Tone Vs. B string

[ericmknight1906]

I am glad to say that I no longer have an issue with 4's vs 5's or anything remotely relavent. I guess the best way to answer my questions was to try it for myself. i played my 4 string at church a couple of nights ago tuned in DGCF and it sounded awesome. I used Eb in the lower registers as well as around 7th fret area and it sounded great. I even had complements that the 4 fit me better than the 5 that I usually play and that the entire musical group sounded much tighter.
Now I can say from personal experience, that the 5 string hype is not "mandatory" for contemporary gospel music as a lot of people tend to make it. I found out that I can get the same if not better musical results with my 4 than I can a 5...just in a different way. Having a 3band eq with good pups also helps.

All hail to my 4-string brothers and sisters!!

keep it movin'

 

[rockstarbassist]

All I know is that when I pick up my NS-5, the first thing I'm worried about is if I'm "accurately" producing 30hz or w-t-f-ever...

And how many people are going to ask me about that after the show.

How is this relevant to Live Sound anyway?? Reprted.

 

[Keithwah]

I would love to go back to my 4 full time, but crap, I just love the extra notes, whether I need them or not. Ive been 95% 5'er for a little over a year and I have can't understand why I've had a 5 for almost 15 years and just started getting into them so recently.

Is it necessary? I think it is, but I do know you can work around it. But my low D on the B string is going to whup your tuned down D any day of the week. Its just fatter playing it as a fretted note instead of an open one.

 

[Hawkeye]

I even had complements that the 4 fit me better than the 5 that I usually play and that the entire musical group sounded much tighter.

"...the entire musical group sounded tighter."

That's quite the claim. Maybe you were more comfortable with the 4-string as opposed to the fiver and consequently were playing better, yes?

If all bands sounded tighter with 4-string bassists as opposed to 5-string bassists I'm assuming there would be a mass migration to 4-stringers and we five-stringers would all be out of work. Just sayin'

I've often used my 4-string Fender Jazz Deluxe in church because it has much mojo. If the songs that week didn't require the B-string a lot, I'd bring the Jazz. This week I'm playing my Reverend 5L because I need the low D and C for a couple of songs. The move to a 5-string is not some necessary rite of passage for gospel and worship bassists. If you prefer a 4-string, stick with it. Sounds like you're more comfortable with it anyway. Nuthin' wrong with that. If you absolutely need "big bottom" for a couple of songs, consider getting an octave pedal. They work.

 

[jtl1380]

"...the entire musical group sounded tighter."

That's quite the claim. Maybe you were more comfortable with the 4-string as opposed to the fiver and consequently were playing better, yes?

That's certainly the assumption that I was under when reading his comment. I would imagine that the level of comfort with the 4 string added to the fact that he's already indicated that his 4 obviously has the tone he likes both contributed to him being able to lock in tighter with the drummer. As we all know, once the rhythm section is locked in, everything is going to sound much tighter by default.

If his 4 string has a nice, punchy, clear tone then it will cut through the mix in both the monitors and the house much more than a muddy B string. I would rather hear a nice clear Eb on the A string than a muddy, distorted, floppy Eb on a lesser quality 5 string (unless of course that's the style of music you're playing). Just my opinion, YMMV.