Anyone else gone from 5 string to 4?

[Angel]

I'm not really a bass player, I am someone who has dabbled with basses for a lot of years though. My first couple were 4 string, but then I went to 5 about 16 years ago and didn't look back. The odd time I tried 4 after that it just felt wrong.

Anyway, after a couple of years of really not playing bass at all (playing other instruments instead), I have suddenly got into the idea again. A lot of the players that I was getting inspired by again seemed to play 4 string (Zender, Flea, Geddy to name a few) and I just though it would be good to dive in and have a go again. To be honest it feels like a minor revelation to me. I think the long break made a difference. Suddenly it feels so right, and so much easier! I kind of feel that I have found my natural bass home. I have a couple of pieces that really miss the low B string, but I'm gonna persevere and try to work out different ways to play them.

I can't believe it, but right now it honestly feels like my number one bass of many years is on the chopping block. I thought I'd keep it forever, but at the moment I'm thinking that its days may well be numbered. It's a reggie Hamilton custom shop 5 string, way better than a player like me deserves! I'll have to have a good think about it. Probably best not to rush into anything .....

Anyway, I don't know why, but it seems unusual to me to go from 5 to 4 strings? Anyone else done it? Maybe it isn't unusual at all?

[paul_5]

I've just parted with the nicest playing 5 I ever had. I've got a fretless 4 now and a fretted 'bitsa' in my shed that needs tinkering with / spraying / setting up. Both are 4s.
I've played 5 strings almost exclusively for roughly 17 of my 20 years as a bassist and found myself just not using the 'window rattler' any more.

[chrismuzz]

I've always loved playing my 4 string. It is what I learnt to play on so will always feel like 'home'. DIfferent basses, particularly with different numbers of strings always bring out a different feel for me so I could never stick to just one. Even though I would say my 6 is my main bass, any excuse I get to play the 4 I take it!

[Dom in Dorset]

I played a five for years , I bought it when I was trying to be Dave Pegg. I never found much use for the B string and could never get a usable sound from it. It was my only bass for years until one day I picked up a four again, never looked back.
If money were no object I'd be tempted by a five string P for sight reading gigs (bass lines written by none bass players often do some odd but interesting things that would be easier with the low b

Edited October 14, 2012 by Dom in Somerset

[Ed_S]

I don't think it's unusual; I went from 5s to 4s a couple of years ago and have no regrets. I wanted a lighter, shorter and more comfortably shaped bass than the ones I was wielding, so got myself a 4-string Precision and luckily, in doing so found 'my bass'. I still have one 5-string but I've never been tempted to go back to using it live; I keep it to play for my own entertainment at home and just in case I need it for recording or a very prescriptive dep gig.

[molan]

I moved to 5's when I was in a band with a female singer who kept dropping the keys on everything she sang to a point where I was 'falling off the end of the fretboard' (our male singer didn't have this issue and de-tuning my bass would have messed up quite a few things for me in covering his songs).

I used various 5's for a while and really got to like them. I discovered that I much preferred narrower 17mm spacing though.

When the female singer left I didn't really need the B any more and went back to 4's. Now I tend to use the skinniest necks possible on a 4 & 5's feel huge to me.

Generally much happier with my 4's now - only vague thing tempting me to a 5 is a narrow spaced 33" scale E to C. This is, of course, something I'd hardly ever need or use but I like the 'idea' of them, lol.

[daz]

Much as it goes against the grain with me to say this, (see my Sig) but keep the five and get a four [i]as well[/i]. Even if you get the best four ever and find out you are better served with a four string. You may well regret selling the five later.

[Angel]

I like the Sheehan quote! Met him a few years ago, great guy.

[uncle psychosis]

My only bass is a 5 string. The only thing the B string ever gets used for is as a thumb rest! I'm going to get another 4-string bass at some point, but I'm in no rush.

[Sté]

I went to five, after several years on a warwick corvette 4, with a nice warwick thumb. Then i sold the four and tought the 5 was MY bass. I played it exclusively for 2 years. I enjoyed it but then came a strange feeling that my playing slowly becoming sterile, stucked in a "vertical" way as if i had to play only in a four frets area, and couldn't expand it on the rest of the neck.
Then one day, i took a 4 from a friend too noodle with and then came the light: suddenly i felt free and my left hand started to move on the horizontal highway. That sounds strange but it is.
I sold the thumb, had a nice Cort artisan B4 and never looked behind. That was more than 10 years ago.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Sté

[SoVeryTired]

I've had a 24-fret 5 for the last year (I'm still fairly new to this whole bass-playing lark), recently got a 20-fret 4 and enjoy each in their own way. The 4 is really easy to move around but I do find myself missing those low and high notes - they've become part of the way I play certain songs and it feels like a compromise having to play up an octave (or down for those high notes!).

I think I'd always want to have a 5 as my main player but a 4 as backup or just for something a bit different.

[musophilr]

I've got used to my 5 and feel horribly restricted if I go back to my 4.

[bremen]

I was asked, after Saturday's gig, what I detuned my 4 string Precision to.

EADG.

Not sure what that proves (apart from a suspicion that I enjoy dragging conversations OT and should get my coat).

[Noah Deere]

I went back to 4 strings at the start of the year, probably won't go back to 5. The 4 seems to be much more comfortable to play.

[chris_b]

You’ve got to go with what ever instrument is the most comfortable and appropriate, but after 20 years playing 5 string basses, this year I bought a 4 string fretless and played a 4 string Jazz on a couple of fly-away gigs.

I've never felt so uncomfortable, limited and restricted when playing bass in years (well 20 to be exact!), so that’s it, no more 4 string basses for me.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1350262541' post='1836619']
Much as it goes against the grain with me to say this, (see my Sig) but keep the five and get a four [i]as well[/i]. Even if you get the best four ever and find out you are better served with a four string. You may well regret selling the five later.
[/quote]

Spot on.

[LiamPodmore]

I went from 5 back down to 4 after 2 years with my 5 string. I only bought it because i was sick of constantly tuning (E Standard, Drop D, D Standard & Drop C, all in one set), but we changed our set completely so i didn't need the 5 anymore, plus I got a cracking deal on an '86 Japanese P which i couldn't refuse, so I made the switch back to 4. I still have the 5 string, and do still use it, i just don't gig it any more (Partly because i have the Fender, and partly because it has a HUGE neck, neck dives and weighs a tonne and a half on a thin strap)

Liam

[Sibob]

I played 5's exclusively for a good 3 years or so (after starting on 4's obviously), I never had any issues, but going back to 4's after so long was a revelation, they definitly feel like home to me.
I do have a great 5 still, but it is rarely used, usually for dep gigs that I've no idea what key they want songs in, so its positional as opposed to specifially wanting low notes.
I have an Octave pedal that I often just kick in for low notes, more than enough, there aren't too many 5 string players (metal aside) who simply sit down on the B string.

But agreed, its what you feel most comfortable and free on. I understand it when people say "well its good to be challenged, makes you think and play in different ways", but my school of thought is "If you're so at home on an instrument that you forget it's there, you're more likely to concentrate on the music"

Si

[thumperbob 2002]

I was a 5 string player for years- Thumb NT and Low End Jazz- both great basses- but got into the Retro vibe and now play two fender roadworn jazzes. Moving to a four again is like coming home.