How long did it take you to get used to a 5-string?

[carl h.]

Just remember, for the wide range of times it took to get comfortable with a 5 string there is a wide range of abilities and experience.


After about a year, I am getting pretty comfortable with a 5. At first just picking it up I was going great in a few minutes. Not a big deal. The hard part comes in when you are completely dead to the world tired out on a gig with a new to you group of musicians trying to play their tunes on the spot from both chord changes AND printed music. If you can't read it down cold without any thought at all about which string you are on, you've still got a way to go.

IMHO & assuming you ever do or even can read music at a gig.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I can play a 5 string fine, but I'm still waiting to get used to mine. I bought it in 1991.

I used the "immersion" technique: I completely stopped playing fours while I adjusted to five. I think that was the right idea for me.

I eventually stopped playing fours entirely... in fact I no longer own one. That wasn't because of immersion.... I simply decided that five works better for me. My point is that a "temporary immersion" might help you get comfy on five, and after that you can switch between four and five.

But my immersion happened during a two month break from gigging, which doesn't happen for me any more... and I'm sure the same's true for you. So, never mind!

 

[onda'bass]

took me a while to adjust, mentally not physically .......now I use do 5's exclusively

 

[bassbenj]

I got mine in 97 and played it exclusively for about 2 years.Once I got my brain wrapped around the fact that 1st string wasn't an E I was ok. I eventually realized I didn't use the B string at all,it became an expensive thumbrest.Then one night while playing a drop D song it struck me to tune the B to a D. This gave me drop D and standard on one bass. I may be the only person I know doing this.Nothing groundbreaking,it's just another way of looking at it.I know,the D was already there.It's just this bass players way of dealing with it.

Which obviously works. But you shouldn't think you are playing a 5 string bass! You are playing a modified 4 string bass! It's like a 4 string with a hipshot on it.

You see by changing the tuning in 4ths you eliminate the ability to move scales and patterns around the neck. And this is one of the prime features of a 5 string bass played as a 5 string bass.

There's nothing wrong with playing a 4 string bass with a D string added as a mod, but it would be wrong to think that you are playing a 5 string bass just because it has 5 strings!

 

[AHDBassist]

About twenty minutes at practice. Playing a five made me not care what kind of neck my four strings have.

 

[DLEE]

You're correct,I don't look at it as a 5 string bass anymore.Once I became comfortable it became just another 4 string.Most people and some bass players I come across don't really understand a 5'er.They look at it as a gimmick not a useful thing.Classic rock cover bands honestly could play 90% of there stuff on a 3 string,maybe less. To most people it's still a 5 string bass. To me it's an innovative hybrid! LOL!!!

 

[rockstarbassist]

Not very.
About 9 years on the 5er and don't have much use for 4's at this point.

 

[fourstringbliss]

If you think of the B-string as a musical thumbrest it shouldn't take much time at all. I just think of my fiver as a 4-string+1. This works especially well if you use the "floating thumb" technique for your playing hand. You anchor your thumb on one of the pickups when you play the E-string - on the fiver you anchor your thumb on the B-string. This makes the transition pretty seamless. I have no problem going from 34" 4-string to 35" fiver this way.

 

[spade2you]

I had the opposite experience. Going from 4-5 was very quick (I still sucked at 4-string, so the transition to sucking at 5-string was barely noticeable ), but going to 6 took a long, long while. It's easy to avoid using the B-, but the C is always under your hand on a six, and finding comfortable measurements/spacings took some time.

Hard to say how the transition might have gone if I had better technique when I initially picked up the 5 or if I didn't have that technique when I finally got a 6. Something about 6 just clicked with me.

I just hope my transition to fretless 7 isn't too difficult. That'll come sooner or later when it arrives.

 

[johny martin]

well I had a couple 4 strings laying around for years that I only played every so often , mainly noodling, bought my sr405 and cand seem to but it down, for some reason im just a 5 string guy ! the string spacing just seems right to me, so It didnt take any time to get used to it its like I shoulda been playing a 5er all along

 

[allexcosta]

From 4 to 5 it was like a minute or two.

Been trying to get used to 6 strings for the past 20 years and still working on it...

 

[Boombass76]

It will probably depend on where you're at in life... Sounds kinda profound, but it's quite simple, really.

I got a 5'er back in 98. I was studying bass at the conservatory and I was in the routine of playing (practicing alone, rehearsing with bands and/or gigging) every day of the week. It took a few weeks and I felt right at home.

Fast Forward to 2010. I got myself a nice 6'er. Never adapted properly. In theory,the difference should be the same, but at that point, I was busy coping with kids, job, cars, house, wife, etc. every day of the week.

Still, I find the time to grab a bass every other night for a few minutes and I do rehearse with bands and gigs as much as possible, but overall, I am in a different place - and it does not allow for learning 'new instruments', unfortunately. Maybe someday I will give that 6'er a go again

 

[grendle]

getting used to playing it, a week or so. Being fully comfortable and knowing how to use it a few months. IMO avoid the low B for a wile ( new 5 ers tend to play everything on the low B lol ) learn how to use the new range tastefully enjoy.

 

[john grey]

getting used to playing it, a week or so. Being fully comfortable and knowing how to use it a few months. IMO avoid the low B for a wile ( new 5 ers tend to play everything on the low B lol ) learn how to use the new range tastefully enjoy.

That's good advise. I think there are a few decisions to make prior to really spending the money.
I didn't want to make the leap without looking so I borrowed one from a friend and I was VERY glad I did.
The B was very floppy from what I had thought noodling around (diameter makes a significant difference there), the closer together the strings were - made many of the quick, fun slap things I did, demand much more concentration.
The actual USE of a low B was enjoyable but not so mandatory that I totally over-looked the cost on one. I would really like to try a 6 (or a 5 with a high C). I was told to lower the volume for a few days and that was also good advise.

There is some very unique and fun stuff there but it's something that (IMO) should really be tried for awhile first and with a great deal of thought as to what you play often and what you really enjoy. I can see a few applications for a 5 that would be great. I wound up not buying one and NOT because I didn't like it. It simply didn't have a "pay-off" that I would use enough to warrant the money.
On a positive note, I think they could make an individual a more proficient technical player & help w/ theory. IF I had more interest in theory, I would certainly buy one. I still may as I mature in my enjoyment of certain things.

 

[Catbuster]

15 mins...

 

[Mirios]

To get used to mine it took an evening. To get to the point to where I felt I was utilizing the B-string as well as my other strings, about a week. Once I started sight reading leads in a jazz combo I found I didn't really want to go back to a four string. Plus no more reading cello music and having to transpose an octave. Not hard to transpose, but fun not to have to.

I admit I had some trouble keeping the b string muted while slapping. Probably took a month to get the muting down properly, but I wasn't really using the technique much at the time and didn't dedicate appropriate time to it.

 

[Aussie Player]

Bump - Too interesting to fade away.

 

[theduke1]

if you go 5 string, leave your 4 at home and run with it
took me about a month after i left my 4 at home

 

[georgestrings]

It took me two full months to get to the point where I was comfortable gigging on five, and even then I had to concentrate. HOWEVER, I played four string for over twenty years before I switched over, and I believe that's why it took me so long. Or maybe I'm just slow.

My experience was very similar - I was actively gigging in 2 bands at the time, and got tired of using a drop tuned 4 string to get down to low C, so I bought a 5er, and jumped in... Now, I can switch back and forth between 4s and 5s without a hitch...


- georgestrings

 

[MrLenny1]

Got my first 5 in 1991. Took one whole year to play error free. Brain kept thinking
open E on bottom. Playing scales,licks was no problem.