Is it "cooler" to play a 4 string bass?

[Gorn]

I’ve never heard of most of the cool bands you listed and I’m notoriously uncool, but I’ve only ever played four string basses so I must be cool. It’s a paradox.

 

[quickfix]

My four string instruments have better proportions than my five string. But that may be because they're Precisions, and Precisions always look better than everything else.
Looks don't equate to versatility though. As pretty as my four strings are, they rarely get gigged anymore.

 

[Bentfield]

I primarily play 5 strings and my jazz ensembles band leader constantly rags on me for having a 5 string bass. There are of course, lots of cats in Nashville who play 5 and 6 string basses, but the trend seems to be toward playing a 4 string P bass with flats.

Why does the Band leader rag you about the fact you play a five string?

 

[4001]

I think it's "cooler" to not worry about being "cool".

 

[bassliner50]

It is cooler ***for me*** yes.

 

[arbiterusa]

So is it just me, or is anyone else noticing a trending bias against extended range basses in favor of the 4 string? Even more interestingly, do you feel that bringing more than 4 strings to an audition might cost you the gig?

1. more of a change in tastes is all
2. Unlikely, but...when I show up with nothing but a fretless, it always engenderes a bit of sideeye. But hey, it’s my life. You’re either going to like what I do or not, and if you don’t I’m not going to go to any lengths to accommodate you. Someone else can have that gig. I already have enough work.

Stop worrying about what’s cool. What’s cool is you, if you have absolute confidence in what you’re doing.

 

[rtav]

It’s cooler to play a four string bass...


...well.

 

[Billy Dutton]

I don't think the person who made this post is "worried" about what is cool, what I read was he's just making a personal observation. Just like all the other replies in this thread, these are our personal taste and it's fun to share with other bass players.
So with that, I will share that I have always thought four string bases are way cool and adding any more strings at all is sacrilege! I play in a Grateful Dead tribute band and obviously have watched closely over the years Phil Lesh play. Last night they streamed his show from Terapin Crossings and he had his six string bass and a rack with enough equipment to launch the space shuttle in it. For me, aesthetically it just took away from what I personally appreciate about the bass and as usual, wished that he would go back to the Guild StarFire (or J Bass) that he wrote all of those great bass lines on in the first place. But, it's Phil's show and he obviously enjoys the six string and so I just focused on all of the cool vintage guitars the other guys on stage were playing.
Let us all remember when we respond to threads on talkbass this one thing, Baskin Robbins makes 31 flavors for a reason ;-)

 

[Chrisk-K]

For 99.99% of audience it’s cooler to play guitar than bass.

 

[madbass6]

So I've played 5 strings for years and have about 6 of those basses sitting in my living room right now. But I just bought a nice Fender P bass with flats from the classifieds last night because of what I'm starting to notice.

Over the past few years I've seen a lot of "cool" young bands seem to only have bassists with 4 stringers. I know that "cool" is totally subjective, but they're usually bands that stir up a good bit of publicity in the pop and indie rock worlds.

Bands like...

Vulfpeck with Joe Dart. He always has a variety of basses, but they are only 4 strings:



Michael League of Snarky Puppy is almost always seen with one of his classic P basses:



The band Pomplamoose:



The 1975:



Greta Van Fleet:



Even the brilliant music educator Adam Neely has switched over to a 4 string P bass with flats:



Of course, these are just a handful of modern bands and players. We could make a list miles long of all the bands that have 4 string bassists.

I primarily play 5 strings and my jazz ensembles band leader constantly rags on me for having a 5 string bass. There are of course, lots of cats in Nashville who play 5 and 6 string basses, but the trend seems to be toward playing a 4 string P bass with flats.

A few months ago I even went out and got a Fender American Pro 5 string and put Chromes on it. I love the bass, but I still get strange looks from people. It's hard to believe that in the year 2018 there seems to be a bias against bassists with multiple strings. You saw them everywhere in the 80s and 90s, but nowadays you seem to only see extended range basses in the Jazz/Fusion world, Gospel, and in Metal bands. Hardly ever do you see them on a stage with a band that's considered "modern" and "cool".

So is it just me, or is anyone else noticing a trending bias against extended range basses in favor of the 4 string? Even more interestingly, do you feel that bringing more than 4 strings to an audition might cost you the gig?

if it feels cool to you then yes!
to me ? its not about looking cool ,
its more about getting the job done to the best of my ability !
So what ever bass no matter how many strings it has that will make that happen, is the coolest Bass !

 

[bluesblaster]

That guys avatar ^^^

 

[basst scho]

For 99.99% of audience it’s cooler to play guitar than bass.

i think 99.99% of most audiences doesn´t even know the difference between bass and guitar

 

[DavC]

only if it's a 5ver with a broken G string ..!

 

[Mvilmany]

Rather than “cool”, I would use the term “trendy”. Right now, almost every new rock band you see on YouTube seems to have a Fender-playing bassist. In the 80’s, you couldn’t give Fenders away, but right now they are everywhere.

 

[basscapes]

It's cooler to play WELL, regardless if it's a 4, 5, 6 or whatever amount of strings is your fancy.

"If something's worth doing, it's worth doing well, or not at all"
-Hunter S. Thompson

 

[Amano]

Play the same four string pbass for over 25 years. First in the 90’s it was not so cool and now its cool. Gues if you wait long enough you get the cool factor anyway.

 

[74hc]

Michael League of Snarky Puppy is almost always seen with one of his classic P basses.

...Adam Neely has switched over to a 4 string P bass with flats.

League seems to use pedals to make up for not playing a 6-string, at least to my ears or what's left of them.

Neely never played a 5 string that I'm aware of, or consistently played one. He had stated that he does not play 5 strings because the B string screams I'm a B string.

I have both 4 and 5 string basses, and I sometimes don't get the B string other than paying more to string manufacturers. I think I would rather have a C string than the B for the chord possibilities. I play worship nowadays though, and that probably influences my preferences.

Coolness, is in the hands of the beholder, or bass player in this case, imo.

 

[mellowgerman]

There are 8 pages to this thread, so I'm sure something along these lines has already been said, but (for instance) Phil Lesh has always been cool, regardless of whether he was playing his 4-string EBO or his 6 string Alembic.
Number of strings does not mean a thing, man!

On a side-note, I would argue that, among many others, fan-fret 5ers/6ers, 4-string hollowbodies, and even the ol' Bass VI are in style... so it really seems like a "you do you" kind of approach is what is truly hip.
Sure there is the indie mainstream, but there is also an R&B mainstream, a country rock mainstream, a hard-rock mainstream, etc.

 

[chris_b]

Ah yes ... and who are you the advocate of the national association of 5 and 6 strings bass players?

All I advocate is common sense.

We should all be influenced by bass lines and not irrelevant details such as numbers of strings.

 

[DigitalMan]

Phillipkregg, there is such a bias but i doubt it's new or growing, it's just the usual inverse snobbery of thinking 4 is better because it's less and simplistic, which i consider even worse than the snobbery of thinking more strings is better, because at least more strings means more possibilities, more creativity, more innovation, more individuality, more bravery, less concern with what idiots think.

I've also noticed that although there is a perception that many multistring bassists are snobs and feel superior, the reality is that they are almost always open and accepting of all types of bass, there is actually much more snobbery and superiority amongst 4 stringers.
I know this because i was part of the ERB community from 2004 onwards and can compare my experiences to the more mainstream bass forums.

Seems the wrong reason to buy a bass.

Don't worry about it, if you encounter such stupidity you are better off not getting that gig.

Wow, you certainly have the community divided into usses and thems.