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one 5 vs two 4's
- Thread starter Slade N
- Start date
Since i d'love to add high register notes/chords on my bass-lines, i couldn't be happy with a d-string only ... 5er only here.
I hear you, but I play nice chords up high on BEAD too
Chords in different positions sound nice on my 5 string, but I really don't consider BEAD much of a limitation there, either. Just my opinion/playing style.
Personally, I've never go BEAD on a 4 string. Why not just go 5 string if you need the B? The reason I don't normally go 5 string as that I don't have a lot of uses for the B string.
For me, if I wanted a low B string, I would *ALWAYS* choose two 4-string basses (one EADG and one BEAD) over a five string bass. Why? Two reasons: 1) I never bring only one bass to a gig, and 2) because I don't like playing 5-string basses. I have been playing 4-stringers for 47 years. About 25 years ago, I bought a 5-string bass just to see if I would enjoy playing it. I didn't enjoy it (and I gave it plenty of time). Other folks love 5-stringers, and I am happy for them. But for me (and I'm only talking about *ME* here), I only enjoy playing 4-string basses.
Now, having said all of that, I own five 4-string basses. All of them are tuned EADG. I don't have a BEAD bass because I have no interest in having a low B. For me, the only thing I would ever possibly have a need for is a low D, and if I ever decided to pursue that, I would simply install a Hipshot drop D tuner on one of my basses.
There's only a handful of things I play where a low B-D# would be useful. I have a J bass I haven't played since getting a J-sonic that I want to make a BEAD and eventually do high output/modern sounding pickups. That will be cheaper and nicer than buying a new 5, and it will be more useful as a tool to expand my sonic palate. I'd also have an easier time going between BEAD and standard than I would learning to play a 5 string. And this is my own thing, and I appreciate all sorts of players and gear, but basses with more than 4 strings just don't look right to me.
I have done It on some gigs.
My favourite bass only exists as 4-stringers, so i have two of them as BEAD and bring one for songs that require lower tones.
My favourite bass only exists as 4-stringers, so i have two of them as BEAD and bring one for songs that require lower tones.
If there is one thing I hate, it is swapping instruments during a set. I am also not picky about having "the" sound for a specific song. In a noisy club setting, it's not all that noticeable to me or my band. I bring a fiver that will best represent most songs I will be playing. I can make EQ and gain changes on my pedal (Zoom B3n) if I need a little different sound. I do bring a second bass as a spare, but it doesn't come out of the gig bag unless there are technical issues with the primary bass. If I know I will not need anything below standard EADG (the 18 piece big band), I will bring a 4 or 5 string, based on which bass I feel like taking.
I have 4's, 5's, 6's, and even a 7. Never understood people who spend hours worrying about how many strings to play.
Yes,I did it with two 5 strings vs 4 strings.
It can be done but will drive you nuts alternating.
It can be done but will drive you nuts alternating.
To handle extended range in the past, I have:
Manually dropped the E to D when needed.
Installed a D-Tuner.
But I have never tuned a bass BEAD. When the low B became almost a normal part of the bass guitar tuning spectrum, I chucked in all the four-string options and just bought a cheap fiver to get comfortable with. A week later I bought my first Peavey Cirrus USA fiver and never looked back. It is my Swiss Army bass and I never need to worry about switching basses for tunings, something that most of my performance opportunities won't allow.
I own some amazing four-string basses, but if the house was on fire and I had time to run in and grab only one bass, it would be one of the Cirrus.
Manually dropped the E to D when needed.
Installed a D-Tuner.
But I have never tuned a bass BEAD. When the low B became almost a normal part of the bass guitar tuning spectrum, I chucked in all the four-string options and just bought a cheap fiver to get comfortable with. A week later I bought my first Peavey Cirrus USA fiver and never looked back. It is my Swiss Army bass and I never need to worry about switching basses for tunings, something that most of my performance opportunities won't allow.
I own some amazing four-string basses, but if the house was on fire and I had time to run in and grab only one bass, it would be one of the Cirrus.
I actually did just that, up until I picked up a 5. Then I restrung the pbass from BEAD rounds to EADG with flats.
I did for a time, as a stop-gap measure until I could afford to buy the 5-string that I wanted.
Turns out I found myself missing the high G on the BEAD 4 string.
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This is why I keep playing 5's. I know that a 4 is different, but I know with a 5 I will always have what I need on any gig at any time. I would like to have a '66 P bass (like my avatar pic) but it seems there's always one of two songs a gig here I really need/want to use a 5. Uptown Funk for example sounds terrible up an octave. Part of me would love to play a 4 like Pino or countless others, but the practical side of me keeps playing the 5's.
There was a period of time when I had two Steinbergers tuned DGCF while the rest of my 4s were still EADG. I wanted the low D because I was in a celtic band with bagpipes pitched in D and G, so a low D came in handy. I chose the Bergers because I could downtune without having to tweak the neck. I wanted two basses because the D and G pipes were never in tune with each other...I tuned one bass to each set of bagpipes, switched over when the piper did.
I had no 5s at the time, if I had I would have used one.
I had no 5s at the time, if I had I would have used one.
I have a 6 string fretted and 5 string fretless. I've no need or want for a 4 string. Why be limited? Of course this is IMHO.
Oof. If y’all hate switching instruments, I recommend you don’t play jazz lol. I remember typically bringing an upright and at least one electric and sometimes even having to switch mid-song (thankfully the arranger gave me a nice long break to switch). If I want to play fretless, that’s yet another bass to bring.
I’ve used a 5-string almost forever, but before I bought a 6-string, I was tempted to tune one of my 4-strings to ADGC. I doubt I would have gigged with it, but it seemed like something fun to do. If I get along with the 6-string, that would be redundant.
I know of people bringing two double basses to performances, with one in orchestral tuning and one in solo tuning. That must be a real pain!
I’ve used a 5-string almost forever, but before I bought a 6-string, I was tempted to tune one of my 4-strings to ADGC. I doubt I would have gigged with it, but it seemed like something fun to do. If I get along with the 6-string, that would be redundant.
I know of people bringing two double basses to performances, with one in orchestral tuning and one in solo tuning. That must be a real pain!
