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Why 5 Strings are essential

#21
I can see this both ways. To be a great session player, I would have a 5, or even a 6, but they are not required...

I have only used 5s and I am building my first 4. I wanted to make a four, I could drop, or play stuff I didn't write to go below D. If I were a session player, I would have a 6 string, strung correctly, with an active/passive switch and a pick in my pocket... Just incase.

To each his own. However I will say on my five, I use the B string A LOT!!!!! I slid on it all the time, and if I play (my middle C... the one on the A string) I can sometimes fill out the mix with a lower octave C in there...
 
#22
WayneS said:
That makes no sense at all.

The fundamental of the E on a bass is 41.2 Hz.
Click to expand...

You've got me!!! I must confess! It's been 10 years since I qualified in Musical Instrument Technology, From Leeds College of Music. But heck are you, going to quibble over 1.2 hertz, (and I haven't double checked yet), when we are dealing in tens!

As I've said I think if one plays in any other key other than E-flat and D one a 4 string is adequate, and yes most of the time, you are not even going to play over 2 octaves when a specific chord is being played so even D one could cope easy enough with a 4 string as I have for many years....
 
#23
kaputsport said:
I can see this both ways. To be a great session player, I would have a 5, or even a 6, but they are not required...

I have only used 5s and I am building my first 4. I wanted to make a four, I could drop, or play stuff I didn't write to go below D. If I were a session player, I would have a 6 string, strung correctly, with an active/passive switch and a pick in my pocket... Just incase.

To each his own. However I will say on my five, I use the B string A LOT!!!!! I slid on it all the time, and if I play (my middle C... the one on the A string) I can sometimes fill out the mix with a lower octave C in there...
Click to expand...

I congratulate you for building your own, and being a qualified builder I've thought of doing the same. But unfortunately time is lacking since I work away from home making sure my Kids are fed and watered.
BTW one reason the course I did shut down is that now you can buy very decent instruments for a lot less money than you use to. And you see a lot less makers than you did in the Mid 90s
 
#24
oldprussians said:
I'm currently looking to convert my old Double bass to 5 strings.
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Wow, that would be expensive wouldn't it? Why not just get the low C extender? I know you wouldn't have a low B without retuning, but it seems like the extender would be easier and cheaper.

As far as the low notes go however it seems to me that once we get used to that low B, we are going to find some need for a low A ... then G etc etc.

I'm happy with my 4 strings. No need to always have the lowest root possible.
 
#25
BassChuck said:
Wow, that would be expensive wouldn't it? Why not just get the low C extender? I know you wouldn't have a low B without retuning, but it seems like the extender would be easier and cheaper.

As far as the low notes go however it seems to me that once we get used to that low B, we are going to find some need for a low A ... then G etc etc.

I'm happy with my 4 strings. No need to always have the lowest root possible.
Click to expand...

There is a fundamental problem with the peg box and its been expertly repaired twice, but even when you take it out to a gig very carefully it causes it to slowly to lose its head. So why put a new neck? Well "Otto" is a 150 year old German butler that sings a beautiful bass note, so with a new neck the value will go back up and it sounds fantastic...
 
#28
I only play 5 strings, but more because that's what I'm comfortable with. I guess the way I look at it is that if you have your muting perfected (which is a little more of a chore on a 5 versus a 4, especially if you use slap technique as part of your performance tool bag) there is nothing you can do on a 4 that you can't do on a 5. Of course, the same could be said of a 6 string, but the width of the neck and the string spacing starts to feel quite different on a 6 versus a 4 to me, and muting can really be a chore (again IME.. others have no problem).

I go through many gigs without ever using the B string, but it's nice to have there for certain tunes, to provide some 'drama' on occasion when transitioning to the bridge of a tune, to simplify fingering in some keys, and to 'go down low' with an entire figure on occasion.

There is not one gig or tune that I play on a 5 that I couldn't play on a 4 though, so 'necessary' is way too strong of a word. I dig it though, and haven't gigged on a 4 string in over 15 years.
 
#29
I use five strings primarily because I found some that are very comfortable for me to play and because I was working with some singers who were transposing a lot of songs to flat keys and it was just easier for me to transpose on the five string to play the songs. I took one bass to a gig while the guitarist would bring three, all tuned differently. In rehearsal when it was decided to move a song, the guitarist would have to capo or retune, all I had to do was change hand positions!

That being said, I do not think that the five string is essential. I can pull of on four string what I can play on five string. I actually challenge myself to do so, as it make me rely less on rote patterns and focus more on what notes I am actually playing.
 
#30
Do you guys find that you play your e string more? I find i play a and d because theirs two octaves around it. I want to play e more for fast fills and such but theirs not as much leway to improv with. Would a 5 help fix this?
 
#32
Not essential, but I really lik emine. I don't use the B string THAT much, but I do like having it for the times when it is "necesary" or preferred.

There's no denying it is a sweet thumb rest.

That said, I do plan to get a 4 string fretless for my jazz gigs. For "standard" jazz I think 4 is all you need.
 
#34
Nope, 5 strings aren't essential, but they are definately nice to have! ;)
I played a 4-stringer and recently got a 5-er, and it does wonders. Some lines that I play with my band became less busy, while others recieved notes at the low end. There's a tradeoff here, however: it's a bit harder to play groovy lines with narrower string spacing, but it's a question of practice.
 
#36
HaVIC5 said:
First, your typical bread and butter bass line for pretty much any style of music won't go anywhere near middle C (15th fret G string). What's written as middle C on our instruments is actually an octave below it (remember, bass is a transposing instrument), and still very safely in the bass register away from the sonic space of the treble instruments.
Click to expand...

+1 but

17th fret not 15th
 
#37
:cool:
I enjoy playing 5-string. ( I play one about 40% of the time)

I also play fretted and fretless 4-string.

No way do i feel it's essential.

I do feel that the E and the A string react different on a 5-string.
Do to placement on the fingerboard.

it's nice to have those low notes. ( But not life changing)

To each his own.
 
#38
oldprussians said:
In reality a working bass player won't play over more than 2 octaves in a piece music so that he/she/it (to be PC), does step on anyone's toes.
That's fine, but on a four string to do that in certain keys. D and E-flat, one ends up going above middle C, which is no longer in the bass clef! A lot of Jazz pieces use D and E-flat.
Click to expand...


Fail.

A solution (if that) in search of a problem.
 

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