NBD - Help & Advice welcome

[NickA]

This thing of beauty entered my life on Friday afternoon.   I've never owned a 5-string before and had thought to buy either something sensible, like a decent Stingray, or a bargain, like another Warwick Dolphin (half the price, most of the quality) ... but in the end I knew my eventual aim was to trade up to a Wal and with the cash sitting in an ISA earning almost zero interest, this MIGHT even be a sort of investment (I told my missus).

Following dismantling and reassembly of the stiff tuners, tweaking of the truss rod and bridge heights, adjusting of the internal pots, new NYXL strings and replacement of the battery (dated 2001) ... it's sounding pretty good and unlike any other 5-strings I've tried, the B string is "just another string", there is no "flobbiness" or change in tone as you play below the E-string (the exception being a Sandberg VM - but that was a 35").  Admitted, there are sounds I can make on the dolphin that this can't do, and even my project Jazz bass has a few advantages (clear harmonics from single coil pickups) and whilst a fretless Wal (I have a 4-string) is probably the best fretless bass in the world ... a fretted one is perhaps a bit more ordinary, but once I find the right settings I'm sure it will be very great indeed..

Now I need to learn how to play it!! 

Having played 4-stringed instruments for the last 48 years, a 5th string provokes some unexpected difficulties.  Not the string spacing, which is quite wide for a 5er, and not the new notes (I've worked those out and often play my double bass tuned "scordatura" to C, G, D, G etc anyway) .. the thing is, I'd never considered the difficulty of plucking the same string as I am fretting - having learned it on 4-strings from age 8 it became natural ... UNTIL suddenly the A-string is smack in the MIDDLE of the fingerboard instead of being a "low" string - sometimes find myself fretting string 2 (now an E) whilst plucking string 3 (now an A) or fretting mid way between E/A or A/G.

String damping is a thing too - those extra strings can ring on, so having only used left hand damping for years, I probably need to master "the floating thumb" .. yes?

The other issue is new positions for the same notes - part of my reason for a 5-string was to be able to play more sequences of notes without position changes; and as pointed out to me whilst trying out 5-stringers - there is a lot to be said for NOT sitting in 1st position when you can get all the way from E-flat to D in one position by basing your left hand with finger 2 on the B-string E = more notes less stretch.

Anyway - what advice do you 5-string players have?  Any exercises or studies to try (right now I'm hacking away at Bach flute and cello suites for some dots to follow that go down to C and D). 

All advice welcomed.  Cheers.

[Doctor J]

Just keep playing and you'll get used to it quickly enough. It's all about muscle memory. That shouldn't be a chore in this case. That thing is a beast. Congratulations.

[Drax]

Beast of an entry to 5 string! 

You’re right the biggest hurdle is muting, esp at volume / speed. Takes a lot of perseverance to attain the same fluency you’ve currently got on 4.  

For exercises, I found working through the modes across 5 strings was a huge help, getting muscle memory going with 5 fret / 2 octave runs. 

Looks elementary but some sound advice here ..

 

[akabane]

That is one BEAUTIFUL Wal.

Congratulations on the newcomer! I'm a 6 string player, moved directly from upright and a brief stint on 4 strings electric, so I feel your pain. On one hand, the 'string location' issue will rearrange itself in your muscle memory, just give it some days/weeks of practice. 

For what the ringing muting is concerned, that might take a bit more time, especially if you're only used to muting with your fretting hand. On a 6 it's even more accentuated than on a 5, so I had to really change my right hand technique to adapt for that - I tend to use a mix between Patitucci's and Anthony Jackson's right hand techniques to mute, when I'm on my lower 2-3 strings I'm using Patitucci's technique, when I'm on high registers/higher strings I switch to Jackson's.

The main difference is Patitucci uses the thumb as an anchor on the low B, ring and little fingers muting the E and A, index and middle free for fingering - and you can see his thumb slide across the B string to let him access the strings further away, and it contracts back to play on E or B.

In case of Anthony Jackson, I've always seen him mute with a mix of both fingers (similar to Patitucci but without the anchor, but 'a finger per string' effectively) and he also quite likes muting the strings with the palm and the side of his palm.

As I said, I ended up mixing and matching these two techniques as required - if you can get a consistent sound (which then becomes another issue, in case of using multiple fingering techniques), feel free to do the same!! But to start with, I'd say pick ONE of these two, and start practicing using ONLY that technique. Only switch or mix if you're not happy with the results after a few days/weeks of practicing that way! I'd have stayed with the Patitucci method if it wasn't for the fact that on the higher strings it doesn't feel as comfortable as Anthony's for my hands.

 

My 2 cents, I'm sure you'll go past this like a champ. As for everything, it's a matter of spending time with the instruments and understanding how you relate and move around it

Happy Walling  

Edited June 12, 2019 by akabane