I remember playing a Guild Pilot 5 off a shelf back in like 85 or so, it was so bad it make me swear-off 5 strings for a few years, not to mention my ears and the amps weren't tuned down that low yet. Around that time Synths and Midi were coming into there own and suddenly the keyboard could play everything. As more music was being written and produced using keyboards as a tool the need for lower notes became more mainstream. I remember hearing that long ago some gospel cats were using old piano strings to get lower ranges on their 4 strings, not sure if that's a myth or not tho.
