Who plays above the 5th fret?

[flannel cat]

I play the whole neck, why limit yourself ? That's what I say.

yep! they have that many frets for a reason..

 

[SemiDriven]

I play above the 5th fret, below the 5th fret, and on the 5th fret (I do it all!).

 

[PWRL]

I play all over the neck. It just depends on what's happening at the time and what is appropriate.

 

[thetragichero]

i play everywhere besides low e above the 12th fret because it doesn't feel or sound right

 

[Pocket4]

You have to keep an ear for tone and the way the note plays out on the string. Depending on the music that could be be anywhere on the neck. Ok I try to stay below 7th fret.

 

[Killing Floor]

Crap, I can't say "Jaco didn't..." in this thread.

 

[Ash Jazz]

I do all the time. I tend to play in Octave blocks. I don't know if that is a thing or just the way I naturally see things. I get around the neck pretty good that way.

I saw Tinsley Ellis and company at a downtown bar. The guy on bass never left the low E string. I asked him about that and he said it sounds best that way.

 

[Nick von Nick]

Using classical guitar positions, positions III through VII are my favorite places to play (rougly corresponding to spaces between frets 3 and 10). There's something about the balance of bounciness and punch to the tone that really appeals to me. Keep in mind that I tend to pluck over the 15th fret, so I get a bit of a sub-harmonic frequency when fretting and plucking in these respective zones (there's a video where Michael League explains this phenomena, but I'm not certain if there is a formal name for it - basically plucking the note at the string point an octave above the fretted note).
~NvN

 

[micguy]

This is basically the exact way that I would answer, except more eloquently and with better grammar.

Aw shucks - thank ya fer dem purdy werds.

 

[dkelley]

I know I've said so in other threads.

But if we're voting here, I play above the fifth fret.

LoL.

Honestly, it's more comfortable then holding your arm out that for all night long. In long gigs in fact I change positions for songs that can be played in various places on the neck to give my muscles a rest... and also to keep the job interesting on night number 40

 

[coyote1]

There's no money there.... why would I play there?

On a 5 string fretless, there's plenty of money there. Wanna sound as 'upright' as possible? Try playing a fretless 5 with flatwounds from frets 5 thru 15. Play most of that on the B E and A strings, the B and E in particular. It'll be a lot 'thumpier' than on, say, the open D string and the first few positions which will ring and sustain much more. Another huge benefit of that approach is that the shrinking distance between notes allows you to use one finger per 'fret' (position).

 

[HolmeBass]

I paid for all the strings and frets, I'm going to use 'em!

But seriously, I play a lot from frets 5 through 9. Lots and lots of lines sit best up there. Many have noted the different tonality in that range of the neck, seems crazy to not use the tones available on our instrument.

 

[jdh3000]

I play all over the neck if the song calls for it.

A lot of country songs start low on the neck and slide up to higher positons.

 

[bassbrad]

I play wherever it sounds or feels best.

 

[retslock]

I use whatever part of the neck is required to get the notes I want. I can't imagine why I would ever want to impose such a restriction on my music that kept me below the 5th fret. Who needs that ball & chain?

 

[Thundertips]

I played Guitar for 6 years before I started playing Bass, so I play Lead Bass with a pick and use the whole neck. The whole neck is my playground! Haha. Kinda like Jack Bruce or Steve Harris.

 

[Madhouse27]

I didn't use to venture much past the tenth fret, but since I got my Rickenbacker I've been playing more higher up the neck. I don't know if it's the sound or accessibility, but it just kind of opened up for me.

 

[Indiana Mike]

I do , I need a five string so I won't have to as much

 

[Ostie]

We all play above the fifth. It's just an old saying. Of course, like all old sayings, there some truth to it.

 

[mambo4]

As others have said : depends on the sound required for the song.