Is 5 String pointless?

[MJJS]

I thought I’d throw the question out there.

I started on 4s and migrated to 5s.

Now I’m migrating to 6s.

I think of the B and C as extensions to a 4 bass, with the B the more ‘useful’. But the C allows some colour under certain circumstances.

 

Your thoughts?

[Hellzero]

I've been a fretless sixer player since the 90's... So definitely my weapon of choice for many reasons, think Anthony Jackson and Alain Caron.

[Woodinblack]

10 minutes ago, MJJS said:

I think of the B and C as extensions to a 4 bass, with the B the more ‘useful’. But the C allows some colour under certain circumstances.

 

I think of the B, A, D, G and C as extensions to the E string, you don't really need any of them but makes life better!

[MJJS]

😂

[LowB_FTW]

Erm … no.

 

Mark

[Machines]

Any strings is pointless the more you think about it.

 

Life is suffering.

[paul_c2]

No..........you need somewhere to rest your thumb when playing the other 4 strings.....

[NickA]

A 5 is useful if you need to go below E and some patterns that don't go especially low are easier to play higher up the neck across 5 strings.  But the necks are wider so less comfy to play than a 4 and there's more risk of fingering or plucking the wrong string.  I've not played a 6 but I guess the pattern thing is better still and the neck and mistake potential worse.  5 may be a good compromise.

 

If not, why stop at 6.  Get a 14 course theorbo or a Chapman stick.

[Jackroadkill]

I played a five-string today for the first time since 1999 and didn't enjoy the experience one bit.

[tauzero]

I've been playing fives almost exclusively for over a decade, so to me they're not pointless. I do have a couple of sixes but as yet don't use them much. As they both have Roland GK-3Bs on them, that may change.

[lemmywinks]

Unless you need a 5 then just use a 4 if you want, I had to move to a 5 ages ago and didn't really want to, was a necessity for me though due to the music we were playing.

 

Same thing if you need the higher strings as well, use a 6 or whatever.

[bubinga5]

Just dont over think it. If you want to play a six string play a six string if it is useful for the music you are playing. In my experience you can play chords on a 5 string. You can be lazy on a 5 string because you dont have to move around so much as on a 4 string. Personally I love a 5 string because I can start a groove on the low B. Especially a Lakland 55. You know why, because if I play an E on the B it doesn't sound stinky poo like many a Fender 5 ive played.  Give me a 4 string Jazz and im also very happy. Give me a Yamaha TRB 6 JP2 im extremely happy.. You know why because I cant afford a £3000 bass. 

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by bubinga5

[chris_b]

Really???

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, NickA said:

If not, why stop at 6.  Get a 14 course theorbo or a Chapman stick.

 

I have a chapman stick - although that is only 5 bass strings, unless you are in bass reciprocal, in which case, two loads of 5 strings. Or 6 if you have a grand stick.

Still play 5 string basses though.

[jazzyvee]

Only if you don't want to exploit the lower bottom end and the choice of a different tonality that you can get from note choices on the B string. I gig mostly with a five string bass these days though because most of the gigs i do benefit from using the B string. I do occasionally use a 4 string live if i am doing gigs where i don't need to go below bottom E.

[Raj_Shredder]

Both of my 5’s are strung B-C right now, but I did the E-C thing for years…. I quite prefer it. Next string change, I’m going back. The B just doesn’t work for me. 

[dclaassen]

After Being lifelong 4 string player, I switched to 5 and find it almost universally better, mostly because you have easy access to 2 octaves. Amongst othings, that lets me play up the dusty end and still have good access to the “money notes”.

[Waddo Soqable]

I have tried a few 5s belonging to other people, I really didn't like them at all, I obviously get why many people find them useful, but for me I didn't like the cramped feeling of another string shoehorned in there. I also wouldn't find a low B etc particularly desirable, for my kind of use. The 4 banger works very well for what I need from a bass, is comfortable, and Mr Fender's original idea is well thought out and does the job perfectly imho. 

Now to throw a spanner in and contradict what I just said, (to a degree)  I did have fairly briefly a 6 string, which I did actually quite like, helped by the fact that it had some very nice tones available, ongoing though I didn't much care for the very wide expanse of neck and I ended up not really using it, so it went. 

The 6 however left me with the impression of quite a potentially good and interesting musical tool that was marred by its design, ie the lump of 4x2 of a neck! 

Enter the Bass Vl.. I was obviously aware of these but not really considered one when they were a rare and expensive collectors item, however when these came back as a Squier item they became a viable option. Anyway long story short, acquired one of these and, again imho, they're excellent, it can do the stuff I liked about the conventional "6 string bass" without the ridiculous broad neck. 

The caveat here is that the Bass Vl is, in my world at least, a completely different instrument and needs to be regarded as such. For me it's more of a guitar type thing, but at the same time not! 

You can of course play "bass line" type things on it (the lower 4 strings are EADG same register as a conventional bass) but that's not really what it's about, if I'm wanting that I'd just grab a 4.

I just don't have a use for a 5, they certainly don't appeal, and i don't envisage having one. 

 

[snorkie635]

11 hours ago, MJJS said:

I thought I’d throw the question out there.

I started on 4s and migrated to 5s.

Now I’m migrating to 6s.

I think of the B and C as extensions to a 4 bass, with the B the more ‘useful’. But the C allows some colour under certain circumstances.

 

Your thoughts?

Agree with you. My own preference is for a fiver although I do own a six.

[Doctor J]

I gigged with only one string before. You're all bourgeois swine.

[Paul S]

Everything is pointless, right up until there is a point to it.  The point may evade some people, individually, in which case it may appear, to them, to be pointless.  But for others there is a point, in which case it is not pointless.  The thing is to appreciate the point as it applies to others, even if it is pointless to you personally.

 

I might keep this on my clipboartd and paste it into every thread  

[JapanAxe]

11 hours ago, paul_c2 said:

No..........you need somewhere to rest your thumb when playing the other 4 strings.....

Unless you don’t.

 

If you play with a fully floating thumb, the side of it rests against the strings below (in pitch) the one you are playing, thus damping them.

[Hellzero]

This one isn't pointless.

 

[paul_c2]

1 hour ago, JapanAxe said:

Unless you don’t.

 

If you play with a fully floating thumb, the side of it rests against the strings below (in pitch) the one you are playing, thus damping them.

So a 5 string is pointless in that scenario.

[TeresaFR]

5ers are tempting but I don't think I'd get along with having an extra string and the extra muting that would require - I'm sloppy enough as it is; I also don't think I'd enjoy the additional weight. But I would really like to get below low E, so I'm (down the line) probably going to tune down to D standard and use a capo for the songs I have in E standard. Sure, it's not going to give me that low B thump but it's still a nice bit of extra low end and could be - for me at least, a decent compromise.