Is 5 String pointless?

[Lozz196]

They’re pointless for me as I have no need of what they offer for my playing needs. If I needed the lower notes or the songs were such that moving across the neck was easier/better than up then they would be very pointiful (I think I’ve just made that word up btw).

[DGBass]

Played a 5 string Yamaha back when emo and grunge were a scene. Of course everyone who was anyone on MTV at the time had switched to 5-string so I was conscious of widespread 5-stringism being possibly more of a fashion or fad with the times. The odd thing was the more I played that 5 string, the more useful it became and it was far from pointless. Listening back to some recordings i made then, the five string definitely  made an impact on the overall sound. I think if 5's are your thing, the more you play them, the more you will enjoy them and find them pointiful .The grunge band didn't last and I remember moving back on to my 4 string P-bass and thinking wow! This is it. I tried to recapture that 5-string vibe a few years ago with a Ibanez Soundgear 5 but the point of a 5 string was lost on me by that time and I couldn't go back to having a big floppy B string used only as a finger rest. Niether 5 string I owned had the overall punch of any 4 string I've ever owned.

[BillyBass]

7 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

If I was you I'd probably stick the 4 string, but install a D-tuner (or whatever they are called) tuning mechanism on it.

 

Will be quicker and more practical than both tuning down the 4 string manually or switching to a 5 string, in fact as simple as just flipping a lever (and flipping it once again to get back to E tuning).

 

If I had one or two gigging 4 strings then it would be worth considering.  I have 8, and though some are more likely to be gigged than others, all are liable to be picked on the day.  I'm not buying 8 bloody D tuners!

[MJJS]

Well, if nothing else we have created the word pointiful. I suspect ‘pointmore’ was what @Lozz196 was after but pointiful is definitely better.

 

 

[Waddo Soqable]

46 minutes ago, MJJS said:

Well, if nothing else we have created the word pointiful. I suspect ‘pointmore’ was what @Lozz196 was after but pointiful is definitely better.

 

 

He'll have an argument on his hands if he pulls that one in a Scrabble game tho.. 😁

[BillyBass]

11 hours ago, tauzero said:

It's a good job that all 5-strings are absolutely identical so that if somebody tries a 5-string and doesn't like it because it's not comfortable, they don't have to try any other 5-strings before deciding never to use one again. And if you never play any notes below bottom E then a 5-string is completely pointless anyway.

Was this a comment on my post 7 posts above it?

[andruca]

I've used mostly 5 string basses since 1993, some 4 years into playing bass. In my case it just happened that 5 string basses shaped me into a lower bass player. So much so I could get away with a 4 string tuned BEAD for most of what I play these days really (have done it many times). I feel lucky I let that happen and the low B is not a thumbrest for me, but at the same time I'm taking my G string out almost new most times I change strings in my 5ers'.

[IanA]

I love a good 4 string Precision but these days only use a 5 string. I am regularly playing for leaders who sing in different keys, and so having the ability to easily transpose patterns without loosing the low notes is great.

I also really like to use the B string for a big chorus or bridge section when I have previously been playing E string and above… it can really give a song a big dynamic lift.

Edited July 19, 2023 by IanA

[tauzero]

9 hours ago, BillyBass said:

Was this a comment on my post 7 posts above it?

 

Partly inspired by it but I've seen an awful lot of "I had a 5-string once and couldn't get on with it" posts over the years.

[MJJS]

Just to restate the original point of the thread.

 

If you’re moving on from 4 strings, is there any point in going to 5 instead of 6.

[snorkie635]

2 minutes ago, MJJS said:

Just to restate the original point of the thread.

 

If you’re moving on from 4 strings, is there any point in going to 5 instead of 6.

I'd say, as with most of these scenarios, it depends on the player's preference, finances and the musical context. If at all possible, it would be great if those thinking of making a move, could have the opportunity to have a decent go on each format to help their decision making. A quick play around in a music shop won't always provide a true experience of what any instrument can (and can't) do. We could just as easily ask if someone should go straight to a seven string and I'd give the same answer. I've owned 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 string basses all at the same time, and they're as different in function as a professional set of kitchen knives.

[Waddo Soqable]

9 minutes ago, MJJS said:

Just to restate the original point of the thread.

 

If you’re moving on from 4 strings, is there any point in going to 5 instead of 6.

5 seems to have become something of a "standard" now it seems, whereas the 6 string( not meaning bass Vl btw) is possibly a bit more niche for want of a better word. 

As above, the best option is simply go and try some and see what would work for you 

[Woodinblack]

15 minutes ago, MJJS said:

If you’re moving on from 4 strings, is there any point in going to 5 instead of 6.

 

Sometimes there is a problem with the question that it contains a premise that is not true.

When I was young I had a 4 string bass, a ric copy, which was stolen. but then I was a guitar player for a longest time. After a while I bought a bass, it was a 5 string, it just happened to be that is what I found cheap.

 

So for me, the 'moving on' part of the question is odd. I effectively started on a 5. So for me, moving on would be moving to a 4 or a 6. I can't see any advantage in moving to a 4, other than a different choice of basses, and the problem of moving to a 6 is a wider neck for not that much gain. I have tried 6s a few times but have difficulty with the widths. I try 4s from time to time but the missing string always gets me in the end!

 

People always assume there is a 'going to a 5 from a 4' rather than a 'going to a 4 from a 5'.

 

[tauzero]

38 minutes ago, MJJS said:

Just to restate the original point of the thread.

 

If you’re moving on from 4 strings, is there any point in going to 5 instead of 6.

 

Yes. If you're not going to make use of the top string, it's increasing the stretch over the unused strings to the strings that you are using. Conversely, if you have a B-G 5-string and you don't use the bottom string, you don't have to stretch over any intervening strings to reach the four that you are using. In my case, I find the B string useful but there wouldn't be an advantage to having the C string for what I'm currently playing so a 6-string would be pointless but a 5-string isn't.

[BigRedX]

33 minutes ago, MJJS said:

Just to restate the original point of the thread.

 

If you’re moving on from 4 strings, is there any point in going to 5 instead of 6.

 

It will depend on how you tune it. If like @Dood you're going down to F# with that 6th string then maybe yes. Or if your are venturing into Bass VI (30" scale tuned an octave lower than a guitar) territory than definitely yes.

 

However I've always found that 34" scale makes anything played on the high C string sound like bad jazz guitar, and I've not yet found a short scale bass with a low B string that I could get on with (I know that are others on here who will disagree with that, but I favour an extra heavy B string even for 34" scale).

 

Also I've been playing 5-string basses since 1989 when I came back to playing bass after having spent most of the 80s playing synths, and found the additional low notes useful, plus I found that now the E string wasn't at the edge of the neck "disco octaves" using that string were much easier for me than before. Apart from a brief time in the 2000s when I was also playing fretless bass and couldn't find a decent 5-string one, I haven't played a 4-string bass apart from on a few studio sessions.

 

These days I play 34" 5-string bass with one band and Bass VI with another.

 

In the end it's all down to personal taste.

[fretmeister]

On 15/07/2023 at 13:56, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Jaco only needed four

 

     ...ducks for cover

 

 

Bottesini only needed 3!

[NancyJohnson]

I've owned a handful of 5-string basses (Lakland DJ5/MM Bongo) and have an oversized Lull NRT.  I don't play the Lull that much despite it being a fantastic bit of kit; it just doesn't lend itself to the whole punky/indie ethic, although the extra notes off the low-B do help when there's a necessity to drop down to a low-D once in a while (rather than using a drop-D tuner).  In a world of Precisions and Jazzes, I think I'm pushing things using a Spector Euro-X in the current band, but the Lull might be stepping over the line a bit.

 

Wouldn't classify 5-strings as being pointless.  They're useful in the right circumstances.

[Machines]

For about 90%* of players, no there is no point - they are happy playing standard tuning and if the music they play doesn't necessitate it, it is likely to be superfluous.

 

For my band, it is absolutely necessary. The guitarist is tuned to C#G#C#F#G#C# (or D♭A♭D♭G♭A♭D♭) and uses a capo also on some tunes, the B features quite heavily in most keys he plays and I have the ability to go up or down from his roots. In fact throughout our songs, there is no fret on the B string below 7 I dont use.

 

*This is apx data based on 2nd hand items for sale on eBay/Reverb currently.

[Hellzero]

46 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

Bottesini only needed 3!

And Yves Carbonne only needed 2, see previous page. 😉

[snorkie635]

4 hours ago, Hellzero said:

And Yves Carbonne only needed 2, see previous page. 😉

And before I began playing, I got by with none. 👍

[Baloney Balderdash]

4 hours ago, Hellzero said:

And Yves Carbonne only needed 2, see previous page. 😉

Stig Pedersen from the Danish band D:A:D (Disneyland After Dark) too:

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[BillyBass]

 

6 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Partly inspired by it but I've seen an awful lot of "I had a 5-string once and couldn't get on with it" posts over the years.

So you read part of the post, decided it was an 'I had a 5-string once and couldn't get on with it' post and thought you would ridicule it.

 

Why don't you try reading it again, but this time read it all and give yourself a bit of time to comprehend what was written.  I'll include it below to make it easy for you.

 

On 16/07/2023 at 08:55, BillyBass said:

In my previous band the singer had us drop lower than E for quite a few songs, so rather than retuning my E string every other song, I bought a fiver.  I then spent 6 weeks getting used to it and it became the only bass I played.  I really appreciated the versatility the extra string gave.

 

I then joined a punk band and got to use all my 4 string basses again and I remembered how comfortable they are to play compared to a fiver.

 

My first band fell apart and since then, the fiver has been gathering dust and more 4 string basses have been added to the collection.

 

Yesterday, while discussing a few new songs to add to our set, our singer asked us to play one of these new songs in D.  So I dusted off the fiver and learnt the song with that.  I'm of two minds whether to bring my fiver to rehearsals/gigs for just one song but as we are talking about adding a second set of songs the chances are more songs will need D and Eb.

 

My take on 4 vs 5 is:

 

4 = comfort

5 = versatility

 

 

 

On 16/07/2023 at 11:23, tauzero said:

It's a good job that all 5-strings are absolutely identical so that if somebody tries a 5-string and doesn't like it because it's not comfortable, they don't have to try any other 5-strings before deciding never to use one again. And if you never play any notes below bottom E then a 5-string is completely pointless anyway.

Where did I say 5 string basses were not comfortable? or that I don't like them?  Going from my Charvel fiver's 44-45 mm nut width to my Charvel 4's 38mm is an increase in comfort, hence comfortable compared to a fiver, however, I never wrote anything about fivers being uncomfortable.

 

I am also aware of more than one reason for playing a fiver and certainly didn't write there was only one reason in the post.  I pointed out I find 5 string basses more versatile that 4s.

 

I do get on with fivers and I love my Charvel 5 string.  I play in a punk band and I generally play a 4 string P or PJ bass.  I missed the Charvel 5er and playing one new song (from a different genre) with a low D was an excuse to get it out again.  

 

You  misread my post.  Or rather, you read part of it and thought you understood the rest. 

[tauzero]

48 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

 

So you read part of the post, decided it was an 'I had a 5-string once and couldn't get on with it' post and thought you would ridicule it.

 

Why don't you try reading it again, but this time read it all and give yourself a bit of time to comprehend what was written.  I'll include it below to make it easy for you.

 

 

 

 

Where did I say 5 string basses were not comfortable? or that I don't like them?  Going from my Charvel fiver's 44-45 mm nut width to my Charvel 4's 38mm is an increase in comfort, hence comfortable compared to a fiver, however, I never wrote anything about fivers being uncomfortable.

 

I am also aware of more than one reason for playing a fiver and certainly didn't write there was only one reason in the post.  I pointed out I find 5 string basses more versatile that 4s.

 

I do get on with fivers and I love my Charvel 5 string.  I play in a punk band and I generally play a 4 string P or PJ bass.  I missed the Charvel 5er and playing one new song (from a different genre) with a low D was an excuse to get it out again.  

 

You  misread my post.  Or rather, you read part of it and thought you understood the rest. 

 

It was you who said "4 strings: comfort. 5 strings: versatility". As my 5-strings are as comfortable as my 4-strings, and more comfortable than many 4-strings I've played, I wouldn't agree with that. And not everything I said was triggered by what you posted. Like I said, it was a part of the trigger for that post, not the entire reason (otherwise I'd have quoted you). Perhaps you should have read my reply more carefully.

Edited July 17, 2023 by tauzero

[paul_5]

Back in the 90s I played with some bands that were almost exclusively keyboard and drums - 5 string basses made it MUCH easier to play in 'flat keys' that they favoured.

[BillyBass]

14 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

It was you who said "4 strings: comfort. 5 strings: versatility". As my 5-strings are as comfortable as my 4-strings, and more comfortable than many 4-strings I've played, I wouldn't agree with that. And not everything I said was triggered by what you posted. Like I said, it was a part of the trigger for that post, not the entire reason (otherwise I'd have quoted you). Perhaps you should have read my reply more carefully.

I read it carefully, and disagreed.