If you don’t need to sell the 4’s I’d keep them, or one at least. I’ve been playing a 5 for a long time. It’s home for me. I have a cheap 4 string jazz. Never play it. I do find myself making my 5 sound like a P a lot lately. 95% of what I play could be played on a 4. I keep playing a 5 because of a couple tunes we do and for church, where key changes are as frequent as my heart beating. Just makes it easier.
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Who made the permanent switch to 5 Strings?
- Thread starter tonymcbony
- Start date
LOL it's the Simpsons three-eyed fish. Little souvenir from a lovely visit to (Florida and) Universal Studios Orlando back in 2012
Switched to 5 strings years ago....I keep the 4s as backups but rarely use them anymore.
I made the switch to fivers back in the late 80’s and didn’t own a 4 string for several years. But in the early 90’s i went back to 4 strings and never looked back. I bought another fiver a few years ago because i was getting a lot of offers for work but i had to have a fiver to get it. I tried to get in to it but i wound up selling it after a few months and decided i’d just pass on the extra work. I don’t do it for a living and i had enough with a 4 string so i left all the fiver work to the younger cats willing to deal with it.
I started playing a 5-string some years ago. Not really sure when. I haven't gone back to a 4-string since.
Doug Parent
Supporting Member
Switched to a five string bass in 1990 and never looked back.
The fingering options alone are worth the added girth of a wider neck.
True, to get a clear open low B you need to find a quality instrument and use the right strings, but it's well worth it in my opinion.
The fingering options alone are worth the added girth of a wider neck.
True, to get a clear open low B you need to find a quality instrument and use the right strings, but it's well worth it in my opinion.
I switched to 5’s and 6’s many years ago. I’ve tried to go back to 4’s once or twice, but they just don’t feel like home to me anymore.
I did, years ago. Went from 4's to 6's then realized that 5's were the perfect fit for how I wanted to play. I sold off all my 4's and have never looked back.
I started playing only 5s about 10 years ago, and I was convinced that I would never touch an electric 4-string ever again. Then, recently, I picked up a hollow-body, short-scale 4-string, and I was, like, wait a second--this is awesome! I can't really explain it, but playing a 4 after all those years of playing a 5 was incredibly liberating and fun. So now I'm in the market for my first P or J 4-string--in fact, I'll be putting up one of my 5s up for sale/trade in the classifieds, hopefully later today. I still love my 5s, and will keep several, but having the option of either seems to make sense...
I started with 4 strings in like 1994. Got my first 5 in 1998 then played nothing but 5 strings for a long time. A couple years ago I did give 6 and 7 string an honest shot but it didn’t last too long before I was back to 5 string. These days I own two 5s and one 4 string. The one 4 string i own is a fender acoustic bass which I may replace someday with a more expensive 5 string. But I do think it’s good for me to still own a 4 string. I think a lot of 5 string players, especially those who play rock and metal, turn into 2 string players where they are basically only using the low b and E strings. I play the 4 a lot at home and I feel like it helps me avoid falling into that trap of overusing the low b string which is very tempting when you have a Dingwall with such a killer sounding low b
I've been playing 6-string and 5-string basses exclusively for better than the last 15 years. I still own a few 4-string basses, and I play them occasionally.
I’m switching back from 5 to all 4. I just keep one 5 strings in the array...just on case...
Me too. Like all, started on a 4, changed to a 5 for years. Had a short sabbatical, started back playing for a very small venue, no drummer, currently playing a 4 there. Still have the 5 ready to go!
I think it would be interesting to see how many of us who have not switched back to a 4-string are live players. I think playing live and switching between bands & musical genres would give more of a reason to go back and forth between 4 & 5 strings.
I don't play live.
I don't play live.
For me playing a 4 is like visiting a town I lived in for Many years and really understand and could move back any time, but...where I live now we have a low B, so see ya
I've kept a number of 4's that are specialty basses, like Epiphones, Dan Electro, an older Ibanez that was a copy of an EB, my original 1981 Carvin... But it's 99% 5 strings played now.
I've kept a number of 4's that are specialty basses, like Epiphones, Dan Electro, an older Ibanez that was a copy of an EB, my original 1981 Carvin... But it's 99% 5 strings played now.
