Tempted to Go Four String Only

[mjolnir]

I've been playing a 6 almost exclusively for the past four years and it's always felt right for me (HUGE hands and a strange urge to push my bass into the higher octaves), though I've been toying with the idea of going down to a five and stringing it E A D G C (I never use the low B on my 6 except for special occasions...) but a 4 in my hands almost feels like coming home. I play upright too, so whenever I play a 4, it just feels... natural.

 

[SuperSnake2012]

I play fours and fives... I generally don't use notes below E often. I generally use the B to keep me in one position. This helps so much when you're playing a song in which the key has been transposed.

 

[bassclefman]

I understand what you guys are saying it really is easier to slap on a four string without having to mute the B string i feel more comfortabe slapping a four, slapping a five string requires more precision I was considering getting a high end 4 string just for those slapping gigs. Any body out there tried slapping a six stringer? I could just imagine!

 

[mjolnir]

Oh yeah.

String spacing gets to be annoying when slapping on a six, but if you do it enough, you just get used to it.

 

[Marcus]

I really don't see the point of limiting yourself to a certain kind of bass unless you find others physically and inspirationally inhibiting.

Like many of you, I have had my share of 4, 5, and 6 string basses.
Right now I own three 4-string basses, and a single 5. Each have their own style, and tonal personality. I'm really fortunate to have the basses I have. It gives me great options for any playing situation.

In any case... its good to own all kinds of basses.

 

[JimS]

I am less and less interested in five string basses. I think learning lots of older bass lines in the last few years has really made me appreciate what can be done on a four string.

...The other factor in more four string playing is that I have always felt freer slapping on the E string when I have no B string I need to mute.

... don't be surprised if I get a six in a month!

This makes no sense yet I'll bet many reading this have had similar thoughts including me.


.
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[Ancient Mariner]

I play fours and fives... I generally don't use notes below E often. I generally use the B to keep me in one position. This helps so much when you're playing a song in which the key has been transposed.

+1. I'm strictly a 5'er player now. The neck on a 4-string jazz style bass, to me, feels like a pencil.
The 5 lower tones available on a 5 string get used primarily in my church gigs, although I nail a low "D" in my cover band for effect every now and again.

 

[mandrlane]

To each their own... but I don't buy that "you're more creative on a four" or "You're cheating on a five". The main thing to me is that it seems dificult to get that 5th string to sound good. A lot of 5s I've played... the B string feels and sounds like some ugly after thought. fortunately I have two 5 strings that have a beautiful B string (Pre-Gibson Tobias and a Dingwall)... I use the B string a lot... as a matter of fact... its just another string. I really never think "hey let me hit the B string"

I do love a 4 too though, but I just feel a little limited not having more options.

There all good though.

 

[Bryan316]

I'll never go back to 4 strings. I'm far too used to dropping down for certain chords or when we're in C or D or using the 5th string to fatten up a power chord.

I love the flexibility and chances to drop down. Let the guitars go high, I'll go low. Awesome feeling.

 

[RudeMood]

I played a 5er for a while and became comfortable with it - stopped taking a 4 to gigs as a crutch and played the 5 all the time. After not playing a 4 in several weeks I picked up my old 4-string jazz bass and it felt so comfortable that I decided then that I would likely remain a 4-stringer. A 4 just does everything I need it to do. To each his/her own, 4, 5, 6... you gotta play what is best for you.

 

[DaveDeVille]

"... Jaco only needed four strings ..."

 

[ggunn]

I'll never go back to 4 strings. I'm far too used to dropping down for certain chords or when we're in C or D or using the 5th string to fatten up a power chord.

I love the flexibility and chances to drop down. Let the guitars go high, I'll go low. Awesome feeling.

I'm with you. After playing 5ers for three years, now whenever I pick up my 4 string Yammy, the neck feels, like someone else said, like a pencil.

But whatever floats yer boat. I'm in an original music band where low D's and C's sometimes fit the composition very well; everyone's happy.

 

[Tom Howland]

This is a good thread.

I play 60% 4-string.
40% 5-string.

A maple fingerboard, P-bass/rounds.
A fretless P-bass/flats.
Lakland Scheff 5-string/DR Sunbeams.

With these basses, I can get any tone I need.
The 5-strings B-string is just another crayon in the box.
I never overplay the B.

 

[DaveDeVille]

... seriously , play what feels comfortable to you .


don't let fashion , or somebody's opinion , turn you one way or the other ...

 

[ggunn]

"... Jaco only needed four strings ..."

Well, I'm no Jaco, that's fer sure.

 

[infinitetoast]

I really prefer the four string playability wise, its a lot easier for me to comprehend. My 5 doesn't quite have the same string spacing as the 4 to facilitate slapping, but the low B makes a mighty fine thumbrest.

 

[Hoyt]

I started out on a 5-banger. It makes complete sense musically. If you follow the strings B-E-A-D-G, the next two notes at the first fret are C (on the B string) then F (on the E). Move one fret over and you have a B on the A string, E, A, so an and so fourth. When I decided, I was gonna rock a four-banger, it didn't make musical sense to me, and was pretty hard at first. I felt like an amputee reaching for notes I thought I still had. But, after I got used to it, I marveled at why I ever bought a Yamaha John Patitucci 6 string. I liken it to the difference between Mike Portnoy and Buddy Rich's drum sets. Sure they can both rock, but some can do more with less

 

[lpdeluxe]

+1
After playing my 24 fret, set-neck, natural mahogany wonder with DiMarzio Model Js for several years, I have regressed to Fender Precisions (I have 3 at the moment: a '51 RI, a '50s and a Standard).

I also sold my 5-string Ibanez last year, although I almost bought a Tribute L2500 this Spring. The 5 has a lot of appeal, with the ability to play a low D, as an obvious example. For a stretch I was playing the Ibanez with a folkie group, where the singer used a capo to pitch songs to her voice, and the 5 was a very convenient way to play in B or A# and get a nice bottom.

And yet...

Here are my reasons for NOT owning a 5 (although, had the dealer offered another $50 trade-in when I was shopping for an L2500, I might be arguing differently) :

1. I don't really need anything below E (well, maybe D once in a while). The material my band plays doesn't call for slammin' bass, or low synth notes.

2. Simplicity rules: four strings, two hands, two knobs. That's my current mantra. Obsess about the music, not about the gear. YMMV, of course, but this is my approach.

3. There's no such thing as a 5 that sounds like my '50s P with a QP and TI Jazz Flats. Sorry, "close" don't cut it. Now that I've found the P-with-flats sound, I am satisfied -- at least, for now.

If I were playing different material, I'd go for a 5 anyhow....

 

[ggunn]

... I marveled at why I ever bought a Yamaha John Patitucci 6 string. I liken it to the difference between Mike Portnoy and Buddy Rich's drum sets. Sure they can both rock, but some can do more with less

True, but I can't buy that having less makes you do more. "Less is more" is a cool sounding ironic catch phrase, but it does not apply universally.

 

[nastyn8c]

Well, I'm no Jaco, that's fer sure.

+1