Does anyone actually use their B string?

[Dazed]

On 07/03/2019 at 12:19, Matt P said:

my only issue now is that i recently discovered 30" scale basses so now i have GAS for a 30" 5 string (which isn't a common instrument!)

 

Matt

I had the same craving lately! Although I haven’t played one, I do have a short scale 4 but haven’t played it for a long time, I’m really intrigued with some 30” 5s I found. Mainly Callowhills, which are going to be impossible to find as Tim sadly passed away a few years ago and very few seemed to leave the States. I’d you  haven’t already have a look at them. Although you may, like me, develop a want for something that cannot be bought! 

[kusee pee]

I use the B string all the time, nearly every song. Playing up the neck is what makes a 5 worthwhile imo 

[BigRedX]

6 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

so, whether you use/need a B string depends on what sort of music you play I guess

For me it's much more to with what sort of bass line I am playing and what key the song is in.

As I said in my previous post the most musically conventional band I've ever played made the most use of the B-string both for position and actual notes. Some of the weirder stuff I play hardly used the B string.

[Woodinblack]

6 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

so, whether you use/need a B string depends on what sort of music you play I guess

Absolutely not. Whether you want a B string depends entirely on your personal preference. Same probably as if you want a C.

Some things are made easier by a B string, but nothing is not doable, you can always have a BEAD 4 string. 

[Stub Mandrel]

I've had a Hohner B2 (four string) for about thirty years so when I found a virtually mint Hohner Jack Custom 5 for £130 (with case, strap, strap locks and lead!) it would have been rude not to get it. It was a cheap lead though.

I'd assumed the advantage was diving low, but what I've found, from relatively little practice, is that five strings gets you thinking more about scale shapes across the neck. This seems to have helped me in visualising scales in different positions when back to four string.

I love skinny four-string necks though.

[Stub Mandrel]

5 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Absolutely not. Whether you want a B string depends entirely on your personal preference. Same probably as if you want a C.

Some things are made easier by a B string, but nothing is not doable, you can always have a BEAD 4 string. 

Seeing how most basses have 24 frets and few rock songs go anywhere past about 19, it surprises me how few people do this, although lots of 'heavy' bands drop a whole tone.

[PaulWarning]

I never need anything below E I just play the octave, as I've already stated I avoid anything below G just seems to lose definition to me and gets lost in the mix, I get that it can help some by not having to move all over the neck but I already play mostly in the first 5 frets anyway, I can't think of any of my bass playing heroes that use a 5 string

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've had a Hohner B2 (four string) for about thirty years so when I found a virtually mint Hohner Jack Custom 5 for £130 (with case, strap, strap locks and lead!) it would have been rude not to get it. It was a cheap lead though.

I'd assumed the advantage was diving low, but what I've found, from relatively little practice, is that five strings gets you thinking more about scale shapes across the neck. This seems to have helped me in visualising scales in different positions when back to four string.

I love skinny four-string necks though.

As four-string necks go, the B2 is quite skinny. As five-string necks go, the Jack is quite chubby. If you find an equivalently skinny 5-string neck, you'll be happier. I have a B2AV, same neck profile as the Jack 4, and while it's perfectly usable, I only have it as a very compact back-up bass.

[SpondonBassed]

11 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

4+1 looks like an afterthought. 3+2 is fine, 

Sorry.  If I was thinking along those lines I would have said that 3+2 looks a lot like two afterthoughts.

I like my Ibby fiver's headstock too you know and I much prefer it to the Fender headstock but I can't really follow your reasoning.  The afterthought thing is in the eye of the beholder.  If you've imprinted, let's say, on four stringers, it would look odd to have 4+1 or 3+1 or 3+2.  If you've grown attached to five stringers, less so.

[SpondonBassed]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've had a Hohner B2 (four string) for about thirty years so when I found a virtually mint Hohner Jack Custom 5 for £130 (with case, strap, strap locks and lead!) it would have been rude not to get it. It was a cheap lead though.

I'd assumed the advantage was diving low, but what I've found, from relatively little practice, is that five strings gets you thinking more about scale shapes across the neck. This seems to have helped me in visualising scales in different positions when back to four string.

I love skinny four-string necks though.

 

47 minutes ago, tauzero said:

As four-string necks go, the B2 is quite skinny. As five-string necks go, the Jack is quite chubby. If you find an equivalently skinny 5-string neck, you'll be happier. I have a B2AV, same neck profile as the Jack 4, and while it's perfectly usable, I only have it as a very compact back-up bass.

I have a B2A and a Steinberger Spirit XT25.  Have either of you compared necks between the Steinberger XT25 and the Hohner B2AV?  Of the two of mine I think the B2A is far nicer to play.  I wondered if the Hohner fiver had a similar neck to the Steiny fiver...?

I didn't like the B string on the XT25 until I restrung it with flats.  It's still a bit of a cheap thrill though compared to the sensual neck of my SR605.

[super al]

6 hours ago, ricksterphil said:

Could i ask what make/model of 5 string has this slim neck?

Course you can, an Ibanez SR1205

[SpondonBassed]

7 hours ago, ricksterphil said:

Could i ask what make/model of 5 string has this slim neck?

 

38 minutes ago, super al said:

Course you can, an Ibanez SR1205

 

44 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

I didn't like the B string on the XT25 until I restrung it with flats.  It's still a bit of a cheap thrill though compared to the sensual neck of my SR605. 

I think the refined neck must be a characteristic feature of the five stringers in the SR (Sound Gear) range by Ibanez.

[tauzero]

47 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

 

I have a B2A and a Steinberger Spirit XT25.  Have either of you compared necks between the Steinberger XT25 and the Hohner B2AV?  Of the two of mine I think the B2A is far nicer to play.  I wondered if the Hohner fiver had a similar neck to the Steiny fiver...?

I didn't like the B string on the XT25 until I restrung it with flats.  It's still a bit of a cheap thrill though compared to the sensual neck of my SR605.

It's quite a while ago that I had an XT25. I think the XT25 was slightly slimmer. It also felt really, really rigid.

[tauzero]

4 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

I think the refined neck must be a characteristic feature of the five stringers in the SR (Sound Gear) range by Ibanez.

And my Antoniotsai 5-strings. And my Sei 5-strings. And the Peavey Grind 5-string.

[SpondonBassed]

4 minutes ago, tauzero said:

And my Antoniotsai 5-strings. And my Sei 5-strings. And the Peavey Grind 5-string.

I'm honoured to be in the company of such great names then.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 08/03/2019 at 18:59, tauzero said:

As four-string necks go, the B2 is quite skinny. As five-string necks go, the Jack is quite chubby. If you find an equivalently skinny 5-string neck, you'll be happier. I have a B2AV, same neck profile as the Jack 4, and while it's perfectly usable, I only have it as a very compact back-up bass.

My feeling is that the Jack is pretty tapered - at the nut it's about the same as my p-bass, but the bridge is spaced the same as the 4-string, which seems bit odd. Does take a bit of getting used to.

Just remeasured, the Jack V is 44mm at the nut, 16mm string spacing and 26mm thick at the 12th fret compared to 24mm for my jag.

That means the B-G string spacing flares from 36mm to 64mm.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Stub Mandrel

[3below]

8 hours ago, tauzero said:

You need one if you're playing below bottom E and don't want to tune to other than EADG or use octavers/pitch shifters.

You use one if your bass is equipped with one and you use it. I use it on trad music for ceilidhs, reggae, rock, pop, and jazz.

A large part of my youth late 70s early 80s was spent playing Ceildh / Scottish / Irish folk music.  At that time there were certain tunes and keys that would have been easier / better sounding with a 5 stringer (or kit of the quality we have these days).  These days I play rock / blues and enjoy the fretted E on my G&L 5er with a massive baseball neck and my small hands.  I am not a fan of small / thin necks.

Edited March 8, 2019 by 3below

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

Have either of you compared necks between the Steinberger XT25 and the Hohner B2AV?  Of the two of mine I think the B2A is far nicer to play.

I haven't, but there were plenty of rumours around that some people preferred Hohners to Steinbergers, of course in part it may have been inverse snobbery!

It was my first band's trade mark that the guitarist and I both had headless Hohners when they were still pretty unusual.

I cant resist posting this 🙂

Us on stage with Benjamin Zephaniah (OK he was only introducing us and was not quite as well known in 86). I think this was the only time we ever played as a 3-piece. Jon, the guitarist met my brother by chance - they had only met once over 30 years before - and it turned out he still had the video and had ripped it to DVD:

 

[Planemo]

I would love to try a 5, but it would need to be thin as I really like the skinny 38mm (1.5") nut and general profile on my XT2. In fact I wouldnt mind a bang on the XT25 which has, from what I can see, a pretty skinny neck for a fiver at 41mm (1.625"). 

[SpondonBassed]

8 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I haven't, but there were plenty of rumours around that some people preferred Hohners to Steinbergers, of course in part it may have been inverse snobbery!

It was my first band's trade mark that the guitarist and I both had headless Hohners when they were still pretty unusual.

I cant resist posting this 🙂

Us on stage with Benjamin Zephaniah (OK he was only introducing us and was not quite as well known in 86). I think this was the only time we ever played as a 3-piece. Jon, the guitarist met my brother by chance - they had only met once over 30 years before - and it turned out he still had the video and had ripped it to DVD:

 

Great frame grabs (given the technology of the day).  Thanks for sharing.  It's an image that takes me back.

7 minutes ago, Planemo said:

I would love to try a 5, but it would need to be thin as I really like the skinny 38mm (1.5") nut and general profile on my XT2. In fact I wouldnt mind a bang on the XT25 which has, from what I can see, a pretty skinny neck for a fiver at 41mm (1.625"). 

Where are you based?

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

Sorry.  If I was thinking along those lines I would have said that 3+2 looks a lot like two afterthoughts.

Nope, it looks like it was an intentional design choice. OK, fender headstocks with 3/2 don't like quite the same as the shorter ones, like the G&L 5s, it sort of accents how odd fender headstocks are, but the 4+1 really looks like they only realised at the last moment they had nowhere for the 1.

3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

I like my Ibby fiver's headstock too you know and I much prefer it to the Fender headstock but I can't really follow your reasoning.  The afterthought thing is in the eye of the beholder.  If you've imprinted, let's say, on four stringers, it would look odd to have 4+1 or 3+1 or 3+2.  If you've grown attached to five stringers, less so.

I too prefer the ibby 5 headstock (and I prefer the ibby 5 to 4, even though my first was a 4). The Fender headstock looks wrong as a 4+1, regardless of whether you are used to it. At least 3+2 looks like an attempt at balance.

3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

I have a B2A and a Steinberger Spirit XT25.  Have either of you compared necks between the Steinberger XT25 and the Hohner B2AV?  Of the two of mine I think the B2A is far nicer to play.  I wondered if the Hohner fiver had a similar neck to the Steiny fiver...?

I have a B2V, and before that (and for a while at the same time) had a B2. I would say the B2 was nicer to play than the B2V, I just wanted a 5 because I play 5s, but its B string isn't great and with the bigger neck I am not sure it is as good - I sold the B2, because there was no point having 2, and I don't really mind as it is only a backup, I hardly ever play it, but if I did, I think I might miss the B2.

So i suspect from you description, the B2V neck is similar to the XT25.

[josie]

10 hours ago, Dazed said:

I do always wonder this, how did you end up buying the Jazz if the B is a let down? 

Fell for it on the spec and reputation and didn't test it out thoroughly enough before buying it. Early days. Lesson learned. 

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, Planemo said:

I would love to try a 5, but it would need to be thin as I really like the skinny 38mm (1.5") nut and general profile on my XT2. In fact I wouldnt mind a bang on the XT25 which has, from what I can see, a pretty skinny neck for a fiver at 41mm (1.625"). 

Neck on the B2AV is 45mm but neck size isn't just about width, it's depth too.

[BreadBin]

I had a B2AV - the neck was really deep. I didn't mind that so much but couldn't get on with the spacing.

[Stub Mandrel]

The Jack Custom V is 42mm so skinnier than the B2V. I would have expected them to be the same hardware.