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Opinions on 4 string vs anything else
- Thread starter JRuben
- Start date
The 5-string really helped me learn my way around the neck, i.e. where the notes are. Also, I LOVE the sound of the low B... buuuuut I never play it more than about 30 minutes per month, just for fun. I just don't need more than 4 strings personally.
I started on a four, discovered Anthony Jackson and switched to a six exclusively after only two years of very amateurish playing. Years later, I bought a fretless 5 string, and years after I bought a four string. Switching between the three has become second nature. I have played jazz gigs, rock, and some pop. Primarily, I'm a jazz bassist but as I switched basses I got used to them. The confusion eventually goes away as you learn your tools.
No more different than 2 exact same 4 string basses from the same exact store with different woods...
I felt the same way for years. Then I happened to fall in love with a specific bass that just happened to be 5 strings. Bought it, got used to it, and now I can't go back. That Low D and C are so nice, and I haven't been able to come up with any cons to having them there.
I like a 5 string for playing funk, hard rock, and some jazz. Yeah the Eb and D are there, but I really like being able to play Bb on the E sting and have a low F right there above it. You can walk two octaves over pretty much any chord without having to shift your fretting hand too much, which is nice.
That being said, I spend 80-90% of my time on the E, A, and D strings and probably 98% of my time on E, A, D, and G. When I played upright in a jazz band I made due with 4 strings and all the songs were in Eb, F, Bb, Db, etc. Ron Carter, James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, and almost everyone else who has penned an iconic bassline did it with four strings.
Still, that fifth string is like a security blanket. I'll probably always have a 5. Especially because of that one time the pianist looked up at me all startled and said, "Oh wow. You've got that low C, huh? Cool!"
That being said, I spend 80-90% of my time on the E, A, and D strings and probably 98% of my time on E, A, D, and G. When I played upright in a jazz band I made due with 4 strings and all the songs were in Eb, F, Bb, Db, etc. Ron Carter, James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, and almost everyone else who has penned an iconic bassline did it with four strings.
Still, that fifth string is like a security blanket. I'll probably always have a 5. Especially because of that one time the pianist looked up at me all startled and said, "Oh wow. You've got that low C, huh? Cool!"
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
- 5,455
- 4,234
- Disclosures
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I currently own nothing but 4 stringers, I used to have an old Ibanez 5 string from the 90s that I just never really liked. It was a dirt cheap Ebay deal from back in the day, and it was in excellent condition, I just never could get used to the neck, so I dumped it off.
I keep going back every time I am at my local guitar shop, and noodling around on a Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass V, if anything, that bass will get me playing a 5. But there just isn't anything I have needed a B string for, so not a lot of push for it.
I keep going back every time I am at my local guitar shop, and noodling around on a Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass V, if anything, that bass will get me playing a 5. But there just isn't anything I have needed a B string for, so not a lot of push for it.
I tried to love the 5. On two separate occasions I switched to 5 only. Both times I found two things.
1. The low notes are sometimes too low to be musical.
2. Pain - The wider neck is especially tough on my arthritic left thumb. :-(
While I could just not use the low notes, there was no working around the pain. In the end I went back to the 4. I still bemoan the lack of a low D but all told the 4 just suits me better.
1. The low notes are sometimes too low to be musical.
2. Pain - The wider neck is especially tough on my arthritic left thumb. :-(
While I could just not use the low notes, there was no working around the pain. In the end I went back to the 4. I still bemoan the lack of a low D but all told the 4 just suits me better.
Personally, I don't like the sound of the five lower semitones on the B string. They sound somehow unnatural to me. I'd rather hear those notes played an octave higher. That said, I learned to play a fiver mainly so that I could always pick one up and play it without too much stress. Sometimes I'll get asked by a band to sit in on a tune or two and you never know what kind of bass they might hand you to play.
This is a great point. I've been playing with two bands lately, both that are led by pianists. Pianists change keys like Kardashians change lovers. They do not know or care how things lay out with your open strings and do not understand why it's an issue.
Just the other day we were working on a new song that was really coming together, and the band leader decided it needed to drop down a half a step, from Em to Ebm. Worst possible change for a four-stringer. If I had a four string, I'd either have to detune the bass just for that song, deal with the 7th fret on my A string as the lowest note I have to play to root, or argue passionately that the key couldn't be changed. Since I have a fiver, though, I didn't even miss a beat. Just moved my left hand and started working from the fourth position.
I'm in my third phase of playing bass (I: high school, II: 15 years later in a band for a couple of years, III: 22 years after that, which is now), and during that second phase in the 80s, I started my love affair with Carvin and decided I wanted one of their 5-strings. That never panned out at the time, but once I started again in 2011 it was easy to find a 5'er. While I do occasionally play below the fifth fret on the B string, I mostly use it for the root of a F/F#/G chord.
Or as a thumb rest.
Or as a thumb rest.
When I'm playing country or playing in church, I have to use my 5. So much of that stuff is recorded on 5 strings. Everything else, I play on 4 strings, especially on gigs where I'm reading sheet music.
A five string doesn´t have to weight more than a four.
IMHO, the five string bass has contributed heavily to the ruin of country music. To me, most new country music sounds like a wall of mud being thrown at me.
That is a very cool headstock in your avatar.
I started playing in the early 70's, so a four-string will always feel the most natural. I decided to try a five-string before I turned fifty. I liked it. Spent a few years trying different ones from different builders with different designs. My Dingwall Super J five has ended my quest for a fiver that 'works' for me - eight pounds, ten ounces of (near) perfection. I still feel that any bass with more than five strings is a slightly different animal in terms of tone and response. Not bad, just different...
Cruise is in Eb so I even have to tune down my 5 string. I am getting a Drop D tuner for one of my basses but when I play my Smith I have to tune down because you can't put a Drop D tuner on it. I talked to Ken and his solution was "Just tune down" you don't want to mess with the "Coat of Arms".
Did that on a 5er a couple weeks ago in the key Eb. It's admittedly harder, but it works.
I have 2 5-strings and 3 4-strings. When I play more contemporary material, or when I play with a guitarist/singer who capoes a lot, I use one of the 5s (MusicMan SR5, Godin A5 Fretless). It has already been noted that it's a lot easier to play in D#, for example, on a 5 and also that certain material almost requires a deep voice.
These days I am playing in a 6-piece combo with percussion, bass and electric guitar backing up three harmonizing female singers. The 4-string (specifically my '51 P RI) works best. We do pop standards from the first half of the 1900s and the guitarist and I arrange the songs in a format where I'm playing the left hand of a piano and he's the right. For this style note definition and articulation are crucial, as is a tone that doesn't overpower the guitar. The StingRay, with its unique sound, has the first two attributes, but it's far too aggressive sounding. Plus, the 4-string Precision makes it easy to do the large fret jumps and slides appearing in the music quickly.
The 5s aren't going anywhere, but I'm banging the 4 for now.
These days I am playing in a 6-piece combo with percussion, bass and electric guitar backing up three harmonizing female singers. The 4-string (specifically my '51 P RI) works best. We do pop standards from the first half of the 1900s and the guitarist and I arrange the songs in a format where I'm playing the left hand of a piano and he's the right. For this style note definition and articulation are crucial, as is a tone that doesn't overpower the guitar. The StingRay, with its unique sound, has the first two attributes, but it's far too aggressive sounding. Plus, the 4-string Precision makes it easy to do the large fret jumps and slides appearing in the music quickly.
The 5s aren't going anywhere, but I'm banging the 4 for now.
On the few songs we play where a 5 string is "needed," I just use an octave down effect. And it's usually just on the bridges/ breakdowns because the two guitarists tend to bury me anyway. 
