Four to Five, how long to adapt?

[brianrost]

It took me over 20 years. I would buy a 5, only use it for certain gigs and then sell it. Did this four or five times until I finally doubled down a couple of years ago (pre-pandemic) and swapped an NS Radius CR4 for a CR5. I then started using that for all my BG practicing. Now I use it on most gigs but not yet for blues gigs. I have an AmStd J5 that I'm grooming for that.

I'm not unloading any of my 4s, though.

 

[joel406]

I have just got a second-hand Ibanez SR305EB.

Clearly, it'll take more than just 2 days to adapt to 5 strings -- 2 weeks? 2 months? I hope it's not 2 years (or never).
Especially tricky is when I have to use the G string -- it seems like a string too many.
It also seems easier to play fingerstyle than with a pick.

How long did it take you to adapt?

I switched to 5-string about 3 ish years ago.

My advice.

Yes, put your 4-string away. Play only the five.

You only have the one 5, hopefully you like the string spacing. You will find that not all 5's are created equally. Some have "very" narrow string spacing. 16/16.5mm Spacing. Some maybe less. Some are as wide as 19mm (some maybe more). You should play as many as you can until you find the spacing you like.

Scale. There is where things get really weird. I've seen 32-inch all the way to 37-inch scale. 35 seems to be the most popular. It's supposed to make the B string tighter and more punchy (it doesn't).

Electronics are all over the place as they are with 4-string. So, stuff like that as well as what type and gauge of string you will want are subjective to you. Actually, everything is.

I started on some kinda weird Fender copy. String spacing was way to narrow, causing me problems distinguishing between strings. Once I got my spacing figured out (17mm for me) I settled into becoming more familiar with my new fret board. I also found that 35-inch scale wasn't for me. I had to buy 2 Mike Lulls to discover this. Sad, awesome Basses. 34-inch scale fits me just fine. And all my 5's have banging B strings.

I have become a 5-string junkie. I believe that if you play a 5-string (or more) the need for a 4-string disappears. After all there is a 4-string in every 5-string. In every 6 or more string. It's there. With extended range Basses such as 5's, 6's or more you have so many options to make your playing easier. It's great to play across the neck instead of up and down. Runs are so much easier. Being able to stretch 2 octaves in basically one position opens up a lot of possibilities. And playing on that B string is awesome. I use a 135 for a B. While my low notes from Eb down to B are great. E and up are very full and thumpy.

Once I started down this path, I found that my 4-string instruments were going to suffer. After making the full commitment to 5-string, which was about 3 months into getting my first real 5'er, I let my 4 go. I now own nothing but 5's. 6 of em.

Regardless of the type of music you play. A 5-string will do it. Even if you're playing a song where you don't use the B string. Having it there keeps you conscious of it. Keeps the feel there. My band plays everything. Our original music, while being a bit more rock than the music we started this band with, I find I'm using my B string all the time. Even to play above E.

To answer your original question. How long to get use to a 5-string? Depends on you and you alone. Practice is the only remedy.

My personal opinion is that the 4-string is dead. Long live the 5.

 

[TomB]

Obviously there’s not a single approach. When I started in on a 5, there was no TB to tell me what to do. Since I still played upright and fretless fours, I was determined to learn to go back and forth seamlessly. It took a while, maybe a year, to accomplish that, but it’s still my approach, and I can pick either though most of my gigging is on a five, sessions often on a four.

You’ll still have a mental lapse on occasion, but those will get rarer as your brain adjusts.

I also don’t believe there are 4-string or 5-string songs, just different fingering opportunities for the same songs.

 

[Aussie Player]

I tried the 5 in stages over several years. Finally bought an Alembic 5 or stumbled on one at least, and played it until I gained confidence to play live with it. Perhaps a couple of months as for me, it wasn't 4 +1 as commonly stated, it felt like my favorite 4 strings were moved further away.
After about 10 years of that, I have retired my 5's as they are too heavy and the necks are too wide and not as comfortable as a 4 string which i can play faster and maneuver more easily on.

 

[RG55]

OP here

It seems that most who took up 5-strings kept going with them. Nice.
And, apart from some 5 minute or 3 days Max outliers, most took a couple of weeks at least.

5-string songs are those one can’t play on a regular 4 string, let alone a song where one needs all the 5 strings and 24 frets.

Today, for me, has seen better playing than yesterday, so things are moving in the right direction.
The plan is to play only the fiver and re-learning the songs I already play, then move to new songs, ones that make use of the new lower notes.
I’m already playing Drop D without the need to drop the D – and the pick playing is getting better, too.

There’s hope.

 

[RG55]

About one week in and things are looking much better, playing the fiver almost as I (badly) played the 4-strings.
I was dismayed at first because of what seemed like a huge step back, but now I'm confident it'll work.

I'm already playing a couple of drop D songs without dropping the D, so now, if anyone wants to chime in, I'd welcome suggestions for songs that make use of the extra notes.

 

[JPaulGeddy]

Genres? I always liked Ain't it Fun by Paramore for the needs-a-5er songs.

 

[Jazzdogg]

It's hard to remember exactly because I'm older and my memory isn't what it used to be; but when I switched from a fretless P bass to a fretted five-string about 25 years ago, the new bass coincided with a new band.

I bought the 5-string, put the 4-string away, wood-shedded furiously, and played my first rehearsal with new band about a week later, and had my first 5-string gig a week or two after that.

These days, I switch back and forth between fretted and fretless 4- and 5-string basses, and double bass freely, but infrequently.

When it's been awhile, I do fumble.

Every different instrument I play requires different thinking and technique in order to achieve musically satisfying results; the number of strings is only one variable.

It might help to come up with a set of exercises that help reinforce good technique. Worked for me.

Good luck!

 

[RG55]

Genres? I always liked Ain't it Fun by Paramore for the needs-a-5er songs.

Thanks, I'll check it.

 

[RG55]

It's hard to remember exactly because I'm older and my memory isn't what it used to be; but when I switched from a fretless P bass to a fretted five-string about 25 years ago, the new bass coincided with a new band.

I bought the 5-string, put the 4-string away, wood-shedded furiously, and played my first rehearsal with new band about a week later, and had my first 5-string gig a week or two after that.

These days, I switch back and forth between fretted and fretless 4- and 5-string basses, and double bass freely, but infrequently.

When it's been awhile, I do fumble.

Every different instrument I play requires different thinking and technique in order to achieve musically satisfying results; the number of strings is only one variable.

It might help to come up with a set of exercises that help reinforce good technique. Worked for me.

Good luck!

Yes, it's being easier than I thought at first, I'm almost at the (low) level I was with the 4-strings