I play exclusively 5s, but playing a borrowed 4 on a fly date this summer was fine. Missed the b, though.
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Now that I've been playing 5-string I can never go back
- Thread starter ChristIsKing
- Start date
I’m with you on this OP. I switched exclusively to 5s probs 20 years ago.
I almost exclusively play at Church for the last 10 years. Having a few lower notes is nice but with my Church gig where a lot of the charts are number system and there are frequent, last minute key changes the 5 makes it easier for me to shift to a new key while retaining the same fingering resulting in less clams.
I almost exclusively play at Church for the last 10 years. Having a few lower notes is nice but with my Church gig where a lot of the charts are number system and there are frequent, last minute key changes the 5 makes it easier for me to shift to a new key while retaining the same fingering resulting in less clams.
I'm interested in what 5 strings @ChristIsKing and you all are playing that you love so much!
Me, my upright is 4, and when I'm doubling between upright and electric, I bring a 4-string P-bass, to keep the same headspace.
Most all-electric gigs will be a 5 string. But a New Wave show last summer called for a P bass with new roundwounds!
Me, my upright is 4, and when I'm doubling between upright and electric, I bring a 4-string P-bass, to keep the same headspace.
Most all-electric gigs will be a 5 string. But a New Wave show last summer called for a P bass with new roundwounds!
Ibanez SRs. I have a couple of 5s (fave is the SR655e), but I mainly play the 6s. Of you're going to look at these, try any that are near you because even if you're not fond of that particular unit's looks or tone, but you like it otherwise, they all feel pretty similar in the hands so another will fit your tastes better. They are far more consistent than a lot of other brands. The cheapest models, the Gios have a similar neck too, but the body is more slab like than the rounded slim majority of them.
I’m the opposite. I’ve been playing strictly 4-string for over thirty years. I have zero interest in 5 and 6-string basses. Mostly because I have small hands, but also because I’ve always felt that they look goofy, and I don’t know why. It’s a weird hang up, I guess. I also play guitar so that covers my 6-string bases, so to speak.
I just got another 5 string to overplay the b on 4 string material. I'm cramming that b string in there like a round peg into a square hole and a hammer..
Im still more comfortable on 4 strings, so for church music (piano and singer keys 
) I'll play my 5 string sometimes but I'm more likely to play my BEAD 4 string.
But every time this subject comes up I tell myself I need to spend more time with the 5 string...
) I'll play my 5 string sometimes but I'm more likely to play my BEAD 4 string.But every time this subject comes up I tell myself I need to spend more time with the 5 string...
I switched about 15 years ago. I'll never go back. I don't even consider a 4 string a real bass anymore. If you can't get below an E, you're not doing it right. The ability to move across the neck was a game changer. And yes. A 4-string neck feels like a toy compared to a nice 5ver. 4 string is dead.
I hear you! I ruined the 4-string for myself when I switched to 5-string. I can still play a 4-string but I don't enjoy it anymore. That B-string is just a big added bonus.
Mostly EBMM StingRay 5s. I really love them and they are consistently good.
Last minute key changes are made so much easier on the 5-string. Especially since (as you said) I can shift to a new key and retain the same fingering. When I've been practicing all week I really like this because then I don't have to try and memorize new positions and fingering for the licks and fills I've come up with.
I build my own basses, and had a nice stable of 4's - everything I needed. I always kept one bass in D standard - nice to have a bit of extra range for certain gigs, but...I have very good pitch, and it would take me a while to move my brain to work with D standard tuning - my brain would tell my fingers where to go to play "C", and C wasn't there. So, in desperation, I built a 5 - the upper 4 strings are all firmly mapped in my brain, and there's a string for lower notes. Made perfect sense, except after playing it for a while....I built another 5, and eventually I realized that it was a big advantage for me to have one physical platform - I could play without looking at my hands if everything was always the same physically. So, the 4's got donated to some local music schools, and I now have a small herd of 5's that all have the same necks, all but on have the same body shape (it's not very different), the differences are pickups, pickup locations, and electronics - I have a palette of sounds without having to adapt to different physical platforms.
One of the things that makes a 5 worth it is the rig you play through. Bass amps don't really do a 5 justice - the speakers in bass amp cabs don't reproduce the fundamentals of even the low E; the whole B string is below what they do well. However, al my gigs are ampless, through PA's that do very well at reproducing a low B. In those situations, a 5 is awesome. So, for me, 5's it is.
OH, and a 5 isn't just about a few lower notes. The low notes on your E string sound more massive when played up on the B string, and for notes on the A/middle string (4's don't have a middle string) you have an octave up and an octave down available without a massive shift - there are patterns that emerge that you can't do on a 4. It's a different mindset.
One of the things that makes a 5 worth it is the rig you play through. Bass amps don't really do a 5 justice - the speakers in bass amp cabs don't reproduce the fundamentals of even the low E; the whole B string is below what they do well. However, al my gigs are ampless, through PA's that do very well at reproducing a low B. In those situations, a 5 is awesome. So, for me, 5's it is.
OH, and a 5 isn't just about a few lower notes. The low notes on your E string sound more massive when played up on the B string, and for notes on the A/middle string (4's don't have a middle string) you have an octave up and an octave down available without a massive shift - there are patterns that emerge that you can't do on a 4. It's a different mindset.
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I love 5 strings and have been trying to work on building one for church. With all of the flat keys we play in, the low B would really come in handy... especially if I tuned down a half step.
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
I felt the same way when I got my first 5 string in 1985 (custom built), so I sold my 4 string fretless and eventually got a 5 string. However, fast forward a few decades and now I play 4s, 5s, and 6s, from 30.5" scale to 35". Every instrument has its own charms and there's no reason to limit yourself. Of course, I have set myself up magnificently for option anxiety. First world problems....
I felt the same way for 25 years! Now I’m back to 4-strings. Don’t know why, but my tastes changed from passive 4-strings for years to active 5-strings for years, back to passive 4-strings the past 10 years.
I expect my circumstance is a little different than most. Bought my first five string bass around 1996 and began playing nothing but 5s from that day forward, but I started playing bluegrass on (4 string) upright about 2001.
I continued playing 5 string electric basses for a few years, but started doing some bluegrass gigs on 4 string acoustic basses, then I stumbled into a few vintage 4 string electric basses & started playing them on rock & blues gigs. Sometime around 2010 I stumbled into the re-emergence of flatwounds. It made no sense to me to put flats on an active 5 string bass, so I all but stopped playing 5 strings for quite a while. With time came different bands, different music, playing through the PA, and less bluegrass gigs, so I’m back on 5 string again, but I also still play 4 string for funk &/or slap stuff, and play 4 string short scale for restaurant gigs with postage stamp sized stages, so it’s whatever these days.
I continued playing 5 string electric basses for a few years, but started doing some bluegrass gigs on 4 string acoustic basses, then I stumbled into a few vintage 4 string electric basses & started playing them on rock & blues gigs. Sometime around 2010 I stumbled into the re-emergence of flatwounds. It made no sense to me to put flats on an active 5 string bass, so I all but stopped playing 5 strings for quite a while. With time came different bands, different music, playing through the PA, and less bluegrass gigs, so I’m back on 5 string again, but I also still play 4 string for funk &/or slap stuff, and play 4 string short scale for restaurant gigs with postage stamp sized stages, so it’s whatever these days.
Not me.
I've been back and forth with fivers for decades but none of them - and I've owned some *really* nice ones - ever came close to becoming my # 1.
My one and only 5-string has yet to come home from the studio where I left it about 18 months ago. I treasure the flavour it brought to my music in the songs where I used it, and while it's most likely the last fiver I'll ever own I can't see myself ever playing it on a regular basis. A shame in certain respects because it's a fabulous instrument BUT so are my other basses...
To each their own.
I've been back and forth with fivers for decades but none of them - and I've owned some *really* nice ones - ever came close to becoming my # 1.
My one and only 5-string has yet to come home from the studio where I left it about 18 months ago. I treasure the flavour it brought to my music in the songs where I used it, and while it's most likely the last fiver I'll ever own I can't see myself ever playing it on a regular basis. A shame in certain respects because it's a fabulous instrument BUT so are my other basses...
To each their own.
I move back and forth, depending on the gig and musical genre. Having grown up with '60's and '70's music, before there were 5-strings, most of that music just doesn't sound right if any notes go below E. Even with newer stuff, I am pretty sparse with notes below that E. Maybe it's just my ear and what I am used to hearing, but to me those really deep 5th string notes just sound too low and get too indistinct in some venues. I will admit that a fiver makes playing in Eb easier and using the 5th string while playing higher on the neck can often make fingering patterns easier.
I play in a big band, so most of that is reading sheet music. Basically nothing is charted below E. My favorite bass for this band is a 4-string.
If I'm playing older music that doesn't dip into the 5-string range, I'll often grab a 4-string, just because it seems to visually fit the genre. .
I play in a big band, so most of that is reading sheet music. Basically nothing is charted below E. My favorite bass for this band is a 4-string.
If I'm playing older music that doesn't dip into the 5-string range, I'll often grab a 4-string, just because it seems to visually fit the genre. .
bought my first 5 string in ‘98 after 4 years on a 4 string. I’ve never purchased another 4 string (nor will I) for the rest of my life.
Haha, I started out on 4s 40 years ago, have had 5, 6 (contrabass and Bass-VI), and 7 string basses, plus a 10 string Chapman Stick.
TBH it was the 7 string Conklin GT-7, a beast in both size and weight, that gave me a permanent appreciation for 4 strings.
Especially as I get not-younger, the ergonomics of 4 strings just work for me, not to mention there are literally millions more of them to choose from than any other string combo.
But...I still have 5s, the Bass VI-alike, and keep my eye out for the right shorter-than-34" 6 with narrow spacing.
TBH it was the 7 string Conklin GT-7, a beast in both size and weight, that gave me a permanent appreciation for 4 strings.
Especially as I get not-younger, the ergonomics of 4 strings just work for me, not to mention there are literally millions more of them to choose from than any other string combo.
But...I still have 5s, the Bass VI-alike, and keep my eye out for the right shorter-than-34" 6 with narrow spacing.
