Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
I'm ready to throw in the towel (5 string).
- Thread starter bumperbass
- Start date
You've got all that 4 string in your head and it's getting in the way. The 5 is just such a different board. Completely different mindset, unless you are simply using it as a 4 with a 0.125 thumbrest. I got a 5 because there were simply things I wanted to do that I couldn't do on a 4, and unless you actually have that need I don't think you'll get on with a 5. Because you don't need it.
So you don't need to shift so often, not nearly so often, on a 5. There's an advantage, you'd think, in more notes from one hand position. And it is an advantage. But on the four, shifting up and down the neck to get notes becomes part of your whole relationship with the bass. It's part of your style, your feel.
For me, for many years, the 5 was like waltzing and quickstep, but the 4 was jive and lindyhop. More groove. A more physical thing. And this is still the same now, though to a lesser extent. My fretted bass is 5 and my fretless 4. Love 'em both.
You probably thought of this but, how about playing the top 4 strings first and then adding the bottom string.
I’m actually feeling exactly that way now while going from 5 String to 6 String.
But I remember feeling the same way when moving from 4 to 5, and now I can’t live without that low B string.
It just takes time and patience.
But I remember feeling the same way when moving from 4 to 5, and now I can’t live without that low B string.
It just takes time and patience.
Took about 9 months for me to not have to think about it ever, i.e. I could learn songs and play them almost straight away on a 5 string, but getting to the same level as I was on 4 string too a while. Oddly enough learning fretless was much easier for to get that stage then 4 string to 5 string was. I would say the ideal is stick with it and be able to swap between them at will, for me they do different jobs, and sometimes the lighter weight of a 4 string is just a pleasure.
Yep, I noticed a post earlier about thinking of a 5 as a 4 string first and then adding the extra string, and I respectfully think that is completely the wrong approach, it is a completely different board and pallet and the strength is partly in being about to move patterns and then by default have 2 full octaves in a 4 fret span. On the other hand 4s can often get a much more classic sound I find hard to replicate in a 5 - different beasts.
Not truding through 6 pages so bear with me replling to OP;
I do not yet have a fiver, but my next, very soon (probably 5-6 months out) I plan to have one. I view it as a 4 string that I can play the lower E string notes on higher frets.
The only reason someone would have to "have" a fiver would be in a group setting where the demand for those few lower notes are required.
I do not yet have a fiver, but my next, very soon (probably 5-6 months out) I plan to have one. I view it as a 4 string that I can play the lower E string notes on higher frets.
The only reason someone would have to "have" a fiver would be in a group setting where the demand for those few lower notes are required.
A five is just a four with an added string so it works for me. You can also tune a five EADGC. Today a four feels weird to me and I miss the B string right away. The biggest positive for a five is that groovy deep E at the fifth fret. I can stay there All night long.
Hey OP'er.I'm right there with you. I just picked up a Fender Deluxe Active 5 string. Love the sound, but MAN, it's taking some time to get used to. I might play it this weekend even though the set doesn't really call for it.. but ugh.. I'm with you, I feel like I'm transposing every song I'm playing. I'm going to give it a few more months. I have a gig coming up where I think it would be an asset, but after that it might be on the chopping block.
This is truth. Hey I played 4s since forever and I'm sorry I ALWAYS felt the limitation even back then. Especially in horn keys. So I went to 5, 6 even 7 and now except for old school classics never look back.
But hey who says you have to love all instruments equally? Hey I love drums but when I play them it's nothing like a bass! I play guitar too but I'm not so good at it and don't like it as much. So many people seem to get sold on the "few more notes" thing which, sorry, no. It's not where it is at. It does take a while to "get" how a 5/6 string is a different board. But once you do then it's just two different things you can use for their specific advantages whenever you need that. These days I"m mostly into 5 string because I haven't been much into old school for 4 string or avante guard for 6 string. But they are all there if it's what I need. A person can like a certain kind of instrument best, but that doesn't mean that nothing else exists.
I switch between a 4 and 5 string during a gig....why? mostly because my Rickenbacker is a 4 string and I really enjoy playing it. but there are a handful of songs I like to use the 5'er on and I don't have a 5 string RIC (nor have any desire for..... at this time......)
I had the same issue with my 5. Even my drummer had a hard time with the lower notes. So I took it in and had a new but installed. E-A-D-G-C. Just leaves you extra noodling room without moving horizontal. Pretty fun and opens up all the high end chords a 6er would.
I keep a 5 string for those "must have one" gigs like roots reggae, but I'm a four stringer and do not enjoy playing a 5. I can get around on one, but I don't prefer it.
I'm the same age as the OP and have been playing 5's for about 15 years . Before that I'd been playing 4 string since 1968 too like him . The reason I got into 5 strings was my band did a song that I needed to drop down to low D back in 95 and it was a hassle to detune for one song and then tune up quick enough to not miss the start of the next song . I know a Hipshot D tuner would work for that but I also didn't like the mental part of readjusting .
That's why I got a five string a couple years later . I could play it pretty much right away but the adjustment period to where I was really comfortable playing it took quite a bit longer , maybe a couple years till it was second nature . I bought a 4 string a year ago just to give my mind a jump start and it's been good for that . Took me a while to learn how to play the 4 again after 15 years of playing the 5 .
What I'm getting at is if the OP doesn't have a need for a 5 the 4 string is a great instrument too . No need to suffer through the adjustment period just to have one . Fives are easier for me to play but it took some time .
That's why I got a five string a couple years later . I could play it pretty much right away but the adjustment period to where I was really comfortable playing it took quite a bit longer , maybe a couple years till it was second nature . I bought a 4 string a year ago just to give my mind a jump start and it's been good for that . Took me a while to learn how to play the 4 again after 15 years of playing the 5 .
What I'm getting at is if the OP doesn't have a need for a 5 the 4 string is a great instrument too . No need to suffer through the adjustment period just to have one . Fives are easier for me to play but it took some time .
Thanks for the replies, everyone. Like I said, I'm not selling it.
I did use the 5'er ONLY since I got it. Yeah, it might come to me sometime before I pass.
Someone said to use it as a 4 and add the B later. Sorry, it didn't happen that way for me. When I look down while playing, I see the fretboard, not individual strings.
I'm not known as a quitter, but sometimes you have to face facts:
Can I wait until I'm possibly 70 years old before it comes natural to me? By that time, I probably won't be playing live, although you never know.
Like I said, I had to play it in my last band. I even needed the open B and used low C for one song (I think it was Need You Tonight by INXS). I used low D plenty.
Thanks again.
I did use the 5'er ONLY since I got it. Yeah, it might come to me sometime before I pass.
Someone said to use it as a 4 and add the B later. Sorry, it didn't happen that way for me. When I look down while playing, I see the fretboard, not individual strings.
I'm not known as a quitter, but sometimes you have to face facts:
Can I wait until I'm possibly 70 years old before it comes natural to me? By that time, I probably won't be playing live, although you never know.
Like I said, I had to play it in my last band. I even needed the open B and used low C for one song (I think it was Need You Tonight by INXS). I used low D plenty.
Thanks again.
If you're more comfortable on a four, that's your instrument. I'm the opposite. The only time four strings are comfortable is in "upright land". My poor Steinberger L2 is barely played as I'm always looking for that absent B string.
I’m 66, and got my first 5er at age 64, so I get your frustration. For about 10 years I played my 4 string with a drop D. So not only was I learning a 5 string in conventional tuning, I had to to go back to conventional tuning on my 4 string to avoid further confusion. Daily mental farts happen all the time.
Truth be told, I’m still having trouble and encounter a lot of what you are experiencing. What helps me is not to play the same material on both which really helps.
I went through something similar with 5's. I couldn't really get into the music with 5's since I was so caught up on muting extra strings and how/when to use the B. I "fought" them for a while, purchased and sold a few, then accepted the fact that I'm a 4-string guy. Nothing wrong with it though, and nothing to force if it's not your thing. I love my 4's and, although I know proficiency with 5's is a good skill set to have, it's not imperative as I'm no real professional. I just enjoy (the crap out of) my 4's 
