How many strings?

[Clarky]

4

all the players I most admire play 4 strings (Jamerson, Simonon, Martyn P Casey, Bernard Edwards, Willie Weeks, Burton, Jaco etc on electric, La Faro, Chambers etc on DB). In some cases maybe they would have used a 5 if one was available but it didn't stop them making a glorious noise

[topo morto]

I've been playing less than a year and wouldn't like to make life any more complicated by going to more than 4 strings yet. Still, I pretty quickly decided to go BEAD...

4-string BEAD seems like a good 'basic' config.

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='topo morto' post='1040654' date='Nov 29 2010, 12:11 AM']I've been playing less than a year and wouldn't like to make life any more complicated by going to more than 4 strings yet. Still, I pretty quickly decided to go BEAD...

4-string BEAD seems like a good 'basic' config.[/quote]

If you've got your head around 4 strings, 5 is just the same but with one extra. Especially if you're using BEAD, you should get to grips with it quickly.

The only reason I (as a teacher in a shop) suggest people not to get a 5er right away is the size of the neck. Hands have to get used to playing and stretching in the right way. Someone with big hands or that plays another instrument like guitar would probably be fine to start out on a 5er, but people who aren't used to it are better IMO starting with the smaller neck.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1040503' date='Nov 28 2010, 09:50 PM']...when I was playing Black Velvet in a covers band.[/quote]

I'd have paid good money to see you play stuff like that!

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1040715' date='Nov 29 2010, 07:27 AM']I'd have paid good money to see you play stuff like that! [/quote]
It was fun, but there's only so many times I can play in a club.

[JMT3781]

3 x 5's 2 x 4's

i use the 5's mainly.. the one four is a vintage precision, which i use cuz the band mates prefer it that way (stuupid image thing) and the other is the fretless, which doesn't get used. 5 is my comfort zone and where i'm most happiest

[Rich]

I play a 5 all the time these days, and yes I use the B a lot. I haven't gigged a 4 for about 7 years now. I don't feel that one is necessarily better than the other, it's just what I personally want to use.
I don't feel the need to justify my more-then-4 choice and if anyone wants to look down their nose at me, that's fine, go ahead. Whatever floats your boat. But the sad fact is that threads like this [i]always[/i] end up as some sort of pissing contest, and to be honest it bores the life out of me. Life is too short for pointless snobbery, inverted or otherwise.

[Clarky]

[quote name='Rich' post='1040738' date='Nov 29 2010, 07:49 AM']I play a 5 all the time these days, and yes I use the B a lot. I haven't gigged a 4 for about 7 years now. I don't feel that one is necessarily better than the other, it's just what I personally want to use.
I don't feel the need to justify my more-then-4 choice and if anyone wants to look down their nose at me, that's fine, go ahead. Whatever floats your boat. But the sad fact is that threads like this [i]always[/i] end up as some sort of pissing contest, and to be honest it bores the life out of me. Life is too short for pointless snobbery, inverted or otherwise.[/quote]
Its funny how perspective is, Rich. I read most of this thread as looking down the nose at 4-stringers like me! As you rightly intimate, different strokes for different folks

[lee650]

Ive played five string pretty much all the time since i got my first yamaha back in 1996, i did have a couple of years where i played 4 string warwicks but then got a warwick 5, in my heart i mostly prefer a 4 and ithink thats something thats maybe pre programmed into your brain ( a bit like loving the tone of the fender bass, its been in most music for 60 years) i play a lot of shows and need a 5 as a lot of it is scored below low E and i always thought, taking it up the octave wasnt right otherwise it would be written that way!!
At the moment i have my ken smith 5 set up with steel strings for a modern bright and punchy tone, and my jazz bass has some old nickel strings for those times ineed a more traditional tone (in fact in thinking of putting flats on it) i use whatever i deem appropriate for the show, funnily enough i use the 5 strings 95% of the time, but when i turn up with a four i usualy get "oh your a traditionalist" from bandmembers ultimately its all horses for courses, and i must admit even though ive tried a few and never bothered i am getting certain urges toward a six string bass, might be a good time to switch, i do like to play chords and double stops ( and im probaby getting lazy with position shifts ) very interesting thread, but no need to fight- all the best - lee

Edited November 29, 2010 by lee650

[tauzero]

Four-string or five-string fretless with the ceilidh band, five-string fretless with the originals band. five-string fretted with one covers band, six-string fretted with the other covers band, and occasional excursions for the 7-string fretted. I started on 4s and started flirting with 5s after I'd been playing about 15 years, but it took me a long time to find one which I felt anything like as comfortable playing as my 4s. I'd say I am a default 5-string player these days, the 6 is so I can familiarise myself with it as I may move on to 6-strings on a more widespread basis.

[Gust0o]

My collection is almost exclusively 4-strings, apart from the solitary MTD 5 - but that's now the one which comes to rehearsal as the natural choice, when leaving the house.

Our tuning of choice appears to be C, with the occasional venture lower. It's just more natural to play on the 5, without the loss of tension - and the need to continue monitoring tuning throughout evening - which you get with a 4.

[Low End Bee]

4. I could probably get away with 3.
I don't feel any need to go to the low B in my band. Plus I think 5 strings look pug ugly and unbalanced.

[Tony Goggle]

11. or your no bass player.

[WalMan]

[quote name='Clarky' post='1040752' date='Nov 29 2010, 07:59 AM']Its funny how perspective is, Rich. I read most of this thread as looking down the nose at 4-stringers like me![/quote]
and vice versa
[quote name='Clarky' post='1040752' date='Nov 29 2010, 07:59 AM']As you rightly intimate, different strokes for different folks[/quote]Well quite.

Used a 4 for most of my playing life and only moved to 5's recently, but at the end of the day they are only instruments and it's horses for courses. I'd happily still use the 4, but it's now semi retired and the low B helps with changing of keys to suit vocals.

To get so worked up about it seems a bit silly and there are a lot of unsubstantiatable generalisations flying around on both sides.

Now, to double the reasons for my qualifying as a sh1t player, where's me plectrum

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1041109' date='Nov 29 2010, 01:22 PM']Plus I think 5 strings look pug ugly and unbalanced.[/quote]

Probably why I play a 5'er

[thepurpleblob]

I can play (and own) both 4 and 5 string quite comfortably but 90% of the time I take the 4.

I can't quite sort it out in my head but I don't think I completely get on with the narrow string spacing and/or wider neck of a 5.

A six just seems weird

Edited November 29, 2010 by thepurpleblob

[benh]

I play a 5er mostly because in the band I'm in at the moment everything's played a semitone down, and the 35" scale helps keep the sound tight (for want of a better word). Also, even though it's pretty much your standard pub rock I find I use the B a fair bit - mostly to save shifting position. I like to think of it as using what's there to my advantage rather than laziness though!

[Clarky]

[quote name='WalMan' post='1041119' date='Nov 29 2010, 01:30 PM']Now, to double the reasons for my qualifying as a sh1t player, where's me plectrum [/quote]
Hey, Walman, I play a 4-string AND use a plectrum, what does that qualify me as?

[thisnameistaken]

I just play 4 strings because you get less aggro from guitarists. I'm sure we've all had those looks.

[Spoombung]

[b]4[/b]. Never been tempted by more. Reasons are:

1. I honestly [i]cannot [/i]hear notes below a D (yes I know this is a tone lower than the E but it's not a good enough reason to go to 5)

2. I don't like the thick cable-like B string. That's the first thing you see on a 5 string. It turns me off. A high C does not appeal either.

3. A 5 needs lots of extra muting and dampening

4. I would rather hear a higher octave with more fundamental than a lower octave with virtually no upper harmonics.

5. Nothing beats the sheer joy of having four strings under four fingers for me. That's what attracted me to the bass in the first place.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Spoombung

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='Tony Goggle' post='1041111' date='Nov 29 2010, 01:23 PM']11 and your no bass player.[/quote]


Fixed

[cheddatom]

I played 4 for a while, and still do occasionally. I wouldn't buy another though - 6s only for me. It's not as though i'm always using the high C or low B, but I want the option. Obviously it can mean that you have to move up and down the neck less, which is a bonus. The main attraction for me is big bar (barre?) chords using the high C.

[lojo]

4 , most the music I cover was done on a 4 so its all i need

Occasionally I come across a singer who changes the key of a well known classic, which then means a 5 could keep the bass line sounding more "correct", but not enough to buy one

I did play one in the 90s as was commanded by the band leader (owner), but since that project I never really had a reason to use one so the B would just end up as a thumb rest

Never rule anything out though, things change, but for now a basic 4 string P does me

[stingrayPete1977]

Im sorry if I have offended the 5 string or four string players I honestly didnt realise this was such a contentious topic. My personal observations are just that if and if they dont match yours thats life.

I think this will be the first and last time I enter into one of these how many type threads and I presume why lots of people stayed away as they have seen it all before? It was first for me and a pleasure

[JakeBrownBass]

[quote name='BobTheBassist' post='1039462' date='Nov 28 2010, 12:25 AM']How many strings?[/quote]

What ever is needed for the gig.