Jaco only needed four.
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Why play a four string?
- Thread starter joel406
- Start date
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I started playing 5 string in the mid 90’s and played nothing else until I joined an all blues band around 2000. Had to go back to 4 string traditional for a few years. Went back to 5 in about 2004 for several years, but then I started getting in to some traditional instruments that were all 4 string. Then I bought a couple short scale that are 4 string. I still have fretted & fretless 5 strings, but I play 4 more often. Strangely enough, my band mates don’t like me to play any notes lowers than open E, so if I play my 5s the B string becomes a continuous thumb rest. I sat in with a band a couple months ago and played a six for several songs. Kinda enjoyed that for a while....
Yes, there are many 5s available. No shortage of great bases. But compared to 4-strings, I’d hardly say it’s a plethora. Like, try to find a hollow-body 5; they exist, but not so common really.
I know a few players that do the BEDG on a four because that 5th string just trips them up, I say whatever works for you.
Ouch!Four strings are cool and five strings are for dorks.
I loved playing my 5 string at our church. The big sound really filled the building. I currently play at a small acoustic dive. It is 4 string territory. So i am back to playing my 4. I felt like my 5 was overkill. I still have my 5, waiting for an opportunity to play. Our church is about 3 deep in bass players.
I grew up listening to Macca, Sting, Harris, Geddy and Squire, and fell in love with the bass. To me, a fiver is not the instrument that I fell in love with.
The music I like does not require a five-string. The music I play does not require a five-string. The neck of a five-string makes my hand hurt.
I’ve been playing 4, 5 and 6 string basses and still do. They all have different areas of music where they fit.
But the short answer to the question why play 4 would for me be because it has some advantages in sound (sorry, it didn’t turn out to be that short)
If you only think about range and possible positions to play in of course a 5 or 6-string gives you more flexibility besides the added range... but after playing 5 & 6 since the mid 80s professionally I would say things sound different on the low B string than playing the same notes on the E-string. It’s all about physics and to get a clear note higher up on the B string that matches the sound of the same note on the E or A string is very seldom possible. Also there’s the issue of string-control as have been mentioned here. So if you play 5 or 6 string and feel that it does all that your 4 can do you probably have another opinion on what a good sound is and by all means congratulations, just keep on and be happy. But I find a 4 gives me the best sound in the range that it has and use my 5 or 6 in the situations where I need the extra range, and I’ve come to the conclusion that that isn’t as often as I though back when it was in fashion.
But the short answer to the question why play 4 would for me be because it has some advantages in sound (sorry, it didn’t turn out to be that short)
If you only think about range and possible positions to play in of course a 5 or 6-string gives you more flexibility besides the added range... but after playing 5 & 6 since the mid 80s professionally I would say things sound different on the low B string than playing the same notes on the E-string. It’s all about physics and to get a clear note higher up on the B string that matches the sound of the same note on the E or A string is very seldom possible. Also there’s the issue of string-control as have been mentioned here. So if you play 5 or 6 string and feel that it does all that your 4 can do you probably have another opinion on what a good sound is and by all means congratulations, just keep on and be happy. But I find a 4 gives me the best sound in the range that it has and use my 5 or 6 in the situations where I need the extra range, and I’ve come to the conclusion that that isn’t as often as I though back when it was in fashion.
Like you I started on a four, then moved to fivers. Eventually I sold all my four bangers except one and I played 5-strings almost exclusively for 25 years.
Then...the one four banger I kept, a '94 Stingray that I loved (still love), kept calling me. It needed some fretwork and after I took care of that it played so well I started playing it much more. My skills had improved in those 25 years and I realized that I could mute better, play crisper, move a little faster, do a little more a little differently on the four banger than the fiver and I really liked it.
Now, I have reversed. I play four bangers almost exclusively and have sold all but one fiver, a Stingray 5 that my wife bought for me as a wedding present.
All that is to say that I was like you, and then I went in the other direction. So never say never.
Then...the one four banger I kept, a '94 Stingray that I loved (still love), kept calling me. It needed some fretwork and after I took care of that it played so well I started playing it much more. My skills had improved in those 25 years and I realized that I could mute better, play crisper, move a little faster, do a little more a little differently on the four banger than the fiver and I really liked it.
Now, I have reversed. I play four bangers almost exclusively and have sold all but one fiver, a Stingray 5 that my wife bought for me as a wedding present.
All that is to say that I was like you, and then I went in the other direction. So never say never.
Like you I started on a four, then moved to fivers. Eventually I sold all my four bangers except one and I played 5-strings almost exclusively for 25 years.
Then...the one four banger I kept, a '94 Stingray that I loved (still love), kept calling me. It needed some fretwork and after I took care of that it played so well I started playing it much more. My skills had improved in those 25 years and I realized that I could mute better, play crisper, move a little faster, do a little more a little differently on the four banger than the fiver and I really liked it.
Now, I have reversed. I play four bangers almost exclusively and have sold all but one fiver, a Stingray 5 that my wife bought for me as a wedding present.
All that is to say that I was like you, and then I went in the other direction. So never say never.
Well I'm a little further down the road than you(maybe). Been on a four for about 35 years. I had a Modulus five string back in the day for like a month. Didn't like the graphite neck. Not having a truss rod adjustment worried me.
