4 strings not enough or loosing my roots?

[DaveB]

This may seem a little silly to you all but i've been thinking about this alot recently. Most of us i'm sure started out on a 4 string, I did and was quite happy for 12 years playing like that. Must admit I did buy a budget 8 string for a laugh at one point that was too much (see sig). Then just over a year ago I joined my current band and found for one or two songs I needed a low C# and B, typical. So went out and got a 5 string. When I go back to 4 now, it still feels natural and easy to find my way around but i feel not quite complete and slightly naked. I wouldn't want to do any sort of gig with only a 4 string now, yet I love playing my old 4 string basses still. Kind of felt like i've lost my roots abit here.
Odd thing is with guitar. I play to an intermediate standard and dabbed in 7 strings but that did feel like too much and prefered less. Mind you trying to play slide guitar over that wide a neck is bloody hard lol.
So my point is, is it bad to feel like your loosing your roots or is it just natural progression?

[Chris2112]

If it's right for you then whats to stop you playing more strings? Similarly, if a 4 string bass is right for you, whats wrong with that?

I bought a Status Stealth 6 string once when I'd previously played 4 and 5 strings. I shortly realised that it just wasn't for me. I ended up selling that incredible bass to go to a 4 string Spector, which was the right choice for me. Everything since bar one bass has been a 4 string.

Don't worry about feeling like you're losing your roots, imagine that you're extending them - after all, the EADG strings are still there! You'll end up back at 4 string basses someday though, everyone always does!

[xilddx]

[quote name='DaveB' post='1037202' date='Nov 26 2010, 12:28 AM']This may seem a little silly to you all but i've been thinking about this alot recently. Most of us i'm sure started out on a 4 string, I did and was quite happy for 12 years playing like that. Must admit I did buy a budget 8 string for a laugh at one point that was too much (see sig). Then just over a year ago I joined my current band and found for one or two songs I needed a low C# and B, typical. So went out and got a 5 string. When I go back to 4 now, it still feels natural and easy to find my way around but i feel not quite complete and slightly naked. I wouldn't want to do any sort of gig with only a 4 string now, yet I love playing my old 4 string basses still. Kind of felt like i've lost my roots abit here.
Odd thing is with guitar. I play to an intermediate standard and dabbed in 7 strings but that did feel like too much and prefered less. Mind you trying to play slide guitar over that wide a neck is bloody hard lol.
So my point is, is it bad to feel like your loosing your roots or is it just natural progression?[/quote]
It's all about your vision old son. I can't stand more than four strings but I need 24 frets and I use a POD X3 LIVe. And I'd love a VB99 Bass Synth. It's when your musical situation demands change but you don't want it that the trouble begins.

[DaveB]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1037206' date='Nov 26 2010, 12:33 AM']Don't worry about feeling like you're losing your roots, imagine that you're extending them - after all, the EADG strings are still there! You'll end up back at 4 string basses someday though, everyone always does! [/quote]

I'll look at it this way, i'm abit big round the waist band so i'm like a big oak tree that needs to spread a few more roots lol.

[DaveB]

[quote name='silddx' post='1037217' date='Nov 26 2010, 12:40 AM']It's all about your vision old son. I can't stand more than four strings but I need 24 frets and I use a POD X3 LIVe. And I'd love a VB99 Bass Synth. It's when your musical situation demands change but you don't want it that the trouble begins.[/quote]

Good point, and interesting you mention 24 frets, thats the other thing. even though i don't play alot that high it feels wrong when i've got less than 24. Must be bass OCD

[thisnameistaken]

Play what you like, don't worry about it. I must say though I am the opposite to you - when I go back to 4 strings I feel I have a lot more freedom for some reason. It's weird but I suppose I just feel at home on 4.

[bubinga5]

there is no natural progression... its you and what you feel....

[ThomBassmonkey]

I started out on a 4, then moved to 6 then back to 5. Now I couldn't manage with a 4 string bass, even in the band that I only really use EAD on, I'd still feel constricted on runs without the B and G strings to start/finish on, even though there's no parts of the set that rely on them.

There's so many variations on basses because everyone likes different things, if you find a 4 feels more natural but you like the extended range of the 5, maybe you should look into 5s with a thinner neck or string spacing. Or maybe even wider string spacing so that it's nearer the spacing on a 4 (assuming the 5 is narrower).

[icastle]

I see bass guitars as just "tools" - you simply select the right tool to do a particular job.
Like most BCers I've ended up with a range of different instruments and some are more suited to particular styles than others.
I have a fretless JB and a WAV4 upright - different sounds, different feel to them and selected to match particular music types.
I have a 6 string - that gives me the option of adding a little more detail but doesn't really suit me for fast and accurate playing.
I have a 5 string - that gives me speed and a higher degree of accuracy than I get playing the 6 string.
I have a 4 string - that's an old 80's SB900 and gives me a more 'authentic punch' for playin 80's stuff.
I have an acoustic 4 string - that gives me the option of a quick practice without the aggro of setting up amps and gives me easier access into the folk/roots scene.

I don't see it as "losing my roots" - it's more a case of providing the best possible enhancement to a wide range of musical styles - at the end of the day, whatever instrument we decide to use, it's just a plank of wood with some metal strings stretched across it...

[chris_b]

You've just moved on. That's not a bad thing!

I agree with JTUK when he said a couple of weeks ago that a 4 string feels like half a bass now. I've tried playing both on a gig but there's nothing you can do on a 4 that you can't do on a 5 and, after 10 years, a 5 just feels more right!

My roots are in my head (and the past) not in a piece of wood.