5-string basses - how useful is the 5th string? POLL time, yay!

[Clarky]

I have 4- and 5-string basses but find it confusing switching from one to another. Chris_b also mentioned in a post earlier today how he sticks to 5 only as he doesn't practice enough with 4's to be able to be comfortable on both. Thus I thought I'd stick up a little poll on the utility of that 5th string (for argument's sake here assuming its a B string, although I appreciate some have a high C instead)

Edited February 26, 2012 by Clarky

[morsefull]

Especially good for those Eb moments....

[skej21]

Just got rid of last 5 string and have always found myself having one, then moving it on...

Personally, I found it quite useful in a few situations (like drop tuning and for reading) but if I'm entirely honest with myself, in these situations 'quite useful' translates as 'accommodates my laziness'...

In other words, I don't NEED a 5 string to read music or play the odd drop tune song, but a 5er took the effort out of tuning down or shifting position more often. That's why I've decided to stick with four strings for good, because I felt like this form of laziness was starting to affect my playing (found this when I had to do a reading gig on a four string for the first time in ages and there were one too many 'panic' moments when lots of shifting was involved!)

I totally understand that it might not be the case with everyone, but it definitely is with me.

Edited February 26, 2012 by skej21

[leroydiamond]

played a five for a couple of years and then one day picked up my 4 string jazz and never looked back.

[Ben Jamin]

Great for keeping the notes low in any key - and for the big band stuff I do which often involves playing tuba parts and that dreaded Eb
I don't use the B-string loads and I could cope without it but I'd definitely miss the extra notes every now and then!

[ead]

Tried a 5 but didn't really get on with it so went back to 4.

[Fat Rich]

Depends what genre of music you play, anything in a horn key then it often comes in handy. If you're playing guitar based stuff it's less necessary.

I voted Essential although I sometimes like the challenge of adapting my lines to work on 4 string.

[Musicman20]

I switch and as they are all Musicman/Fenders, it's not such a big jump. Worst part is trying to slap (I barely play any) on a fiver...but I know I just need to practice.

[EssentialTension]

I've tried five-strings but I found no advantages to me and I didnt enjoy it. It just felt like an extra string getting in the way.

I don't see so-called horn keys as a problem.

I do have a D-tuner which very occasionally I use. Very very occasionally I'll drop the tuning to DGCF.

But if you want five or more strings, so be it.

[Doddy]

I play 5 string pretty much all the time now. I always carry a 4 string with me too,but I generally favour
the 5's. For reading gig's I used to use my 4 string Jazz because I was really familiar with the neck,but
people are starting to get hip to the 5 strings range and are writing things in the lower register,so even
for those gigs I now take a 5-usually a Jazz. Of course,a lot of modern pop music has notes beyond the
range of a 4,so if I'm playing that kind of stuff I need the 5 again-using octave displacement or an octave
pedal just doesn't work in some situations,you need that lower range.

[BB3000S]

In one of my main bands the B string definitely is essential as the guitards play in drop D tuning half the time. Then again, with that band I hardly ever use the G string, so basically I could survive with BEAD-tuning. Thinking about it, the B string is probably more useful than the G string overall - we do play Bass, right?

[Ed_S]

The basses I like the look and sound of as 5s tend to be too heavy or ergonomically awkward for my dodgy shoulder, and the basses that I find ergonomically suitable tend to either look or sound wrong as 5s. So I vote for 4s on 'other' grounds.

[icastle]

I have a couple of 4's but I wouldn't buy another one as a 'main' instrument - I only look at basses from a 5 perspective these days.

[TRBboy]

Although I'm primarily a 4 string player, I think a 5 is very useful to have. I don't think it's too difficult switching between the two, as long as you have the right 5 string for you, and you try to play both 4s and 5s regularly.

Apart from the extended range, I think they can make it easier to play some parts due to the fact that you can play notes that would be lower down the E string higher up on the B instead. Some parts that would make you jump up and down the neck on a 4 can sometimes be played all in one position on a 5. I don't think it's about laziness, there's no point making things harder than they need to be! I've got a gig coming up with the local soul choir again soon, and I always use my 5 with them.

[funkypenguin]

I play 6ers 90% of the time, and i really miss the other strings when im playing on 4, the B and the C. I would always take my 6 on a reading gig, especially theatre shows where there can be alot below the E

[chris_b]

I voted for Essential.

Today I played a 50's Rock and Roll gig and the 5 string worked very well, even though I didn't play below E. Last week I used it in a Soul, Blues and Funk band, next week it'll be covers (lots of D's and some C's with those two) and I just recorded an acoustic blues and ragtime CD (lots of E's but only 2 D's).

One bass does it all for me and I find that a quality 5 is the most flexible and useful format.

[discreet]

I may try a 5-string one of these days, but I've only been playing a 4-string for 38 years, so haven't fully explored what is possible with it yet.

Edited February 27, 2012 by discreet

[Mylkinut]

I do own one, but if I'm honest it's only because the bass the low B's attached to is really nice.

Do sometimes wish it was a 4 though

[MikanHannille]

Mainly a 4 string player... Bought 5 a couple of months ago as the situation requires me so. Glad I picked a 5 up. I find it really useful if you play different kind of genres.

[scalpy]

I'm looking at getting one as I'm doing 4 or 5 theatre gigs a year, and the scores often drop below E. Some of the charts are double bass where it seems common practice to have some sort of drop facility and the bass guitar charts seem to presume you have a B to be honest. Other shows are make up something off the piano part and it sounds stupid jumping octaves during runs etc. So a Lakland DJ5 or Stingray 5 are causing GAS at the moment, the trouble is I need to do a few more shows a year to pay for one!

[jamesbass116]

After putting my lone 5er up for sale and not wanting to touch it in fear of damaging it, I've all of a sudden noticed how many bands I'm in that actually utilise the 5th string! I think in this day and age, 5 string basses are the way to go. That refers to BEADG and EADGC as they're both used more for different styles.

[paul_5]

I'll echo the observations about reading on a five, not only do they allow for extended range on gigs (esp. in more modern pop stuff etc...) it also frees me up when I'm playing further up the neck. On a four you've got a bit of a shift to go from C on the E string down to G on the E string, but on a fiver it's all in one position.

Simples.

Fiver = essential. For me anyway.

[PTB]

I've played 5 string bass guitars for 25 years but only ever had a fretless 4 so always been swopping between the two. Now, most of my gigs are on upright.

I think its just like the doubling issue, you just have to do enough time on both to be comfortable.

I voted for the "occasional but worth having" category. If there was one that said "essential in certain musical situations but not all", that would have got my vote.

[JTUK]

I am in the essential camp as well.

It took me a long time to get really comfortable and I like to be able to play as naturally and spontaneously as possible..or at least have that facility . so I need to know exactly where eveything falls to hand.
I can't do this if I am constantly re-adjusting to scale, frets or string variations.. so I have 2 5 st jazzes which I use exclusively.

[Conan]

Why is there no "it depends" option??!

It depends. It depends on the singer's favoured key. It depends if you have been with a singer so long that they are having to drop keys and the original recordings were in E. I depends on whether your four string and five string are of an equivalent quality...

I, for example, seem to find myself reverting to my four string basses all the time. If I had a brilliant quality fiver maybe that would not be the case? Problem is, as I see five strings as a bit of an experiment I haven't been able to justify buying a top quality one. Because it is not top quality I maybe don't get as much out of playing it as I should...

I also found myself using the low B string (I don't see the point of a high C) as an effect. Like most effects I get bored of it pretty easily. It also didn't sound so good when recorded - just didn't work with the band mix...

So you see, it depends!