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How many strings does your go-to bass have?


Paul S

How many strings?  

135 members have voted

  1. 1. How many strings does the bass(es) you usually use have?

    • Exclusively 4
    • flip between 4 and 5
    • Exclusively 5
    • Flip between 5 and 6
    • Exclusively 6
    • I'll happily play anything


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Exclusively 4's for me these days. I did flirt with 5's a few years ago but found that I didn't really venture below the low D so I moved back to 4's. Not having the biggest hands in the world, I find the smaller necks of most 4's to be more comfortable too. 

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47 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

The polls different from the question - my go to bass has 5 strings, so do all the ones I routinely play 95% of the time. However I do have some 4 string basses that I play so I can’t say exclusively

+1 So I'm the same but other way around i.e. 4 strings most of the time, 5 occasionally and am about to embark on a crazy six string endeavour...(but on a slim neck Ibby of course, which I know @Woodinblack will approve of :))

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1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

+1 So I'm the same but other way around i.e. 4 strings most of the time, 5 occasionally and am about to embark on a crazy six string endeavour...(but on a slim neck Ibby of course, which I know @Woodinblack will approve of :))

 

I have so wanted to love 6 strings, but I really can't get my trump-esque hands around 6 strings, it is just a string too far!

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To be fair, chaps, it would have been a rather lengthy poll had I split it down to 

4 string 10% 5 string 90%

4 string 20% 5 string 80%

4 string 30% 5 string 70%

etc.

And then someone would have complained that it didn't have an option for using a 4 string 25% of the time so couldn't possibly vote  :D

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24 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I have so wanted to love 6 strings, but I really can't get my trump-esque hands around 6 strings, it is just a string too far!

I know the bassist in my drummer's (death metal!) band is an accomplished six string player, but I can't see myself using it for band stuff somehow.  But for solo noodling I suspect it's going to be a lot of fun. This will be on my 'to learn in 2018' list for sure: 

 

Edited by Al Krow
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About 25 years ago I gave up gigging for awhile and felt I needed a bass challenge to tide me over.

A 5 string was a novel idea back then and I didn't know anyone professionally or locally who played one. It was an interesting project so I bought an MM SR5 from Exchange and Mart and discovered I loved the feel and sound from the first note. I knew I didn't need anything else. After 10 mins I realised it wasn't a challenge at all but a natural extension of the way I'd always been playing.

Buying my first bass was the best bass thing I've done. That Sting Ray was a close second.

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If I had to put percentages on it it would probably be 80:20 in favour of the 4 strings. I only really use the 5 as I have a very nice 5 string and am reluctant to sell it. I did use it exclusively at one time but drifted back to 4 strings a few years ago when I rediscovered Precisions.

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I only just got as far as sorting out my live rig, so for a long time I just had one four-string bass (a J). I’m currently trying to fix up a MIM P.

Recently though, I started with a pretty nice new band and I keep wanting to go lower when playing with them... Seems a low B is next on the list.

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