5 string/6 string. what is the point?

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1366399185' post='2052199']
I play 4's, quite fancy trying a 5 - will it make me a better player?
[/quote]

It might make playing easier for you, creating the illusion of a better player

[stingrayPete1977]

Just never say never, I was more anti five strings than ET above, now I have two, never gig the others!

[skej21]

5 and 6 strings make sight reading a lot easier. Less position shifts. Great for the lazy or as I call it 'economical' bass players

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1366400193' post='2052224']
Just never say never, I was more anti five strings than ET above, now I have two, never gig the others!
[/quote]
I'm not anti five strings. I merely pointed out the fact that the great majority of recordings are four strings.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1366400261' post='2052226']
5 and 6 strings make sight reading a lot easier. Less position shifts. Great for the lazy or as I call it 'economical' bass players
[/quote]

I always tell people how much easier it is with more strings

[BigRedX]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1366400667' post='2052241']
I'm not anti five strings. I merely pointed out the fact that the great majority of recordings are four strings.
[/quote]

Past performance is no guarantee of future results...

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1366400839' post='2052247']


Past performance is no guarantee of future results...
[/quote]
Ha I was thinking similar but we like what we like, sometimes change what we like and then change back again. Freebird can be played on any timmo and just to fully contradict myself none of my uprights are 5 string even though Gedo were selling the 5 string version of mine for £250 less than the four! Lol

[timmo]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1366401185' post='2052260']
Ha I was thinking similar but we like what we like, sometimes change what we like and then change back again. Freebird can be played on any timmo and just to fully contradict myself none of my uprights are 5 string even though Gedo were selling the 5 string version of mine for £250 less than the four! Lol
[/quote]

I have a feeling Free Bird is going to haunt me

[Dingus]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1366400839' post='2052247']
Past performance is no guarantee of future results...
[/quote]

... and the future is never guaranteed . So much great music has been made on the four string that it seems silly to dismiss it as outmoded when it is quiite clearly a consumate instrument in its' own right .

When it comes to the whole four string versus five / six string debate I always remember hearing Jeff Belin say that the biggest difference the introduction of the five string bass has made to bass playing is that a lot of people who couldn't play the four string now can't play the five string . Most of the players I enjoy and who I am trying to emulate in one way or another play four strings , as do I . I have thought about getting a five to see how useful it would be , but haven't found one yet that really appeals to me or feels as natural as a four .

Edited April 19, 2013 by Dingus

[Dingus]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1366401410' post='2052265']
I have a feeling Free Bird is going to haunt me
[/quote]

Free Bird haunts everybody .

[White Cloud]

I love the extra low end of 5 string and have also flirted with 6...but found that much less useful in a band/live performance scenario. My band transpose most of our covers to suit our singers range, I have found that 5 strings allow me to better facilitate the whole process without losing any low end.

Love 5 strings long time

[Roland Rock]

As well as the extra range and the positioning advantage, I like the way you can play lines further up the neck but in the same key. For example, I play a certain song in G (3rd fret E String) on my four. When I use the five, I have the additional option of playing it on the 8th fret of the B String, which has a softer, deeper tone.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1366400839' post='2052247']
Past performance is no guarantee of future results...
[/quote]
There's no guarantee about the future but we can be certain that it's been possible to make excellent music with a four string bass.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1366408515' post='2052383']
There's no guarantee about the future but we can be certain that it's been possible to make excellent music with a four string bass.
[/quote]

Sometimes with no accompaniment!

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz8qHxsKu6A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz8qHxsKu6A[/url]

[iiipopes]

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1366404310' post='2052308']
I love the extra low end of 5 string and have also flirted with 6...but found that much less useful in a band/live performance scenario. My band transpose most of our covers to suit our singers range, I have found that 5 strings allow me to better facilitate the whole process without losing any low end.

Love 5 strings long time
[/quote]

Exactly. As an expansion on that theme, a lot of times patterns and leaps from low to high are much easier with a B string to fret up rather than transpositioning the hand and wrist, and makes for more secure intonation.

[timmo]

A five string sounds interesting.I wanted to get an Epiphone Jack Casady, as i love Jefferson Airplane, but maybe look at a 5 stringer instead

[chris_b]

Why do drummers use more than 3 drums?

Why do keyboard players use more than 1 keyboard?

Why did Roland Kirk decide to play 2 saxophones at the same time?

How can anyone with a brain worry about how many strings are on someone else’s bass?

[drTStingray]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1366394186' post='2052088']
Maybe a silly question, but why have more than 4 strings on a Bass? Are they better? Have they always been around, or is it a fairly recent occurence?
[/quote]

Surprisingly, over the last 40 years or so, much music which requires a bass guitar has been written which needs a range beyond the standard tuning of a four string bass. Particularly, the ability to play the low notes (in fact 5 strings largely came about because of bass parts written on or for keyboards back in the late 70s early 80s onwards).

I guess having 6 strings allows high notes to be played across the fretboard rather than further up it. I've never been into 6 strings particularly but a 5 string is invaluable if you're going to play music like Stevie Wonder or some hip hop/R and B.

[drTStingray]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1366396494' post='2052134']

Five and six basses have been around longer than you think...

Fender first made the Bass VI (tuned like a guitar but an octave lower) in 1961 and the Bass V (normally tuned E-C) in 1965.

[/quote]

Good point but do these oddities really count - the bass V1 was a baritone guitar used by guitarists wanting that Duane Eddy sound (eg Hank Marvin on occassional Shadows songs) or bass players wanting to play guitar (Jet Harris on Diamonds, for instance) - I always think of the archetypal sound of these things as the solo in Wichita Lineman - not a bass at all!!

The bass V is an even more bizarre contraption - 30 inch scale with a much longer body than a Precision - looks chronicly unbalanced - tuned E to C. This instrument was very unsuccessful (presumably a CBS idea..............)

Not deliberately intending to insult fans of these things (and I know one or two - they are all guitarists from my recollection!) but they are surely only a footnote and curiosities in the history of the bass guitar. I'm sure if they hadn't got the Fender name on them they'd be even more obscure.

Edited April 20, 2013 by drTStingray

[timmo]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1366416317' post='2052496']
Why do drummers use more than 3 drums?

Why do keyboard players use more than 1 keyboard?

Why did Roland Kirk decide to play 2 saxophones at the same time?

How can anyone with a brain worry about how many strings are on someone else’s bass?
[/quote]
Not particularly worried about it Chris, just curious as to the reasoning of why people would rather have 5/6 strings. I find you are without a brain if you do not try to expand your knowledge by asking the people why they use them over a 4 string.But i take your point of needing more drums than a standard kit

[ezbass]

I started on 4 strings (as you do) then moved over to 5 for a particular band so I had access to a low Eb and D. However, I went back to 4 strings with a drop tuner and played those types of bass for ages as I found that more suited to my playing style. Just recently I've gone back to fivers, both fretless and fretted (still got both in 4 tring too). The difference now is that both of my fivers have a very clear low B and I now find myself using the B string not only for positional options, but also going right down as low as the bass will go for pitch options as the notes are just as discernible as the higher options and, when playing with a keyboard player, often the better pitch choice for the song.

[andyonbass]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1366394186' post='2052088']
Maybe a silly question, but why have more than 4 strings on a Bass? Are they better? Have they always been around, or is it a fairly recent occurence?
[/quote]


Pretty obvious really - your guitarist is less likely to pick it up and make a tw*t of himself thinking he can play bass!

Edited April 20, 2013 by andyonbass

[Fat Rich]

I figure that most amps these days can easily handle a low B so a five string makes sense. But the extra low notes don't work for all music forms, if there's a big difference between the bass and the rest of the band it can sometimes feel like the bottom has dropped out of the song, although that may be a desirable effect to achieve. Check out Anthony Jackson on this Chaka Khan song at about 2 minutes in, the contrast between the higher notes and the really low ones adds some tension / interest without distracting much attention from the song:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGM3MGhaTMg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGM3MGhaTMg[/url]

I've tried six strings but I don't like the twangyness of the high c string, I'd rather get a fatter sound by playing the other strings further up the neck. But there are players doing great things on six strings that might inspire you play one.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1366417935' post='2052516']
Good point but do these oddities really count - the bass V1 was a baritone guitar used by guitarists wanting that Duane Eddy sound (eg Hank Marvin on occassional Shadows songs) or bass players wanting to play guitar (Jet Harris on Diamonds, for instance) - I always think of the archetypal sound of these things as the solo in Wichita Lineman - not a bass at all!!

The bass V is an even more bizarre contraption - 30 inch scale with a much longer body than a Precision - looks chronicly unbalanced - tuned E to C. This instrument was very unsuccessful (presumably a CBS idea..............)

Not deliberately intending to insult fans of these things (and I know one or two - they are all guitarists from my recollection!) but they are surely only a footnote and curiosities in the history of the bass guitar. I'm sure if they hadn't got the Fender name on them they'd be even more obscure.
[/quote]

I was simply pointing out the fact that having solid electric bass instruments with more than 4 strings is almost as old as the original 4-string bass guitar itself. The Bass V might have been an anomaly, but the Bass VI idea has been developed by manufacturers other than Fender and there are examples still in production today.

Even the "modern" 5-string bass is over 30 years old. They are hardly new ideas.

[fatgoogle]

I reckon your hindering yourself not having a 5 string as you never know what song having those low notes would improve but then again using those low notes(or high notes) when there not needed is just being a sub par musician. Have the best of both worlds and get a 4 and 5 string so your always ready.

For me its mainly the economy of motion and the ease of sight reading. Not having to move as much is great.

5 string double bass's have been around since before the electric was even thought of, and the violin de gamba(which the double bass evolved out of) was a 7 or 8 string beast instrument if i remember correctly. So really we've all been going backwards.