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

[fourstr00]

Six for the last 20 years, recently been rediscovering four strings only in the last two years.

Sixers have that advantage of almost unlimited available strings up or down, regardless of hand position. Solo and high up work sounds better on that high C and you can approximate baritone guitar, cello, and chord out over another bass. Once you get used to the usually narrower string spacing and bigger neck, they’re just really capable.

They do look kind of dorky. But anyone who’s met me knows that apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

 

[Nephilymbass]

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.

I’ve owned 4,5,6,7 string and fretless basses. I always come back to 5 string fretted. Not that I think 5 string fretted is necessarily better than the others it’s just “me”. It suits my playing style and is what’s most comfortable for my hand size. I also believe what’s good for one person may not be good for another. 4 strings for example are great for most people but I broke a metacarpal in my hand racing dirtbikes as a teen. And I find skinny 4 string necks like those found on jazz basses and ibanez sr basses to be painful to play after about 20 minutes. The big chunky 4 string p bass necks are actually close to the neck size of most of 5 strings I’ve had so they aren’t as big of an issue. I had fun on 6 and 7 string but have to admit when playing them I sorta lost my identity, in other words I went from having my own original style to being a more generic player. That is also a personal issue as there are plenty of players playing them that sound original on them. I think for me I played 5 string for so long that I wasn’t able to have my own voice so to speak on the 6 and 7.

 

[RickyT]

I have a 4 string, fretless 4 string, a 5 and for the past 2 years a 6 string.

The 6 is tuned F# B E A D G so it covers everything I need.

Going back to the 5 feels strange now and going back to the 4's feels like I'm playing a little kids guitar.

The 6 is my main player and will be for many years I think.....unless I stumble upon a nice Sadowsky Jazz or Dingwall Super J.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I play either a 5 or a 6.

I voted 6 strings because I've been playing 6 strings for the last 12 years now and this year I finally bought a 4 strings and a 5 strings. I like playing the 5 but don't care for the 4 at all.

I've only played the 4 strings for 2 years before I got my first 5 strings and then played that for 5 years before I went full 6 strings until this year that I got a 4 and 5 strings. I like playing the 5 because it feels like my college degree that I did on the 5. I thought I would like playing the 4 as sometimes I feel the 6 over kill but then ... I don,t enjoy having to change basses from cover to cover which doesn't happen with the 5 and obviously not at all on the 6.

 

[Uche_bass]

Couldn't stand any of the 5ers I've tried, and certainly don't have use for the higher C string. So if I ever come to need a low B, I'll just put the 4 lowest strings of a 5 set on one of my babies

 

[Stevorebob]

My view of the fretboard landscape changed when I moved to 5-strings: Having the A-string in the middle altered the way I saw scales, chords and positioning — the A-string just became a “north star” navigating point from which everything stemmed, and I felt a symmetry about having two strings on either side. I see things from the inside out now, where before it was either descending or ascending.

 

[Charlzm]

I like having the low B string but can't see myself using anything higher than a standard G string, so I voted 5.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

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.

Going lower than the guitar makes sense.

Going into guitar territory makes no sense to me.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

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.

My reason? Less strings. Wider space.

 

[John Le Guyader]

6-string BEADGC on electric or fretless bass guitar, including acoustic...yes, bit of a learning curve, but it will allow you to complete musical thoughts far more efficiently and easily. Once you appreciate this, going back to four string bass guitar is difficult, in my opinion. My work on upright (EADG) complements and facilitates my electric 6-string bass work.

 

[John Le Guyader]

I have a 4 string, fretless 4 string, a 5 and for the past 2 years a 6 string.

The 6 is tuned F# B E A D G so it covers everything I need.

Going back to the 5 feels strange now and going back to the 4's feels like I'm playing a little kids guitar.

The 6 is my main player and will be for many years I think.....unless I stumble upon a nice Sadowsky Jazz or Dingwall Super J.

A Dingwall Super J is pretty awesome, so is an Afterburner. I've owed each, in a 4 and a 5, respectively, and highly recommend both...you owe it to yourself to try a Dingwall....magnificent electric basses...

 

[mac10]

I’m not a gigging musician, so I’m happy with 4. Someday if I find a band and that band requires 5, I’ll take up the challenge.

 

[Aaron Houts]

I’ve only been playing about four years so im just getting started, but I’m having an interesting experience:

I started and played for the first 3.5 years and played only 4s.

Then had no bass in the house for about 1.5 years.

Got back into it just over 6 months ago going right to and having ONLY a 5 in the house.

Im going to stick with this for at least a year.

At that point, I’ll probably get an identical bass (Fender P) but in the 4 string version.

To keep myself on point and to be able to use one as a backup for the other, I’ll make sure I can always switch back and forth between the 4 and the 5 seamlessly.

 

[hieronymous]

Disclaimer: I haven't read through the thread. But I voted 5-string - I got caught by the bug! I've been playing since 1983 - overwhelmingly 4-string - but the past few years I've gotten my Alembic 5-string Stanley Clarke to speak the language I want it to and I thoroughly enjoy it! I can switch back to 4 with no problem really - I have two fretlesses that are 4-strings so if I want to play fretless, that's all I can go to. But losing the low B isn't really a problem for me - I'm not playing anything that NEEDS the low B. Mainly it's nice to be able to play between the low A through D with the low B string as the root so that I get the thicker sound of the octave on the D string as opposed to the G string. Plus the notes on the G string of my Alembic have a weight and fatness that my other basses don't for the most part.

For what it's worth, I play 4-, 5-, Bass VI-style-6, modern 6, and coursed 8-string basses. I guess I've been playing a long time and enjoy experimenting. I'm most comfortable on "normal" 4 & 5 string basses, short & long scale. I should take a picture of all of them someday! Or at least one of each...

 

[Slevage]

All my basses are 5ers including my EUB.
All sport a high C string.
I like having a high C;
Not for range ( though I do like playing the upper tensions of chords), but mostly to not have to shift positions as often.
I can play a low E up to a high Eb without going above the 3rd fret. This comes in real handy on reading gigs.

I do own one four string (1969 P that I bought from a friend of mine who is the original owner). No explanation necessary I hope.

 

[GreyMark]

I play five string, and I do use those extra few notes often enough that I think I can honestly say I need them for my style. I acknowledge that being used to the finger positioning on a five string bass whilst playing the E and above has become habitual and means my playing suffers quite badly when I do play a four string bass.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Going lower than the guitar makes sense.

Going into guitar territory makes no sense to me.

Your D and G strings are fully in guitar territory. A high C only adds five extra notes than your G has and they’re only at the very end of the fretboard.

 

[RickyT]

A Dingwall Super J is pretty awesome, so is an Afterburner. I've owed each, in a 4 and a 5, respectively, and highly recommend both...you owe it to yourself to try a Dingwall....magnificent electric basses...

I was lucky enough to try out an Afterburner II for about a month and didn't really gel with it. I think the 37-32" fan was too much for me, also the neck was way too thin for my liking. I think the Super J fan isn't as extreme, 37-34" I think, so I think it'll suit me better.

Those low B strings sound so amazing though.

 

[deeptubes]

I had a 5er. Didn't suit me. Sold it.

 

[Afc70]

Love my 5’s.. I played 4’s for many years, but once I found a Modulus Q-5, I was hooked! & I’ve discovered 5’s generally sound beefier & thicker than 4’s, I suppose it’s due to more neck/body mass.
Having that low B string is icing on the cake!