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

[dmt]

Welcome back

 

[Sanci]

Hello,

Maybe it is just the string spacing.
My 4 string are all 19 mm so I thought easiest to switch would be on a 19 mm 5 string.
18 mm for a 5 string is what feels good to me.

 

[spvmhc]

I had the same experience. I wanted to like a 5-string so I bought a decent one. It just felt unnecessarily cumbersome. I sold it and bought a fretless 4-string. I wanted to like fretless....you get the idea.

 

[Ric5]

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.

I got rid of all of my 4s and only played 5s and that forced me to become comfortable with the 4

Now to me the 4 feels wrong

 

[JimHouchin]

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.

Can you say.... Joe Hubbard?! (If you don't know all the notes on the fret-board I would personally start here and learn them. ON YOUR FIVER!)

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

YES both Adam Nitti and Joe have an explanation/description on this technique and it's the only way to fly on a five string.

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.

I was in that boat (might still be paddling!) I'm a guy started on a five and I couldn't play a 4 because I kept punching that low E string thinking it was a B! But after using it to play my tunes through daily, I can now play one in almost the same way.

 

[chris_b]

I play a 5 string bass because, for me, it's the best instrument for my bass playing. Because of that I overcame all the trials and tribulations that came with switching.

If anyone prefers a 4 string bass don't go anywhere near a 5er. It's not for you. If you bought one and are unhappy, don't figure it out. Sell it.

Life is too short for bad tone and trying to like the wrong bass.

 

[Mili]

I don't get it, when I look at 4 string I see Notes, when I look at 5 string I see Notes again...

 

[burgerdj]

I say this with all due respect: as folks get older it is even more important to remain mentally challenged and stimulated to avoid decline. If you don’t want to play a 5 in a band, that’s all good. But I recommend that you keep it and play it for the challenge. What better way to promote mental health by doing something you enjoy?

 

[Phalex]

I’ve flip flopped between 4 and 5 for the last 20 years or so. These days the five is my go to. I keep hitting a big G when I should be playing a big D when I play 4. You just have to think about it when you play.

 

[Vooter]

Like a couple of other posters, I have the opposite problem--I switched to all 5s about 10 years ago and haven't looked back. However, I was recently at a guy's house checking out a combo amp (which I ended up buying from him), and he had a really nice Jazz 4 that I plugged in to test the amp. It felt SO weird and uncomfortable. I think it was the wider string spacing more than anything, but I have since picked up a 4 just so I don't actually forget...

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I'm on my third try at mastering a five. I'm almost ready--almost!--to gig with it. I'll say this: It isn't just five more notes. Suddenly, Eb is really fun. Useful when playing with horns!

 

[fhm555]

I hear you. I got one of the first Peavey 5 string DynaBasses sold in my state and took to it well enough to keep playing it but never really felt at home on it. A couple years in we got invited to play a benefit for a fellow musician in need of help with medical bills. The deal was the hosting band would supply everything, all we had to do was show up and play a set. The bass provided was a 4 string Yamaha, nice bass but i stumbled several times when playing an open E because i had been playing it from the 5th fret on the B for so long. I traded my fiver for an old P bass and went back to 4 strings. A few years ago i picked up a nice Peavey Cirrus fiver after getting several calls to play if i had a five string. I hit at it for a while but wound up letting it go, along with the opportunities to work if i had a fiver. I just couldn’t find the same joy in a fiver i get from my old 4 strings and at my age ihave no business playing 3~4

 

[SadowskySteve]

To Me my 5er is great for singers that have to have the band detune or play in really strange keys. I had a piano player that couldn't remember the rehearsed key for his songs. My 5er saved my life. After 20 years I've added back a 4 string and love it. With my current project my 4 works best.

I still see lots of bands with folks using 4 string basses. So its all good!

 

[fretno]

If I played a style or covers that needed a 5ver I would , again.. but they are not really the instrument for me . 4 bangers seem to cover my needs for what I do .

 

[bwildt]

+1 on floating thumb.

If you play your 4-string by anchoring your thumb somewhere, like on a pickup, moving from 4 to 5 can be a real mental exercise. I had that problem. My best move was to change from anchoring on a pickup to anchoring my thumb on the B string, and the 1st 4 strings comfortably fell right into place. I initially played the 5 mostly as a 4, moving to the 5th string as needed, either for low notes or for ease in fingering. Slowly I started adding more use of the 5th string. Most of the music I play does not live on the B string, so this solution worked for me. I use a floating thumb on both 4's and 5's now. I switch between 4 and 5 strings a lot when practicing and am now comfortable grabbing either one and not getting mixed up.

 

[bobalu]

Similar to you bumperbass, I've been playing a 4 string for decades. I tried a five, still have it, but could never feel comfortable with it so I just pull it out on an "as needed" basis. Like any bass, they're just not for everyone.

 

[bluesblaster]

IMO a five string is a tool that makes transposing to other maybe not so familiar keys a lot easier, and that's about all its useful for, like if your playing with horns and you have to use Eb or Bb it makes the job a bit simpler. Lets face it you don't really use those extra low notes all that much compared to the normal EADG that is where most music lives, if you are dwelling in the low D, low B range than you are just a rumble in the mix.

 

[two fingers]

Run through these for a few weeks and you'll know the board top to bottom. That's if you even feel like it. If you just don't like the 5, don't sweat it. Get rid of it.

https://www.amazon.com/5-String-Bas...ass+scales&dpPl=1&dpID=51ZPO4kERML&ref=plSrch

 

[Marc valero]

I am 64 and made the full-time switch to 5 string in 1991. I guess you could have explored a fiver earlier. My advice to new 5 str players is just get used to playing what you already know from your 4 string on the 5 string without doing much on the B string and slowly add the low notes when needed. If you are gigging, for the first month or so, make sure you are in the right spot at the start of a song. You may be starting on an open E for instance but accidently play the B string.

 

[klejst]

Never been a fan of a 5-string myself.