Do the best pro-bass players mainly play 4 strings?

[Bridgehouse]

“What type of screw head do pro bass players mainly use?”

[krispn]

You'd have to ask their tech

 

[Al Krow]

You guys are going screwy or possibly just nuts.

[Dad3353]

I'd make a bolt for the door, but I'm p*ssed it. Too old, you see. I had no coat, so...

Edited July 17, 2018 by Dad3353

[josie]

I'm tempted to mention flat / half-round / round needle-nosed pliers... 🙂 

[tauzero]

On 14/07/2018 at 23:02, Al Krow said:

I think a Phillips is a 5 string (Yammy BBNE2) and a flat head a 4 string P bass. Just saying...

A four-string P bass can also be used to hammer in tent pegs. There's versatile.

[Bridgehouse]

Just now, tauzero said:

A four-string P bass can also be used to hammer in tent pegs. There's versatile.

It’s a pretty good weapon if a gig turns lairy too..

[Al Krow]

Just now, tauzero said:

A four-string P bass can also be used to hammer in tent pegs. There's versatile.

But seriously, why would a 5 string not be able to do this? The extra weight of a 5er should provide that elusive additional heft for this task, unless I am missing something obvious? I don't think we can realistically ascribe greater versatility to a 4 string P bass on the grounds you have stated.

A 4 string P bass is really only famous for one thing: being a 4 string P bass.

[josie]

11 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said:

It’s a pretty good weapon if a gig turns lairy too..

That's a good argument for long-scale basses rather than the number of strings. When my keys player goes off too fast (as usual) I can "accidentally" knock him on the head with my headstock from a plausible playing distance with my 35" - it might look deliberate with a 33" 🙂 

[Bridgehouse]

3 minutes ago, josie said:

That's a good argument for long-scale basses rather than the number of strings. When my keys player goes off too fast (as usual) I can "accidentally" knock him on the head with my headstock from a plausible playing distance with my 35" - it might look deliberate with a 33" 🙂 

I just think you can get a better grip on a 4’er near the headstock for swinging when required. 

[josie]

7 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said:

I just think you can get a better grip on a 4’er near the headstock for swinging when required. 

Otoh - to widen the discussion - a single-cut 5 is likely to be a heavier club than a double-cut 4. Not that I'd risk mine anywhere near the head of a drunken punter 🙂 

[Cuzzie]

In that case a good old Hohner cricket bat bass either as your main or a back up. If it’s a back up brilliant to pick and swing at the punter and you can keep playing with the other hand whilst dishing out a good thrashing and then use it for family games if camping

[Al Krow]

8 hours ago, josie said:

Otoh - to widen the discussion - a single-cut 5 is likely to be a heavier club than a double-cut 4. Not that I'd risk mine anywhere near the head of a drunken punter 🙂 

Didn't you just fork out on a fancy Warwick six string (from comments earlier in this thread indicating high levels of GAS together with the thing getting sold very quickly after)? The width of the fretboard should intimidate your keys player?

We have the same issue with one of our drummers who never knowingly plays too slowly when we are live; she's generally fine in rehearsals...

Do any pro bass players play Hohner cricket bats these days?!

[BigRedX]

15 hours ago, Rich said:

OK. So logically you would have to agree that your earlier categorical statement that "the best bass lines on most albums released since the early 80s were synthesised or sampled and played by a sequencer" should have read, "the best bass lines on most albums released since the early 80s may have been synthesised or sampled and played by a sequencer, although obviously we have no way of knowing".

We argue this forever, but my personal experience both with my own bands and working on recordings for other people is that the bass guitar and drums are the first to be augmented or replaced if the end result requires it.

One of the bands I'm currently playing with recorded their last album with Gavin Monahagn (Editors, Goldblade etc.) producing. The "bass guitar" parts were written and recorded by the two guitarists, and because they had all the stems from the album they were able to give me the individual bass tracks to help me learn the songs. At the first rehearsal I had with them it became obvious that their producer had done a lot of extra work on the bass parts since they were originally tracked. Many of them had significant changes to both the timing and the notes being played and I kept being asked what I was playing, to which my reply was "What is on the recordings you gave me".

I don't know exactly what had been done between the tracking and the final mix but a lot of the time what I learnt from the recording was not what the rest of the band was expecting to hear in the rehearsal room where the bass guitar was more obvious than on the album.

[lowdown]

11 hours ago, tauzero said:

A four-string P bass can also be used to hammer in tent pegs. There's versatile.

A Single Cut would be better. Less chance of missing the peg and hitting your thumb.

[stingrayPete1977]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

We argue this forever, but my personal experience both with my own bands and working on recordings for other people is that the bass guitar and drums are the first to be augmented or replaced if the end result requires it.

One of the bands I'm currently playing with recorded their last album with Gavin Monahagn (Editors, Goldblade etc.) producing. The "bass guitar" parts were written and recorded by the two guitarists, and because they had all the stems from the album they were able to give me the individual bass tracks to help me learn the songs. At the first rehearsal I had with them it became obvious that their producer had done a lot of extra work on the bass parts since they were originally tracked. Many of them had significant changes to both the timing and the notes being played and I kept being asked what I was playing, to which my reply was "What is on the recordings you gave me".

I don't know exactly what had been done between the tracking and the final mix but a lot of the time what I learnt from the recording was not what the rest of the band was expecting to hear in the rehearsal room where the bass guitar was more obvious than on the album.

Most of my time spent in originals bands was done with Gav at magic Garden, top fella. 

[martthebass]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

We argue this forever, but my personal experience both with my own bands and working on recordings for other people is that the bass guitar and drums are the first to be augmented or replaced if the end result requires it.

One of the bands I'm currently playing with recorded their last album with Gavin Monahagn (Editors, Goldblade etc.) producing. The "bass guitar" parts were written and recorded by the two guitarists, and because they had all the stems from the album they were able to give me the individual bass tracks to help me learn the songs. At the first rehearsal I had with them it became obvious that their producer had done a lot of extra work on the bass parts since they were originally tracked. Many of them had significant changes to both the timing and the notes being played and I kept being asked what I was playing, to which my reply was "What is on the recordings you gave me".

I don't know exactly what had been done between the tracking and the final mix but a lot of the time what I learnt from the recording was not what the rest of the band was expecting to hear in the rehearsal room where the bass guitar was more obvious than on the album.

That's fine BRX....so it's in your experience/opinion as opposed to all encompassing and fact.

I'm not surprised that basslines are augmented/fixed at the studio otherwise tricks would be missed but it's a stretch to infer that this is the predominant situation back to the dawn of studio recording?

Edited July 18, 2018 by martthebass

[neilp]

22 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Different opinions are very welcome - no one has a monopoly of Truth. 

The fact that you've been playing bass as a pro or semi-pro for 35 years gets nothing but respect from an amateur like me.

Not wanting or needing a 5 string is entirely valid - you know better than anyone what works for you.

Saying that all 5 string basses lack punch and are difficult to amplify, is just plain wrong though, particularly from someone who has 35 years pro or semi pro experience! Have to say on that one, the "herd" have it very right when they say the opposite. Seriously - just pick up an used passive Yamaha BB 425 which costs all of £250 and play it through a decent rig and tell me it lacks punch! Dunno where you're based but if you're ever over in East London, please do pop in for a cuppa (or something stronger) and feel free to try out any of my 5ers through any of my rigs and see if you still feel the same.

I may well do that! I haven't played every 5 string available, and I won't, because I don't like the cumbersome feel of a neck that wide. My experience, though for what it's worth, is that most instruments that produce fundamentals as low as the bottom B on a 5 are hard to amplify effectively. Yes you get the rumble, and maybe a bit of transients for attack, but there's some clarity lacking that is hard to get - IN MY OPINION. I'm more than willing to be proven wrong about that, but that's not the deal breaker for me. I just very much prefer playing a 4

[Al Krow]

2 hours ago, neilp said:

I may well do that! I haven't played every 5 string available, and I won't, because I don't like the cumbersome feel of a neck that wide. My experience, though for what it's worth, is that most instruments that produce fundamentals as low as the bottom B on a 5 are hard to amplify effectively. Yes you get the rumble, and maybe a bit of transients for attack, but there's some clarity lacking that is hard to get - IN MY OPINION. I'm more than willing to be proven wrong about that, but that's not the deal breaker for me. I just very much prefer playing a 4

I think most decent amps can amplify 20Hz to 20kHz pretty well.

But you have a good point in relation to what even the best cabs can produce. Most of even the best are voiced at the low end to handle 40Hz and above (in fact pretty close to a low E - 41Hz) and the low B comes in at 31 Hz. Besides, sound guys and bass players alike will HPF to cut the "crud" at the lower end starting at 50Hz (or higher) and typically making sure that the sub-audio 20 Hz is pretty much wiped out both to protect the speakers and to tighten up the low end sound.

However from what I've gleaned from another thread on bass tone is that what we tend to 'hear' / 'latch on' to with low notes is often not the fundamental but the first and higher harmonics, which in the case of the low B will be 62 Hz, 124 Hz etc and in the case of the low E, 80 Hz, 160 Hz etc and I guess that's why folk (rightly) emphasise giving the mids a boost to ensure that the bass cuts through in the mix.

[tauzero]

12 hours ago, lowdown said:

A Single Cut would be better. Less chance of missing the peg and hitting your thumb.

My Thumb wouldn't be anywhere near the tent pegs though, it's used solely for musical purposes.