when you started playing 5 string

[Ole Man Blues]

I started playing Bass for our church out of nesessity, they had no bass man, I'd played guitar for 30 years but not bass. So I give it a try and did well. I tried a few different 5'er's and could not get a feel for them. Maybe I did not give them enough time, but anyway I switched back to the mighty 4 banger. My favorite is a Fender P Bass (which I currently use and own) for that room filling thunder that it produces, but I also like the Stingray for it's tone and playability. I'm 55 so I'll more than likely be playing the 4 string until Jesus comes to get me...........

OMB

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

I have to say +1 to the posts about using the lowest notes on the B-string tastefully. IMO they have a great impact when used sparingly. I also use my B-string for playing in postition higher up the neck.

I tried to play the 5-string a few times in the mid 90's, but I had a hard time getting used to the B-string. I'd get lost on it, and the songs I was playing at that time didn't require notes below low E. So I gave up on it.

A few years ago, my wife let me splurge on a new bass, and she suggested that I buy something completely different. I decided to get a 6-string bass, and I bought a Roscoe SKB3006. It was a little difficult at first, but I was surprised how easily I made the transition with a bit of practice.

A Mike Lull M5V is my main bass now, yet I still play my MIA P-Bass on all of my gigs. I'm also taking my '70 Jazz out of retirement. It sounds too good to sit at home.

 

[Earwigger]

To be ashamedly honest, it was because it was mid-90s and all the cool bands were doing it. The second bass I bought was a 5-string. Since I've done it I have not looked back. 4-strings just seem limiting, like I'm playing with a handicap. The 5-string is the natural evolution of the bass guitar and I have bought 2 more 5-strings since then. I am saving up for a 6-string now.

Strangely, everyone I meet tells me "wow I just can't do that 5th string" and I get to stare at them like they're simple. It was completely natural to add another 4th to the lineup and the "learning curve" was about a week for me.

I'll never buy a 4-string again, unless its for the purpose of resale. 5 makes sense IMO because the purpose of a bass is to provide bass frequencies. A 6-string tuned F# B E A D G would be awesome.

Also, my new band Dohm makes much use of the 5th string. Another advantage is that you don't have to screw with tuning to play along with something in drop D. You have a D readily availible on the 5th string.

 

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Better equipped.

I was in a R&B band and was running into material that was lower than E. I was using a Hipshot detuner at the time which was working for all practical purposes. Then I realized it's been quite some time since I've treated myself to a new bass. This was 1999 and five stringers were already popular so that was the route I took. It really only made sense. I still love a good four banger but If I'm playing out it's a fiver.

I had the same problems listed before me. I literally bought the bass, took it to a rehearsal, and then a couple hours later was playing it at a gig. My right hand was plucking one string and my left was fretting another. I finished the night with my trusty old four string.

It really didn't take all that long to get use to it, but I played it as it was a four string for a while until I started to pick apart the bass lines and apply the extra string and play across the fretboard as opposed to playing up and down the neck. Some bass lines work better than others but the option is there and it gives you different tone options.

If my next bass will be a four or a five string depends on which bass I might buy. To my ears a four and a five string are two totally different sounding basses.

 

[Moving Pictures]

why did you do it? what were your thoughts initially? i mean, take me through the process. do you feel "more prepared" or "better equipped" going into battle with 5 strings instead of 4? what type of music were you playing that made you start using a 5 stringer?

It was a matter of meeting the needs of our repitoire. I play mostly Christian rock and P/W music and a good deal of the material we play has low C and D in it. Even more is in Eb and a five allows me to play it without detuning (something I don't like to do). I have started to find that I actually have more fun playing a 5 more than I do a four.

It's all good though

 

[seansbrew]

I played four string basses for about 4 years before I started using a fiver. My decision (which may sound ********) was based on the price difference between four and five string models. I figured that a fiver was not that much more exspensive than a four string. So I purchased a Modulus Q5 and have been happy eversince.

I still play both four and five string basses.

 

[20db pad]

I started playing 5 around 1988, a little while after Whitney Houston's first album came out. Nathan East was arguably the first guy to play 5 string bass on a big pop hit, and it was all over the radio and hard to ignore.

Heard "Saving All my Love for You" and I had to have that sound. Of course, the internet had yet to be invented, so I asked everybody I knew because I didn't know how Nate got those notes below "E". This took some time to get figured out - bear in mind it was 1988 and 5 string basses were something most players and music retailers didn't know about. They were already out there, but very rare and almost always built custom by small luthiers. Most of the older players didn't know who or what Nathan was, some said he tuned down, and then the premiere Gospel player in town told me it was a 5 string bass, with a low "B" string below the "E".

A short time later, he and I ordered Yamaha BB5000 models, like Nathan played at that time. He still has his, but I regret selling mine - that was a great bass.

Close to 20 years later, playing 5 is almost a requirement in a lot of styles of music. If I get called to a pick-up job where I'm not sure what tunes will be called, I'll play 5 string just to be covered if I need it. I still like playing 4, but I use a Hipshot on them.

 

[i like tictacs]

Nothing beats a good low D rumble.

 

[winston]

I got my first 5 (fretless Peavey Cirrus) after 15 years of playing 4-string. It took me a couple months to acclimate. Right now I have three 4s, two 5s, two 6s, and an upright 4 in regular rotation. I like the extra range and positions of added strings BUT I also love the simplicity and zippy ease of getting around on a 4.

I never truly appreciated that until I bought a Conklin Groove Tools 7-- for me, an enormous, gargantuan, confusing instrument. I'm equally comfortable on 4 or 5 now, but 6 is my limit and still takes some getting used to.

Still being into 4s also means that there are way more basses to choose from. I also find that on a 4 I tend to play above the 12th fret on the E and A strings more than on I do on 4+ string basses.

 

[PalaNIN]

I loved entertaining the idea of having an extra string in there, so I got a cheap 5-string off eBay to see if I could get used to it. It's been a few months now, and I can't imagine not having the lower notes.

As others have said, the B string has a great use of playing the low E and A string notes further up the neck, which I love doing because I dislike the tinny sound of the G string.

Edit: Also, having the strings just that little bit closer to each other feels so much smoother when playing complicated riffs.

 

[Shelly]

I started on a four string before high school, but stopped playing when I was in college. By the time I graduated in '90, I'd heard a few tunes where I like the use of the low B notes and I was hooked. When I decided to resume playing, I bought a five. I think that not playing while in college mioght have helped with the transition from 4 to 5-string.

My first five was some Samick piece of junk with a P-bass type pick up that would not produce an even volume across all 5 strings no matter how it was adjusted. I sold it and bought a Peavey Dynabass 5. Not a bad bass, but the string spacing was too tight. Then came and went the Heartfield, then the Zon Sonus 5, and so on, and so on...

 

[broadbandit]

why did you do it? what were your thoughts initially? i mean, take me through the process. do you feel "more prepared" or "better equipped" going into battle with 5 strings instead of 4? what type of music were you playing that made you start using a 5 stringer?

when i heard "we didnt sart the fire" by billy joel, the first notes were a low d so i tuned low d, but then it does the e bit, then it does a lower c, so thats when i needed a five string.
the e string is like being at home. its the home note. i couldnt avoid thinking like that as i learnt when i was a boy.
but on a 5, now your blind little thumb goes home like normal, and its this other note! E is the new A, too!
thats how i remember it.
i still grab a 4 first.

 

[eude]

I got into 5 strings after a year of playing bass.
I'd been playing a red p bass for a year, spending a lot of time playing along with CDs and as my music taste developed a more bassy nature the players I began to look up to where playing 5 and 6 stringers.
I detuned for a wee while but a 5 string was the only way forwards for me.
Since then I've gone on to 6 strings, however I don't fancy going any further, unless maybe a 7 string with a low F#.

Cheers,
Eude

 

[PalaNIN]

the e string is like being at home. its the home note. i couldnt avoid thinking like that as i learnt when i was a boy.

Yeah, I think the same way with the E string. It's like the B is the "-1 string".

 

[PaulMacCnj]

I was practicing on a 4 string in standard tuning and thought it would be nice to:
a) have a fretted low E
b) have access to a 5th note below a G, F#, etc. root note
c) have a low Eb, D, etc.
d) not have to use drop D tuning

Plus, I do like the sound of the low B, as long as it isn't over-used. Now I've been playing a Spector Euro 5 LX for a little over a month and don't play the 4 string bass anymore. The 5 string feels more natural to me.

Paul Mac

 

[routasydän]

I'm a reformed g****r player, having started on bass a few years ago. I decided to go with a 5 string right away even though I don't use notes below the low E very often on original songs and most of the covers I've played don't use it. Our originals are a mix of rock, classic rock, progressive rock, and blues. The covers are primarily classic rock and progressive rock.

It's fun to make use of the lower notes once in a while, but that's just occassional spice. The real reason I bought it was the versatility of being able to cover a wider range of notes in a given position by using the B string.

more or less +1

 

[broadbandit]

don't some five strings have a c down there instead of a b up there? to give shortys the notes they missed. thats how i saw one once.

 

[Andy Brown]

Like most others here I needed the lower range. Being able to play a low-F at the 6th fret helps with positioning. I liked this efficient/more comfortable positioning concept so much, I went to 6-stringers also.

 

[Andysalt01]

I love that low B , and got tired of tuning up and down on my four string, also when i converted about 6 years ago whilst looking for a new bass, i found a nice De Armond at a really low price and it all fell into place. I play in a metal band, and we like it low....just bought myself a new Ibanez SR905, and love it to bits!!!! I wouldnt go back to four - five is just more versatile for what i do.

 

[eboe]

Another advantage is that you don't have to screw with tuning to play along with something in drop D. You have a D readily availible on the 5th string.

See, I love tuning my 4 string down to D cause then you can rock the D open. With the 5 string, I would be fretting it alot. To me half the charm of tuning down to D is the open D note, plus sometimes I play fifths with the A string and that barre is too easy to give up when I'm busy rocking and not paying 100% attention what I'm doing... Sometimes for me easiest is best, I'm lazy, what can I say?