• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass I am curious, why don't more people play 5 string upright?

#41
I have no doubt that there are some 5s around that are "OK" and feel almost like a 4. But I'm sorry, why would anyone stop playing their lovely 4 (with or without extension) and play a 5? To sit in their section thinking " this is almost as nice, almost as easy to play as my 4"??? Not for me, I'm afraid. The Barnaby extension works beautifully, the bottom end sounds great, an when I don't need it, it goes away. I know there seems to be a fashion growing for 5s, and I can play them. HOWEVER I don't want to, and I don't have to. I do this for enjoyment these days, and playing a 5 is less enjoyable than playing a 4
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet and Jon Stefaniak
#43
Neil Pye said:
I have no doubt that there are some 5s around that are "OK" and feel almost like a 4. But I'm sorry, why would anyone stop playing their lovely 4 (with or without extension) and play a 5? To sit in their section thinking " this is almost as nice, almost as easy to play as my 4"??? Not for me...
Click to expand...

Not for you, perhaps, but it's a big world. I've personally found playing the 5'er every bit as enjoyable (not "almost as nice"). I got my hands on one that sounds great (better than just "OK"), is set up perfectly, and adds a new, interesting dimension to orchestral playing. When these animals are set up well, the 5th string is very unobtrusive. For me, it's been the more "elegant" solution, but I know it doesn't agree with everyone.

Four vs Five, French vs German... life is full of trade offs. In the end, though, isn't it better to be bassists, where we have such variety to enjoy?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet and Neil Pye
#44
Neil Pye said:
I have no doubt that there are some 5s around that are "OK" and feel almost like a 4. But I'm sorry, why would anyone stop playing their lovely 4 (with or without extension) and play a 5? To sit in their section thinking " this is almost as nice, almost as easy to play as my 4"??? Not for me, I'm afraid. The Barnaby extension works beautifully, the bottom end sounds great, an when I don't need it, it goes away. I know there seems to be a fashion growing for 5s, and I can play them. HOWEVER I don't want to, and I don't have to. I do this for enjoyment these days, and playing a 5 is less enjoyable than playing a 4
Click to expand...

I prefer to play a five string bass.
I bought my main bass ca. 10 years ago as a four string bass. I wanted a five string bass, but couldn't find one in my price range that was a least OK. 1 year later I had a C extension made for it. It was nice for a lot of music, but for jazz/improvised music playing it was very inconvenient. There is just not enough time to prepare the capos, if you want to play a low note suddenly. Also I prefer the sound of a very fat low B string when playing pizz. Somehow it sounds/feels more bassy than the same notes on an extension.
Today I'm mostly playing contemporary music, where a fiver is much more usable than an extension, because composers are writing for it specifically. At least in Europe.
So one or two years ago I had the exact same bass rebuilt as a five stringer and couldn't be happier. It took some time of setting it up well, but it can be done.

When comparing four stringers to fiver stringers, always keep in mind, all the other factors of the instrument. There are many small 3/4 or 5/8 basses around, that are a joy to play solo rep or jazz on. Of course most five stringers are harder to play, but that's very often because they are much bigger. Big (often too big) shoulders, large (often too large) rib depth, long (often too long) string length. And may of them sound like cardboard, because of redicously heavy construction.
It's much fairer to compare well made, well set up four strings to well made, well set up five strings. Many fivers you can find in schools, universities and even orchestras don't fall into this category.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet
#45
staccatogrowl said:
Is there a country or region where 5-string upright is more prevalant than 4-string? I ask because I have no idea, which is why I prefaced my last post with a geographical reference that you reiterate. Cheers
Click to expand...
Germany. 100% of the bass sections in the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Staatskapelle Dresden play on 5-stringers. (Just to name some of the top-tier orchestras I have watched on YouTube and never seen a 4-stringer in.) That seems to be the norm for orchestral double bass playing there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet and staccatogrowl
#46
Even in germany, 4 string basses are much more common the 5 string basses. All education is done on standard 4 string basses. All jazz players I know are using 3/4 db with 4 string, not 4/4 db with 5 string. Many orchestras have mostly the standard 4 string basses with a few 5 stringers added, if the low notes are needed somewhere (seems not to be very often). I myself would not use a 5 string bass or a extension, they are not as nice to play and the 4 string basses sound better to my ears. I use dropped d tuning (GDAD), since the low D is sometimes nice to have, or the standard tuning (GDAE) and never missed the lower notes. For high nodes I am using thumb positions, not additional string.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet and staccatogrowl
#48
Ludwig said:
Even in germany, 4 string basses are much more common the 5 string basses. All education is done on standard 4 string basses. All jazz players I know are using 3/4 db with 4 string, not 4/4 db with 5 string. Many orchestras have mostly the standard 4 string basses with a few 5 stringers added, if the low notes are needed somewhere (seems not to be very often). I myself would not use a 5 string bass or a extension, they are not as nice to play and the 4 string basses sound better to my ears. I use dropped d tuning (GDAD), since the low D is sometimes nice to have, or the standard tuning (GDAE) and never missed the lower notes. For high nodes I am using thumb positions, not additional string.
Click to expand...
That could be, but it doesn't match my own experiences here in Germany at all. Every orchestra I've seen and played with was 100% five string. WDR even requires it in their contract. Even the German Youth Orchestra (JDPh) is all five string. Four string basses are set for jazz or solo tuning and would be a little useless for the orchestra. Extensions are more than rare. Most bassists here haven't seen or used one before.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet
#52
Whippet said:
who else makes something like your neck? I've been doing research and no one seems to make it like yours.
Click to expand...

This isn't the Joseph Bohmann, it's a 7/8 Eastman five and unlike any five I've ever played, the B string is sensitive enough that I can do a lot of cross fingering and double stops involving the B string, because it sustains quite well pizz in the higher positions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: davpal, Sam Sherry and Whippet
#54
I played a couple of Disney Hall concert on this Warbruton/Ross 5 stringer, which was a great bass. It had what I would call a five string fingerboard on a five string neck. It was very comfortable to play and very responsive, but it was also very heavy. I did not buy it ultimately.

Louis

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
  • Like
Reactions: Paul Warburton
#57
TE="Ludwig, post: 19782828, member: 77991"]Even in germany, 4 string basses are much more common the 5 string basses. All education is done on standard 4 string basses. All jazz players I know are using 3/4 db with 4 string, not 4/4 db with 5 string. Many orchestras have mostly the standard 4 string basses with a few 5 stringers added, if the low notes are needed somewhere (seems not to be very often). I myself would not use a 5 string bass or a extension, they are not as nice to play and the 4 string basses sound better to my ears. I use dropped d tuning (GDAD), since the low D is sometimes nice to have, or the standard tuning (GDAE) and never missed the lower notes. For high nodes I am using thumb positions, not additional string.[/QUOTE]

PaulCannon said:
That could be, but it doesn't match my own experiences here in Germany at all. Every orchestra I've seen and played with was 100% five string. WDR even requires it in their contract. Even the German Youth Orchestra (JDPh) is all five string. Four string basses are set for jazz or solo tuning and would be a little useless for the orchestra. Extensions are more than rare. Most bassists here haven't seen or used one before.
Click to expand...

Wow. My internet connection at work was down for a couple of days, and I feel like I missed a major shift in world government. No. Ludwig is into alternative facts or something. Paul is right. German orchestras use five stringers almost exclusively. Now, the students play four-stringers and use them for their auditions, which are 98% based on how well they can play Dittersdorf (BS, IMO), but once they get the job they are handed a fiver, and that is what they are expected to play for the next 40+ years. There is some flexibility. A few German orchestras have a C-Extension or two. Aachen, Dresden, Stuttgart, a few in Wien, but yes, it is incredibly rare. The other challenge I would make to Ludwig is: Have you any ground to say that a four string bass fitted with an extension sounds worse than one without?
 
#58
Off Topic?
Hey robobass -
Is this the Ludovico Technique that you're referring to?
"...he is chosen to undergo an experimental behaviour-modification treatment called the Ludovico Technique in exchange for having the remainder of his sentence commuted. The technique is a form of aversion therapy, in which Alex is injected with nausea-inducing drugs while watching graphically violent films, eventually conditioning him to become severely ill at the mere thought of violence. As an unintended consequence, the soundtrack to one of the films, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, renders Alex unable to enjoy his beloved classical music as before."
Can you clarify or correct?
Thanks.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back