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So... When did you leap to 5+ strings?

L

lameaim

Jan 15, 2011
55
48
#1
Started noodling on guitar a couple of years back, but I've been on bass for about four or five months now and I know I'm going to be stuck on that low end for a long time. Even been thinking about making the move to 5 strings.

Just curious - who here has done it? How long were you playing when it happened? Have you tried it and reverted back? If so, what influenced your decision to do so?
 
#2
I bought my first bass back in September of 2009, and it was a Cort Action 4 string. A fairly cheap beginners bass.
It was about late 2010 when I wanted to expand my range to play a lot more songs, so I went out on a whim and bought a Yamaha RBX375. It gave me so much grief, they gave me a dodgy bass at Guitar Factory and they would never replace it, they'd take it back and fix it but after a few weeks it'd screw up again and I kept getting sick and tired of it so I sold it to them for cheap and never looked back.
 
#3
started playing in '01, bought my first 5'er in '03. i noticed a lot of players using a 5 in the music i was listening to and liked the additional low-end and the ability to stay in one position. and the ability to play lines up higher on the neck on the low strings, making the lines sound super fat. still use a 5 to this day.
 
#4
I've been playing for 38 years, and bought my first 5-string last year, an SX from Rondo. Great bass for the money. Wanted a 5-string to be able to play along with certain songs I have on my iPod. Love the sound of that B string!

Haven't had the guts to try a 6-string yet. My hands aren't that large. Even a 5-string is a bit of a physical challenge for me. Fortunately, the string spacing on my SX is fairly close and so far I've been able to hit the notes I need to hit.
 
#5
I played 4 strings when I started playing bass and decided to take a break for about 20 years after 15 years of doing the shows/tours/recordings/bar scene and when I started again 4 years ago I started straight with 2 new 5 string basses and I wouldn't go back to 4's anymore. I love the B string, I guess it's the age..... :smug:
 
#7
I first started playing in high school in 2000 on a 1976 modified Jazz Bass belonging to my father. I was told by many of my peers to get a 5-string already and get with the times. My father responded by getting me a Carlo Robelli USB895 5-string from Sam Ash (their in-store brand) for Christmas in 2001, when I was a senior. Since then, I have owned a number of 4- and 5-string models from different brands. Both are fun to play and I have no real preference as long as I have one really good instrument of each in my arsenal.
 
#10
My first bass was a 5-string. Really just because I wanted a jazz, and a 5-string was the only one in black at the time. But they're fun, it's always nice to learn as much as you can if you have the oppurtunity. Although, I didn't have the oppurtunity to take spelling classes, as you can tell.
 
#15
I got my first 5 string bass (Yamaha BX-5) in 1987, after being turned on to Flim & The BBs, and then seeing The Fents at Dante's in N. Hollywood. :cool: Since then, I have had three Zons (one fretted, two fretless) and currently I have two Martin Keiths ( one fretted & fretless, each).
 
#16
I started on a 4-string more than 25 years ago, and switched to a 5-string a couple years later... several years after that I got sick of 5s and went back to 4s for almost 15 years. Then I picked up a nice 5-string fretless. It's my only 5, and my only fretless, so I don't use it all the time. Oh, and I have it strung with a high C instead of a low B (I did the same with my old 5 back in the day, after using the B for a while... I just never can seem to like those B strings!)
 
#17
I started on a four string in 1990, a cheapo something and a Peavey T-40. About six months in, I switched to a Fender P and within a couple of weeks of that, strung it BEAD. About six months after that I bought my first five string; haven't looked back. After being nothing but a five string player since then, I tried a four string Fender Jazz and Precision last year. I liked them but missed the B string and sold them both. Couple of years ago I went the six string route for awhile. One was stolen and the other I sold. Five string basses are just home for me and have been almost since the beginning.
 

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