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Why do you play fours?

All of the 5 string bass necks I've tried are either too wide or have the strings too close together for comfort. I usually have a second instrument on hand to allow for a rapid switch to Drop-D or E-flat tuning, but the few songs that require those use the open low string heavily, so using a 5-string with a low B string instead is a lot more awkward.

I actually own a 5-string bass (and 6 with 4 strings) and haven't even picked that one up in at least a year. At some point, I had one bass restrung for BEAD tuning, but only used it on one song. When the band stopped playing that song, I switched it back to normal strings.

As pointed out by previous posters, the 5-string only gains you 5 extra notes, and I'm not overly impressed with the tonal quality of the low-B strings I've played, to put it mildly.
 
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Simply because two of my basses were only available
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as four strings.
 
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As an addendum to my previous post:

I have played around with 5ers at various music stores. The lowB would be handy to have for some of the music we play.

The Squier CV 5s are very playable basses, good quality, and priced nicely. On more than one occasion I almost walked out with one.

What stopped me? I'm sure you can guess. They weigh about 75lbs. And I come to my senses and realize there is no way I can wear this instrument for a 2.5 hour show.

I'll stick with my very comfortable 4 and drop the E the 4 or 5 times I need that low D (or Eb) during a gig.
 
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