5 strings vs. 4 strings

[Ben]

Just my two cents on an old subject.

 

After 30+ years of playing 4 strings I finally broke down and bought a 5. Not because I felt I really needed to, just out of curiosity and the inability to pass up the good deal on an MTD Beast.

 

I am not the type of player who likes to have several axes and switch among them. Instead, I like to play one bass all the time. So I decided that I would put my 4 string down for the summer and give 5 a thorough try.

 

Well, I gotta tell ya' that after about 3 hours of playing 5 string I am wondering why I waited so long. Sure, it's a bit of an adjustment to the wide neck, and physically I have some practice to do.

 

But musically I feel like a kid in a candy shop. I thought it would be hard to make the adjustment from a 4 tuned DGCF to a 5 tuned BEADG. Nah. Musically, for me, playing the 5 is *easier* than the 4. There are so many more options; two octaves are right there without having to neck-hop 5 frets up or down. I don't play high notes much, so I doubt I will move on to 6 strings, but now I grok why people do that.

 

I know, I know, this is old hat to a lot of you. But for anyone else who might be wondering about switching from 4 to 5, give it a try if you get the chance. Not because you have to to be politically correct, but because it's so much fun!

 

Yee-hah!

[RobT]

Welcome to the club!! I like the options and having lots of positions real

close too. Cuts down on a lot of hopping around.

 

Enjoy that MTD man.

 

RobT

[xtian_dup1]

I have found my new 5-string to be a lot of fun, too! I have played 4-strings (fretted and fretless) for 20 years, and last year I got a Conklin 7-string. It was liberating and mind-warpingly exciting and new and different, etc, etc, etc.

 

But just 2 weeks ago I got a G&L L-2500, and I just start giggling when I pick it up and play it! It is *different* than a 4, but it is not very different at the same time. I feel like a kid in a candy store, too!

 

I mention this because I did not expect it to really open any doors for me. I have played 4-strings for ever, and now I am fairly proficient on my 7-string, so I did not expect a 5 to really light me up.

 

How wrong I was!

- Christian

Budapest, Hungary

[jeremy c]

Welcome to the club!

 

And you know, the fifth string makes a great thumb rest and then you can just play it like a four string anyway.

 

Jeremy Cohen

 

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http://www.jps.net/jeremy/basspage.html

[ikestr]

Yep, I moved to a 5 string about 3 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did as a bass player. I had been playing a 4 string for about 10 years before I made the switch. Its not that I play the B all the time, its that I have more options. I currently play in a T40 band, we play quie a bit of new music, and alot of the music comming out now has some really low stuff going on which I wouldnt be able to do note-for-note on a 4. I have 3 5's now and whenever I look for a new one to add to the collection its gotta be a 5.

 

Ike

[s.d.finley]

I switched from 4 to 5 string about 4 years ago. Getting KILLER DEAL on a 5 string helped me do the switch too. I played 4 string for about 10 years.

What i really enjoy about the 5, is in the band that i am in, we have 3 guitarist, http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/eek.gif, granted, all 3 do not play on all songs, anyway, i can get lower than the gits. Plus when we drop D, i dont have to retune!

2 octaves, bigfat B string, bigfat sound, i love 5'S.

Anybody thinking about making the switch, pick up a 5 or borrow one if ya can, it will give you new perspective upon your bass playing.

rock

sdf

[pfunku]

Na, I'm still a 4 banger. I played the double bass for 10 years before pickin up an electric. I just think you can get as deep on a 4 if you know how to position your fingers. I still haven't figured everything out about the 4 after 13 years so why would I want to complicate things!!

 

However, thumpin on a B string while its muted through an 18" speaker is an incredible experience!

 

It's just not for me. I think bass players instinctively want to go lower.

However, If you go down there you will never be heard. You know those old 70's shows like Barney Miller and Shaft? They had the coolest bass lines that you could hear through a little black and white TV. You could actually HEAR the bass line. I see these guys today and there playing 5 or 6 or 7 string piano basses and you can't hear em! Not just through a little black and white but my 26" Philips.

 

Plus, a 4 just looks like an electric version of a double bass

Imagine that!

 

Keep up the Groove

[David R.]

For gigs, I love my 5 string Stingray. Even if the song is in D, I still stay away from too much low rumble, but then when I play it, "yea baby!"

 

-David R.

[Jeff Addicott]

About this time last year, I thought I was all set with a 4-string with a Hipshot (D-tuner). Since then, I've picked up a couple of 5s, and now I favor them. It's nice to play songs with a low Eb or D without using that different tuning. And, of course, the low C#, C and B come in handy from time to time. I also enjoy playing on the B string above the 5th fret, for maximum tubbiness.

 

Occasionally, it's still fun to take a 4-string out on a gig, especially if I know there won't be much call for the lower notes. I seem to be a follower of the simple-as-you-can-get-away-with approach.

 

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Jeff Addicott

http://www.jeffnet.org/~addicott/bass.html

[Neikirk Audio]

Someone loaned me a 5 string Jazz bass for three years, and now I'm really missing it! For church playing it's a really great solution--easier transposing, cover keyboard bass lines, plus 5 and 6 string basses are all over the R & B hip-hop choir things (which I dig a lot more than most CCM.) I'm now searching for a 5 with a narrower than normal neck.

 

Bert Neikirk

Neikirk Audio, Inc

http://www.neikirk-audio.com

 

This message has been edited by Neikirk Audio on 06-28-2001 at 10:52 PM

[Curve Dominant]

Give me a 5-string, or give me death.

 

That low B is essential, man - that chumpy should be passed into law. How does one do without it? The plush phattness of those ultra-harmonic undercurrents...liquid chocolate, Baby! That low B is SMASHING, BABY!!!

 

It's funny, tho: Me and my lil' bro were sitting in on a jam at a local club last week, and a bass player at one point asked me if he could play my 5-string, and I was like, "Oh, sure, dude, no problem!" thinking I was being all diplomatic and whatnot. So he starts playing, and then suddenly reaches up to the machine head and starts maniacally twisting the keys! I f*cking jumped up out of my seat and was like, "Dude! I tuned that thing with a strobe tuner just an hour ago! What the f*ck are you doing??!!!" As it happens, he never played a 5-string before, and got disoriented thinking that the B was the E, and so-forth. I guess he didn't notice at the get-go that THE BASS HAD FIVE STRINGS??!!! Oh, well, if he was a rocket scientist, he wouldn't be playing the bass, right? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Tom Capasso]

I am (slowly) shopping for a 5 string, and also want a more narrow neck. Having played some different basses, I've found that I can adapt to a slightly wider neck if it isn't too thick. "Narrow" is relative, so you need to try out basses and know what the measurements are. Some manufacturers offer different dimensions. Carvin's LB75 is thinner than the BB75; Ken Smith offers the same as the BB75, Ibanez has a few different models (some are very thin), and so on. Custom builders usually will build whatever you want (I know most are expensive ; try dpcustom.com for a cheaper alternative).

 

Glad to hear that all you 5 stringers are so happy !!

 

Tom

[Ben]

Bert, Tom, and others: re. neck width. I have small hands, so was worried about neck width, too. The MTD neck is wide side-to-side, but it is quite shallow in depth, and asymmetrical with the deepest part under the E string. Not sure exactly what the theory behind this is, but it seems to help compensate somewhat for the width, so I don't feel like I'm playing a tree trunk. My fret hand seems to be telling me that the cross-section and circumference of the neck are key factors, too, not just the width.

[RobT]

Nei - you got it with the funk/hip-hop choir thing. If you get a chance check out Kim Burrell newest 'Live' CD. The bass player lays some of the lowest and funkiest stuff you've ever heard.

 

RobT

[spincyclesprynet.com]

Well, I'll jump in on the minority here. (sorta) I think it totally depends on what style of music your doing. My first bass 10 years ago was a 5. I learned by playing in church. For a setting like that or R&B or Jazz I think it's great. For the last 3 years I've been in a straight up rock band (I know what a sinner). 4 strings all the way for rock. If you want to kill some huge drop D riffs with a pick (especially when doubling the guitar player) then you have to have 4. Besides my 59 P-bass was never available as a 5;o)

 

Bill Sullivan

[JES]

Gotta side with the last poster on this. I went back to 4 after playing a 5 for a couple years because there's just no substitute for rock. Plus, for my playing style (which involves a lot of backhand strumming, smacking strings, etc) the B gets in the way of hitting the E, and B itself is too big to withstand the attack.

 

I did, however, get a Modulus 4 so that I could tune down to B and still get a pitch out of the intrument.

 

Best,

--JES

[BoneTone]

Just a couple of observations after going to a 5 after 20+ years with 4's;

 

- Keeping the index fretting finger arched is really important. I found it too easy to get lazy to accomodate the wider neck and found I was accidentally intonating the G sometimes on recordings when staying on the B & E.

 

- I had an audtion with a band that plays a lot of funk and blues. They loved the huge emphasis the B's bottom gave to funk lines whereas their soon-to-be-gone bassist gets lost in the mids of the mix because all he can do is use his lower gauge A string in similar situations.

[Ed Friedland]

I remember being a hold out back in the 80's. When everyone was getting their first generation 5 strings, I defiantly held fast to my Fender Jazz, adding a Hipshot D-Tuner to make up for the low notes. I was convinced I didn't need a 5. I finally "caved in" and never regret that choice. The 5 opens up new positional opportunities that make it truly practical, and of course there are those great low notes!

 

I still feel more comfortable slapping on a 4, the B string tends to create muting issues, but hey, anything can be done with enough practice. Long live the 5!

 

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www.edfriedland.com

[Guest]

I got my first 5 string (G&L L2500) about 2 years ago and love it. The more I play, the more I find I like it. The biggest plus is position possabilities. You can use many of those scale and fingering patterns that you spent time working on all these years. Of course, the low tones are great, and becoming more frequently used these days.

 

It comes down to position options and you have more with a 5 string. I still have a beautiful Ken Smith 20th Anniversary 4 string that I love and use alot for lessons. If I use my 5 string, it messes up my students when they look at me demonstrating something.