For 4 and 5 string bass players.... 6, 7 & more, also invited...

[doctorpunch]

I had a 5er that I played about once a never. I have several basses with different tunings. Trying to trancribe a 5 with metal is damn near impossible.

 

[bassteban]

Need? No. Don't 'need' bass at all. Need food, water & grilled cheese on a regular basis.
Like/want/feel fine about spending between $425 & $2,000 on something w/a B? Yup.
After having gone through phases of playing mainly 5 & 6 strings, I've been hitting the 4 99% of the time, but I definitely like having the option for when the mood strikes.

 

[LiamPodmore]

Yes, my band plays in Standard, Drop D, D Standard, and Drop C. My Lead guitarist has to tune around 8 times in a 2 hour gig, i tune before each set and im done.

Edit: And i like to play Trivium and Paolo uses a 5 string.

Liam

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Do you really need the extra B or C or more string/s?

Why?

I've never been interested in 6+ string basses, but one of the requirements for me to consider a particular bass as my main instrument is having a low B string. Mainly because although I'm a rocker at heart, tropical music definitely gives me more income (I also like to play that music but unlike rock, it hardly interested me when I was a kid/teenager). Because of that I play a lot of Dominican Merengue tunes, and those notes below E1 are a must in modern Merengue basslines. Give a listening to Link Removed and you'll understand what I'm talking about.

 

[Mayers]

I like low note ... I also like high note ... very effective for melody

 

[bassbenj]

I've owned my 5-string for about 18 years, so I usually expect the low string to be a B if I hit it. I've only recently purchased my new 6-string. I love using chords because they sound very clear. It's also nice to have access to a full 2 octave range within a span of 4 frets.

Exactly. However, I think, that as some others here have hinted at, a 5 string bass, and a 4 string bass, and a 6 (or more) string bass are kind of three different instruments.

A 4 string is definitely "old school" and plays all those old basslines developed by the masters perfectly. I learned on a 4 and played one for many years.

However the whole time I kept feeling this "limitation" especially in horn keys (Eb) etc. My first 5er was like sky opening up, clouds blowing away and rainbow lighting up! Lower notes. No "key" problems. nice patterns across the neck. I was home.

A 6er is a different thing. If you start to go to higher notes even on a 4 string you may notice the way the force of the bass tends to "drop out". So an extended higher range isn't really about the same thing as an extended lower range. So you have to ask why would you need higher notes? And then you'd have to ask why did Jaco have to use harmonics to get higher notes? Point is that higher notes are more melodic. They make chords that aren't muddy. They let you solo into the stratosphere. So do you "need" that? As a few have pointed out here, it pretty much depends on your music. A while back all I was playing was my 6s. Now, all I need is my 5ers. later it may be 6s again. How often do I need to chord up against the guitars or double a melodic line high up on the bass? Depends, right? When I need it, I need it!

And lastly, though I'm still woodshedding my 7 string, so far my assessment is that it's sort of the same thing as a 6 only even MORE melodic. If you listen to guys who really can play the high "n" basses, the upper range is basically a melodic thing. So right now I sort of see 6,7, 8 etc. string basses as all sort of the same kind of thing. Which is rather different from a 5.

 

[lindseyp]

For me it's not a matter of need, it's a matter of convenience and usage. I like having the B for certain turnarounds, and there are some songs where that low B string has the correct harmonic structure to fit the song, regardless of the actual note played. Again, that's just me.

 

[Honk'n_down-low]

We play one tune where the main riffs bangs off the Low C. I like being able to play the Eb below Low E too. Really good in Eb Blues, Blues in B you have the low B. Like playing the fretted low E too, in place of open E different tone and you can Walk up to low E

 

[Fuzzbass]

Do you really need the extra B or C or more string/s?

Why?

After 20 years on four, I switched over to five exclusively. I guess I don't *need* the low B string, but if I didn't have it I would have to radically detune my bass because I play a lot of modern hard rock that uses those lowest notes (Staind, Nickelback, Godsmack, etc).

That said: the biggest reason I *want* the low B is because it gives me additional range all across the neck. I play the low B string at or above the 5th fret (where it's in 4-string territory) as much as I do below the 5th fret.

I've decided that I have absolutely no need or desire to play six string, or EADGC fiver. I'm a stay-at-home bassist, and don't need additional range up top.

 

[denchiq]

I play w/a big band, and the horns tune in B. Easily, a Eb is needed.
Also, chords are more readable on a bass when you play root lower and notes higher.
Give them a try and see. Then try jazz chords

also, I am a lazy kind of bass player. So, if I can play a line without much shifting my hand, I will - and that's where an extra string helps

 

[Andy Brown]

I never really have the need to get down to anything lower than a low-D. Sometimes I just use a D-tuner, or in the case of my Kubicki, I just use the lever to drop it.

I do have a bass tuned E-C and chords sound incredible in the upper register, however the high-C isn't really necessary, just convenient.

 

[Ric5]

For many years I was a stubborn 4 only player. Then I got into bands where I needed lower notes. So I had 3 basses to gig with. A Rickenbacker 4001 tuned EADG, a p-bass tuned to E flat and a jazz tuned DGCF. Then I got a 5 string bass and it did what all 3 of those basses did and more. With BEADG I can play pretty much all of what I need to play. There was one song I used to play where I needed a low B flat so I would have to detune for that one song.