sell me

I actually had a lot of trouble the first couple of times I played a 6 a few months ago. It might be just me, but I had an easier time going from 4 to 5 and now I am looking again at the 6s.

What applications are you going to have for the 6? In my case, I want to get more in to chording the bass for some of the songs my band plays.

I think the best way you could convince yourself one way or the other would be to decide if there was any songs you want to play that would need it. If you answer no, then stick with the 4.

On the other hand, I can tell you a good reason to play a 5. If you have guitarists who tune down on some guitars... a 5 enables you to easily play with those guitars and the normal tuned guitars without altering your tuning.

 

5 can be good for standard tuning also. You can get some really nice fat low notes in songs, and it gives them a really cool sound. For example, the song "You Wouldn't Believe" by 311. The bassline is played with low notes on the B string and it gives it a very interesting feel, especially during the guitar solo with the phase shifter effect. I would recomment a 5 string bass to anyone. Just ignore my signature, its for laughs

 

If you think that there is a reason to get a six, then I say go for it. But don't get it just because you think it would be cool to have or to show off. You will become bored with it after it wears off its novelty and you realize that you could play all the songs you want on a 4 or a 5. I have ordered a 6 now. I find that the 6 I ordered has a flatter neck (due to the extra width) and it fits my hands better and for some chords and keys I find it useful to have the extra string to avoid always changing hand positions. But if you really don't need it you can probably get a better 4 string for the same money.

Oh, and don't buy a six without trying one first. Sometimes 6-strings don't agree with people's hands, especially in lower register positions.

Geoff