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New to 5 string, now 4's feel odd

#61
In my opinion... Why not play a fiver?

It can do all a 4 can do plus....

Many disagree with me but this is ( still?) A free country.... So we all can have our own opinions ..

I play mostly at church where we do many songs in Bb Db and Eb... Almost makes a fiver a necessity... Again others will disagree.

Also...I like playing up around the 5-7 frets... a fiver makes it easier for me to play a nice solid low E etc....

Good luck and welcome to the addiction of the fiver... And laklands! You are double cursed. :)
 
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#62
I played 5 strings for a long time - got my first one in 1992, when I was 15. (Ibanez EX Series)
It was the video for Def Leppards' "Let's Get Rocked" that finally sold me, haha.
After selling my Jazz V a few years ago -when I was guitarin', I ended up starting back on four.
It was refreshing to play on a bass that wasn't 5-stringed or fretless! I began wondering why I ever stopped playing a good ol' 4 string fretted bass to begin with!
When the need presents itself, I have an Ibanez 6 string for extended range.
Glad you're having fun though!
 
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#64
I sort of went the opposite way. I'd been playing 20 years or so when I my first 5-string bass in 1999. After 10+ years of playing them I picked up a 4-string and it just felt like I was home again. Playing 4-string basses is just more fun for me, and at this point, that's why I do this. I've never lost a gig because I don't have a 5. No one has ever complained that I don't use a 5. If someone ever said, "Hey, here's a great gig, but you need a 5," I'd be happy to get one. For now, I'm just digging the 4s.
 
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#65
madjazzbass said:
I've only had a 5 string Bass for (approx.) 2 weeks or so but I took to it quicker than I thought, and now when I pick up any one of my 4 string Basses it feels weird :cool:. I wouldn't say I've "mastered" the 5 string, but then (in over 25 years) I never "mastered" the 4 string either :laugh:, but the new 5 feels so right, so comfortable and sounds so good it feels (to me) like I've been playing it longer than 2 weeks; I'm guessing it's probably because the 5 is the only one I've been playing since I got it. Did/Does this happen to anyone else who strictly played 4 strings?
Click to expand...

I envy you!

Same as you, I played 4-string for about 25 years before trying 5. Same as you, I realized that 5 string was Just Right for me, and lost the desire to play 4.

Unlike you, it took me two full months to get comfortable enough on 5 string to gig with it! I would say I'm really slow, but some who want to learn 5 abandon it because they have too much trouble adjusting. IMO this just shows that our brains are wired differently.

My struggle was with songs I'd played for decades on 4 string. Fortunately, right around the time I got my first 5 (a Fender Roscoe Beck), I joined a band that played a whole bunch of songs I'd never played before. It was a LOT easier to learn those new songs on five! I'm pretty sure this was because there was no "muscle memory" (ingrained habit) to throw me off.

Once I got all those new songs under my fingers, it became easier to remap all those familiar songs onto five strings. I also became more efficient playing many of those familiar songs. Last but not least, I realized that the greatest benefit to 5 string wasn't the five notes below low E, it was the extended range in each fingering position: the B string is usable above the 5th fret, too. (Preaching to the choir here, I assume).
 
#66
madjazzbass said:
I've only had a 5 string Bass for (approx.) 2 weeks or so but I took to it quicker than I thought, and now when I pick up any one of my 4 string Basses it feels weird :cool:. I wouldn't say I've "mastered" the 5 string, but then (in over 25 years) I never "mastered" the 4 string either :laugh:, but the new 5 feels so right, so comfortable and sounds so good it feels (to me) like I've been playing it longer than 2 weeks; I'm guessing it's probably because the 5 is the only one I've been playing since I got it. Did/Does this happen to anyone else who strictly played 4 strings?
Click to expand...

RE: 4 to 5 and back again.

What I have done is not to play the same songs/exercises on both if at all possible. This was easy for me as the two bands I play in are different genres, and don’t share the same play list.

If you do keep trying to play the same material on both, you have to continue to make the mental jump of accommodation, which is why it feels “odd”.
 
#69
I've never read a more tense thread!

It feels like it could break out into open 4 vs 5 (or 6) warfare at any moment. Like guitars vs. bass guitars, both have their utility, and they are obviously different enough to warrant re-thinking and obviously a low-tuned 5 can suit modern music well.

I've only had one fellow at a club once telling me how much better off I'd be with a six-string (I think he was trying to sell me the benefits of a Chapman Stick). We were doing big band, I don't remember any double basses having six strings :).
 
#70
Recently grabbed a fiver, it is a lot of fun. Feels kinda like a novelty though, (giant neck and cramped string spacing) but I find the b string makes for a great thumb rest and the occasional lower notes.
 
#71
I'm enjoy playing my 5 string Ibby, but still not comfortable with it. I'm still training my brain to treat the E-string as one string down from the top vs the top string. I think muscle memory reprogramming is not completed yet.
Also, 35" vs 34" is making a larger difference than initially perceived on my fretting hand.

Looking forward to getting my 5 string 34" Warwick in playing condition to know for sure...
 
#73
I transitioned from 4 to 5 after playing for about 5 years, which was about 13 years ago.....within a year of starting on 5 I sold my 4s and have never had the inclination to pick up a 4 since. No regrets.
 
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#74
I hear you. I can't play a 4 string proficiently - I'm so used to 5 string position that I can get lost on a 4 string. I actually spend a little time relearning some of my lines so I can play them on a 4 string in case I'm ever in a situation that I need to.
 
#75
Last year I did a major gigging change, making a dedicated move from a 4 to 5er for the first time. I’ve pulled close to fifty gigs on an Ibanez EHB 1005MS and it has a magic grip on me. This coming from an old-school (mainly) P/J/PJ player. And with +/- 1.5 lateral (18mm centered) string adjustments to the individual bridges, I can tighten up or loosen the spacing a bit as it suits me.

I still play fours for certain side gigs, but for my main band I’m stuck on a fiver for now. It sure gets a lot of attention for its looks, but for me the playability and tone is what matters

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#76
I have purchased a 5 string on three separate occasions over the past 15 years thinking I was going to make the switch. And every time I came to the conclusion that 5th string was cumbersome and unnecessary for my style of playing. I just sold my most recent one a couple weeks before Christmas. I have tried many times to figure out why and how to incorporate that extra string into my playing and it always comes back to me thinking of all of my favorite bass players (Steve Harris, Mike Watt, Geezer Butler, Geddy Lee, Frank Bello), none of whom play 5 strings. Always makes me conclude if 4 works for them and can certainly work for me. I just prefer the economy of fretboard space and (typically) lighter weight with 4 strings. I have played in bands who tune as low as D and very occasionally Drop C. I just keep one bass with heavier gauged strings tuned DGCF with a Hipshot Xtender D-tuner for that purpose. I also have an OCD issue with odd numbers honestly. I have a cousin who is also a bassist and he will play nothing less than 5. He tends to play more country. I've always found it odd that so many country bassists prefer 5 strings.
 
#80
I got my latest 5 at the start of the pandemic, so I’m obviously not gigging with it, but it is the my main bedroom go-to. A couple of 3 reasons for that... I’m clumsy, and it has far more blemishes than my pristine Precision 4, and I’ve been learning a lot of synth-based lines I doubt I’d ever be lucky enough to perform.
 

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