Poll: 4s, 5s or 6s (or more?)

[stingray78]

Mainly 5s these days. But when I have a gig that calls for it, I will bring a 4 string.

 

[Discount Bassy]

No 4's for years, 1 fretted 5 and 6. 1 fretless 6 that is my current preference.

 

[climber]

I own 2 4's, a 5 and a 6. these daze I only play the 4's

 

[bassdude51]

Or do all your basses have the same number of strings? Wherever you land on this, why do you think this works best for you?

I have 14 basses, I think (trying to sell a bunch of them!) and they are all 4 strings.

Over the years, I've had at least 6 different 5 strings and I just could not bond with them. I'd get one, sell it, a year later, try again, sell it, year later buy another one, sell it.....................on and on. Finally, I made a final decision to never buy or play a 5er.

Why?

Now, this is just me and I'm not preaching my opinion. 5ers. For the extra weight, extra string, wider neck, extra tuner.....what do I get? Only 5 extra notes! And they are notes that I don't use all that often. Plus, 5 strings cause my low quality brain to have to rethink memorized bass lines and hand positions.

Finally, and WOW! there has been a bunch of discussion on TB about this, few bass cabs can do justice to the low B's 31 hz and the other 4 lower notes!

I love the sound of those lower notes but I already explained why 5ers are not for me.

We are all different. Peace!

 

[JRA]

Heh, heh! -- unhid it for you. You need a good fretless 6.

i'm fascinated by the 6s, or at least curious, but then i relate to stuff like this:

It took about 10 years before it started really feeling like home, but now 6 is the number where I am most proficient.

i dunno, logdrum --- wasnex is pretty conscientious: i'd have to take 'cheating the learning curve' to a whole new level with the time i've got left!

 

[Marko 1]

5ers only. I can't play open-string notes, so 4 just won't work for me unless it's BEAD, but I prefer the 5.

Plus transposing is so simple, just move my hand to the appropriate fret and play the pattern.

 

[Lionel Albert]

I play 4 string bass on a 5 string bass...
That's not really true, these days quite everything I play is written, when it's not I play all the strings maybe even when I'm chorusing.

 

[Selios]

I alternate, with:
Two standard 4s
One BEAD 4
Two 5s

 

[vinlander]

Jaco only needed 4...
Jocking aside, I had a 5 stringer for a long time but since my interest is 70's and 80's prog and classic rock, I realized the 5th string was more of a distraction for me as I never was playing it like a real 5 strings

 

[nonohmic]

Fours.

But I'd like a 5 E-C.

I do not like the way the B string feels, or sounds.

 

[lbbc]

I only play short scale 4 string basses these days. I've played 5's and extra long scales in the past 40 years ..what I play now is most comfortable for me.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

4 + a bass kazoo hanging around my neck always ready for the lower notes.

 

[tb-player]

First, glad to see you decided to keep up with your bass guitar interests.

Thanks! I appreciate that.

 

[sabre79]

Wherever you land on this, why do you think this works best for you?

I tried a 5-string for one day. I knew then I would only use the B string for a thumb rest. 4's for me.

 

[Nedmundo]

I bought my first five in 2008, and have alternated since then. If I won't use the B string I'l usually play a four, but I've needed a five for everything during the past year so I've barely played my fours. In fact, I started to wonder whether I was becoming a purely five-string player.

For my latest project, however, it looks like my G&L SB-2 will be best, so all of a sudden I'm back to a four.

 

[Gervais Cote]

4 string, fretted passive for these reasons :

I like a light weight bass (my favorite precision is 7.9 pounds !)

95% of the songs I play were made for 4 strings with standard tuning

I prefer skinny necks

And I want to control my bass instead of having the bass controlling me in terms of size, weight and playability

I tried a few fivers and never felt in love but I saw the benefit in terms of left hand movements that become less frequent on a 5 string bass compared to a 4 string bass.

Nevertheless, if I was to play contemporary rock, metal and such music, I would grab a Spector 5 string bass right away !

 

[j0616bass]

I've been playing since 1990. I bought my first 5 string last June because I joined a top 40 band and it was just more authentic (and easier) for some of those tunes. Outside of my original metal band, I haven't really gigged with my 4 string collection (10 of them) since then! I wouldn't say I've moved to being a 5 string player... it's just what the gigs have called for recently. If I got back into some straight ahead rock bands, I'd use the 4's.

That said, I've been shopping for a backup* 5er.

*I'm calling it a backup to justify the expense

 

[bobalu]

Now, how many people here own a 5 string, but only ever play 4 of the strings?

 

[DuluthDank]

I like the idea of the extended range of a 5 or 6 string, but with the stuff I play, I just don't tend to find the musical need to hit those notes. I'd love to suddenly feel that need though, as it sounds like a fun project and a great excuse for GAS.

I also notice that, even in modern jazz and fusion, most of my favorite players are using 4 stringers. I feel like there's something about 6 strings that makes people "want to use them", which isn't always the direction my ears are interested in. Many of my favorite active players in jazz/fusion play FSOs, and for whatever reason, seem to keep it more in the pocket in a way that appeals to me aesthetically. This dichotomy applies more to younger players though (maybe 45 and under).

Is it any surprise that the guy who shows up to a gig on a Fender Musicmaster might play differently, or even with a different overall philosophy, than the guy who shows up with a Yamaha John Patitucci 6 stringer? Of course this doesn't HAVE to be the case, but at least to my ears it often is.

 

[tb-player]

Now, how many people here own a 5 string, but only ever play 4 of the strings?

Haha. That should have been a poll option.