4 string is enough for you??

[AsterL]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='1067032' date='Dec 22 2010, 06:03 PM']See what I mean?[/quote]

Haha I jest. I definitely agree with your previous statement. Its like in singer's ranges. Just because you can drop down to C-2 or up to belt at C+3 doesnt mean you need to do it in everything you do. Having the ability to go that little bit lower or that little bit higher when the song requires is always good. 5 strings do open up this ability to players, but I believe IMO that most people are more comfortable with 4 strings as a ease of use thing.

[retroman]

Having a 5 string has opened up a whole new world to me. I have mine tuned to low A, and having those extra low notes has added another dimension to some of the songs in our set list, and one particularly slow paced moody song we do has now been shifting from drop D, to low A, and it sounds awesome for it too!

For me, the whole 5 string thing is proving to be very useful, but I do still find 4's to be a lot more comfy to play, and a lot easier to play too. I find that I am on auto pilot a lot more on a 4, where as I have to think about what I am doing a lot more on a 5. But then again, I have been playing 4 string bass for around 20 years, and I haven't even had my 5 string a year yet, so this is probably why I find it a little unnatural.

Years ago, I did have a mex Fender Jazz 5, and I really didn't get on with it to be honest, barely played it, and I don't think I even kept it a year. I am finding the Alembic 5er so much easier to get on with though, and I am definately going to stick at it

[matski]

For 'guitar' bands, 4 strings is enough for me. Unless there is some drop tuning going on.

For 'keyboard' bands, the 5th string is handy.

6 strings is too much for me as I have relatively short fingers...

[jsixties]

All the bass players I admire plays four strings basses, all the bass lines I love have been played and recorded with four strings basses so given this point I don't think one -or many- string more will save the music or our instrument.

[MacDaddy]

started on 4's, went to a 6 and a 5, and am now happily back on 4's but with drop D's (2 extra frets on the E, or a hipshot).

[MikanHannille]

It's always handy to have a 5er.

[grayn]

After an eternity on 4-string, yesterday I couldn't resist an Overwater 5-string, in a sale, at half price.

So now I'm getting used to the fact that the E-string isn't the bottom of my range.
It's a lot of fun, so far.

[Rumple]

What Overwater did you get?

[Lfalex v1.1]

I have a 3 string (EAD). That covers most things remarkably well. 4 is fine for most things,
but a 5 tuned DGCFBb is a great compromise.
Want more from a four? Tune it in fifths!

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1083022' date='Jan 9 2011, 11:53 AM']I have a 3 string (EAD). That covers most things remarkably well. 4 is fine for most things,
but a 5 tuned DGCFBb is a great compromise.
Want more from a four? Tune it in fifths![/quote]

I'm really tempted to get a cheap 4 string and try it out in DGCF, BF#C#G# or maybe even AEBF#. Apart from being able to play most of our songs on 4 strings, it'd force me to look at the way I construct basslines a little differently.

[redburp]

I've just started playing 5 string about a mounth ago, I enjoy it more then playing a 4 string.

[JTUK]

Wouldn't go back to a 4 myself... why would I do that..?

[Delberthot]

I played only 5 string basses from 1994 to 2005, then moved to 6 strings for a year. The main reason i got a 5 string was because I was a Nathan east fan, loved the Chilis and decided to get a black 5 string Stingray like Flea used to record Funky Monks on BSSM. That was my main bass and used it almost exclusively then had a muck around and moved to 6.

for a few years i went through 4, 5, 6, 8 and 12vers before going back to the 4. Unless something comes up in the future where I simply must have the extra strings, i can't see myself moving away from 4. In fact, i can't see myself moving away from my Thunderbird

[grayn]

[quote name='Rumple' post='1082946' date='Jan 9 2011, 11:13 AM']What Overwater did you get?[/quote]

A 5-string Jazz

[stingrayPete1977]

Well I just come back from the studio, I used the 4 for a slapped chorus and the rest of that track then the five for the songs that needed them that can't be done on four (low B to B on the D string would be crap played on a detuned four).

So no 4 is not enough right now.

[alanbass1]

I tried five strings on several occassions but have always gravitated back to four.

[funkypenguin]

I switched to a 6 as my main bass nearly 4 years ago and havnt looked back since. I love the flexibility and extra range in given positions on the fretboard the extra strings allow

I tend to gravitate towards it 99% of the time but if the gig demands it i dont mind going back to my passive 4

[clauster]

18 months ago I had Wesley (WaynePunkDude's old five stringer that he sent on a round trip of basschatters before sellig it) for quite a while.

I borrowed it with the intention of proving to myself that I wouldn't get on with 5 strings. After nearly 30 years on fours I was convinced that my brain wouldn't make the transition and having small hands I didn't think that physically it would work for me.

The opposite proved to be true - within an hour I'd adjusted to playing across the fretboard rather than up and down and the narrow string spacing really made things easy for my short fingers.

BUT, I just haven't found a 5er that I like enough within my budget to buy.

[lowdown]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1064855' date='Dec 20 2010, 05:55 PM']I thought we did this thread last week? Carry on though as Im on the other side of the fence this time (see my signature) so to contradict everything I said last week you must have a 5'er! [/quote]


A week is a very long time in the business of Bass.
There will be many Bass chatters who last week purchased a five/six or 92 string.
They would then start a post about that particular Bass being the best Bass they have ever played [by a country mile].
A few days later it will be in the 'For sale section'
" As much as i have tried - i just can not get on with a fiver or whatever, i am a four stringer really"

Thats what makes this place a priceless hang out...



Garry

Edited January 26, 2011 by lowdown

[Marvin]

Any more than 4 would melt my addled brain.

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='lowdown' post='1103438' date='Jan 26 2011, 12:05 PM']A week is a very long time in the business of Bass.
There will be many Bass chatters who last week purchased a five/six or 92 string.
They would then start a post about that particular Bass being the best Bass they have ever played [by a country mile].
A few days later it will be in the 'For sale section'
" As much as i have tried - i just can not get on with a fiver or whatever, i am a four stringer really"

Thats what makes this place a priceless hang out...



Garry[/quote]
So true
And it's not exclusive to 5 strings. Pedals, strings, pickups, pre-amps etc. they're all the danglies for 5 minutes until the ghost in the machine tells us that there is a better one out there that will make us play better.

[Gust0o]

^^^ = "AMAINZG CUSTOM BASE FOR SALE"?

[stingrayPete1977]

Jesus jumper the next minute

[mcnach]

I've owned a number of 5-string basses, and let them go fast.
But this last time I'm sticking to them.

I started out on 4, and 5 felt sufficiently alien to put me off as it felt too much like going back to school when relatively few songs *needed* a 5-string.
I do use a Hipshot D-tuner thingy extensively, and that was it.

But I found a great 5-stringer that just felt right (G&L L2500 Tribute) and for teh past 3 weeks I've barely played anything other than the G&L and a SUB5. At some point things started to "click" naturally, and although muting correctly is still not quite right, I can play on them anything I play on a 4-string comfortably enough.
Personally, I just needed to find a bass that felt nice enough and sounded distinct enough (the SUB5 sounds great, but I could get that with my SR4, however the G&L was unique) and to force myself to just play 5-strings. I'm going to stick to 5-strings as much as possible for a while, because I imagine once it's in my fingr memory, I can switch easily between 4 and 5.

But, why play a 5?
It's not the extra lower notes, although that *is* nice too. When you get a growling C or D in the right place... it feels good.
Most of all, it makes fingerings a lot easier for many songs because you can transpose the same shapes all over the place to get the lower notes you'd have to go all the way up the neck on a 4-string. That's a big plus.
With a bit of perseverance, a 5-string feels familiar and comfortable, and you can ignore the B-string if you want to, knowing you can use it if you feel like it, so I was considering whether one day I'd just move to 5-strings exclusively. Then I found a reason that will keep me attached to my 4-strings, beyond the fact that I love certain 4-string basses and all that: drop D-tuner.

Some songs sound right with a D-tuner, and while you can play many of them witha 5-string, some are not quite the same.
Ever played RHCP's "Naked in the rain" on a 5-string? It's doable, of course... but it doesn't sound right to me. I could get away with it easily live, but I'd rather used a drop-D tuned 4-string bass for that.
I would like to fit a d-tuner on the E-string of one of my 5-string basses, to cover all bases and keep fingerings I already am so familiar with etc... but the won't fit the lever gets in the way of the B tuner.

Anyway, that's my take.

I'm relatively new to 5-strings, after trying on and off over 3 years... I finally caught the bug, but I will not go off my 4-string basses I don't think, and whilst a 5-string is a necessity very occasionally (at least with the music I play) it is a really good tool to have. Besides what I personally play, there's TONS of 5-string bass music out there... I want to be able to play comfortably on one, since they're so common nowadays. Restricting myself to 4 only seems a bit dangerous: better to be a mediocre player on 4 & 5 strings than being a mediocre player of only 4 strings

Edited January 26, 2011 by mcnach

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1104157' date='Jan 26 2011, 06:45 PM']Jesus jumper the next minute [/quote]
You know it makes sense.