I'm ready to throw in the towel (5 string).

[bumperbass]

Peoples and persons of Talkbass, I hate to say it, but I'm ready to forget about a 5 string as
my 'always' bass.
I bought a nice L2500 in August. I played out with it until the end of October (8 times I'd guess). I've been noodling on it many nights a week since then.
With my 4 string, I could just sit down and play along with any song that popped in my head from my collection or Youtube. I could get 95% of most songs in a short while. I can't just do that with my 5. I mean, I can, but I don't know where I am even though I can cop the bass part and nail it. If I do this on my 4, I know where I am and can easily play outside the box and rejoin the bass part I'm playing along with.
Learning all those songs in my last band with a 5 made me turn into a robot. Yeah, I did my parts correctly and got kudos from the band members, but it was all muscle memory and no feel.
Since I'm 67, I don't have the time to master this strange beast after playing a 4 on and off since 1968.
I'll still keep the 5, but it won't be a full-timer bass. It'll be my 'need it for this song' bass.

 

[bholder]

I felt that way when I was on the verge of actually "getting it" - for me anyway, pushing a little harder got me fairly comfortable on both 4s and 5s. YMMV though of course.

 

[BoomBoomOGTL]

No worries. A 4 string is your thing!

I’ve been playing 40 years and at several times, I’ve tried to adapt the 5 as my primary instrument. I can play a five’r just fine, but I always feel truly ‘at home’ on a 4 string.

I’ve got a single 5 string for anything that actually require 5, but most of my basses are 4s with a Hipshot Drop tuner installed.

 

[saabfender]

Sounds like 5-string isn’t your thing. That’s cool. Don’t understand why you’d keep it around. Sell it and move on. None of us have that much time left.

 

[RyanOh]

I have never bonded with 5 strings either. I love the 4 string bass and have many of them. I recently staring playing with guys that play 6's and had a few occasions where I used their bass to play....anxiety at first and then I realized I like it!

I bought two 6's last week. Something about an even number of strings and the symmetry of a 6 makes it feel more familiar. I do need to practice more on the 6, and I hope to remain a die hard 4 string player, but the 6 gets me what I never had with a 5.

I've gone to the dark side, the power is good.

 

[bumperbass]

I’ve got a single 5 string for anything that actually require 5, but most of my basses are 4s with a Hipshot Drop tuner installed.

Yeah, I should def check this out, but chances are I'd need a while to get used to even this.

 

[Torrente Cro]

I had the same experience and the same bass (Tribute).
I played it for few years and felt that it takes too much brain processor time and I didn't enjoy like with 4, too much thinking.

 

[dreamadream99]

For me, going from a 4 to a 5 was effortless. I just treated it as a four string, and played the top 4 strings, knowing that when I needed it, I could go down a fourth from my bottom most note.

 

[John j]

I just learned new fret markers.
6th fret is the 1st 7th is now the second etc
Then you can use it for tab or standard notation. Also even when using a four, play everything from the open a up, from the fifth fret, so you'll get used to working that part of the fretboard.

 

[Les Fret]

I have the same with 5 string basses. That's why I play a 6 string. Makes much more sense to me.

 

[40Hz]

A fiver is just one more bass instrument. If it doesn’t work for you then it doesn’t. No shame in that.

 

[Chad Michael]

There is something satisfying about grabbing an instrument that feels like a comfy pair of sneakers. Do that... if the fiver feels forced, let it go. (wow, 3 consecutive 'f's in the same sentence, coincidence?)

 

[Zooberwerx]

Nobody likes a quitter.

Now's a good time to woodshed with the 5 string while also adopting floating thumb technique...it makes a world of difference, trust me.

Riis

 

[Afc70]

It took me one week of serious shedding on the 5 to make the transition. I practiced a couple of hours daily, & 5’s are all I own now. I can honestly say I’m so glad I made the switch to playing 5’s.
But they certainly aren’t for everyone, & I get that. Play what you like the most & are comfortable with. 4’s were my only basses for 25 years.
Edit: What helped me immensely was playing my 5 initially like a 4 (avoiding the b string at first) Using the low G (2nd fret on E string) as kinda my “ home base”
Then I slowly incorporated the low b into my playing. Worked quite easily! Good luck with whatever you prefer to do!

 

[lowend54]

A 5 only gives you a few more notes. If you are playing music from the time period before 5s became popular you don't use those anyway.

 

[Element Zero]

I started playing in ‘94. In ‘98 I sold my 4 and bought my first 5. Since then, all I’ve owned are 5s. Maybe it’s an age thing but I see all these replies of people who agree with you and, I guess you’re just stuck in your ways? I dunno. I don’t see how it’s any different. You still have the same 4 strings you just now have a lower string. It took me a couple weeks of solid playing (and I don’t mean “practicing”) to get it sorted out. Made some flubs here and there and learned what NOT to do hehe.

No worries dude. If it’s not your thing it’s not your thing. As long as you play and enjoy what you’re doing, that’s all that matters.

 

[Element Zero]

If you are playing music from the time period before 5s became popular you don't use those anyway.

Maybe YOU don’t, but it can be done tastefully.

 

[Medicine Man]

I was a 5 hater for decades until a stint in a cover band forced me to gig one. It didn't feel natural for years, but I stuck with it. Now I only play 4s in the occasional fit of drunken nostalgia. When some capo snapping guitar player starts off in a surprise key (I'm not kidding this just happened last week), the extra string has me ready.

 

[tpaul]

There is something satisfying about grabbing an instrument that feels like a comfy pair of sneakers. Do that... if the fiver feels forced, let it go. (wow, 3 consecutive 'f's in the same sentence, coincidence?)

I fink not!

 

[chadhargis]

I have the opposite problem. My first bass was a five string. I have played nothing but five strings for the past 9 years. I recently built a 4 string and it feel so foreign to not have that B string to rest my thumb on. I don't have any issues playing it except for when I want to play an E at the fifth fret but have to remember to play the open E instead. Also find that I used the low D more than I thought I did. But it's easy to adjust to. I really don't think much about it.

I owned a six string for a time too, and since it has a higher string, I never noticed the difference. Felt and played just like a five.