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Going from 4 to 5 (merged threads)

#81
FLintc: maybe it's the neck shape or my technique, but I feel like "fretting" the notes on my FL schecter requires more effort. Sliding is definitely not a metal technique, but it can work.

I have trouble with hamerons/pulloffs sounding as crisp bc I need to play more on the tips of my fingers. Slapping and popping seem to take more effort with my right hand ... the strings are closer together and I don't have that last fret. I don't do a lot of two-handed stuff but just messing around seems a bit harder, same prob with not fingering as cleanly.
 
#82
OK. My main adjustments between fretted and fretless is that on fretted I do "slow slides" that sound almost like picking the notes, which change sharply from one pitch to the next. On fretless, of course, this isn't possible, and each note must be fretted. But hammer ons and pulloffs seem no different on the Q6 fretless. Maybe it is the neck.

Slapping is notoriously difficult on a fretless, but I didn't think that was a metal technique either.

The fretless does take exact finger placement.
 
#83
I'm another older guy who's played 4 string bass for 30+ years. Just last week I traded a sweet Ric 12 string, that I rarely played, for a Gibson TBird Studio 5. What a wicked bass. Very thin neck, and killer tone. Anyway, it was a head trip figuring out what I was doing, and where I was on the fretboard for the first few days, but gets much easier with practice. I doubt I'd ever go to a 6 string, or even get another 5 string, but it's nice to have the one. I use it mainly for those drop D tunes, and for that, it's a godsend. It would never take first place in my 4 string arsenal, but right now it's running a very close second.
 
#85
I just got a five, I'm never buying another four string again. The string spacing is a godsend, and even on songs that don't use the low B it's a good thumbrest. I don't play gigs or with a band right now and I just kinda groove on the low end, slapping that B string adds alot to what I do. But it's also the only string I can slap comfortably unless I'm sitting down, but thems the breaks =(
 
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#86
unbasslichkeit said:
I bet there are a lot of experienced 4 string players who have seriously considered making the transition to 5 or six strings, but have been held back by some childhood trauma :crying:

Any fellow TB'ers have stories like this to share?

For me it was sitting in with a band about 10 years ago where the bass player lent me his new Music man 5 string and I thought it would be a piece of cake to play - and never having played a 5 that much, I was of course wrong.

The bass' owner understood very well what I went through on that guest spot, though. He told me the day he picked up the bass from the store he took it right to a gig without sitting down to get some quality time with it. As a result he almost got fired from said gig.

Thinking about one of those SX Jazz 5 basses...cheap learning tool.
Click to expand...

Something very similar happened to me last Saturday night. My band was celebrating our drummers birthday at a local club and the band called us up to do a few songs. The bass player had a 5'ver and I have never played one before. Needless to say...it was not pretty. He sympathized, but I felt like a jackass. I am now ready to go out and get a 5 TODAY to assure that I am never in that position again. My reasoning for never using one before was that I haven't mastered four strings...what do I need with five? But now, embarrassment can be a strong motivational tool...

FC
 
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#87
The string spacing is a godsend, and even on songs that don't use the low B it's a good thumbrest
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Not understood! I understand that a song probably wouldn't require the low B note, but this is very different from the low B string. In normal play, the B string is like any other - it has 15 (or more) pefectly good notes to use at any time.

Am I reading many of these replies wrong (quite likely!), or are there people here who use the B string only when they need a pitch below open E, and never play it otherwise? Seems to me all the frets on all the strings are there to be used as needed.
 
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#88
I've been on a 4 string since I started playing in '98. Whenever I played in drop D I resented the fact that I have to change my tuning to get a little lower than the open E. Also, if I always play on drop D I would have to adjust my style accordingly...

My point is just that I regularly encountered these issues. So when I recently upgraded my bass, I naturally went for the 5 string.

I'm not looking back... It's like I used to have a 4 speed gearbox, now I have a 5 speed! Just like a car, you won't always drive in 5th gear, but when you need to, you really need to.

I'm not looking back!:D
 
#89
I went from fours to fivers about four years ago. I was in the market for a high end 4 string bass. When I went to go check them out at my local bass store. I couldn't believe that the price differences between 4's and 5's were so close (between four and six hundred depending on the model).

So I inquired about it and my retailer said: If your going to pay that much for a bass, you might as well step up to the fiver. Having purchased several basses from this store in the past, I had a good rapport with them.

So they let me borrow a 5 string bass for a few days to see if it was something I wanted to step into.
I was so frustrated with the damn thing. I took it back and asked for another. This went on for at least five basses until the day I took home the Modulus Q5.
I instantly fell in love with the tone, playabiliy (it seemed to be the easiest one to play) and looks of these basses. So I took the very ugly black cherry Modulus 5 back to the shop and ordered one with a walnut top.

Five months later I had my first five string bass. I still love to play fours every now and then, but I am so used to the fiver, I find myself reaching for notes that aren't there.

Five string basses are easier for me to play because of the advantage of positioning. Most people think players like fives merely for added low range, this couldn't be further from the truth. Don't get me wrong, I do use the low C or D if it is called for. But having the B string gives you more flexibility when playing in certain positions. You can cover two octaves in a space of six frets. When playing in the upper register you don't have to shoot back down the neck for your lower notes. I use all the notes on the B string, not just the "low ones."

I would still like a nice simple four string Fender jazz someday, they're still fun to play.
 
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#90
seansbrew said:
I would still like a nice simple four string Fender jazz someday, they're still fun to play.
Click to expand...

Even though I have a 5 string fretless and just bought a 6 string fretted, I'm still going to keep my 4 string SX, because if I want something easy to play, I don't need the extra strings. It's also nice if I'm learning a new song. I can get it down one way, and then when I move to the 5 or 6, all I have to do is see if there are any easier ways to play it.
 
#91
It's also nice if I'm learning a new song. I can get it down one way, and then when I move to the 5 or 6, all I have to do is see if there are any easier ways to play it.
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Chuckle. This is not bi-directional, according to most people here (and my own experience.) You will nearly always figure out an easier way to play anything when you have more strings to work with. Conversely, you'll aways find things more difficult as you lose strings.

But this isn't really the point. When I'm learning a new song, the bass line I construct depends on what I can do with the bass I'm playing. In brief, with 4 strings I'd learn a simpler and more restricted line. If you have another octave plus immediately under your fingers at any given time, you certainly have more scope for your musical imagination.

You're not going to be finding "an easier way to play IT", you're going to find bass lines easier to play. LOTS of different bass lines. Extra strings are addictive - lose them, and you go through a withdrawal that limits you.
 
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#92
Flintc said:
Chuckle. This is not bi-directional, according to most people here (and my own experience.) You will nearly always figure out an easier way to play anything when you have more strings to work with. Conversely, you'll aways find things more difficult as you lose strings.

But this isn't really the point. When I'm learning a new song, the bass line I construct depends on what I can do with the bass I'm playing. In brief, with 4 strings I'd learn a simpler and more restricted line. If you have another octave plus immediately under your fingers at any given time, you certainly have more scope for your musical imagination.

You're not going to be finding "an easier way to play IT", you're going to find bass lines easier to play. LOTS of different bass lines. Extra strings are addictive - lose them, and you go through a withdrawal that limits you.
Click to expand...
+1
 
#93
Flintc said:
Chuckle. This is not bi-directional, according to most people here (and my own experience.) You will nearly always figure out an easier way to play anything when you have more strings to work with. Conversely, you'll aways find things more difficult as you lose strings.

You're not going to be finding "an easier way to play IT", you're going to find bass lines easier to play. LOTS of different bass lines. Extra strings are addictive - lose them, and you go through a withdrawal that limits you.
Click to expand...

Not my point at all.

When I am learning a new song, I only have 4 strings and only notes on those strings to choose from.

This means that I am forced to play the part in one way, so that's what I do. Then when I move to more strings, I already know the part and can switch positions on the fly, I no longer have to think about what notes to play and when.

If I start out on a 5 or 6, There is a good chance that I'll spend a lot of time evaluating what the better position is before I even get through the whole piece, so I'll keep thinking about it everytime I learn an extra bit.
 
#94
The best way to go from 4 to 5 is to think of a 5-string bass as two 4-string basses. The first 4 string bass is of course, just the first four strings forgetting the 5th. But you have another imaginary 4-string bass besides that one! Just imagine that the 5th fret is a NUT. Then the bottom 4 strings makes another imaginary 4-string bass, starting at the 5th fret. The fret markers on that imaginary 4-string bass are then off by one fret, but it's still a good way to switch.

Edwin
 
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#95
Interesting thread this.

I recently switched from a four string to a five string bass and initially found it very confusing - I was constantly mistaking the B string for the E string, E string for the A string etc (and still do sometimes!).

However, I am also the lead singer in my classic rock band and the five string bass has really proved its worth in that there is less movement required with the fretting hand. This is a real boon when you are trying to do two things at once!

I'm glad I persevered with the five string and don't know what I would do without it. I keep a four string bass as a spare but hope I never have to use it during a gig!
 
#97
Whatever way works for you so long as you are effective, period. Some cats like to think of it as a 4 sting bass with 2 extra strings, 1 extra string, or all of it as one long string. So long as you can jam it out that's all that matters.:)
 
#98
I snagged my first 5 in seven years last night - we're going to see how this works out!

Consequently, it's an ATK305, and the spacing isn't all THAT bad. However, while it was being set up, I went back in the bass room and fiddled around a little with a BTB 5'er that was AMAZING! Spacing was standard, with the added string, and the B was tight and thick with the longer scale.

My only complaint was the neck radius, but I'll see if I can work around that. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure I'll have that one in my arsenal before too long.
 
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#99
This means that I am forced to play the part in one way, so that's what I do. Then when I move to more strings, I already know the part and can switch positions
Click to expand...
Ah, I see where communications are breaking down. In my approach, there is no particular "the part", and I rarely play anything the same way twice. I don't learn "the part", I learn the piece.

Perhaps the distinction here is between a jazz approach (more freeform), and a tribute approach (play it *exactly* the way Rex Brown did, errors and all!). I doubt I could tolerate the tribute approach for more than 5 minutes at a stretch. When you're winging it as you go along, extra strings let your imagination have a longer leash.
 

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