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The occasional low note vs. gathering dust on an extra string

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#41
g-dude said:
But here’s the real question: if you’re dropping some serious coin on a higher end bass, do you go ahead and spend the extra $100 for an extra string that you might occasionally use, or do you stick with what will work for 95% of what you play.
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I have dropped serious coin on higher-end basses.
Thought about whether to go 5-string while I'm at it, because it feels like the thing to do, but I figured out a while back that I just relate to the bass as a 4-stringed instrument, so that's what I've stuck with.
Buyer's remorse? None whatsoever.

Jaco? Pfft. Jamerson only needed 4, and so does Robbie Shakespear :)
 
#43
Lagado said:
"To B, or not to B, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of constant muting,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them..."
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Perhaps a slight modification?
"To take arms against a sea of rumbles
And buy a four-string, (to) end them."
 
#46
Playing over 35 years, in cover band working situations where the track is played in the original key, I could count the number of songs that required a B string on one hand, and it wouldn't fill that. Even Pino detunes for some of his lines rather than play it on a five.
 
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#47
g-dude said:
So one thing I’m noticing is that I can generally exist with four strings.

Occasionally, I do play something where it might be good to be able to go below E, without having to deal with tuning down. In fact, I’d probably estimate that at least half (if not more) of my notes below E don’t need to be below E, I just play them like that if I had a five string on hand.

In theory, I could restring my five string from E to C. Then again, I don’t tend to find myself wishing I had a higher string. Maybe I could find a use for it.

But here’s the real question: if you’re dropping some serious coin on a higher end bass, do you go ahead and spend the extra $100 for an extra string that you might occasionally use, or do you stick with what will work for 95% of what you play.
Click to expand...

I only have ever owned 4-strings, but could really get behind using a 5-string if for nothing else than camping out on the 5th-12th fret range of the neck, and covering all the same ground. Up at that part of the neck, the strings are fatter relative to their length, so you get a nice thick and heavy fundamental. I usually avoid playing open strings altogether, to keep tone as consistent as possible - I don't know if I need to do that, but a teacher many years ago instructed me that way, so I've always done it - so I'm usually playing in that fretboard range anyway, usually only dropping back to first fret when I need to get to notes between the low E and A, or I am there and need to walk to another chord on the A-G strings. Having a fiver would mean I could just do it all in that middle range.

Having said that, I'm not likely to switch now; after 38 years of playing, my brain and fingers are pretty much married to the 4-string mentality. But if I were younger and only had a few years behind me or were just starting to learn, a fiver would be the way I'd go.
 
#49
MtManiac said:
I usually avoid playing open strings altogether, to keep tone as consistent as possible - I don't know if I need to do that, but a teacher many years ago instructed me that way, so I've always done it.
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The reason for not using open strings is if you have to transpose the line for any reason, usually for singers. Everyone uses open strings...Jaco, Pino... They have a timbre and sustain all of their own and are handy for position shifts. Take Pino's line on Gary Numan's "Music for Chameleons", the first 'root' note is a fretted E on the A string, the next two are open D then open A. Trying to play it with those last two notes fretted is a lot more work and doesn't flow as well. I avoid thinking in absolutes if possible.
 
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#50
Lagado said:
The reason for not using open strings is if you have to transpose the line for any reason, usually for singers. Everyone uses open strings...Jaco, Pino... They have a timbre and sustain all of their own and are handy for position shifts. Take Pino's line on Gary Numan's "Music for Chameleons", the first 'root' note is a fretted E on the A string, the next two are open D then open A. Trying to play it with those last two notes fretted is a lot more work and doesn't flow as well. I avoid thinking in absolutes if possible.
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Well, that's you... my instructor told me not to use them for the other reason you specified, "They have a timbre and sustain all of their own..." I'm sure both reasons are valid, and if you want to use them liberally, that's up to you, dude.
 
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#53
I'm lost on any bass that only has four strings, although I do confess to owning a few of those amusingly incomplete instruments.

They seem to be quite popular, though, so I just nod my head and smile every few days when another one of these threads pops up. :whistle:

EDIT: seriously, though, if you're asking this "real question" in a forum of bass players, you deserve all the snark and more that comes your way:

g-dude said:
But here’s the real question: if you’re dropping some serious coin on a higher end bass, do you go ahead and spend the extra $100 for an extra string that you might occasionally use, or do you stick with what will work for 95% of what you play.
Click to expand...
 
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#55
g-dude said:
So one thing I’m noticing is that I can generally exist with four strings.

Occasionally, I do play something where it might be good to be able to go below E, without having to deal with tuning down. In fact, I’d probably estimate that at least half (if not more) of my notes below E don’t need to be below E, I just play them like that if I had a five string on hand.

In theory, I could restring my five string from E to C. Then again, I don’t tend to find myself wishing I had a higher string. Maybe I could find a use for it.

But here’s the real question: if you’re dropping some serious coin on a higher end bass, do you go ahead and spend the extra $100 for an extra string that you might occasionally use, or do you stick with what will work for 95% of what you play.
Click to expand...

I think that is absolutely the best was to use a five string. It shouldn't be booming away all the time as, from a listener's point of view, going below the E can be a profound moment in the song. Adding gravitas and menace to a phrase. It makes for a tasteful bass line. The rest of the song you play like a regular bassist. Supporting the music not overwhelming it. IMHO.
 
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