver has the High C instead of the low B ..!

if I need to go below the low E , ... I'd put a drop tuner on my 4 or 5 ... or use an Octaver ...

 

[Ric5]

Bb is better than A# as Bb is a fourth high while A# is an augmented third. I know they are the same but y'know it makes more sense.

Whoa Dude ...

I like went to my fretboard and like wow dude ...

The A# and Bb turned out to be the same note ...

Like wow man how does theory account for this ...



(Yes I am intentionally being silly here)

 

[Ric5]

I was a 4 only passive only retro bass player until 2000 ... then I got in a band that needed a bass player to play the low D on quite a few songs. I tried drop D and hated it. I tried DGCF and it was OK. I tried BEAD and hated it. I tried BEADG and it took my a while to get comfortable with that but once I adjusted then I was hooked. Keys like C Db D Eb E and F work a lot better with a BEADG 5 string bass.

 

[hedmetl64]

I played 4 strings for about 20 years.....and always hated down tuning.
I decided to try a 5 string and have never looked back!!! I will only play 5s now.
Give one a try...its a whole new world. =)

 

[LUCE]

25 years of 4 string and I GASSED for an SR5... Lord, I tried, but I just kept tripping all over that fat string. SOLD it. The only 5 I would consider in the future would be one with a "C" up high.

 

[Illini10]

'tis but a short path to a fretless 6 - it works for me ;-)

I need to lay low for awhile. Unless you can find me a six-string Fender Precision in Sunburst. That's the only way my wife will be unaware of a new bass. . . it has to look like the fretless and the 5-string.

 

[LowEndWooly]

I just got a balanced set of flats to tune BEAD.. Works really well and seldomly miss the high G. I've got another bass in standard for that.

 

[Dan Bass]

Stick with the four string and put a $5 bill in a jar every time you buy strings

Order from "MUSICIAN'S FRIEND" and you can get high quality stainless steel round wound strings,or nickel round wounds,comes 3 of the same strings in one pack for the price of 1,you can get many different gauges too,the name of the strings are Rogue strings, I am not a fan of Rogue,their stainless steel round wounds are very very clangy and piano sustained nice tone, I get 3-45.65.85.105.130. Gauge packs of strings for 40 some dollars shipping and handling at my door in 2 days, awesome and they last a long time with really nice sounding E. and. B. strings.

 

[iiipopes]

Yes.

When I play with horns, especially in a jazz band, the low Eb is handy. When I'm playing with guitar players who use open D tuning, the low D is good. When I'm playing with keys, to have the same low C that they do does a lot to tie everything together.

It's not just the low notes. By being able to play the same foundational patterns up five frets by using the B string, it makes getting up and around the rest of the fingerboard much easier.

 

[bassbenj]

I really like 6 string basses BEADGC. I am scared that if I get one I will like it so much I won't want to play my 5s any more.

I have for years converted 4 string basses to 5. I think I will have to do a 5 to 6 conversion.

Don't be scared! A 5er and a 6er are essentially the same instrument played in the same way. The 6er just has a bit more high end range is all. For a long time my 6ers were main axes and now it's my G&L L2500s because I don't need the upper range. Sadly some basses (G&L , Carvin AC50) just don't come in 6 string. It all depends on the music.

A 4 string bass, (including down-tuned 4) on the other hand is a different instrument played in a different way. If I were playing old school classic 4 string bass lines I don't think a 5 string would quite be the same. Yeah, I played 4s for years but I'm not "going home" as people like to say. I like the ability to play across the neck and transpose things around easily too much.

So 5 string or 6 string makes little difference to me, but playing my 8 string (which is essentially a doubled 4 string) really brings back old memories and what I remember is that living at home wasn't so much fun.

 

[bassbenj]

I need to lay low for awhile. Unless you can find me a six-string Fender Precision in Sunburst. That's the only way my wife will be unaware of a new bass. . . it has to look like the fretless and the 5-string.

Ahem. Check out avatar... SX 6 string converted to fretless by me. (Rondo was actually selling fretless for a while)

Yeah it's a jazz rather than a p-bass, but hey still might fly under the radar. Especially for about $200! Say no more!

 

[Munjibunga]

This has probably been covered before, but I would appreciate some opinions. If you have a 5-string bass, do you use the low B enough to make it worthwhile? I don't play metal, but what types of music benefit from a 5-string?

I use the B string all the time, but mostly for playing five frets up the neck. Having access to an occasional low D or C is also handy. I'd say pretty much every genre of music benefits from a 5-string. I bought my first 5-string in 1994 and since then that's all I've owned, and still own fifteen or so of them.