Jumping from 4 to 6?

I have been playing bass for 5 years. I've always played a 4-string, but lately I've felt confined on my 4 when improvising and/or composing. I often find myself climbing very high up on the neck where the notes don't sound very good (and still really wanting more past that 4th octave E). I also would like to be able to octave pop, for example, a second octave F, and still stay in first position. On the low end, I often have to jump down the neck quickly for passing notes in jazz, and also run out of low notes on descending fills.

So here is my question: For a player like me, who plays pretty much all styles of music (Jazz, Rock, Funk, Metal, Fusion) Would it be a good idea to move up to the 6 string? I know a lot of people on TB play 6+ string basses, and I was wondering why you guys moved up from the 4, how hard it was to adjust, if you think it is really worth it, etc...

Any input is appreciated!

(dear mods: if this is in the wrong forum feel free to move it. I didn't know where this would really fit)

 

One of my biggest concerns is string spacing. I slap a lot, and my right hand gets cramped with the smaller necks on 5's and 6's. Also, in general, I find the fingerboards cramped. How common are 6's with normal 3/4" (19 mm-ish) string spacing? Are these necks too unwieldy? ( I have very big hands)

 

also, I heard that 6's have a short lifespan because the 6 strings put a lot of tension on the neck and it's shot after a couple years. Is this true?

 

well, I am actually debating between building my own 4 or 6, so are warmoth 6 necks reinforced?

Also, has anyone ever had a bad experience converting to the 6?

 

It's seems unlikely that no person has regretted moving to the 6.

 

Well, I went to GC today and tried out the only 6 they had (Warwick corvette standard 6) and it was "Freakin Sweet". I had a little trouble recognizing what string I was on immediately (is that D or A? oh, ok...) but I got used to it in like 20 minutes. One of the only concerns I had was that when I slapped I often hit another string in the process of slapping, so there were random open strings ringing periodically. I assume these problems would disappear on a wideneck with normal spacing, though. Therefore, my biggest worry is that I will not be able to memorize the fingerboard with all the new notes (honestly, I have not really memorized any notes past the 9th fret on the 4) Although maybe it isn't that important because scales and what not always have the same fingerings no matter where you play them, so I may not know what I'm playing, but I'll know that it FITS!

Any thoughts on this?

 

True dat. I'm adding that to my sig.