I just realized something odd.

[trb6pJM2]

I can't play 5 strings. I love four strings, I can get into the groove, I can do everything I want to do. I love my 6 stringer to death, and it really unlocks what I can do. But I just pick up a 5 string and I'm lost. I feel like I should be playing the stuff I play on my six, but I look down, NO HI C.... I dunno, Then I try to play groovy stuff like how I play on a 4, and what comes out is mud.

and its not the basses, I have tried it out on Wick Katana 4 and 5 strings, identical basses other than one has more strings.

anyone else have this problem, or something like it?

 

[Brendan]

I prefer 4 or 6, myself. Fives just feel...unbalanced, somehow.

However, my sense of balance is a little off, as I habitually string BEAD or string very heavy (.115-.050), and tune CFBbEb, so 5s don't feel like an added B, they feel like and added G...and if I'm going to go higher register, might as well go all the way, and get the meedly meedly 6 strings with the high C and everything.

 

[Nappa]

Yeah, I cannot play fives, I play it like a 4 and forgetting the G.

 

[Niels Brown]

the only way I can play a 5'er is if it's tuned E-C, otherwise I hate the feel.

 

[OhThePeacock]

I find that when I try and play a 5'er I never know what to do with the low B.

 

[coolrunner989]

I just had a situation where I played my fiver after doing some serious time on my 4-string jazz and I started playing the songs a string down until I remembered the extra string lol.

But I actually like fivers - my long fingers fit alot better on a fiver.

 

[Brendan]

I must be one of the odd ones out that never has anything to do with the G string. I'm all over the B.

 

[woodenskillet]

I used to play only fives, but, after 10 years, I asked myself why I need a bass with a low B string when I almost never use it. So I sold off my fives and went back to fours. It took me all of about 15 minutes to get comfortable with fours again. I like the smaller neck on a four, plus the lower overall instrument weight. If I never play another five again, it won't bother me.

 

[spade2you]

I grab a 4. I grab a 5. Pretty soon I'll have my first 6. As long as the bass feels good and sounds good, I have zero complaints.

 

[Kael]

I also find fivers to be awkward. I am completely comfortable with 6's and 4's, but 5's just don't hack it. Strange thing is that the majority of the time I play ona 6 string I mainly use the lower 5 strings. You'd think that I could translate that over to 5-stringers, but no dice.

 

[Fender32]

I can't play 5 strings. I love four strings, I can get into the groove, I can do everything I want to do. I love my 6 stringer to death, and it really unlocks what I can do. But I just pick up a 5 string and I'm lost. I feel like I should be playing the stuff I play on my six, but I look down, NO HI C.... I dunno, Then I try to play groovy stuff like how I play on a 4, and what comes out is mud.

and its not the basses, I have tried it out on Wick Katana 4 and 5 strings, identical basses other than one has more strings.

anyone else have this problem, or something like it?

Maybe you should consider re-stringing it with a low "E" and a high "C" ? Just a thought!

 

[ProfGumby]

I must be one of the odd ones out that never has anything to do with the G string. I'm all over the B.

See, I would be that way too...so..I am not planning to get a 5er...just to tune one of my 4's B E A D.....

Sorry for the hijack...we now return you to your regular program.....

 

[Spiritfield]

One of the groups I play in, the bandleader wants me to play a 5... I've tried to get comfortable on one; I've bought several different 5's, put my 4 bangers away to "submerge" myself in the 5 string, and it just never worked out for me. Feels completely alien, and when I "hear" bass in my head I hear McCartney, John McVie, Babbit, Jamerson, etc. and those guys made a lot of good music on a 4...
I've just resigned myself to the fact that I'm a 4 string guy and sold off the 5 strings

 

[jiminy]

Obligatory "you can't do anything on a 4 you can't do on a 5" post

 

[Tomass]

call me crazy, but i sold my lakland 55-02 because after a while i decided 5 string wasnt for me, and i had it strung EADGC and then tried BEADG. I much prefer the feel of my 4 string ibanez or a really wide 6 string bass neck.

 

[meev992]

I string BEAD, so I don't see any reason for a fiver. A sixer for sure, but no 5.

....to the OP, come to think of it, that IS weird Good observation.

 

[JimmyM]

Can't say I ever had problems playing a 5, but I sure do hate it. Found myself working in the low notes just because they were there, which is never a good thing, and once I trained myself to stay off the B string unless I needed it, I found myself hardly ever touching it. I still have one but I'll never buy another.

 

[AvE]

For every kind of bass 4,5,6,7 or whatever there is 1 rule:

Practice, Practice, Practice ... full length Scale up ... full length Scale down! Every day ... for as long as it takes! Once routine found, you can't live anymore without the lowies!

 

[NorCal Dog]

i've got four 4 bangers strung BEAD, one 5 string & two four bangers strung EADG, it's all good,,,,

just picked up '96 MM Sterling & put on a set of Fat Beams strung BEAD---- WOW--- holy crappola--- what tone....

 

[Matt Fat Cat]

Yo Broham... I feel your pain. I OTOH will play anything but 4 string. After playing 5+ strings for a while, I don't like the feel of 4 strings... at all. Different strokes...