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high c or low b?

#21
I have 3 basses, all low B. If I bought 5 more they'd all be low B.

I can get all the notes I can on a high C that I can on a standard G, barring the highest 5 on the C (but I don't play up past the 17th fret on the G often anyway, and my bass has 21 frets), whereas I have extra range with a low B that I can't have any other way.

Shifting hand position is an easy trade off when you have more bottom end IMO.
 
#22
It's all about hand position and hand comfort really. Like I said in my post, I don't see how in the world anyone likes a B string. If you have a small wang and are going for some sort of ego boost in your bottom end, by all means go right ahead. That seems like the prevailing opinion in this thread as pretty much no one's talked about what he wants, which is to be able to do walking bass lines easier.

Find me a 5 string that doesn't sound like total ass when you play jazz on it, and cost more than my car.
 
#23
temporalbassist said:
It's all about hand position and hand comfort really. Like I said in my post, I don't see how in the world anyone likes a B string. If you have a small wang and are going for some sort of ego boost in your bottom end, by all means go right ahead. That seems like the prevailing opinion in this thread as pretty much no one's talked about what he wants, which is to be able to do walking bass lines easier.

Find me a 5 string that doesn't sound like total ass when you play jazz on it, and cost more than my car.
Click to expand...

I can sell you a set of strings that will take you a long way toward a truly good sounding B.....

Really.
 
#27
blankrider said:
Hey guys, I just got my schecter studio 5 in the mail and it shipped with the traditional low b string. I changed the set of strings on there to my old flatwound chromes (didn't change the b string because i don't have a flatwound one) and i just am not seeing how useful the low b can be. I was thinking about changing it to a high c because i play alot of jazz and would like to be able to walk an Eb without shifting up to 8th fret.

Ideas/ Suggestions?
Click to expand...
Try DGCFBb
 
#28
Thanks for your thoughts on this.

I'm a new 5-string player after 35 years of strictly playing 4. For a minute I had a 5 tuned E to C, then I convinced myself I'd get more of what I wanted or maybe needed by going with the traditional B to G.

So on the bass that I just got, a Lakland 55-02 (after briefly playing another 5 that I didn't care for too much), I tuned B to G. I've adapted to it quite quickly. I do like being able to play some lower notes higher up on the neck, and being able to reach some of those higher notes more quickly.

But I gotta say, I'm finding very little use for anything below the D on the B string. So I'm thinking about switching back to E to C once more. I really like the additional high-end chordal possibilities with that set-up, as well as the ability to use the high notes for soloing, etc.

Unless I change my mind again. Or get a 6er.

temporalbassist said:
I'm going to have to voice my emphatic support for changing out the Low B for a High C. I have only one five string bass, but I struggled for YEARS to try and get a good sound out of the B string. Other than dumping more compression on it than I feel any bass should ever have on it, I wasn't able to do it. I had my bass set up several times and I still noticed prominent rattle of the B string when played open or lower than the 3rd fret, not to mention fretting any note on it caused more blurb and rattle than note definition.

With that said, here's my advantages towards switching to the high C. It can completely change the way your bass plays. After switching, I realized the reason my bass felt clunky was because of the thicker strings. Simply by putting .020's worth of space between the strings made all the difference in feeling comfortable. Also, the change in the degree of tension can change how well your bass stays in tune. When I set up my bass in the EADGC configuration, and since then, it has been my most reliable bass for accurate tones.

I have also only lost one note in the process. I do a lot of tuning changes, most notably tuning my E down to C. Trying this before with the B string would have been silly, but on the few occassions I need to zone out and rock a bunch of low notes in a row, I've been able to do it. Also having the Tenor "ADGC" setup below it makes it an interesting tuning for open bass playing. My open C sounds infinitely better than the 1st fret of any 5 string bass I have played. I played over 100 5-strings looking for the one that I had, and even then I changed it.

I'm sharing my experience just to give people ideas. I understand why many bassists want the low B, I just don't see the practicality in it especially if you bought a 5-string for under 800 dollars. The pickups won't be a high enough quality to accurately capture the lowest frequency, B. Sorry. I've played every 5 string made by Ibanez, Yamaha, Fender, Warwick, and the other big league instrument builders, and none of them could get a solid B tone to my liking. Maybe that's just me and I'm asking too much out of a warbling .120-.140 string but you'd hope they were designed to work in the first place.
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#29
Take it from someone who bought a fiver because he NEEDED that low B.

Swtich it out for the C. I get so little use out of that B that its disgusting. I play metal too. And I use it only when doing covers. Hell, I've even dropped my Schecter studio 5 out to use my fender P simply because it DIDN'T have the low B. It gets in my way and is a general nuisance to me. I would get a million times more use out of high C, but at heart, I'm a four string guy anyway.
 
#35
i've found that some basses sound better as a 5/highC rather than low B. its weird, certain basses just want to be string EADGC. others sound better BEADG.

i had a student with a carvin bass that sounded alright with a low B. he strung it next time with a C, got it setup, and suddenly the thing came to life. really strange.
 
#37
High C.

I'm babysitting a Fernades 5-string Gravity and I hate the low B, it's just this low mushy rumble. No amount of Eq'ing has helped anything.

Played thru 7 10's and 1425 watts of total POWA mind you.
 
#39
walker rosewood said:
...interesting. Not sure I could play a knock off though. I've also been looking at the Schecter Stiletto 6. It seems to be one of the few options out there for 6 strings that are not insanely expensive or way too cheap. oh no... GAS coming on.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't consider Fender to be an elite choice (or a choice at all really, sorry Steve Bailey fans) if I were looking for a 6 string. Used Yamaha's can be a great choice for 6 strings. They made a bunch of them in the late 90s and early 2000s, so there's a bunch of them about, and the RBXJM2 isn't that bad.

One of my friends got a Schecter 6 string a few years back and he loves it, definitely a good buy IMO.

Also, Ibanez has been moving in to fill the void in the 6 string market that Yamaha has left, and they make a lot of decently priced models that play well. Be careful of the razor thin necks on some of their 6 strings though.
 
#40
good thoughts temporal! I just put the fender thought out there because I currently play a Fender Jazz 5, which I thoroughly enjoy.

Ibanez and Yamaha... maybe someday. It's the aesthetics I don't like about their basses.

What I'd really like is a Warwick Thumb bass http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Warwick-Thumb-Bass-6String-?sku=519122


Anyway, it's all just gas right now. Can't afford to buy anything. Guess I'll just stick to the two 5's for now, one being low b and the other high c.
 

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