So I took the plunge.....so to speak

[vmaxblues]

Following on from a previous thread, I did my first gig entirely with a 5 string. I took a 4 as a safety blanket but never used it.

This has arisen from acquiring a Lakland Skyline 55-01 in a trade recently and finding that the string spacing felt very natural to me and meant that the transition became easier. And having that extra availability of a B string opened up some great possibilities.

Surprisingly only mis stringed a couple of times (I was expecting a lot more). My rationale was that it is all very well at home and a rehearsal but until you have gigged it doesn't count.

[url="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/vmaxblues/media/14494878_1756645381283390_3320095901826697163_n_zpsugfopvha.jpg.html"][/url]

Following on from this I have just done a trade with Woody to acquire a second 5 which also has a wider string spacing and these pair will now be my gigging weapons of choice for the forseeable future.

[url="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/vmaxblues/media/14555754_10153783895241817_1849228831_n_zpsg9y9opda.jpg.html"][/url]

What I need to find is some decent learning material for the five string, any suggestions?

[barneyg42]

Good man!!!

[Pinball]

Hey, well done you're sorted. The important thing as that your enjoying yourself

Lovely basses too!

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='vmaxblues' timestamp='1475397113' post='3145535']
My rationale was that it is all very well at home and a rehearsal but until you have gigged it doesn't count.
[/quote]

Very true.

[kusee pee]

Well done. You'll never look back.

[Paul S]

I am in exactly this position. I needed a 5er for one band and so I chucked myself into the deep end and have been playing nothing but for the last few months and have survived a half-dozen gigs. I also still do the odd 'mis-string' but largely it is fun. A bit confusing re-learning how to play some stuff but I very much like the 'timbre' of the low B string when played around the 5-7th fret. For me it seems it was all about finding the 'right' 5 string as opposed to getting on with any 5 string, which is the mistake I made on previous attempts.

[josie]

Beautiful basses! Well done.

My first bass was a five. Talked to a few bass players while thinking about it - the best advice I had was "Go for it - use the fifth string as a thumb rest until you're ready to start playing it." Absolutely the right decision.

I do sometimes play - and gig - a four now, but only because my Aerodyne is irresistably beautiful. I found the transition in that direction fairly easy.

[ambient]

I don't understand what learning material you'd want to be honest. I'd recommend just practicing 2 octave scales across the bass, ascending and descending, saying the notes to yourself as you play. Maybe harmonise the scales, so play the arpeggios ascending and descending. Use the notes on the B string.

Really get to know your way around the bass.

I play the low E, F, F#, G and G# starting at the 5th fret on the B string. I only use them on the E string if I'm down that way. So maybe just think about positions.

Just play the bass as much as possible.

Don't just use the B string as a thumb rest, that's just totally dumb, in my opinion .

Edited October 2, 2016 by ambient

[josie]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1475411725' post='3145689']
Don't just use the B string as a thumb rest, that's just totally dumb, in my opinion .
[/quote]

Stops you being afraid of it though
Btw I never did. Used it to play 5ths under everything on the E string to get started.

[leschirons]

Ah, To B or not to B, that is the question.

You made the right decision. No looking back now.

[vmaxblues]

Cheers All, feels the right thing to do, and I need to persevere until it becomes second nature, neural pathways and all that....

[Dropzone]

Any Korn is Slipknot is good on a fiver ;-)

[Silvia Bluejay]

Usually, the only risk of confusion arises when you play the 5er and the 4 one after the other on two different songs; sometimes the brain doesn't adjust immediatedly, and muscle memory will simply do "Third fret on bottom string", causing The Dreaded Wrong Fourth Syndrome.

[chris_b]

That's why it's easier to just play one or the other. Or just the 5, because then you have a stable environment on the fret board and can play any song on the one instrument.

IMO, trying to keep the 4 in play as well serves no useful purpose and just causes unnecessary complications. . . unless you can give over a lot of practise time to developing 2 lots of muscle memory.

[leschirons]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1475493526' post='3146300']
That's why it's easier to just play one or the other. Or just the 5, because then you have a stable environment on the fret board and can play any song on the one instrument.

IMO, trying to keep the 4 in play as well serves no useful purpose and just causes unnecessary complications. . . unless you can give over a lot of practise time to developing 2 lots of muscle memory.
[/quote]

Do you need two lots of muscle memory? Surely it's just knowing that you have a B string on one bass and not the other.

[markstuk]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1475493526' post='3146300']
That's why it's easier to just play one or the other. Or just the 5, because then you have a stable environment on the fret board and can play any song on the one instrument.

IMO, trying to keep the 4 in play as well serves no useful purpose and just causes unnecessary complications. . . unless you can give over a lot of practise time to developing 2 lots of muscle memory.
[/quote]

this +1.. Once I settled on playing only 5 stringers everything became much easier...

[Silvia Bluejay]

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1475494155' post='3146307']
Do you need two lots of muscle memory? Surely it's just knowing that you have a B string on one bass and not the other.
[/quote]

That's the brain's job, not the muscle memory's, which usually simply remembers the 'second string from the bottom, fourth fret' and similar. The brain might be a tiny little bit slower than the hand, and oops, you play a G# rather than a C# (or vice versa)...

[leschirons]

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1475495863' post='3146330']
That's the brain's job, not the muscle memory's, which usually simply remembers the 'second string from the bottom, fourth fret' and similar. The brain might be a tiny little bit slower than the hand, and oops, you play a G# rather than a C# (or vice versa)...
[/quote]

It's just that anyone I know who plays a 5 most of the time doesn't have a problem switching back & forth between the two. I know most of us may have had a problem for the first few sessions with an extra string but I really can't see that it would require lots of dedicated practice time to overcome. Bit like riding a bike isn't it?

[Silvia Bluejay]

I'm guessing it depends. I rarely make that mistake because I don't gig, and play in my room in a non-distracting environment and I can concentrate on what I'm playing. Perhaps when you're on stage, having to follow what happens with the rest of the band and around the stage, doing it right all the time may be more challenging.

[ambient]

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1475496718' post='3146341']
It's just that anyone I know who plays a 5 most of the time doesn't have a problem switching back & forth between the two. I know most of us may have had a problem for the first few sessions with an extra string but I really can't see that it would require lots of dedicated practice time to overcome. Bit like riding a bike isn't it?
[/quote]

I did a gig recently on a borrowed 4 string bass, after 15 years of playing 6 string basses. It's not so much muscle memory, as knowing the notes on the fretboard, and more importantly, playing notes rather than bass lines and patterns.

I encourage my students to learn to play notes, rather than patterns.

[leschirons]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1475497022' post='3146348']
I did a gig recently on a borrowed 4 string bass, after 15 years of playing 6 string basses. It's not so much muscle memory, as knowing the notes on the fretboard, and more importantly, playing notes rather than bass lines and patterns.

I encourage my students to learn to play notes, rather than patterns.
[/quote]

+1

I agree. Fret board knowledge is the key. I usually play 5s and 6s on 90% of gigs but if I use a 4 string it's never a problem other than preferring the sound of a low D or Eb on a few particular numbers.

[Raslee]

Can't go wrong with a 5 string Lakland...Lakland's and Yamaha TRB's are easily my favourite 5's in that second hand £400-£600 price range.

[hairychris]

Welcome to the world of 5ers!

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1475497022' post='3146348']
I did a gig recently on a borrowed 4 string bass, after 15 years of playing 6 string basses. It's not so much muscle memory, as knowing the notes on the fretboard, and more importantly, playing notes rather than bass lines and patterns.

[b]I encourage my students to learn to play notes, rather than patterns.[/b]
[/quote]

Well, that's because you obviously teach them to do things properly.... I play patterns most of the time, fwiw.

Then again, in my guitaring life I'm used to playing in standard tunings (E,D,C... plus 7 string with low B, etc) but for bass I'm playing in drop C with a high A just to confuse things/me!

[josie]

My first bass was a 5, I still get confused reading tab, but not playing - though I used to when I got my first 4! D at 5 on the A string is the centre of the universe, and not having a centre string just felt unsettled.

Just this evening took possession of an utterly gorgeous GMR Bassforce 4 fretless (bought from Lucasz on BC, thank you!) and spent an hour playing scales and arpeggios, no problem with only four strings, getting used to absolute precision on the fretboad is something else.