Is 4 strings really enough? (Oooo i went there)

[Woodinblack]

38 minutes ago, greavesbass said:

 I detect an insidious tone whenever this subject is brought up, in that if you play a five then you are somehow musicaly superior and cleverer than those of us who don't, and to those greats in the past who didn't. Beyond ridiculous and in a peculiar way brings this forum into disrepute... 

 

That is the problem with that subject, both sides think the other side is looking down on them, and frankly some people of both sides are looking down on the others for whatever reason. Wheras most people actually don't care what other people use.

 

However, was a bit surprised it went to this level of childishness

[BigJHW]

When i made my original post i was really just curious about peoples thoughts on going back to 4 string with an extender over staying on a 5 string

i'm sure people have done that before - what were the pro's / con's to doing it, did they find playing a 4 string easier than a 5'er etc... 

in hindsight i should have expected the post to get a bit "ermmmm well as it has gone" and maybe just done it without asking and found out for myself - but as this is a bass community i was curious on other peoples opinions. 

It started out well with people having opinions it seems.. but has degraded somewhat from page 1 to now.

 

There was no malicious intent when i made the post - honestly just after thoughts

Admin feel free to close off the topic

i've made my decision to get a 4 string fit an extender and give it a shot see how it feels - all the while keeping my BB1025 in the background just in case 

 

Right - think i'll end this here.

 

Ta

 

Big JHW

[ahpook]

33 minutes ago, BigJHW said:

There was no malicious intent when i made the post - honestly just after thoughts

 

I think folks understand that, you've nothing to be worried about.

 

You keep asking the questions you need answers to - you didn't deserve the chaos this thread turned into.

Edited September 21, 2023 by ahpook

[BigJHW]

21 minutes ago, ahpook said:

 

I think folks understand that, you've nothing to be worried about.

 

You keep asking the questions you need answers to - you didn't deserve the chaos this thread turned into.

Thanks

now to just get one of my 5'ers sold off and fund a new 4 string

[Woodinblack]

3 minutes ago, BigJHW said:

Thanks

now to just get one of my 5'ers sold off and fund a new 4 string

 

Just take a string off and plane the side of the neck down

 

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

However, was a bit surprised it went to this level of childishness

 

I'm not, sorry to say.

[LeftyP]

I only play in our church band and use a four string.  There are some worship songs that feature an Eb but I just play it up the octave on the A string.  With our 100+ congregation belting out the words it makes no difference.  I also use a short scale, hollow bodied bass to ease my injured back and I don't know of a five string version.

 

There is also the point that I only have four fingers so four strings are perfect!  Having said that, I only have two feet but my car has three pedals!

[ahpook]

35 minutes ago, BigJHW said:

Thanks

now to just get one of my 5'ers sold off and fund a new 4 string

 

Pics, of course !

[Greg Edwards69]

Been there, done that. After many years of only playing 5 strings I decided I was a 4 string bassist. Like the OP the B string largely featured as a thumb rest with a few lower notes - I guess I never put the time in to properly explore the possibilities afforded by the extra string.  I also felt some of those drop D lines worked and sounded better on a bass with drop D tuning.

 

I ended up going back to 4 with a hipshot and I'm much happier. We do have handful of song in our repertoire that require a low B string, but I don't like switching basses during a set and I'd rather not play a bass I'm less comfortable with. So I simply retune to BEAD on the fly with my Helix. Sure, it requires a little extra brain power to pull it off (actually, I think it helps to not think about it, the moment I do, it when I make mistakes), but I'd rather play my 4 strings than a 5 these days.

 

That said! Practising those songs at home means getting the helix out and set up. I've been considering getting an inexpensive short-scale bass as a "hope-I-don't-need-to-use-it" backup for gigs. So I'm considering a 5 string Ibanez Mikro and kill two birds with one stone.

[nilorius]

I preffer to keep 4 and also 5 at my garage. Like to use them bouth, but simetimes just don't need that 5th B string and need a vintage 4 string j-bass tone more.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

3 hours ago, tauzero said:

Still, addressing your other point - it's not compulsory to use the B string all the time, and the top 4 strings of a 5-string tuned B upwards are in the same places as the four strings of a 4-string, so the width is only of consequence when playing the B. So that also addresses the fretboard issue. 

Only if you position your thumb on the back of the neck as advised by Jeff Berlin.

 

[BigJHW]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Just take a string off and plane the side of the neck down

 

nah i'd rather be nice and buy a 4 string off someone on here that's nice enough sell them on here, rather than my usual trick of taking unwanted gear to bass direct and p/x'ing on something new lol

[ordep]

I consider myself a 4 string player but my main bass for my current band is a 5 string. TBH I can gig with either but most of the songs that we play just sound better and fuller with the low notes. 

[PaulThePlug]

@LeftyP sweeeeeet looking hollow body that... let's have a pic of the headstock. It's got to have something going on to fit in with those off set f holes.

[2pods]

My first bass was a "Top Twenty" Woolworth's special.

It had 3 strings, less a G when I got it, and stayed that way through every gig for the 2 years of that band.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like the sound of a low B string, and I made sure 
I could get my thumb over it's very thin neck, but when cash is needed it's going.

[Kev]

The thing I get a little confused about is 8/10 people who use a 5 string do so because they need low notes/low B etc, when of course this isn't a reason at all why you need 5 strings vs 4.

 

I get the first position thing, and the preference to playing across the neck rather than down it to some (I hugely prefer the opposite for timbre of higher notes personally), but is the low thing just an aversion to setting up a 4 string a different way?

[Woodinblack]

It is if you need both low and high. There is a song I do where I play below the E, but also on the G above the 15th fret. Obviously I could do that above the 20th fret but then things are starting to get a bit tight. I guess maybe that is what the high C is for, or bite the bullet and play it on the chapman stick (although that only goes down to C)

[ordep]

For me its because I am in functions/cover band, and I do use the whole fretboard of my standard tuned 5. Its a do it all bass, from pocket notes to bass chords to solo sections.

[TheLowDown]

People get tribal when it comes to the number of strings they play, as if it's demanding some kind of loyalty to the gang.

[Kev]

25 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

It is if you need both low and high. There is a song I do where I play below the E, but also on the G above the 15th fret. Obviously I could do that above the 20th fret but then things are starting to get a bit tight. I guess maybe that is what the high C is for, or bite the bullet and play it on the chapman stick (although that only goes down to C)

I guess it's all just preference.  On my Drop B tuned 4, the lowest note I play in a typical set is B0 (open lowest string) and the highest note A3 (17th Fret highest string), which I think is a pretty decent range, a 5 string would give me little more on that front, but again this is because I am comfortable playing beyond the 12th fret, I get why others don't want to.

[Boodang]

4 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Yes, but which three..? Low 'E' missing..? The 'G' string..? Surely no-one playing with no 'A' string, or doing without the 'D' string..? (All this assuming 'standard' tuning; does anyone these daze use 'standard' tuning, or is that, too, a thing of the past, for the 'older' folk here..?)..? 

 

...

 

 

 

...

 

Dearie me, standard tuning is so last century! Tuning in flatten fifths of the pythagorean system by a quarter of a syntonic comma is all the rage these days.  

[neepheid]

8 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Dearie me, standard tuning is so last century! Tuning in flatten fifths of the pythagorean system by a quarter of a syntonic comma is the source of all the rage these days.  

 

Fixed that for you

[BigRedX]

To me it ultimately looks as though the OP simply wants to justify a bout of GAS, masquerading as changing from a 5-string bass to a 4-string one, and possibly some additional GAS in the form of adding a de-tuner to the 4-string when it comes.

 

Nothing wrong with that, we all indulge in a bit of GAS from time to time, that's mostly what Basschat is for. However don't ask us all to endorse your GAS. That's not what Basschat is for. If you want to change your bass, then just change your bass. Start a for sale thread for the old 5-string bass, move it on and be done with it.

 

[/thread]

[tauzero]

3 hours ago, ahpook said:

 

I think folks understand that, you've nothing to be worried about.

 

You keep asking the questions you need answers to - you didn't deserve the chaos this thread turned into.

 

My apologies for my part in that.

[dmccombe7]

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

To me it ultimately looks as though the OP simply wants to justify a bout of GAS, masquerading as changing from a 5-string bass to a 4-string one, and possibly some additional GAS in the form of adding a de-tuner to the 4-string when it comes.

 

Nothing wrong with that, we all indulge in a bit of GAS from time to time, that's mostly what Basschat is for. However don't ask us all to endorse your GAS. That's not what Basschat is for. If you want to change your bass, then just change your bass. Start a for sale thread for the old 5-string bass, move it on and be done with it.

 

[/thread]

Have to say i agree with this. After 20 yrs on a 5 er it can only be GAS. 

Dave