whats the best way to play 5 string bass?

[hagguy]

i got an old 5 string recently and while i have it for sale
i'd like to get some use from it in the meanwhile, it's strung with a high c
which suits me better as i normally play 4 string. i'm not really sure how to
make the most of it and what techniques work better. any advice or a point
in the right direction would be appreiciated. im very green when it comes to
theory, tab is about as far as i've gone. thanks in advance

[Happy Jack]

Unless you solo a lot, I can't see how you're going to get much use from the high C. Certainly you'll find a 5-string is more ... erm ... well, [i][b]bassy [/b][/i]if you string it BEADG.

How to play it?

If you've strung it with a low B, treat it like a 4-string except now you have a handy thumb-rest that runs ALL the way along. Neat, huh?

Once you've got used to that, try playing a few songs in D. You'll very quickly find out how useful it is to be able to play a low D, especially as part of alternating octaves, or arpeggios.

[hagguy]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='790117' date='Mar 29 2010, 11:19 PM']Unless you solo a lot, I can't see how you're going to get much use from the high C. Certainly you'll find a 5-string is more ... erm ... well, [i][b]bassy [/b][/i]if you string it BEADG.

How to play it?

If you've strung it with a low B, treat it like a 4-string except now you have a handy thumb-rest that runs ALL the way along. Neat, huh?

Once you've got used to that, try playing a few songs in D. You'll very quickly find out how useful it is to be able to play a low D, especially as part of alternating octaves, or arpeggios.[/quote]

i did have it strung with a b string but really couldn't use it, the thumbrest thing is right
on the money, but i like having it like a 4 with an extra string, maybe try a b string in the future
but for now i'm sticking with the c,

[Doddy]

Just play it like you would normally but with the advantage of not having
to shift positions to reach the upper notes.
All my 5's have a low B,because I occasionally get charts written with a low
D or C,but when I play my 6 string I find I use the high C more than the low
B,as I can easily play two octaves above the E string in one position.
Also,the original Fender V had a high C and only 15 frets for that very reason.

[Delberthot]

I played 6 string for a while but only had 1 5 string briefly strung E-C

The only song I could think off right away to use it for was the chorus of Wishing Well by Free after the key change

I found I used the C much more on a 6 string than on that 5

[Oscar South]

high c is pretty useless but very fun