Going from 4 to 5 (merged threads)

[mutedeity]

Personally, I don't really have too much issue with going from a four-string to a five or six-string. I play with the high C rather than a low B on my five, but I can easily pick up one tuned with a low B and play it immediately. I have never really owned a six string but anytime I have played one I have had no difficulty playing it. The only issue I have is that I need to make slight adjustments to my technique, but I will often take a five and a four on the same gig and switch between them.

Sometimes I find it is easier to do some things on one bass or the other. For example I don't have to use so much restraint when slappng on a four-string. On the other hand I find the extended range of the five-string useful and the closer strings can make some finger played lines a lot easier. I am going to have a single course 8 string made sometime in the next year, so we will see how well I adjust then, I guess.

 

[Jim Breece]

For mixing up the B and E at first: what worked for me was literally to ignore the B string for the first couple of weeks. It truly was a long thumbrest that I tried not to think about until I got more comfortable. I'd occasionally dip down to the low notes, but didn't change most of what I was used to doing- hit an open E rather than fifth fret on the B string etc. After a while it started getting natural to use the B rather than move my hand to switch position. I'm still in transition but using it more naturally all the time.
As far as the low notes sticking out: I agree. Do you move your right hand around to even out the sound while you play? I play the E string much closer to the bridge than I do the G, and I find that for lower notes on the B I'm about as far back as I can get, which helps a lot. A low note on the B played over the pickup is pretty much mud for me.
Hope this is helpful to somebody. My own feeling is that I don't need the B, but I like having the flexibility it gives me.

 

[Mayers]

After 2 years on 4 strings I got a 5 strings ... I always wanted a 5 strings. If I play around 12th fret and need the low G , it isn't far away. I learned a lot on 5 strings. Then I got two 6 strings basses. It takes me ... maybe 1 week to get adjusted to it but now it is the best choice I ever made.

 

[tetsuma4l]

well i mean, sometimes, especially in metal, you just want to get a heavier sound=)

heavier guage strings usually would get the job done.

 

[Grinky]

Session legend David Hungate summed my felings up quite good when he stated that "the low B is a nice thumbrest"...

+1 !

 

[Jeff_BASS]

I have been playing a 5 string longer than i played a four
i like the feel better on a 5 and i like that i can play more notes that you cant play on a four
it never took me long to adjust from a four to a five maybe about a few days because my band at the time practiced everyday
the main reason i need to switch was cuz i needed the bigger lowend string
i hated my strings getting all floppy so i went to the five string
dont regret it but picking up a four string is still fun once in a while

 

[Lobster11]

This has been a great thread that has given me a lot of useful ideas, so I'd like to get it going again. I also hope that my own experience might prove helpful to others considering the switch from 4 to 5 for the first time.

My first experiment with a fiver was a dismal failure, one made doubly frustrating by the fact that it was an incredibly cool bass with amazing tone -- a Reverend 5L -- that I just loved in every way other than my total inability to play it. This was before the present thread, but I had figured out on my own two of the transition strategies since discussed here. First, I was moving across country to live on the other coast for a year, and made a conscious decision to bring only the recently-acquired fiver with me to force me to focus on it exclusively. I also decided to start out trying to think of it as a regular 4-string, using the low B string almost exclusively as a thumbrest until I got comfortable with. I never did. I finally gave up and traded it for another four-string (making fellow TBer Trevorus very happy). It was just too frustrating and I wasn't having any fun.

I am convinced, in retrospect, that the problem was this: Switching to this new bass involved not just one, but FOUR major changes, and I simply couldn't adjust to them all at the same time. In addition to having the "extra string" -- and thus frequently confusing the E for the B, etc. -- the Reverend also had (1) a fatter neck, (2) a longer (35") scale, and (3) narrower string spacing than any of my fours. The combination of the latter two was especially problematic, because notes were now both further apart horizontally but closer together vertically on the neck. Consequently, the strategy of pretending it was a regular four-string with a very long, skinny thumbrest simply didn't work. I think that if I had switched to another four-string with a longer scale, fatter neck, and narrower string spacing, I would have had almost as much trouble even without having an extra string to worry about. So that's my theory, and I'm sticking with it.

I just recently decided to put this theory to the test, and bought another five-string: this time, an MTD Kingston Artist (thanks, pharaohamps!). I picked this particular model because it has (1) full 19 mm string spacing at the bridge, and (2) a very thin and asymmetrical neck. In stark contrast to the experience I had when I first wrapped my hands around the Reverend (basically, "***??!!"), this thing felt immediately comfortable and wonderfully familiar. The neck profile and wide string spacing make it feel almost exactly like a four-string jazz bass (but, of course, with a very long, skinny thumbrest). The extra inch of scale length seems barely noticeable given the familiarity of everything else. I can tell already that it is going to be WAY easier to learn my way around a five-string with this baby. I'll post a progress report in a few weeks and let y'all know how the theory stands up to the data.

 

[ObsidianDagger]

I'm finally starting to get used to my fl5 too

the trick for me was different types of drills. for instance, doing ffscales and arpeggios across 2-3 octaves. First I started on the E string, like usual, but when i came back down the neck, I went below it as far as i could. then I improvised over that pattern I just did.

Also, string crossing exercises were a big help (and still are). I try to do arpeggios starting on the E string and play each note on a seperate string. First I did this just going up, then added a 5th in the bass.

Lastly, I've been working on single-string stuff. especially with slap-techniques, this helps a lot. If you do multiple-thumb/multiple-pop stuff, you'll probably want to do scale runs (or just fingering exercises) on each string to get your hands used to the narrow space. I try to do just a few notes at a time, like whatever fits under my hand in each position, and then move to a new position and a new pattern. adding chromatics also sounds really badass when you solo

so yeah i guess its just like learning a new instrument, except its still a bass and we all are familiar with bass so its just reapplying our skills to a new "terrain"

Peace, y'all

 

[Fretlessboy]

I owned 7 5 strings that made me like 5 string was impossible. There was a reason why none of them worked for me. Then I found my Smith... strangley enough, I took delivery at 5:30, changed the strings, took it in to the pit of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" that night and never looked back. The Smith was siply the bass for me and my fears/problems disappeared immediately. From that point on I played 5 string because I love...before it was a fight because I had to.

 

[cavemanfr]

I recently made the jump to a 5er. This is the 3rd bass I have owned. The first was back in my roadie days in the 70s. It was a 4 string Cortez P-bass copy in natural. I had that until about '90. Next was a Ibanez GSR200 in black about 4 years ago. Didn't do too bad picking it up again. And the low end Ibanez was a great improvement over some of the crap we had to choose from back then. But recently the four was getting old and I didn't really like drop tuning but in some of the music the band I'm in is doing the lower notes are essential. So I went in search of a 5er. I was looking for an Epiphone Embassy or a Dean Edge 1-5. Didn't find either one at the shop I hit but I did find a used Ibanez EDB405 in transparent black. My wife ended up buying it for me for Christmas. After a new set of strings and a set of straploks I plugged it in to my Rumble 100 and I must say I was amazed. I figured the extra string would be awkward but it actually inspired me to get creative. While the low notes on the B are nice I think my favorite thing is the new -ie: easier- ways to play the material I already know. I don't see me going back to 4 string. As a matter of fact I gave the GSR to my son for Christmas. So for now, it's 5 or nothing.

 

[scronus]

hmm..and by the way. how have people her adjusted to playing E A D G C ???? anyone?

I actually use this but like a guitar with a high B.I like the chords I can build and it makes more sense for me that th high C. I play 4 5 and 6 string basses .I lnow in finger style funk bass I love to be able to walk down instead of up so that low B really adds to the music but is not really nesccessary

 

[gjooro]

I went from 4 to 6. At first it was a really big difference, it felt really weird but after day or two I got used to it. It wasn't hard and I really like tighter string spacing

 

[Chad Michael]

Been playing 5 (& 6) strings so long that I get lost on a 4 .

4 bangers scare me.

 

[Boogie B]

I've allways played a 4-string. I play in a semi-professional coverband where we have to transpose a lot because we make medleys and the keys have to match. A lot of teh transposed bass-lines lose power becaus i can go down far enough on a 4-string.
That's why i decided to go 5. The only bass that i find comfortable enough to play and that i think is great soundwise and that i won't have to sell a kidney for is a Musicman 5 HS. Sadley at the moment I don't have the money for it. Last week i decided to go with a hunch an bough a second hand, mint condition Cort Artisan 5. For that amount of money is sounds amazing and has great sustain. I think it's absolutely the best thing u can get in that price-range. I will still go for the MM in time, but i think i have a good, cheap alternative for now.
Anyway, going from 4 to 5 does indeed take some getting used to. The extra string actually doesn't bother me at all. It's kinda like going from a 77 key piano to to an 88 one, you can just go deeper. The thing that takes getting used to is the string spacing, especially if you play blindly all the time. But it's getting better allready.

 

[scrotimusprime]

Hey I know I'm new here but i'll put my two cents in:

If you want to move from 4 to 5 - Buy a 5 string, put down your 4, and practice. That's all there is to it, its really going to be more of you learning to adapt to a larger neck than anything. On your "strumming" hand, loosen up. Its going to take a bit to get a feel for the big B string but you'll figure out the appropriate tone with practice.

If you have small hands or are unable to contort to the neck, then you might try what I call "gripless" playing where don't... grip the neck. You let your hand float over the top of the fret board and go to town, I've seen tons of people do this on exhaustively wide necks (6+ strings).

 

[Fnord Explorer]

I played a four-string only for a short time before I picked up a five. I was playing in a metal band back in the late 90's and it seemed like it was requisite of a bassist to have a five string. I had a four-string Ibanez and a friend of mine who decided to switch from guitar to bass bought the same bass but in the five-string version. He found the neck to be too wide (on a Ibanez!) and I gave him a hundred bucks and we traded.

I think my brain operates a little differently than some people because I seem to pick up patterns quickly and when I went from a four to a five there was really no transitional period at all. My brain just seemed to continue the patterns down one more string. Same with a six, I just go up another string.

Now when I pick up a guitar I have to rewire my thinking because that G-to-B changeover messes me up all the time until I force myself to think differently. It's even worse on my seven-string because it's tuned AEADF#BE.

Regardless, I found that I just can't play in alternate tunings very well, like Drop-D without a period of adjustment because the patterns are all different (even if by two frets). My guitarists in two of my bands both write in Drop-D but I just use a five in standard. Besides, doing that certainly improves your left-hand technique on some tunes.

 

[Traver]

I must admit that the concept of 5'ers and 6'ers being harder to play confuses me a lot. I got my first (and only so far) 6'er after about a year of playing a 4'er, and I never had the slightest trouble adjusting to it. The only slight hindrance I had was playing the B-string when I intended to play the E-string.
Maybe it was in fact because I had spent so little time playing a 4-string that it was easier to make the change, as my habits weren't as ingrown as they must be for people who have played more than 10 years. If that's true, the moral of the story must be that if you want to switch to a 5'er or 6'er - do it as fast as possible before you get too accustomed with a 4'er.

 

[Lobster11]

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.

You might want to check out an MTD Kingston Artist 5. It's got the full standard string spacing at the bridge and the longer (35") scale, but in addition the neck profile is very slim and slightly asymmetrical. Do some searching around TB and you'll find lots of people describing it as the most comfortable five-string neck they've ever played.

 

[Ric5]

I played only 4 string basses for a long time ... then about 2000 I got into a band that I needed a low D ... so I had a 1973 4001 Rickenbacker tuned normal, a p-bass tuned to E flat and a jazz bass tuned DGCF ... Then I needed a low D flat so I went out and got a 4003s5 and now I only play 5 string basses ...

It took a lot of work to retrain my brain to think 5 strings ... I had to quit playing 4 string basses for a while ... now the 5 string bass seems normal to me and a 4 string bass seems abnormal ...

 

[Gawd]

I bought a 6 string warwick corvette in september. it took a while to get use to, but now it's so comfortable. it feels normal, and actually now a 4 string seems incredibly small and awkward to play.