Gigging Professionals Question

[Bass4Brkfast]

Just came here to say that many folks (producers, promoters, venue owners, booking agents) hear with their eyes, so they think just because a bass has a few extra notes in the low register, it will give a deeper/more impressive sound.
If that is the case, a 5-string would potentially make a better impression on these types of people.

 

[micguy]

If you’re playing gigs where you’re playing through an amp, a 5 isn’t going to add much. If you’re playing gigs in bigger places, where there’s a decent PA, a 5 is part of the arsenal you should have if you want the best gigs. It’s not absolutely required all the time, but people love solid extended low end, and if that doesn’t happen when you play, someone else is likely to get hired the next time around.

 

[jnewmark]

I've been playing for 40+ years and no one in any gigging/recording situation has ever asked me to play a 5 string.

 

[Rib 13]

Do you find that you NEED a 5-string bass in your arsenal?

I hate to use the "it depends" answer, but it really applies. The variety/function band I was in during the 10s did a lot of >90s country and newer pop, so using a 5ver most of the time was warranted. Ive played in other situations where using a 4 or a 4 with a Hipshot D/E was also fine. So the answer to this is really each-band-is-case-sensitive...It also depends on where you are gigging and what the bands goals are: If you are just looking to play for yuks and giggles, then play what you want....but if you are in an area where there is a lot of business competition between performers/venues, then trying to be the most accurate at something goes a long way

 

[Moving Pictures]

I've always found it so strange when I see country mentioned as a reason to own a five. I mean it's not technically challenging so it must only be that in "new" country, those five extra notes are just so prominent that it's altered the genre and you MUST hit, probably that low D and low C a lot. SMH on that concept but then I admittedly don't listen to new country. (I do own a five which to me is technically helpful in refingering complex lines in funk, jazz, some rock etc.)

It definitely is new country that I’m referring to when I said that. The country standards can be played easily on any bass. When we get asked to play country around here it is always new country. There are way more established country bands here that do the whole country thing very well. Half of those bass players seem to play fives (including one Dingwall player) and the other half plays fours. So either preference or set dependent.

 

[Moving Pictures]

If you’re playing gigs where you’re playing through an amp, a 5 isn’t going to add much. If you’re playing gigs in bigger places, where there’s a decent PA, a 5 is part of the arsenal you should have if you want the best gigs. It’s not absolutely required all the time, but people love solid extended low end, and if that doesn’t happen when you play, someone else is likely to get hired the next time around.

I think that depends on the amp and your setup. Regardless of 4s or 5s, PA support is very nice.

 

[GeorgesEric]

I hope the five string is not a contributing factor to the high percentage of sanitized and lobomotized country music produced that has been manufactured over the last 30 years. That would be unfortunate.

 

[Phlipper]

I hope the five string is not a contributing factor to the high percentage of sanitized and lobomotized country music produced that has been manufactured over the last 30 years. That would be unfortunate.

Didn't we have a big thread bash on bro co here? It was well-deserved.

 

[juggahnaught]

I don't gig to make my living. (I do gig on the side.)

Money is the main issue here, not the string count.

If you need the money for other stuff, don't buy a new bass. Get one when you need it, and look into other options if it's infrequent - can you borrow a friend's axe for a short gig when you need a five? Etc.

Be practical. If there are better ways to use your money and you know that, then do that. Unless you find a steal at a pawn shop or something, i'd just make do in your situation.

 

[thmsjordan]

I retired and left the East coast about a year ago but by that time I was playing gigs that required the 5 string.

• If you do anything with doubling on upright and playing pops concerts with orchestras, much of that is written now for 5 string.

• If you do theater work, Broadway, off Broadway or theater houses in DC etc. those parts are almost entirely written for 5 string.
  
• If you pick up Sunday Gospel gigs you could use a 5 string.
  
• If you play modern Jazz gigs, an active 5 string Jazz bass type instrument has become very common and the low B string figures prominently in so many jazz compositions (Crusaders excepted but Grover Washington Jr, Fourplay, and the like mostly need to be played on 5 if you want to play the original part).
  
• I did do corporate GB type gigs that incorporated many styles, but I never felt that those required a five. On that type of gig a four string seemed to work just fine, probably because so much of the music you end up playing on that type of gig was originally done on four string basses.

I made my living playing the types gigs I just mentioned as well as classical orchestral work. So, it follows that I should only speak from my experience. The other styles such as rock and, country, reggae, etc. I should let other players speak.

 

[Phlipper]

• If you do anything with doubling on upright and playing pops concerts with orchestras, much of that is written now for 5 string.

• If you do theater work, Broadway, off Broadway or theater houses in DC etc. those parts are almost entirely written for 5 string.

That's actually very interesting. Had no idea.

My wife (learning upright) is always watching Adam Ben Ezra. I noticed just last week he was playing a five-string UB. That guy is amazing.

 

[bopeuph]

I've always been a 4-stringer. No real preference, but when I got my first decent bass (early 2000s Geddy Lee), I just kinda stuck with it.

I decided probably 5-6 years back I needed a 5 string, just in case. TalkBass convinced me to get a Sire Marcus Miller bass rather than a Squier. It paid dividends. Less than a year after getting the bass, I started getting called for a lot of high profile musical pit work. In those gigs, if the note is written, you need to play it--and in musical theater, there's a lot of sub-E writing going on.

A high profile music director vetoed my request to bring a 4-string in (which I'm more comfortable with) with a really great reason: A piano goes down to that low A, and a 5 string doesn't even get that low. A ton of music in the genre has the bass doubling left hand piano, and it would either be two notes that the bass would have to go up an octave for, or seven...and it would be a shame that the piano becomes the "true" bass in those situations.

So, in 95% of all musical theater written in the last 20 years, it's a requirement.

Playing church gigs, they typically like the rumble.

 

[esoxhntr]

I like having the options that a five string affords, but I could probably get by on most gigs (wedding/corporate bands aside) with just a four string.

This.

It really depends on your playing situation. Not very long ago I played mostly 4 string, but had a 5 string handy if I needed it. I decided that if possible I'd rather not have to be switching basses on the fly during gigs, so I went strictly with a 5 string. But I play a ton of different types of music, and between that and some of the strange keys I find myself playing in makes a 5 string makes loads of sense for me.

Having said that, I'm sure I could get pretty much everything done that I needed to do on a four if I had to. I've just come to prefer playing a 5. I might think about things differently if I was doing recording, or specializing in specific genres and/or original music, but I'm just playing gigs and subbing into the odd other band. Nobody seems to care what bass I play but me.

 

[Jefenator]

It's never come up as an absolute necessity for me on any job, thus far.
But I've been preparing for the last 25 years, just in case! (And lo and behold: this spring I get to sub on a modern musical.)

 

[voodoobassist]

Silliest question ever! Of COURSE you need a 5 string,...and a six,..and probably a 7. As well as a 3 string! It's talkbass,...errrrrrrbody needs MORE BASSES! You're welcome!

 

[thmsjordan]

That's actually very interesting. Had no idea.

My wife (learning upright) is always watching Adam Ben Ezra. I noticed just last week he was playing a five-string UB. That guy is amazing.

Impressive player, and at the risk of getting tooo off topic I'll give a "back atcha" with another amazing "upright five string" player:

Have good one my friend.

 

[Ekulati]

I hope the five string is not a contributing factor to the high percentage of sanitized and lobomotized country music produced that has been manufactured over the last 30 years. That would be unfortunate.

LOL! You mean where it's just rehashed mediocre 70s rock sung with a twang, thus making it "country?" I feel ya...

 

[2112]

I live by the "Rule of 2" like a Sith lord when it comes to bringing basses to gigs. I'm currently gigging a pair of PJ4s, which are identical for consistency's sake. I use a Digitech Drop and a Hipshot Detuner when I need alternate tunings.

But, no matter how good my signal is going into the Drop pedal, there is an increasing amount of tone suck with each progressive step down. By the time you get down to BEAD, it can get a little mushy.

I have long shunned fivers because my tuna-can fingers have kept me from finding one I could play comfortably. However, I recently found that the necks on the Elite and Ultra Jazz V to be very comfortable for me. And they are versatile and sound great.

So now, I find myself considering backing up my PJ4 with an Ultra/Elite J5. The J5 sounds better than my PJ4 on BEAD. I'd still keep the Drop pedal and Hipshot for versatility for my PJ4. And, in case of an emergency involving my PJ4, it wouldn't hurt to finish out a gig on the J5.

Das it mane.

 

[Phlipper]

Impressive player, and at the risk of getting tooo off topic I'll give a "back atcha" with another amazing "upright five string" player:

Have good one my friend.

She's watching it now on the TV. This guy is killing it. Thanks!

 

[LBS-bass]

I've always found it so strange when I see country mentioned as a reason to own a five. I mean it's not technically challenging so it must only be that in "new" country, those five extra notes are just so prominent that it's altered the genre and you MUST hit, probably that low D and low C a lot. SMH on that concept but then I admittedly don't listen to new country. (I do own a five which to me is technically helpful in refingering complex lines in funk, jazz, some rock etc.)

This is correct. Lots of new country makes prominent use of the B string. You can't get around it by transposing those notes up an octave; people want to hear the low stuff.

The one other thing I'll point out, that others have hinted at, is that the day before a studio session is the wrong time to pick up that five-string. If you are going to be open to using one at all, you need to play it enough to get comfortable with it. Muting on can be challenging, and if you're on the smaller side like I am, the wider neck can also be challenging.

I pull my fivers out every now and then just to remind myself that they exist and I should remember to play them now again. I also find that, after an extended period of practicing on the fivers, my four strings feel much easier to play.