Imposter syndrome?

[missis sumner]

Am I being pretentious for playing a 5 string bass, when only two songs of my band's set list actually require it?

 

I find I'm fitting some very low notes into Sympathy for the Devil (admittedly, the Motorhead version, so...)... and then finishing some of the songs on a very low octave bass note...  I kind of feel like I'm falling into the same trap that my drummer does, when he slows down the ending of... EVERY.... SONG.... 

[TheGreek]

Simply put...no.

 

If the tools do the job,  why change the tools?

 

Stand your ground. 

[missis sumner]

Yeah, well, my 4 string did a job on those two songs, but in a higher octave.  I just find the lower notes on the 5 string sound better, because that's how those two songs were recorded (Don't Break My Heart Again, Separate Ways (Shallow Side version), so I' now trying to find a use, in the rest of the songs, to not look like a pretentious silly billy.  There is also the fact that I can barely play a four string.

[Lozz196]

As above, tools for the job, songs in the set require the low B string so best it’s there & available. I rarely use the G, and in my last band I rarely used either the D or the G, doesn’t matter, play the instrument you like.

[Count Bassy]

57 minutes ago, missis sumner said:

Yeah, well, my 4 string did a job on those two songs, but in a higher octave.  I just find the lower notes on the 5 string sound better, because that's how those two songs were recorded (Don't Break My Heart Again, Separate Ways (Shallow Side version), so I' now trying to find a use, in the rest of the songs, to not look like a pretentious silly billy.  There is also the fact that I can barely play a four string.

I think you've answered your own question.

[bass_dinger]

All songs require notes. 

 

Those notes can be found on the B string,  above the 5th fret, just as much as on the other four strings.

 

Frets 1 to 4 on the B string give new notes, but the rest of the frets on the B string give a different tone, and new ways of reaching the 5th below the root note.

 

https://youtu.be/ZMF3nYfNo2w - here, the bassist in the Maytals using a 34" scale 5 string bass at the 5th fret, to give a short-scale sound.

[pbasspecial]

You could also use a 4 string bass and tune it B E A D instead. 

[neepheid]

3 hours ago, missis sumner said:

Am I being pretentious for playing a 5 string bass, when only two songs of my band's set list actually require it?

 

I find I'm fitting some very low notes into Sympathy for the Devil (admittedly, the Motorhead version, so...)... and then finishing some of the songs on a very low octave bass note...  I kind of feel like I'm falling into the same trap that my drummer does, when he slows down the ending of... EVERY.... SONG.... 

 

Simple answer is no. You do you. You're the bass player. Take anything anyone has to say about that with as many or as few pinches of salt as you deem necessary.

[Downunderwonder]

I sometimes get handed charts written for "Double Bass" that are peppered with Eb's and C's. Keep fighting the good fight.

[TheLowDown]

If only one song requires it, keep using it. If none of them do, use a 4 string. Simplicity is best IMO

[ambient]

I don't play an extended range bass for the lower notes, it’s so I don’t have to move about the neck as much as I would on a 4.

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 minutes ago, ambient said:

I don't play an extended range bass for the lower notes, it’s so I don’t have to move about the neck as much as I would on a 4.

 

This precisely. 

 

I went straight from a four to a six string, despite none of the songs I play needing the extra notes. It's just easier to play the notes under your fingers across the strings than it is to chase them up and down the fretboard. Also much less of a stretch on the tendons to play notes from the B string further up the neck where the spacing is narrower than it is playing from the E string at the nut end. 

 

I also prefer the narrower string spacing of the six than the four string. 

 

Sadly, thanks to a glass back the six is just too heavy now so I've recently had to go back to playing a four string. 

 

I've never actually owned a five string, bit I've currently got one on my watch list for when finances allow. 

[Bassfinger]

I've gone the other way of late, back to 4 string for live playing and going up a bit for the drop notes. Can never really make up my mind if I like 5 or not.

[nekomatic]

I don’t always like the sound of the low notes on the B string and I sometimes think some players overuse them. That’s my controversial take for the evening. 
 

But if you need them, or you like how they sound on any particular song, then go for it. 97% of your audience won’t even count how many strings you have anyway. 

[jimmyb625]

Lee Sklar has talked about this in the past. Basically, his take is that even if there's only 1 song in the set that needs a 5 string, he'll use it for the entire show.

Seems a sensible approach to me.

[chris_b]

10 minutes ago, jimmyb625 said:

Lee Sklar has talked about this in the past. Basically, his take is that even if there's only 1 song in the set that needs a 5 string, he'll use it for the entire show.

Seems a sensible approach to me.

 

I smiled when I read what Lee Sklar said. I had already decided the same thing.

 

I play a 5 string for everything, because I don't want to chop and change basses. I want to get comfortable with one bass and use it for everything.

 

I have zero interest in trying to copy the gear that was used on the original recording. The idea that there are 4 string songs and 5 strings songs makes no sense to me. Just buy the best bass you can find, the one that does the best and most complete job for you.

[missis sumner]

9 hours ago, pbasspecial said:

You could also use a 4 string bass and tune it B E A D instead. 

I actually tried this with heavier gauge strings on one of my basses.  Then I found that although I thought I didn't use that G string very much, I actually did use it quite a lot! 😆

[missis sumner]

3 hours ago, jimmyb625 said:

Lee Sklar has talked about this in the past. Basically, his take is that even if there's only 1 song in the set that needs a 5 string, he'll use it for the entire show.

Seems a sensible approach to me.

I like Lee Sklar. 😊

[missis sumner]

9 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

All songs require notes. 

 

Those notes can be found on the B string,  above the 5th fret, just as much as on the other four strings.

 

Frets 1 to 4 on the B string give new notes, but the rest of the frets on the B string give a different tone, and new ways of reaching the 5th below the root note.

 

https://youtu.be/ZMF3nYfNo2w - here, the bassist in the Maytals using a 34" scale 5 string bass at the 5th fret, to give a short-scale sound.

 

After two weeks of trying to play the 5 string, this has only just started to occur to me.  And even though it looks like I'm playing a massive bass, it seems there's less stretch on my little hand if I play above the 5th fret on that B string...

[missis sumner]

8 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Sadly, thanks to a glass back the six is just too heavy now so I've recently had to go back to playing a four string. 

 

I've never actually owned a five string, bit I've currently got one on my watch list for when finances allow. 

 

Have you seen the Ibanez EHBs?  They are definitely on my watch list.  About 3.3kg for a 5 string, I believe.

[bass_dinger]

1 hour ago, missis sumner said:

 

After two weeks of trying to play the 5 string, this has only just started to occur to me.  

After 20 years of playing only a 5 string, I am only in the past year starting to do that.  I think that was because the sound of the B string on my acoustic bass was dull and thuddy,  and not in keeping with the other strings. So, I tended to avoid it, and so did not develop your good habits.

 

Well done for working out the benefits so quickly. 

[BigRedX]

I've played 5 string basses almost exclusively since 1989.

 

I bought my first because I'd previously been playing synths and I thought that access to the lower notes would be useful. Most of the time I never use the low B string at all. And TBH much of what I play could be done on a 2-string bass strung E and A. When I was playing in my Dad Rock Covers band I once took my single string Atlansia Solitaire Fretless Bass (tuned to E) to a practice. I found the fact that it was fretless was more of a hinderance than the fact it only had one string.

 

The most use I have got out of the low B string was when I was playing in The Terrortones which is probably the most musically "conventional" band I have ever been in. In my current bands I use low B for the chorus of one song and for the very last note of another. And personally I don't care what anyone else thinks.

[Grimalkin]

Extra string, extra muting. Even if you only use it twice in a gig you still have to concentrate on muting it throughout. 

[missis sumner]

1 minute ago, Grimalkin said:

Extra string, extra muting. Even if you only use it twice in a gig you still have to concentrate on muting it throughout. 

 

I know.  Extra weight as well.  I'm going to persevere with it for the time being though, because switching basses mid-set is just confusing me.

[Grimalkin]

6 minutes ago, missis sumner said:

 

I know.  Extra weight as well.  I'm going to persevere with it for the time being though, because switching basses mid-set is just confusing me.

 

It's a bit of a pain swapping basses at smaller gigs too. I've detuned the E to D on a four string for a few tunes in the past, they obviously have to be played with a different fingering. Still not great because of the string tension, I use lighter strings so it feels a little slack.