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

[Bassngtr]

'A' is in the middle.

THAT is exactly what I found so confusing when I started playing the 5!!!!

 

[pbass2]

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'm similar. I've been playing for around 40 years and I've had a number of fivers in the past--L2500 (two of them), Dingwall, and others. But man, I just never really bonded with a fiver. I certainly put in my time with them. I've recorded with them, gigged them, but it never felt as good to me or was as inspiring to play as a good 'ol 4 string. Plus, at the end of the day, the music I do doesn't really call for a five string (more likely I'll use a synth if I need really low stuff), so I'm now sans fiver, and fine with it.

 

[Thir13teen]

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.

If a 4 string is good enough for Justin Chancellor (Tool) - then it's good enough for me (and you

 

[Discount Saint]

You know it's funny, my very first bass was a 5 string, and I've played 5 strings ever since. The idea of a 4 string was actually kind of foreign to me until fairly recently when I bought a 4 string just for the hell of it and realized that some of the songs I was playing are a lot easier to play on a 4 string. Since then my basic gear always includes a 4 string and a 5 string that I switch depending on the song.

I've started collecting basses - currently have four 5-strings and two 4-strings, but my A-Team right now is my Dingwall NG-3 5 and Musicman Caprice. They work quite nicely together.

 

[AngelCrusher]

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.

Three words if you decide that you want to sit down and practice with the 5er some more- Floating Thumb Technique.

Feels wierd for a week or so, and then it becomes your best friend.

 

[rollie 55]

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.

it think when you used to something for so many years it kinda gets ingrained in you. the same thing happened to me when i got my six string bass. i was'nt looking for a six it kinda found me. i just kept at it an now i find my 4 string a bit strange the neck feels so thin and the strings wide apart

 

[Charlzm]

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've played 4 strings since I started in 1982, occasionally flirting with 5 strings for a while but eventually selling them and going back to 4.
Until two years ago. I finally started writing on a 5 and purposely going back to old songs and rearranging the bass lines to take advantage of the B string, both below E and higher up on the neck for easier fingering of some passages.
I now look at my 4's fondly as beloved old relics I hardly play.

 

[rollie 55]

I've played 4 strings since I started in 1982, occasionally flirting with 5 strings for a while but eventually selling them and going back to 4.
Until two years ago. I finally started writing on a 5 and purposely going back to old songs and rearranging the bass lines to take advantage of the B string, both below E and higher up on the neck for easier fingering of some passages.
I now look at my 4's fondly as beloved old relics I hardly play.

same as

 

[ejaggers]

Pros and Cons of a 5 string bass:



057912

 

[Hahaha]

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?)

If you keep that up you'll be smelling the blood of an Englishman.

For me the main issue with a five string is controlling fret buzz and harmonics. It's no big deal live, but with digital recording and high sample rates, extraneous noise sticks out more than it did with tape and passive basses. Seems to me that most extended range basses have active electronics. I find myself working harder in the studio muting an active five string than I do with a passive four string.

 

[BassplayinBob]

4 Banger with a HipShot drop D is perfection.

 

[Wasnex]

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.

If you want to get comfortable on the 5-string you need to put the 4-string down for an extended time. Basically you need to rewire your brain a bit, and playing the 4-string prevents the necessary change from happening because it reinforces existing patterns. If you put the 4-string down, eventually your brain will adjust and you will feel at free and at home on the 5-string.

I went through this when I switched from 4- to 5-string, and again when I switched from 5- to 6-string. Been playing 6-string primarily since 1995 so it feels like home now. I do have 4- and 5-string basses in my collection, but I am most proficient on the 6-string. I have adapted fingering choices and shifts that are not possible on 4- and 5-string instruments.

If you are resolved to be a 4-string player...it's no big deal . Play whatever instrument you want...but do think about the decision in the context of long term cost and benefits, rather than just the short-term discomfort, which seems rather minor.

 

[rollie 55]

Pros and Cons of a 5 string bass:



057912

its got 5 knobs on it though

 

[rollie 55]

If you want to get comfortable on the 5-string you need to put the 4-string down for an extended time. Basically you need to rewire your brain a bit, and playing the 4-string prevents the necessary change from happening because it reinforces existing patterns so you cannot adopt the necessary change. If you put the 4-string down, eventually your brain will adjust and you will feel at free and at home on the 5-string.

I went through this when I switched from 4- to 5-string, and again when I switched from 5- to 6-string. Been playing 6-string primarily since 1995 so it feels like home now. I do have 4- and 5-string basses in my collection, but I am most proficient on the 6-string. I have adapted fingering choices and shifts that are not possible on 4- and 5-string instruments.

If you are resolved to be a 4-string player...it's no big deal . Play whatever instrument you want...but do think about the decision in the context of long term cost and benefits, rather than just the short-term discomfort, which seems rather minor.

same as

 

[Thumpin6string]

The low B is confusing at first, but once you get it you wonder how you ever did without it. Also, I agree with the post by RyanOh that a 6 string seems easier. At least it did for me. By the way, I'm also in my 60s.

 

[rtslinger]

Yeah I have tried, I had a friend let me borrow one of his many 5fers. I toyed with for about 3 months with the thought of finally buying one. I wasn't needing to hit the B practical ever for the songs I am covering, so it ended up to being a fatter neck 4 string I was playing and learning how to mute that 5th string. So yeah thanked him and gave it back. Though now in a pinch I can play a 5fer, but it isn't my preferred choice.

 

[chaosMK]

I have been using 5 exclusively since '99. Main reason- I play br00ts in low tunings. B is my E basically.

I get confused playing a 4-string. It's like looking for your sledge hammer and there are only little hammers.

 

[rollie 55]

I have been using 5 exclusively since '99. Main reason- I play br00ts in low tunings. B is my E basically.

I get confused playing a 4-string. It's like looking for your sledge hammer and there are only little hammers.

i think once you play the 5 or the 6 string there is no going back its a one way ticket

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

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 think you are overthinking this.

5 string bass is like butterscotch pudding.

Try it, if you don't like it, move on, it's not for you.

Certainly not worth agonizing over this more than a minute.

 

[Aidenn7]

I don't play five unless I need that detuned mud.. Like Korn.. Primus My name is mud.. Or couple of songs I need the effect.. I prefer 4's either way I'm muting with both hands.. I wanna do fretless 4.. More then 5.. Love sliding notes. Maybe you don't need the 5er

 

[faulknersj]

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 totally feel you man. No shame in rocking a 4 Banger!

At least you tried buddy!