Five String Bass - Do I Still Need It?

[Guest MoJo]

Played a gig last Thursday. In the second half as the vocalist announces the next song, Audioslave's Cochise, I suddenly remember it requires the low B of my five string and I'm currently wearing the P-bass copy that I bought from Silverfoxnik. I utter an expletive, our vocalist turns to me,
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"Wrong bass", I reply. He utters an unsympathetic laugh and turns away leaving me resigned to making the best of an unfortunate situation.
The moment arrives, I take a deep breath and play the line an octave higher.....world's still turning, no booing or throwing of rotten eggs and actually it sounded pretty good. I only need the five for two songs in the set (both Audioslave numbers). I much prefer the sound and the feel of the P-bass so now I'm thinking do I really need to take the five to gigs any longer?

Anyone else had this eureka moment?

[bass_ferret]

Lots go back to 4. You could always string the P BEAD.

[Happy Jack]

My main auto-choice bass (out of 23, I'm embarrassed to admit) is a P-bass, a Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub, and I love it to bits.

However, I do like the flexibility that a 5-string offers, and I'm working on gradually moving over to the '5' by Xmas.

Do I need it? Do you need it? Probably not, but it's still worth having.

[Soulfinger]

5-strings are overrated IMHO.

For decades bassists have been doing fine with 4-string basses. Thanks to a GAS attack I also own a 5er, and while it sounds good and is nice to play, I find absolutely no use for it to be honest. We don´t play covers, though, so that definitely helps.

A good P bass will get you anywhere.

[fretlessguy]

I have two fives, one fretted and the other fretless. I used both this summer and last summer in my recordings. They were there when I needed them, and they fit the tracks I was working on at the time perfectly.
Sooooooo......
You never can tell when you will need them again. I do primarily use a four these days as well.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Soulfinger' post='279056' date='Sep 7 2008, 12:24 PM']A good P bass will get you anywhere.[/quote]


You just need a good P5

[ARGH]

If you feel your life is better on 4 stay 4.....If you need 5 or 6....get and play a 5 or 6.

Its a simple answer to a simple question.

[chris_b]

[quote name='ARGH' post='279089' date='Sep 7 2008, 01:19 PM']....If you feel your life is better on 4 stay 4.....If you need 5 or 6....get and play a 5 or 6.
Its a simple answer to a simple question....[/quote]
+1
It should be your choice. If you only want to play everything on a 4 string then that's fine. If you want to take a 4 string or 5 string or fretless to a gig and use dozens of pedals that's OK too, but do you [i]really[/i] need any of that? I have never owned a pedal and only take one 5 string bass. I suppose I've been lucky, I have never played in a band where I've been asked to sound like someone else so all the bands I play in get me sounding like me, playing the way I play. It's what I want to do and it seems to make everyone else happy, which helps.

[MuseMatt]

I decided I like four better so I'm going to stick with that.

However, I might at one point get a bass and tune it C F Bb Eb using a 5-string set, just for those really low songs!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

There are a couple of songs in our set that need a low D - one of those is an original where on the verse I play a repeated low D - its the third track on [url="http://orangeunsignedact.co.uk/acts/obviously-5-believers"]http://orangeunsignedact.co.uk/acts/obviously-5-believers[/url]. I only take one bass to gigs, usually the mustang as its so comfy. I just play that song using the D on the A string - no ones commented so far on it sounding different to the CD. When I recorded it in the studio I didn't really get an inspiring tone out of my active 5er, so I used my passive Precision & recorded it in two takes. First with the E string tuned down to D just playing the low Ds for the verses and then with normal tuning for everything else & comped it together.

The other song we play that needs anything lower than open E just needs a low D at at the end of a decending run. If I have one of my basses with a D-tuner I just flip it for that note, but if I have the mustang, again I play the D an octave up.

[Tait]

[quote name='bassman2790' post='279029' date='Sep 7 2008, 11:39 AM']Played a gig last Thursday. In the second half as the vocalist announces the next song, Audioslave's Cochise, I suddenly remember it requires the low B of my five string and I'm currently wearing the P-bass copy that I bought from Silverfoxnik. I utter an expletive, our vocalist turns to me,
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"Wrong bass", I reply. He utters an unsympathetic laugh and turns away leaving me resigned to making the best of an unfortunate situation.
The moment arrives, I take a deep breath and play the line an octave higher.....world's still turning, no booing or throwing of rotten eggs and actually it sounded pretty good. I only need the five for two songs in the set (both Audioslave numbers). I much prefer the sound and the feel of the P-bass so now I'm thinking do I really need to take the five to gigs any longer?

Anyone else had this eureka moment?[/quote]

you've just said yourself you don't NEED it, but that doesn't mean you can't use it anyway.

also, if you prefer the feel of the P you could try selling the five string and getting a similar P and stringing it BEAD, but do [i]you[/i] really think it's worth it? after all, its your money and your bass.

[budget bassist]

I have a 5 string, it's a nice looking and playing bass but i don't use it all that much. Saying that i love playing dream theater on it, i couldn't do that if i strung a 4 string BEAD.

[Dood]

To turn the discussion round a bit, I really do think that some songs benefit from being able to get below the low E of a four string.(Whether they were originally written that way or not). Especially the case when you have a keyboard player in the band. - Hell... there are plenty of covers I play where I head well below B ;o)

[Tait]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='279133' date='Sep 7 2008, 02:41 PM']I have a 5 string, it's a nice looking and playing bass but i don't use it all that much. Saying that i love playing dream theater on it, i couldn't do that if i strung a 4 string BEAD.[/quote]

thats a good point, you havent got the G string on a BEAD. but on a lot of songs with a low B its rare you're gonna go up high anyway. and you've said yourself when you play an octave higher it sounds as good, why not an play octave lower? so [i]do[/i] you need the five string?

[Viajero]

It's not just about what you [i]need[/i]. The things we do for their own sake are what makes things that bit more special. 5 more notes, but 5 times more flair.

Edited September 7, 2008 by Viajero

[yorick]

How about adding a Hipshot d-tuner to the 4 string................

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='yorick' post='279244' date='Sep 7 2008, 06:02 PM']How about adding a Hipshot d-tuner to the 4 string................[/quote]

I think taking the E down to a B with a Hipshot would be impossible. I have a Yamaha BB300 which I really [i]need[/i] to get back in one piece. I thought about stringing that BEAD, but for two songs, it seems like overkill. I don't think I'd sell the five, especially in this depressed market but I don't think I'll be taking it to gigs in future.

Here's the track in question on [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAVxwLmB4Cc"]YouTube[/url]. The Low B appears in the middle eight at 2:38. I used to play it with a pitch shifter pedal which also works.

Edited September 7, 2008 by bassman2790

[Dr.Dave]

[quote name='bassman2790' post='279249' date='Sep 7 2008, 06:10 PM']I think taking the E down to a B with a Hipshot would be impossible. I have a Yamaha BB300 which I really [i]need[/i] to get back in one piece. I thought about stringing that BEAD, but for two songs, it seems like overkill. I don't think I'd sell the five, especially in this depressed market but I don't think I'll be taking it to gigs in future.

Here's the track in question on [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAVxwLmB4Cc"]YouTube[/url]. The Low B appears in the middle eight at 2:38. I used to play it with a pitch shifter pedal which also works.[/quote]

If you take the de-tuned fixed up Yammy you're still taking 2 basses so you may as well have taken the 5.

If you can play your set with a normally tuned 4 alone - go for it. If anything I think your singers a cheeky f**ker for calling a surprise number then laughing at you not being prepared. If you'd arsed it up I bet he'd have been the first to moan.
No - hang on , he's a singer - he wouldn't have noticed!
Insist on playing it in a different key that suits your 4 and see how he likes that.

[Jase]

I think I'm supposed to use a low B on a Nickelback cover we do......Never Again. I can't be arsed with the Detuning so I bump along the riff in E or sometimes tune down to D and make it up.

The Low tuning thing for me is just toooo low but it is very effective in certain tracks/bands.

[Dr.Dave]

My forays into the world of 5 string have always been short lived. I had a small problem with getting used to the idea of a string in the middle but it's not that. I found a wider neck harder to fly about on , but it's not that.

Simple fact is I can play anything I want without one. I have a detuner on the Shuker and hardly use it. Sometimes the low D note is handy but I'm happier playing up and down the neck rather than across it and I have all the notes I want without a 5.

I'll still buy another , doubtless. Just as certain is it'll be for sale 6 months later!

[Funkydunc]

4,5,6,7 or whatever its a personal choice that only you can make. We can all relate our preferences and experiences. I played a 4 for 20 years then switched to a 5 for 4 years then switched back to a 4 because aodly enough felt more free and creative and it.
D

[stevebasshead]

The number of strings is totally irrelevant, it's just a tool to make music. Play whatever feels comfortable and allows you to make the music you want to make.

I'd advise anyone to always take two basses to gigs if you have them, you never know when you'll need a spare. In 8 years of gigging I've only needed to switch twice but boy was I grateful I had a spare each time!! You have a 5 already and if you're comfortable with it when you do play it I'd say hang on to it for that very reason. It's better to have the option and choose not to use it than to have no choice at all.

Steve.

[i]edited for spelling[/i]

Edited September 9, 2008 by stevebasshead

[Paul Cooke]

I currently have a five string bass to stay below the keyboard player when playing off the same sheet in Church... but I was considering selling it on and converting one of my unused cheapy Encore P-bass clones to BEAD...

It's never really worried me having a standard tuned bass in Church either, I just accidentally step on the same note every now and again as I use the "higher" version of the notes I would have played under the E. If I were playing melodies, then I would worry, but as I'm only supplying chord tones to fit with what the guitars are playing, it doesn't matter. I let the keyboard player handle the fiddly bits as he's a fantastic sight reader.

[Wil]

I used a 5 for ages, before realising I could use a 4 with a D tuner and have the comfort of a 4, and *nearly* the same range as a 5. Haven't gone back to 5 since.