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Would you rather have a 4, 5, or 6 string bass, and why?

Would you rather have a 4,5, or 6 string bass

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    382
#41
4-string crew checking in... small hands, and I can tune down or use a drop pedal if I need to.

I have one 5-string bass... a Modulus Quantum 5 TBX with a reasonably narrow neck... even so I find playing it to be like playing across the deck of a boat.
 
#42
After a long stint of playing a 5, a 4 feels more clear and open in terms of playing. I’d still be playing the 5 for technical reasons but it takes up too much room, sonically, doesn’t work in my current band. Great for power trio playing, here, less so.

I just put together a P with a Jazz neck and Quarter Pounders to play with them. That works well within the sound on the band.
 
#43
Because of the music I play, I tend to use 5 and 6 string exclusively.
I started on 4 strings and got hooked. 5 and 6 strings gave me my voice.
 
#45
I play almost exclusively on six strings, either on an Ibanez SRFF806, or Terra Firma, which is currently getting a Kahler trem put on. I worked my way up from four, to five, then six strings gradually, but I have decently big hands, so now four string necks feel tiny to me. The closest thing I play anymore that kind of resembles a four is a Dean Rhapsody 12.
 
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#48
I briefly owned a Squire Precision 5, very nice instrument, for a New Country project. When the project died, the 5 went away with it. Other than that, I've never felt the need for a low B. I'm fascinated by the 6-string (I saw a Russian guy play one with the jazz pianist Helen Sung...couldn't stop watching him) but I've never even touched one myself. I am, after all, a dumbass rock'n'roll bass player. :D
 
#51
I own one five string and a fluctuating number of four string basses. For what I do, one five string (a Spector) has me covered.

But lately I’ve gotten back to writing a more proggy/celtic/world type of music. (Purely for my own amusement.) So I keep toying with the notion of one day getting a six string. But there’s also a list of other things I want (Celtic harp, cittern, bouzouki, bass marimba, tenor sax, small jazz type drum kit, tenor guitar, etc.) and there’s only so much time and money (and room in the house ;)) available. So me getting a six string bass is currently on hold while I perform some triage in my wish list.
 
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#52
I like 4 string for fretless, 6 string for fretted. I'm a position player and it's really nice not to have to travel the entire neck for higher note runs. A 6er lets me toss in a 3 part chords every once in a while. For slapping I like a 4 string fretless. It makes my soul happy to bang on flatwounds and get the "muaah" for melodies.
 
#53
Neal Brakey said:
I was just pondering this question, I know the reason most people choose one or the other, but why specifically do you choose one over the other?
What drew you to one? or what made you switch to another?
Me personally I have one 4 string and one 5 string, so I can have the best of both worlds.
I liked the 6 string, but it was not comfortable at all for me.
I like the idea of having 7, or 12 strings, but nothing I would use as my main performer.
Click to expand...

My choice is driven by the music I’m playing. I play in three musical enitities. One is an oldies/DooWhop, beach music act. What better than the definitive sound for that than a 4 string P-Bass?

The other two, a corporate dance band, and put praise and worship band, play music that the low B string is required.

Needless to say, I have both.
 
#54
Every bass is a compromise. The more extended the range, the greater the range of compromises it brings with it. A super twangy, piano-like B often comes with a nasal honk to the upper register on the G string. A broader fingerboard means a slightly slower fingerboard (YMMV) and, perhaps, a narrower string spacing with more strings. This affects the way you attack the bass.

Having two octaves in one hand position is great, but there's a certain exhilaration in the extra shifting up and down the string on the limited range bass. So I'll default to 4 and use a five when I need the extra notes.
 
#55
I voted 4 string, even though I play a 5 string fretless full time in both bands I'm in, due to needing the low B for the music (and sometimes low A). But I prefer a narrow neck, and I also like the way I think and construct lines on a 4 string better. I have two 4 and two 5 strings, a fretted and fretless of each, and they meet my needs very well. But at home and in my solo act, I primarily play my 4s. If I had to pick and only keep one, it would be my 4 string fretless Ray, and I'd make it work.
 
#59
I like 4s.

I bought and tried about three different 5 strings and I just couldn't deal with them. I found 5ers to be clutter with the extra string which all in all only gave to me 5 extra notes compared to a 4 banger. I found that the extra notes only sound good to me when played in whole notes or half notes. Playing 1/4 notes, 1/8 notes, etc never gave the B string enough time to define itself.

Also, most bass cabs don't do justice to those low notes and they never sounded very good to me.

I like 4s. Sweet and simple. Allows for digging in and staying focused. Less is more.

The 4 string electric bass is based after a stand-up bass. The stand-up is 4. Stay with tradition.

And, this is just my experience and opinion and nothing more.

Whatever others like and use is fine with me and I have nothing negative to say about 5, 6, 7, 10 bangers.

I like vanilla ice cream for desert and pinto beans with onions and jalapenos for supper. To each his own.
 
#60
Stewie said:
I've never touched a bass with more than 4 strings, never had the desire to. Dang near all the music I listen to or play was around before anybody thought of adding another string to an otherwise perfect instrument.
Click to expand...
...and now for an opposing viewpoint...
I've never played a 4-string bass.
Even my electric upright has 5 strings...
My go-to is a 6-string fretless. - it gets 99% of my time.
There's a saying in the gunny world: "Beware the man who owns just one gun - he probably knows how to use it."
(Almost) everything I need to play can be found on that one instrument.
I rarely play anything below E but 5th fret B is 'home.' (Played some songs this weekend that wanted a low D and it was nice to have it...)
Don't spend much time on the high C but it stays out of my way and it's there if I need it.
I have a fretted 5 because every now and then, something from the Stanley Clarke or Marcus Miller comes up - hard to get that sound on fretless.
And a fretted 7, for that matter, because I keep thinking chords are cool and I should spend more time playing them.
Yeah, 'Jaco only needed 4' but I ain't Jaco, and my bandmates aren't Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul.
Use whatever works for you...
 
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