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Going from five strings back to four

scottfeldstein

scottfeldstein

Roots and fifths and a little extra.
Jun 20, 2011
6,544
4,412
57
San Marcos, California
endlessblue.bandcamp.com
#1
About ten years ago I went exclusively to five string basses. I thought it would be dope for the downtempo trip-hop project I was in. And it proved necessary for some pit gigs that came my way, too. I will always have a fiver, but I think my Ibanez BTB745 is scratching that itch so completely now that I'm ready to pick up a four-banger once again.

And while I was at it, I wanted to get something...not retro exactly...but something I would have felt comfortable playing when I was a kid, thirty or thirty-five years ago. Something that I would feel comfortable bringing to the annual Summer of Love jam session. Something passive. Something that I could just grab-and-Geddy.

So, after much advice and deliberation, I have now ordered a new Sire V5 Marcus Miller 4-string jazz bass. I think this is going to be a fun transition.

What's your four-to-five, five-to-four, "four forever!" or "fives rule!" story?
 
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#2
I joined a fusion-rock band and one day the guitarist mentioned it would be cool if I would play a 5-string bass. So, I went and built a 5er and played it with them for years. As soon as the band ended, I went back to my 4 strings. I love my 4 strings and now that I am moving to 32" scale instruments, I don't see that I will be playing the 5'er again, but who knows.
 
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#5
scottfeldstein said:
What's your four to five, five to four, four forever! Fives rule! story?
Click to expand...
I started fingerstyle (I’m going somewhere with this) on a 4-string in 1993 but had a 5-string no later than 1996, so I have nearly always had and used both. I used a pick when I had to, but strongly favored fingerstyle. Playing music took a back seat for several years, but when I got my middle kid a drum set for his fifth birthday at the start of 2018, I found myself reaching for a 4-string … and a pick. Playing music became at least as important as ever, I started frequenting TalkBass (full of instrument acquisition inspirations and enablers), and I finally had a bit of money to throw at multiple instruments. I found myself wanting pairs of basses—matched 4- and 5-strings—because so much of the material I found myself creating ended up needing 5-strings (and picks), though I love to play 4-strings (and fingers) when I can get away with it.
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I seem to have settled on these three pairs for most of what I do with a few other specialty basses for specific roles (and yes, they’re all definitely overkill). The 5-string ATK in the last image wasn’t my first bass, but it was my first 5-string, and I’ll never part with it.
 
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#6
Riff Ranger said:
I started fingerstyle (I’m going somewhere with this) on a 4-string in 1993 but had a 5-string no later than 1996, so I have nearly always had and used both. I used a pick when I had to, but strongly favored fingerstyle. Playing music took a back seat for several years, but when I got my middle kid a drum set for his fifth birthday at the start of 2018, I found myself reaching for a 4-string … and a pick. Playing music became at least as important as ever, I started frequenting TalkBass (full of instrument acquisition inspirations and enablers), and I finally had a bit of money to throw at multiple instruments. I found myself wanting pairs of basses—matched 4- and 5-strings—because so much of the material I found myself creating ended up needing 5-strings (and picks), though I love to play 4-strings (and fingers) when I can get away with it.
View attachment 4773987
View attachment 4773988
View attachment 4773989
I seem to have settled on these three pairs for most of what I do with a few other specialty basses for specific roles (and yes, they’re all definitely overkill). The 5-string ATK in the last image wasn’t my first bass, but it was my first 5-string, and I’ll never part with it.
Click to expand...
I think that's one of the strangest things I've seen in these forums. :roflmao:
 
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#10
I don't have a 4, 5, 6, or whatever rules story, I'm firmly in the Lee Sklar, "right tool for the job" camp. Over 50 years I've played and owned mandolins, classical guitars, steel string acoustic and electric guitars, slide guitars, 4 string and 5 string, fretted and fretless basses and piccolo basses. These days I mainly play 4 string basses as the music I write and record/play at home only needs a 4, either normal tuning or piccolo. I'm retired from all but the occasional jam with friends and my own solo stuff. But if I ever need a five for something, I have one, just in case...;)
 
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#12
I, too, have been playing fivers exclusively for 10 or so years. I didn’t particularly want to switch back to four-stringers, but I was having some real left hand pain, and wanted to try a short-scale. I’ve been kind of fascinated by Gibson EB-0’s for some time, so I nabbed one from the classifieds.

So, I’m transitioning to short scale and four string at the same time. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s confusing.
 
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#15
scottfeldstein said:
About ten years ago I went exclusively to five string basses. I thought it would be dope for the downtempo trip-hop project I was in. And it proved necessary for some pit gigs that came my way, too. I will always have a fiver, but I think my Ibanez BTB745 is scratching that itch so completely now that I'm ready to pick up a four-banger once again.

And while I was at it, I wanted to get something...not retro exactly...but something I would have felt comfortable playing when I was a kid, thirty or thirty-five years ago. Something that I would feel comfortable bringing to the annual Summer of Love jam session. Something passive. Something that I could just grab-and-Geddy.

So, after much advice and deliberation, I have now ordered a new Sire V5 Marcus Miller 4-string jazz bass. I think this is going to be a fun transition.

What's your four to five, five to four, four forever! Fives rule! story?
Click to expand...

I’m a 6-string bassist, by the way of a lot of 5-string failures.

1. Four to Five: Pedulla Rapture-5. I couldn’t get used to having a low-B, I eventually sold it.

2. Four to Five: Alembic Excel-5. Once again, I couldn’t get used to having a low-B string. I gave up on it.

3. Four to Five: MusicMan StingRay-5. Same thing, so I sold it.

About two years later, I bought my Roscoe SKB3006 6-string bass. I fully intended to take my time, and figure it out at home. I was gigging constantly, and my band mates insisted that I played it on gigs.

And for about a month, I was horrible. But I kept getting encouragement, so I kept playing it, and I eventually got the hang of it.

About a year later, I bought my Mike Lull M5V, and I could finally play a 5-string.

All of these years later, I’m still a 6-string bassist. And a 5-string is my second choice. Other than my Spector NS4CRFM, my other 4-strings sit at home.

But my eldest daughter plays all of my 4-strings. Her boyfriend plays guitar. My MusicMan Sterling is her favorite. So at least they’re getting played.

Spector Euros are my favorite basses, and I need a Euro 5LX to round out my collection. And a Euro 6LX will be another future addition.
 
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#18
Nothing but 4s for 35 years. Then got a few 5s, had fun with them for 12 years or so, especially with some original tunes I was doing in one of my bands at the time. Now playing 4s almost exclusively as the only band which survived Covid plays blues, oldies, and classic rock. All those parts were originally done on 4s, and it just sounds and feels right to me. Still have three 5s (one fretless) when I get the urge, but I'm really old school and the P-bass is my old and trusted friend.
 
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#19
shastaband said:
Nothing but 4s for 35 years. Then got a few 5s, had fun with them for 12 years or so, especially with some original tunes I was doing in one of my bands at the time. Now playing 4s almost exclusively as the only band which survived Covid plays blues, oldies, and classic rock. All those parts were originally done on 4s, and it just sounds and feels right to me. Still have three 5s (one fretless) when I get the urge, but I'm really old school and the P-bass is my old and trusted friend.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I imagine there's a lot of that going around. My original band (and the recording studio) moved to California. They want me to move there, too, but I don't think I could afford it right now. Most of the other folks I know in this town are a real oldies crowd. I've done some open mic mini-sets and I often get asked to play at a local outdoor "summer of love" 60s gathering. So maybe having a passive 70s jazz bass really is the way to go for a while.
 
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#20
scottfeldstein said:
Yeah, I imagine there's a lot of that going around. My original band (and the recording studio) moved to California. They want me to move there, too, but I don't think I could afford it right now. Most of the other folks I know in this town are a real oldies crowd. I've done some open mic mini-sets and I often get asked to play at a local outdoor "summer of love" 60s gathering. So maybe having a passive 70s jazz bass really is the way to go for a while.
Click to expand...
May as well look the part right ?? Im jonesing for a late 60's earlie 70's Olympic white Pbass like my avitar but ?? not ready to pull the trigger yet
 
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