4 strings sound better than 5 string basses. Discuss.

[Leowasright]

4.
Tha bass was meant to BE 4 STRING !!!!!!!!!!!


Adding another one is just confusing.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='chris_b' post='371941' date='Jan 6 2009, 01:08 PM']Apart from that there is not much to discuss as neither 4 nor 5 string basses sound "better". The sound of the “best” bass will depend on the instrument, the amp, the room and your personal preference.[/quote]

And here was me thinking that the player also had a part in it. Isn't tone meant to be in the fingers...?

[chris_b]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='371950' date='Jan 6 2009, 01:20 PM']....Isn't tone meant to be in the fingers....[/quote]
Add that in if you like. I assumed that the player would be a constant.

Edited January 6, 2009 by chris_b

[peted]

no difference.

The real difference is made by the competence of the person playing either

[Buzz]

I've voted no difference, but it depends on how you describe what is "better".

Pure out and out soundwise, I'd presume that with identical resistance and inductance pickups (or scaled properly with correct R and I to factor in the 5th string), with the same strings and hardware, I'd say they would be no noticable difference. Sure, slightly more wood on the neck, but I suspect it would be unnoticable.

If you mean "sounds better in a musical environment because of range" then 5 wins, more versatile.

[ped]

Personally, 4. I normally drop my E to D and this sounds much better on a 4 than playing a 5er to D.

[escholl]

probably no difference.


but i voted 4 cause, you know, they're better.

[Kirky]

[quote name='escholl' post='372009' date='Jan 6 2009, 02:06 PM']probably no difference.


but i voted 4 cause, you know, they're better. [/quote]

Me too. Has there ever been a 5-string double bass?

[The Funk]

[quote name='Kirky' post='372017' date='Jan 6 2009, 02:21 PM']Me too. Has there ever been a 5-string double bass?[/quote]

Yeah. They predate the bass guitar by about 150 years.

[Born 2B Mild]

[quote name='Kirky' post='372017' date='Jan 6 2009, 02:21 PM']Me too. Has there ever been a 5-string double bass?[/quote]
Yep. Commonly found in orchestras, Martin.

[johnnylager]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='371926' date='Jan 6 2009, 12:56 PM']Can't really draw any conclusions with regard to that comment because I haven't compared a 4 string strung B to D with a 5 strung B to G... and if you are commenting specifically about my Rumour, I can't comment again because I haven't compared a 35inch scale (5 string Rumour) strung B to G to a 34inch scale (4 string Rumour) strung B to D (where the B is through body strung)

Nevermind eh johnny?[/quote]

[alexclaber]

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='372020' date='Jan 6 2009, 02:28 PM']Yep. Commonly found in orchestras, Martin.[/quote]

Indeed. And if you haven't got a low B-string then you're likely to have a fingerboard extension up the headstock on the low E-string so you can double the 'cellos down to low C.

Obviously a fretted low E sounds different to an open low E but just because you can fret that note it doesn't mean you can't play the open string!


In the Dec '08 issue of BP Mike Pope has a very intelligent column about the 6-string which is equally applicate to 5 or 7+. Four string advocates would do well to read it too...

Alex

[Kirky]

Thanks for the info. I've seen double basses with the extended fingerboard, but never a 5 string. This place edifies consistently.

[Kev]

some people cant play 5 strings properly and get confused with muting the strings etc, hence why it may not appear to sound as good. A competant player would not say that one sounded better than the other, just that the 5 string with the low b/high c is more flexible. Im not a competant player, so i say 5 is better

Edited January 6, 2009 by BassManKev

[ARGH]

Open E is Open E on a 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or...etc etc

I prefer to play a 6, Ive made a lot more money on a 4,and I adore my fretless 5.

To say 'If you cant play it on 4 you..blah blah' is true until recent times,the music,esp in heavier,more extreme,forms of music..has been in lower tunings,and you need equipment capable of recreating such sounds,and sadly its just not capable,or comfortable upon a 4,no matter how much it is modified. A few years ago I was an utter 4 Nazi.....It was until a keys player asked "Do you have a 5 or a 6 string?",that the ice melted.It was fantastic to have far far far greater note choice,and tonality under my hands....

The Phatness of an E on the 5th fret of a low B string,is summat to behold,as if it was another colour upon the palette.

But its great being a flash bastard on a 4,upp and down the neck like a monkey hunting for a Banana....Bloody tiring on a night though.

[ARGH]

Some people just CANT play anything beyond 4......

Its just notes upon strings.

EDIT:- I have not voted.

Edited January 6, 2009 by ARGH

[Dread Bass]

I voted no difference. I was tempted to vote 5 but decided against it neither is better they are different.

Edited January 6, 2009 by metaltime

[niceguyhomer]

I prefer both.

[endorka]

According to the "Setup And Repair of the Double Bass for Optimum Sound: A Manual for Players, Makers, And Repairers" by Chuck Traeger, the quality of sound of a double bass is adversely affected by the move to 5 strings. If I remember correctly, one factor in this is something to do with the increased tension and additional neck width required for the extra string making the instrument less free to vibrate, and consequently the sound is not as good. From this, he always recommends the use of an E string fingerboard extension rather than a 5 string bass. This, with the additional complication that a 5 string double bass is harder to bow, may account for the fact that double basses with low C extensions are more common than 5 string ones.

Whether it is possible to generalise this to the bass guitar I have no idea, but my intuition tells me that the effect of adding an extra string would not have anything like the same negative effect as it does on a double bass. Sure, maybe the business about the neck vibrations would still apply, but since the instrument is to be amplified, it is probably not such a huge factor as it is with double bass.

The only valid way to make a comparison of this type is to get two instruments of the same type, with electronics as similar as possible (given that pickups will have to be a bit wider etc.), and compare them. It would appear that Bassman2790 has done this with his BB414 and BB415, and claims that the common strings sound the same. I'd be inclinded to believe him.

Jennifer

[tauzero]

[quote name='crez5150' post='371931' date='Jan 6 2009, 12:58 PM']It's all a bit irrelevant because you couldn't compare the same bass as a four or five string.... though I guess that's not the question.... [/quote]
Oh yes you can...

Two ways

1) Take a 5-string bass, play it, then take a string off and play it again. Compare.

2) Take a P-type 4-string (J-type would be tricky), and play it. Put a Wilkinson 4+1 bridge and top peg on and play it again. Compare.

FWIW, I don't think there's any noticeable difference between 4-strings and 5-strings of otherwise equal spec. They'll sound just as good as each other (or, if they're Precisions, just as bad as each other).

[crez5150]

[quote name='tauzero' post='373070' date='Jan 7 2009, 02:11 PM']Oh yes you can...

Two ways

1) Take a 5-string bass, play it, then take a string off and play it again. Compare.

2) Take a P-type 4-string (J-type would be tricky), and play it. Put a Wilkinson 4+1 bridge and top peg on and play it again. Compare.

FWIW, I don't think there's any noticeable difference between 4-strings and 5-strings of otherwise equal spec. They'll sound just as good as each other (or, if they're Precisions, just as bad as each other).[/quote]

That's not a true test though is it..... 1) as you have taken the B string off therefore changing the tension on the neck of the bass.... obviously will have some effect on the rest of the strings...
2) your again adding something to the bass and changing te tension properties again...

[Josh]

I've been favouring 4's alot recently, and my latest acquisition has reinforced the fact that I am more confident on 4's full stop. Though, I compensate by tuning a full step for more growl and those few extra lower notes, but I do still have a hankering for a good 5 string though.

The only 5's I know that sound different to it's 4 are Thumb NT's, and that's mainly down to the pick up placement.

[Dr.Dave]

a 4 string bass may sound different to a 5 string bass of the same brand/style. Wether that difference is better or worse is in the eye of the beholder.

End of discussion.

Next.

[Golchen]

I voted 5.

I was playing along to a track during my lunchbreak today, and I found that I had way more control on how the lowest E sounds when playing it on the B string as you can half mute it, totally mute it, slide up to it etc etc. And especially useful when slapping about in E.

[coasterbass]

Can I play a 5 as well as I play a 4 ?? Answer: No.

Does the tone of my 5 string exceed the tone of my 4 ?? Answer: Possibly

I think its all down to technique and how each bass is set up.