Before I got my 5 string bass, I expected I'd be using the lower notes that were available whenever I could, but I find that I make more use of the 5th string in positions up the neck that aren't necessarily lower than the E. I haven't studied the bass seriously, but I've doubled on it in a couple of bands.

I was wondering if other 5 string players have had the same experience?

I feel like I could write a book on how and when to use the 5th string. It's something that in my work and in the bass players I've heard can make or break a bassline. I see a lot of rock guys just sit on the lowest notes they can, but lose the actual motion of the line because of it. The lower the string, the more finesse is required.

I had an ex that could not grasp that either, so is this something that is common with anyone but a pro? From what I remember he stuck to the pretty simple of all songs (even though he did dabble in some RATM works too).

Speaking of how low the bass line is, it reminds me of hearing that the bass in Queen's "You're My Best Friend" was intentionally placed high so that the radio speakers of that era would reproduce it well.

I guess that makes sense, but I doubt many people are influenced by that these days.

John Deacon always played around in the high range in his basslines. He was a very melodic and tasteful player who wasn't afraid to think like a pianist or a guitar player, a fact that Freddie Mercury and Brian May constantly praised in him.

Speakers of that time would have had no trouble prouducing a low E (just around 100 Hz). Frequency response hasn't been a problem for a very long time, and PA speakers generally have a band from about 30Hz to 15Khz, alot larger than any 4 or 5-string bass could produce without an octave pedal. Check out his line on "Bicycle Race." It's ALL OVER the place, sliding between octaves almost every phrase, something that also permeated his work. And on "Somebody to Love" he just sings like a bowed upright through the line.

Although it's great to have those extra notes below E that a B string provides, I also find myself taking advantage of the extra left-hand positions having a fifth string provides. There's a time to use, say, a low C, and of you have a keyboardist in the band, you have to be very careful not to conflict with what his left hand is playing or overload the sonic space "down there." So, though I'm a fan of low end -- I ran a Moog Taurus when they first came out and now sometimes use Roland bass pedals to drive an Alesis Micron for sustained synth bass notes, -- I also like to play up high, ala McCartney. Veteran session man Joe Osborn says, "If you listen, the song will tell you what to play." Believe him.

Yup.

It's all about tone, not extra low notes.

I even tune my 5's upward to C F Bb Eb Ab
so they only go one whole tone lower than
my 4's ... which play nicely all the way
down to low D ... tuned D G C F. So, the
range of notes is similar between my 4's
and 5's, but the playing tension, and so
also the tone, is waaaay different. When
I play those notes up around E on the "B"
string [really my C-string] the increased
tension is very present in my tone.

Unfortunately, a very similar effect is at play
these days. Recordings are made with a mind
to "exercise" the subwoofers in home audio,
car audio, club PA's, etc. And there's some
parallel to that happening on stages as well.

It's more or less a "becuz we can" mentality,
and that is NOT sympatico with a "becuz it
sounds good" mentality, in the Ellingtonian
sense of "sounds good". "Becuz we can" is all
about hardware/tech. "Becuz it sounds good"
is all about the human ear/mind. Ask Duke !

That quote is on my desk, Golem.

For those who haven't heard it:
"If it sounds good, it is good."
- Duke Ellington

Words to play by.

Well, there's a well-known phenomenon among bass trombonist called "take it down an octave." Why? No good reason other than to show that they can. If Someone writes an F on the 1st space below the staff, it's because that's the note he wants. Taking it down an octave doesn't do a thing for chord structure. The opposite applies to trumpet players -- especially the ones in drum & bugle corps. "Take it up an octave."