Open strings: Yay or nay, with reasons.

[Baxter]

Only when I must

[M@23]

5 hours ago, dood said:

In seriousness though, it can depend on the part. 16th notes at say 140bpm can be taxing and a position change involving an open string can be very handy  It's been a while since I've needed to do that but I'm expecting an album release next month where I'll need to start relearning some of those moves!

Definitely depends on part. 

Try play Footloose at 174bpm without and open A to peddle off! 

[razze06]

If you ever played double bass you would have learned to love open strings. I carry some of that love over when I play bass guitar, and dampen the note with my left or right hand, depending on what i'm playing.

[cytania]

Open strings sound more retiring, so are useful if they fall in part of a line that is supportive not shouty. However sometimes they are just wrong if you need that note to jump out.

[oldbass]

I've always found open strings are the key to quick passing ghost notes..can b pretty effective.

[fleabag]

Either / Or

I play what's easiest  at the time. 

[TrevorR]

17 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

The original bassist in Saxon, played open as much as possible, so the other hand could be held aloft in rock salute!

\m/

?

And he taught Derek Smalls everything he knows!

seriously, he did!

[Hobbayne]

The bass player in this song is only using open strings. Maybe he hurt his wrist!

 

 

[PaulWarning]

22 hours ago, thebrig said:

Open A for me on Whole Lotta Rosie, much easier than going from the fretted 5th fret on the E string and back like a lot of players do 

anybody that can play the Rosie riff (not just the A all the time) at anything like the right speed without using the open A string is a far better player than I am, open A is my favourite note

[markdavid]

Don't use open strings much, is just easier to play fretted notes as the majority of notes in a song will be fretted so to play fretted means easier transition from note to note , tonally there is some difference between fretted 5th fret and open string but imo you are not far enough up the neck for the difference to be that apparent.

 

[Kevin Dean]

depends on the bass line , some times I alternate between the fretted & open on the same note because I like the effect .

[Dood]

I'm amazed this is a thing! ha ha ha! It's a bit like saying that an able bodied person prefers walking with their left leg rather than the right. 

[oldbass]

1 minute ago, dood said:

I'm amazed this is a thing! ha ha ha! It's a bit like saying that an able bodied person prefers walking with their left leg rather than the right. 

My thoughts exactly. eg. depping for a functions outfit at the mo and they do Queens Crazy Little Thing etc. The Bb rundown after the bridge goes straight across the open strings, lovely and sooo efficient.

As they used say there aint no money above the fifth...

[ped]

I've had a zero fret on all my basses for ages now so to me they don't sound a whole lot different.

[Les]

I don't think I make a conscious decision either way,  

[jazzmanb]

i use them to my advantage to fill my sound out if need be,that ringing on is handy when a guitar goes onto solo leaving you and drums

The Tool stuff is a great example,you get some cool stuff on the G string while ringing the A

i never use them in a run at the bottom of the neck,i find it really odd if i do

[jazzmanb]

5 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

anybody that can play the Rosie riff (not just the A all the time) at anything like the right speed without using the open A string is a far better player than I am, open A is my favourite note

i play Rosie from the 5TH fret E string then on the guitar solo(one guitar set up) i change to Open A and the octave on the D as a chord whilst continuing the riff for the filling out.I just find the for  main part my E 5TH has more bottom than the open A

Edited November 22, 2017 by jazzmanb
error

[Swarbs]

In the good old days I used to value open string playing as it allowed you to smoke a bit of your fag with your left hand (then push it back under the E string between the nut and machine head). My old precision has burn marks on the headstock where the fags burned too far down).

I've always found that open strings are harder to damp and can ring out louder than fretted.

I had an old Burns bass with a zero fret, but it didn't make much of a difference. 

[Marc S]

5 hours ago, Kevin Dean said:

depends on the bass line , some times I alternate between the fretted & open on the same note because I like the effect .

This definitely. It does depend on the song. Where you want to leave a note ringing for longer, use open strings
Although in my case, I tend to prefer a fretted note mostly - that way, I can control how / when to deaden the note...
But, yes, there are songs I use open strings on...

[vantagepointrocks]

I’m with the guy from Saxon, the more open strings played the more pointing I can do at people in the audience.

[T-Bay]

23 hours ago, fleabag said:

Either / Or

I play what's easiest  at the time. 

This ^^^^ it comes down to what falls to hand and seems right for the part you are playing.

[nightsun]

On 21/11/2017 at 15:50, M@23 said:

Definitely depends on part. 

Try play Footloose at 174bpm without and open A to peddle off! 

I've never played footloose using open strings (well only the E on the run)...I'll try it, although muscle memory will probably bugger me up.

[discreet]

I imagine that a fretted A on the E string is better than an open A on the er, A string. It is definitely tonally different. But if needs must I'll play open strings, no problem. Sometimes it's just a lot more difficult to play certain lines without playing open strings. And as for muting, if like me you're mainly a pick player and use palm muting, then muting isn't an issue. I would say though, that during my brief dalliance with five strings it was clearly a lot easier to avoid playing open strings, if you really wanted to avoid doing so.

One thing I liked about five-string basses was the ability to play lines without moving around the board as much as you sometimes have to with a four-string. And it's easier to transpose keys. What I didn't like about five-string basses was the extra weight, faff and expense just for a few extra notes. So I went back to four strings and am perfectly happy. Well, happy with four-string basses, that is - I'm a miserable, grumpy git otherwise, obviously.

Edit: Just thinking about five-string basses has ignited 5-string bass GAS. D'oh! 

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by discreet

[lojo]

Yep 4 notes that can be found easily regardless where the left hand is before or after, for example im glad of the open A on the instrumental break In freak and the 2nd part of the good times line , that's just 2 examples of one bands songs 

[Guest MoJo]

5 hours ago, ped said:

I've had a zero fret on all my basses for ages now so to me they don't sound a whole lot different.

I was going to ask about zero fret basses