Five Strings or Stick with Four

[Ironbar]

Wow. So many opinions in either direction. I use a 4 and a 5 so I get the best of both worlds!

 

[R Upsomegrub]

I'll echo many of the sentiments already expressed - I played 4-strings for over 20 years, then tried a couple of different 5's in '92-'93 and settled on a Stingray 5. Have primarily played 5's since, it probably helped that I ended up playing in a church band with horns for the next 7 years (lots of "flat" keys).

I still primarily play 5's but have a couple of 4's that I play on occasion. One of my 4's stays tuned D-G-C-F. I also own a 6.

 

[Nephilymbass]

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 it in all but one song with my band (we are writing our 5th album) but then again talking 5 string i use every string on the majority of our songs. low b is useful for a lot of styles, hip hop, r&b, country, rock. And really the nice thing about going to a 5 is even if you never play the low b string it doesn't change the reach to the low e and you get a great thumb rest.

 

[rogerbmiller]

I don't see this as a binary decision. I think if you are interested in playing 5 string but are a more comfortable 4 string player, or you feel as thought you need to choose one or the other, you should just get a 5 string and use it when you want to or need to.

Having the extra string accomplishes two things. First, it gives you more range. And I don't mean that in absolute notes as you only get 5 additional half step. Rather you get the ability to play a low note in additional keys. So in lieu of a drop tuning, you can play a low bass note for a lot of songs whereas a 4 string maxes out at songs in E.

The second thing you get, which is an extension (no pun intended) of having the lower range, is a larger variety of fingerings, not just in lower register/key songs, but through out the instrument. So for example if you had a song where you wanted to arpeggiate a 1-3-7-10 chord, you could do so in multiple keys because you have at least 4 strings as "runway" on both the B and E strings.

Of course playing 5 string introduces other variance into the equation. The necks are bigger, they tend to be heavier, and string spacing varies pretty greatly from model to model. Some folks adjust to this and use only 5s to obviate the need to take multiple basses to practice and gigs. Others find this to be the reason to use 5s only when needed. As an extra tool of sorts.

And of course, "classic" has become trendy so depending on your gig, and your audience, you can get some strange looks playing anything with extended range.

So with all this in mind, again, my feeling is a 5 is great tool to have handy. But it can be a less easy beast to tame for some. But having one around is never a bad idea and you might really enjoy what your hands can do with one.

 

[RedVee]

I don't see this as a binary decision. I think if you are interested in playing 5 string but are a more comfortable 4 string player, or you feel as thought you need to choose one or the other, you should just get a 5 string and use it when you want to or need to.

Having the extra string accomplishes two things. First, it gives you more range. And I don't mean that in absolute notes as you only get 5 additional half step. Rather you get the ability to play a low note in additional keys. So in lieu of a drop tuning, you can play a low bass note for a lot of songs whereas a 4 string maxes out at songs in E.

The second thing you get, which is an extension (no pun intended) of having the lower range, is a larger variety of fingerings, not just in lower register/key songs, but through out the instrument. So for example if you had a song where you wanted to arpeggiate a 1-3-7-10 chord, you could do so in multiple keys because you have at least 4 strings as "runway" on both the B and E strings.

Of course playing 5 string introduces other variance into the equation. The necks are bigger, they tend to be heavier, and string spacing varies pretty greatly from model to model. Some folks adjust to this and use only 5s to obviate the need to take multiple basses to practice and gigs. Others find this to be the reason to use 5s only when needed. As an extra tool of sorts.

And of course, "classic" has become trendy so depending on your gig, and your audience, you can get some strange looks playing anything with extended range.

So with all this in mind, again, my feeling is a 5 is great tool to have handy. But it can be a less easy beast to tame for some. But having one around is never a bad idea and you might really enjoy what your hands can do with one.

Thanks for his post.

I was going to ask the posters that play from the 5th fret on the B string what the point of having the 5 string was. Real question from an learner, not being a smart a.

 

[chris_b]

I think the benefits have already been covered several times in this thread.

 

[tuba_samurai]

90% of what I play can be accomplished just fine with a 4 string. That said, it is nice to have that B string for when you need to hit those pedal D and C notes, or when you want your voicing to be a little higher on the neck. I enjoy playing in F on a 5-er and not having to hover around the nut.

I tried for awhile to meet in the middle with a 4 string tuned B-E-A-D, but I find myself missing the G string.

Having a 4 string with a D-tuner would likely be the most useful for me.

 

[BasseeJames]

there are alot of comments on here that seem to suggest you pick an allegiance to either playing a 4 string exclusively or a 5 string exclusively, and i'm really not sure why that seems to be the general idea. I play 4 and 5 string basses, i play 5 strings more, just because as a gigging, working musician, i feel the added depth of the low B is useful, not essential, but useful. The low b is actually something i neglected for a while, i purchased a 5 string and for the first 6 months or so, i really didn't use it alot, maybe for basslines that included those really low notes, but when ever i was improvising, it would be there purely as a thumb rest, but then i had an epiphany and it's a great low tone to have. I would suggest looking into purchasing one, if string spacing is an issue to you, there are certain models (Ibanez SR range comes to mind, as i play them and have small hands, although string spacing is not an issue to me, merely a preference) that cater for guys/girls with smaller hands. G'day and rock on!

 

[Mike M.]

I play a 5 string at church and I love it. But every once in a while I get "nostalgic" for one of my 4 strings. Turns out that none of the songs we played this past Sunday required the low B so I used my 4 string Fender Jazz bass. Sure I could have used the 5'er and just ignored the B string but it feels good going back on occasion to what I first started out on. I worked up a good tone on my Zoom B3 and was told it sounded great! One guy in particular raved about it!