What songs do you feel NEED a 5 string bass?

[Atshen]

For my original black metal stuff, I don't need to go lower than your standard low E.

With my cover band playing country, oldies and some classic rock, I'll use drop D for a couple songs.

Sometimes I'll use my old Boss OC2 to get some lower tones.

A trick I have found when I want the occasional 'boom' and I don't have a 5-string or an octaver lying around, I'll play a power chord (root-fifth or root-fifth-octave). It gives the illusion of a lower tone.

Sometimes though, you just need a 5-string.

 

[Auspuff]

None. If they do, they're poorly composed.

In all of my decades, plus all of the Bass players I know/have known, none of us ever heard this question asked: "Can you go any lower?"

In my experience, anything required lower than an E-string was assigned to the keyboards, kick drum, floor tom, or Moog Taurus Pedals. Anything higher than a G-string was Guitarist Country (and they fought to protect it).

BTW, Rush lived by the Taurus. Not Geddy's 5th-string.

 

[Maxdusty]

You can play anything on a 4 string, but there are songs where a 5 string or a de-tuned 4 stringer just works better. I really don't understand how that point can be argued.
I am a four string player, have been for over 30 years now, I will always play a 4 string most of the time, but there are songs where being able to hit a lower tone just fits in better or has a better effect on the overall feel of the song. In the past, I would end up de-tuning my bass for those songs but in retrospect, just playing it on a fiver would have been a little bit easier and more natural, I now have one five string. Even though I believe a 4 string bass can get you by anything, I can still appreciate basslines that put the B string to good use - I don't understand people who adamantly bash five string basses or feel that B string is redundant. Play the bass you want, go high, go low that's really up to you.
I've posted this particular song before, but a fiver just works better than a four. I've tried it on both, the bassist had the right idea.

 

[Resonance129]

What you are proposing would ruin the vibe of the song, and be a massive pain to play. If you show up to an audition for a band whose material is all written in C or lower with a 4 string tuned to standard E, you aren't getting the job.

Again, I totally agree.
I don't challenge the fact that a song in a non-standard, lower tuning would sound much better with a B string. Just saying, for the sake of the thread/the OP's original inquiry, that it's possible. I've played a few of those types of songs at gigs and worked it out to the best of my ability with the 4-string I had.
The BL knows I'm primarily a 4-string player and don't own a 5 (yet), but knows that certain songs just work in a cover band environment. We tend to change keys of songs to benefit the singers of the group and I just transpose and adapt.
Definitely a pain to do it like that, but it works for the time being.

 

[rohi]

None. If they do, they're poorly composed.

Yeesh.

"I Wish" sounds fantastic on a 5 string.

 

[zontar]

I don't think any NEED them, but sure, some may sound better or work better with one.

 

[socialleper]

but it works for the time being.

The OP asked what songs do I feel require a 5 string. Putting aside down tuning a 4 string, which a lot of people do, I really think people are whiffing on why a composition is tuned lower than E. I think the somewhat limited music preferences are also playing into this.
There are literally thousands of songs written in D or lower that really must be played in the correct tuning, or they are just ruined. Some of these songs, tuned B to G, are insanely fast, and trying to transpose those open notes would be a finger cramping nightmare.
Many posters are working from a supposition that the question is about playing covers live. That wasn't the question.

 

[socialleper]

None. If they do, they're poorly composed.

The amount of snobbishness crammed into such an amazingly false statement is astounding.

 

[mdjazztheatre]

I play in pit orchestras, and there are some written licks that would require very fast 7+ fret jumps on 4 that the 5 keeps all in one position - "Who Better Than Me" from Tarzan is an example in the first two bars, a repeat that starts on 3rd-fret G and ends on 8th-fret Eb, with portions in between that want to be played on the 10th fret to hit the Eb in time. Putting that G on the 8th of the B string makes it immensely easier.

Jazz, too, it's really nice to have extended range in a single position while walking - I can take the changes up or down without having to move around much. Or for when we pull a Gordon Goodwin tune, because they write the Eb / lower and mean it.

Clearly I'm lazy, but I find it helps.

 

[topper]

I put a hipshot drop D tuner on my 4 string and find there's very little I can't play. I'm mostly playing Top 40/Pop covers though. Side Effects by the Chainsmokers is one from that genre that I've found difficult to pull off without a 5 string.

 

[Randy S]

All of them.

 

[Gothic]

Problem with five strings, flats for them cost way too much.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Are there songs that you feel would suffer if the bassist used a 4 string instead of a 5?

Just curious what the community thinks.

Skimmed the thread. As many have said: if you're willing to constantly detune/retune, then you'll be able to cover the vast majority of songs on a four.

Let's forget about prog/jazz/fusion, etc, and stick to popular standard format covers. You'll rarely if ever have to worry about playing above the range of a four, but there are LOTS of popular songs that use notes below low E. Traditionally it's been synth bass, but these days there are bass guitar lines that go down to low C or B, even in modern country, blues, pop.

To echo others: the same note an octave up doesn't always work. I've had bandmates tell me "the sub we used for you had a four string, and some songs sounded terrible because he wasn't playing the low notes".

Back when I played 4-string exclusively I used Hipshot D-Tuners/Xtenders on my fours. They are brilliant devices, but weren't perfect: I usually needed low D so it made sense to set them up that way, but sometimes I needed low C#, low C. Even the "double stop" variety would not have covered all my needs.

In Y2K I bought a 5, and after a couple/few months of adjustment I realized it was the tool I was looking for all these years. It gave me a 2 octave range in each fingering position that was highly useful even when playing songs that stayed in four-string territory the whole time. I play the low B string above the 5th fret more than I do below.

Some prefer 6 strings, but 5 happens to be just right for me. I strongly recommend 5+ over 4 for the reasons I noted above, but 4 still works for the majority. 4 will never be wrong, but it poses inconveniences when playing the numerous songs that require those low notes.

 

[ryco]

Any song where containing notes below the low E string.
I hurt my eyeball yesterday.

 

[Kathy Clark]

Are there songs that you feel would suffer if the bassist used a 4 string instead of a 5?

Just curious what the community thinks.

My brain would suffer if I had a 5 string!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

For P&W that includes free flow (spontaneous worship, etc.), it's really handy. Stuff in Eb, D, etc. as others have said. Or any jam-like situation that can include lower notes. There are times going up from the E to C or D is fine, but times going down is better.

 

[bassdude51]

Stop fixating on the number of strings. Any song can be played on any bass.

What he said!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't feel any song needs a 5er. A 20 fret 4 string bass has 80 notes. A 24 fret 4 string bass has 96 notes. They CAN play bass for any song. And there are those things called "drop tuners" for a few extra low notes.

All in all, a 5er only has 5 additional notes over a 4 banger.

 

[armelind]

If i am playing a set with mostly standard tuning but there is one or two songs that have a lower range or alternate tuning, I like my 5 string. I play a 5 string always but if I only had a 4 string setup, I would either need to retune, drop tune or change basses more often.

I mostly like them because they give more range.

 

[FunkHead]

I think some people don’t get it.
Example: singer and guitarist playing “Superstition” in E instead of Eb telling me to really get funky with this one.
For me that song is much more funky played in the correct key with the bass line played in low Eb.
Now where it get better for me is on a 5 string wearing La Bella LTF’s.
I certainly don’t need my 5 string to pull off the song. And maybe it’s more for my own enjoyment but my joy and happiness rubs off on those around me.

 

[Atshen]

A 20 fret 4 string bass has 80 notes. A 24 fret 4 string bass has 96 notes.

Okay, I'll be the nitpicking arsehole. Technically, a 20-fret 4-string has 36 notes, and a 24-fret 4-string has 40.

If you're counting all the notes available, including those that can be found in more than one place, the 20-fret has 84 notes and the 24-fret has 100 (you forgot the open strings).