How many strings does your go-to bass have?

[alyctes]

Started on fours, moved to fives, went back to fours because I wasn't doing anything sensible on the low string.  I went fretless last year, and I'm now moving back to fives.

[Rich]

Exclusively 5s at the moment, although I do have some 4s 'just in case'. And I'm putting together a fretless Ray-alike 4 that I'm hoping to shoehorn into the set somewhere

[Doctor J]

Started on 4, moved to 6, then 5, then mainly 4, now somewhere between 4 and 5 while thinking about 6 again

[fretmeister]

I said exclusively 5 as that is what leaves the house with me.

 

But I do own a couple of 4s. House use only.

[dave_bass5]

Exclusively 4. I cant fit a 5th on my bass :-)

I do have a 5 string Sire, and love playin it at home, but Ive never come across a need to use it live. 

[TrevorR]

14 hours ago, FinnDave said:

I have a total of 32 strings evenly divided between 8 basses. Never played 5 stringers never felt the need to do so. In the circles I move in, I rarely see them, to be honest. Nothing against them, just not something I need.

 

 

14 hours ago, Osiris said:

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. 

That about sums it up for me!

[Creeper]

I’ve never ever ever ever ever.....

even tried anything other than a 4 string....

[CamdenRob]

Only sixers for me... One fretted One fretless

[Delberthot]

I've played 4, 5, 6, 8 & 12 strings over the years but have gone with whatever was required for the material that I have been playing at the time.

 

At the moment 95% of the time I need a 4 and for the 5% that I would require a 5 I have a Hipshot with a double stop so I can choose either D or B

[lowregisterhead]

Interesting - that's more 5-string players than I expected. I've only played 5's since the early 90's, when I did a tour with a band where I had to copy the synth bass lines that had been on their album. Now I can't go back to a 4 - I miss the B string (or 'thumb rest', as I call it) too much!

I do own one 4-string, but that's a re-issue of a Ibanez Black Eagle, that I desperately wanted when I was 16, and couldn't afford. It hangs on the wall in the lounge, and I just gaze at it and wonder where the last 40 years went...

[bassjim]

Been back on a 4 for about ( I think)  8 years now.  I decided back then that I'm happier here and just had to admit that to myself. 

I would use a 5 again if the gig demanded it but really don't see the point of making it hard work if I don't need to go down to a low C.

I detune the E string for D and Eb and adjust my fingering accordingly which works for me.  I used to think the exact opposite regarding the go to, 4 or 5? question and was firmly in the 5 camp.  Maybe in time I'll go back the other way but if say I won a competition for a free bass from a bass builder like Overwater,Goodfellow, Status,Sadowsky ect and I got to chose what ever I liked......it would be a 4 string.

[spectoremg]

Fifteen obviously.

[bassmonk]

My first bass (aged 18) was a fretless 5 string. Traded it back in at the shop a couple of years later for a better fretless 5 string (which I still have).. then a decade later, because frets were proving kind of useful, and my friend's 4 string Jazz was virtually on permanent loan (I was forever dropping the E to a D) I ended up buying a 6.. now sold in favour of a new SR5. So I've never actually owned a 4 string!! But I really enjoy playing them.. so at some point I'll need to get one. I think I need one to complete the family.....

[ambient]

Seven.

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by ambient

[el_spectore]

Mostly I play my 5-string-basses, but I love my new Ibanez SR 756 (bought just for fun at home) a lot and the bass is pressing forward to become one of my to-go-instruments.

[Twanger]

5. I only have one bass. I'd like a four, and a Precision is on my wish list. I'm a bit worried I'll suffer from "phantom string" syndrome, though.

[NickA]

I saw somewhere that a lot of show music is written on the assumption of 5-strings, so if yr a session bassist, you just have to play 5.

I love the IDEA of a 5-string for access to EXTRA deep notes - and access to lots of 'cello / baroque music that goes down to C or D, and a low Eflat might be useful for jazz.  But when I hatched a plan to buy a 5 string Thumb NT or Dolphin and started a search ... I went and saw/bought my 4-string dolphin, so still stuck with 3x 4-stringers (and a 4-string double bass and a 4-string acoustic) ... still Gassing about a wal mk2 5 or a broadneck dolphin ... or a 5-string musicman .. but just can't quite make the switch; and after playing 4-strings for nearly 50 years (!) that extra one is CONFUSING.  Old dogs new tricks etc.

PS: yes indeed, Bach flute partitas on an electric bass, sounds great!

[josie]

You only get five lower notes, from the open B to the 5th fret E / open E.  But you get a lot more flexibility and easier fingerings further up the fretboard.

One of my favourite songs to play is B B King's  "The Thrill is Gone" (which I've played with Victor Brox who played it with BBK...) the lower 5ths on the B string under the B and G on the E string give it an easy-to-play real depth.

Bach on bass - yes! see

http://faststrings.com/josquin-des-pres-bach-for-bass.html

and the amazing

http://www.jsbach.net/

he uses a custom 7-string, B E A D G C F and it's worth reading his explanation of why he needed that.

http://www.jsbach.net/bass/instruments.html

 

 

 

[FinnDave]

Quite honestly, if I needed to go that low again, I'd restring as BEAD. I had a bass tuned that way earlier this year for a specific project which has now ended, and all of my basses are tuned EADG again. I see the extended low end as of more use than keeping the high notes on the G string.

[Twanger]

26 minutes ago, josie said:

But you get a lot more flexibility and easier fingerings further up the fretboard.

 

 

 

 

Yes. This is the material point.

[miles'tone]

After owning a couple of 5 strings I now only own a 4 string P,  tuned B E A D. 

Now I use the whole fingerboard and find those five lower notes gained waaay more useful than the five highest notes lost.

[Marc S]

I've ticked the "exclusively 4" box, as that's my go-to standard
I do own a 5 string, but don't play it too often - it's just there to noodle with now & again, and remind me how to play a 5er 
(I tend to get confused too easily, and play the wrong string on a 5er! lol)

Edited December 19, 2017 by Marc S

[Twigman]

I probably only NEED 3

 

Where's the option?

[Lozz196]

Exclusively 4 for me, though that is somewhat bigging me up as most of the time I only use 2.

[RandomBass]

3 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Exclusively 4 for me, though that is somewhat bigging me up as most of the time I only use 2.

Two? You show-off 😎