Thanks, there seem to be more 5560s around, so that’s probably what I’ll get if I do anything. Still not sure if I’m willing to make the commitment to give a 5er a shot.
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 PM’d you about my experiences switching down from 6 to 5 and eventually 4 string basses.
For me, I now play bass for the live experience and don’t record anymore. Yeah, I get paid. But, the money is not enough to make the work (gear/PA hauling, set up and tear down, as well as always learning new songs) worth it. I have to get as much pleasure from playing, as I can. After decades of not feeling 100% free on 6s and 5s, I’m finally home… on 4 string basses. For me, the wider 5 string neck isn’t fun anymore. Everyone is different though.
I've always been a 4st purist but I've found myself needing a 5st more and more as i play with new people.
It has a very good utility but home in a 4 is where I'm happiest.
It has a very good utility but home in a 4 is where I'm happiest.
JJ, you charge by the string then?
"You want me to bring my 5er it will cost you extra!"
I hear you. You know, it's funny, I actually feel more at home on a 5er. Even if I don't use the B string. It turns out my first bass was an Ibanez 5er, and all my muscle memory was developed on it. I can play 4 and 5 string basses interchangeably but on the 4 I need to think ahead a little bit more.
25 bucks a string is my average LOL, luckily there’s usually enough tip money to cover the gas to and from the gig.JJ, you charge by the string then?
"You want me to bring my 5er it will cost you extra!"
My first and second basses were a Sears catalog KMI 4, followed quickly by a Peavey Foundation 4 back in 1989. So, the muscle memory of what the first bass was may be the reason, huh?
Joeykun
pronounced ジョーイくん
- Jun 22, 2007
- 4,200
- 16,151
- Disclosures
- Endorsing: LAKLAND SADOWSKY GENZLER DARKGLASS NORDSTRAND TEMPLEBOARD KIRLIN DRSTRINGS ACCESS
That's some high-quality quilt JK! 
Exquisite quilt, I’ve never seen one before the finish was sprayed. The quilt pattern looks very different before finish is applied. It’s also great to see the body routes and connecting tunnels before the hardware is installed.
Wow you got a good bass
compared to my first a (wait for it…) Zim Gar triple pickup Sunburst train wreck, at least that a’ s what the fingerboard played like. Followed by a blue Zim Gar hollow body that was equally hard to play and sounded worse. That Peavy Foundation was a Stradivarius.
Five strings were a reaction to 80's and 90's synth bass lines that could go lower than the E string. At the time bass players were (actually still are) being replaced by key bass players. So, the reaction was to
go the way of a 5 string Orchestral Double Bass, which by the way, are pretty difficult to get around on with the low B String. It was a successful so now no one really thinks about it much anymore. For some reason
it's easier for me to go back and forth between a 4 String Double Bass and a 5 String EB than it is to switch between 4 and 5 string EB's.
go the way of a 5 string Orchestral Double Bass, which by the way, are pretty difficult to get around on with the low B String. It was a successful so now no one really thinks about it much anymore. For some reason
it's easier for me to go back and forth between a 4 String Double Bass and a 5 String EB than it is to switch between 4 and 5 string EB's.
I bought the Sears bass (oh and a Sears bass amp too) to join a band that was forming. It was me and the 3 Kuca (their last name) brothers. The oldest brother was a natural that went from starting to play music on a harmonica to doing Satriani and Slash on an Ibanez Les Paul copy in ohhhh like a year! Anyways, he was my teacher and inspiration, and had me playing Guns n Roses songs within a month or so of first laying hands on strings. Mental illness claimed him a long time ago now… I miss him so much! He never got to see or play my Laklands that I started collecting over 15 years ago :-(Wow you got a good bass
I said all that to say, that he actually preferred the darn Sears PJ bass’ sound over the Foundation! But the Foundy played so much better!
Sorry to hear about your brother, lots of folks got lost along the way, my condolences. Weird thing, I sold my 1968 Fender Precision less than a year after I got it. So there's certainly no accounting for taste on my part. Bought an Ampeg AEB1 which
I liked then, no accounting for taste on my part, but it suited me at the time. About 3 years later I got a 66 Fender Jazz with lollypop tuners and clay dots. That's the one that got away, but I still have the 59 Precision that didn't. My favorites however
are my two 55/94's one fretted one lined fretless. The P bass is going to my son. The Lakland's are here to stay as long as they'll have me. All the best
Ric
It’s a lovely bass, especially because how easy it is to play and the beautiful sound it has. A close friend found it for me when we were both in
college and helped me buy it, for what seems like a laughably small price today, but when we bought it a 1959 Precision was a used bass.
Frankly, both the Lakland 55-94’s I gig with play easier and have a bigger sound palette. I’m lucky to own the Precision, but I don’t play it out
often, even though it’s insured.
Well,
It's coming off pretty soon. You see, once in the distant past, I decided that my bass, pictured above, would sound so much better, if I had my father install one of the original Badass Bridges. Big mistake!
Years later, I had my luthier here in St. Louis, remove the Badass, and professionally, fill the route under the bridge, and install what you see in the picture. It's a Dimarzio high mass bridge (Dimarzio didn't manufacture them, they sold and distributed them.
They don't make them anymore, and frankly that's a good thing. However, there is one feature of the bridge that I love. Rather than have the strings go over the bridge the saddles, they pass through the center
of each saddle. So, the strings have a different feel when you pull them. It's hard to describe, but it changes the tension and feel of playing the bass. It has things in common with the Babicz's bridge, but they
they don't feel the same.
It's coming off pretty soon. You see, once in the distant past, I decided that my bass, pictured above, would sound so much better, if I had my father install one of the original Badass Bridges. Big mistake!
Years later, I had my luthier here in St. Louis, remove the Badass, and professionally, fill the route under the bridge, and install what you see in the picture. It's a Dimarzio high mass bridge (Dimarzio didn't manufacture them, they sold and distributed them.
They don't make them anymore, and frankly that's a good thing. However, there is one feature of the bridge that I love. Rather than have the strings go over the bridge the saddles, they pass through the center
of each saddle. So, the strings have a different feel when you pull them. It's hard to describe, but it changes the tension and feel of playing the bass. It has things in common with the Babicz's bridge, but they
they don't feel the same.
Wish I could figure out something more appealing for a pickguard for old number 11. I’ve thought maybe an aged pearl or maybe mint. Heck… I dunno.
