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Four bangers on the decline?

#61
I use a five for the concert band I have to play with for my military gig. It's easier for reading all the stuff below the ledger lines. When I play with the regular "classic rock" band I use a four. Ive seen a lot of guys around here that play with the churches use six strings for reading purposes. Helps with not having to shift positions when the high harmonies come in. Necessity or convenience........
 
#62
To be totally honest, I hope they are. The electric bass is still a young instrument, totally warranting justifiable changes. True, they are inspired by instruments that are way older but the two are used for entirely different purposes - so don' give me that! ;)

Point 2 in my logic...there's not too much you can do on a 4-string that you can't do with a 5'er. Secondly, there aren't too many live instruments that can fill in that missing low-end information. So for the sake of versatility in one instrument, make it a 5 (or more).

They should never completely go away b/c as some people have small hands, bad backs or just different preferences, there will always be a demand for them.
 
#63
This question totally depends on the gig, IMO.

Cover situations including content that routinely goes below low E require some way to get there. D-tuners are great, but somewhat limited. 5's are useful tools for more modern cover situations. 6's are cool for Jazz situations, if the player is covering soloing responsibilities, or for trios where you might want to cover some comping parts.

Just depends; if the gig doesn't call for it, there are some marvelous 4's out there. I don't have any issue with cats using only the middle 4 strings of a six for a gig. Heck, maybe that's the only axe they can afford. Maybe they also play other situations.

Live and let live; play well. Oh and don't waste your time counting strings.

IMO
 
#66
Kambonation said:
Custom/boutique builders like building 5/6 strings because they get to utilize more wood and I would assume that equates to more profit. I know some builders that don't want to "waste" a gallery top wood on a smaller bodied 4-string guitar.
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It's funny you say this, because as it could perhaps be true in some cases, neck-through construction with a split top uses less area of exotic top wood. Also, the price difference in mid-line custom builders can easily be accounted for in hardware, pickups, stiffening/adjustment rods, and extra labor.
 
#67
I play both and have for over 15 years - since I got my first I've never not had a five string and as long as I have two or more basses one will always be a five string.

That being said, I don't see it as that big a deal. It's five more notes, that's it. I don't use the B string all that often when I go above E, which is most of the time. I don't use the B string all that often. It's nice to have when I want it, but it's not very often that I feel like the music would be severely diminished if I didn't have it.

But that's a thread derail. In my world in Minneapolis the majority of the players play fours. But there are certainly niches that I don't see. At the GTGs in the Twin Cities the vast majority of the basses that you see are fours. This is also the case in the shops.

KO
 
#69
5 should be the standard by now seeing that they've been around for 30+ years, or more than half of the life of the bass guitar, but with all of the retro fads that pop up every once in a while the 4 keeps it's staying power.
 
#70
Caca de Kick said:
Out on the gig or out watching bands, pratically everyone here is on a 4 string. Rare to see a 5'ver, haven't seen a 6 in years.
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I've noted fiver players outside the rock genre (reggae, funk) in the area. Most rock bands around here seem to be fours.

Come on out and see our band this summer and find a four-string player.:D Should be firming up some dates soon.

When I listen to popular music these days, I don't hear a lot of bass parts going that low suggesting a four will work for much of what's happening in the music world.

Then there's Geddy, Les, Victor, Flea, Marcus, Stanley etc. that play mostly fours and cast a large influence on a whole lot of players.

That said, some of those guys do use fives, but not for a majority of their playing.
 
#71
carlc64 said:
I mean why is it that you see the top bassists (the likes of Vic Wooten, Marcus Miller, etc) consistently with 4-strings?

PS - I just saw Anthony Jackson with Mike Stern at Yoshi's in San Fran a few months back - and I think he could have done the whole gig on a 4-string rather than his 6-string Fodera!
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First off all the bassists you mentioned do play 5 AND 6 strings...just not as their main instruments live, Marcus plays five fretless live and 6 sometimes...have you ever been to one of his shows? Anthony Jackson has been playing and recording with a 6 for as long as I can remember...thats ALL he plays AND he is a top bassist. In mentioning top bassists you actually have failed to mention a multitude of them who don't actaully play 4's...what about John Pattituchi, Alain Caron, Chuck Rainey, Les Claypool, etc. I think it runs about neck n neck.
 
#73
Kwesi said:
Pretty much every gig I've ever done could have been done on a 4 and some even on a 3 but I like my 5 so I work it into the music. I don't drop C or B bombs all over the place but I play them where they work.
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I need five strings to gig. Well... I suppose I could go back to what I used to do: detune the E string on my four to a variety of notes. But that ended when I switched to five in Y2K and I don't miss it one bit, no sir.


Here's the bigger point: even on gigs where I never go below low E, I still prefer a fiver. And even on those gigs, I play the B string a lot -- I just play it above the 5th fret.


So many people think that five string is just for going below low E. That's such a huge mistake.
 
#75
Fuzzbass said:
I need five strings to gig. Well... I suppose I could go back to what I used to do: detune the E string on my four to a variety of notes. But that ended when I switched to five in Y2K and I don't miss it one bit, no sir.


Here's the bigger point: even on gigs where I never go below low E, I still prefer a fiver. And even on those gigs, I play the B string a lot -- I just play it above the 5th fret.


So many people think that five string is just for going below low E. That's such a huge mistake.
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That was kind of my point about a four forcing my brain to get off the B string "crutch." As someone who has played fives for over twenty years, I use the B string all the time, not just on stuff below E. Being between fives is a nice change for me, but when I get my five again, I'm sure I will be ready to go back to what I am used to!:bassist:
 
#77
Fuzzbass said:
I need five strings to gig. Well... I suppose I could go back to what I used to do: detune the E string on my four to a variety of notes. But that ended when I switched to five in Y2K and I don't miss it one bit, no sir.


Here's the bigger point: even on gigs where I never go below low E, I still prefer a fiver. And even on those gigs, I play the B string a lot -- I just play it above the 5th fret.


So many people think that five string is just for going below low E. That's such a huge mistake.
Click to expand...

I get the lack of hand shifting thing. I do a lot of sliding, so thats not necessarily a benefit for me, but hey to each his own!:bassist:
 

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