So, you play bass ... Are you a diehard four-banger (as in, "Jaco only needed four strings, man!") or is your philosophy, "Why stop at 4?" Do you play only a four-string, only a fiver, only a sixer, or do you have a four and other configurations? Anybody with an 8- or 12-string? What criteria help you decide when to use what bass? Please don't let the discussion degenerate into "five string players are stoopid," or vice versa.

I'll kick things off. After playing fours for 30+ years, I got my first fiver about eight years ago. After an initial adjustment period (thinking the bottom string was a E, not a B) I now much prefer a fiver. I like not only the added low notes but the left-hand position options having five strings gives me. I still have four string basses, but I play fives about 98% of the time. Why not? After all, every fiver has a built-in four string. I understand that some of my bass brothers & sisters might prefer four strings, but I think there's room enough for all approaches.

What's your pereference and why?

I like a combination of fives and sixes, but I'm still working on the money to get them.

I have a 5-string Godin that I think is fantastic for all the reasons you've already listed and more, but I've borrowed sixers from friends, and the soloistic and chordal options of a high C just amaze me. I particularly like the ability to be both bass AND guitar in a Latin trio, and I'd really like to make more use of the extended range of a six string bass. It's such a fascinating idea that the bass can cover the range of the guitar, cello, or several octaves of a piano in its own right.

But I still keep the four-strings around. My old Peavey T-40 (I don't think I'll ever own a more well-suited bass for straight rock) and my Jazz Bass stick around because they have a certain niche that I know they can always fill. I bring my Jazz out for a gig when I know I'll be slapping a great deal, but, by the same token, I'll admit that I could get that same sizzle and, with a little technique adjustment, the same notes and more out of a 5-string.

I have "retrograded" from 5 back to 4.
I tune the 4's DGCF and CFBbEb using
regular EADG string sets. I also play
5's, which I tune UP one semitone, to
CFBbEbAb using the regular low-B set.

The main reasons that I have any 5's
at all are two:

A. Leftovers.
B. I'm an opportunistic buyer of used
basses. Some have more strings than
others and I'm not all that fussy about
the difference between 4 and 5 strings.

But my preference is for 4's. I'll never
find myself wishing any of my 4's had
an extra string, but some of the 5's I'd
rather had one less.

I can think of at least one local player
that I wish had one less string. He's a
great, natural player on 4 strings, but
then he got a 5, and consciously forces
use of the B-string to justify that in his
own mind. I can plainly hear low-C and
low-D range notes sounding disruptive
to bass lines that would flow perfectly
within the range of an EADG 4-string.

I have never been a guitar player, so I
wonder if there's a correlation between
multi-string basses and seeing oneself
as a guitar player.

I know a bassist whose band tunes to C#, and the bassist goes crazy every time he has to play to normal tuning. I don't know why he didn't just go with a fiver, although I understand that tuning down has different sonic characteristics. Then again, this guy tends to play everything on his E and A strings. Go figure ...

Golem, I hear you loud and clear (no pun intended) on the 5-string problem of the disruptive B notes. I think I've gone an entire set without playing a note that couldn't be played on a 4 before, but I'm still glad for the options I have in terms of positioning and chords with the 5. The ability to play an F on the low B string is just great when it comes to making octave skipping a la Rocco Prestia and various shifts easier is invaluable to me.

I'm curious about the altered tuning though...did you ever play cello?

I tried to put cello strings on a bass
guitar once. Just broke a whole lotta
expensive strings and got nowhere.

BTW, like yourself, I do appreciate all
the extra fingering options, as well as
the tonal effect, of having a B-string.
Thaz a whole seperate thing from my
feeling bugged whenever I hear those
"Hey man, looka me I got a 5-string"
twisted bass lines.

Ned Steinberger makes what used to be called the Basscello but is now called the Omnibass. It's a 34" scale fretless that can be tuned EADG or CGDA and can be bowed or plucked. It's made to be worn like a bass guitar with a special sling but it can be played like a cello with an optional endpin kit. I don't think it sold well, probably because street price is $2800, but it's intriguing. Fourths fingering is so ingrained in me that I'd stumble all over with fifths, though.

Being in a country rock cover band, we play a lot of song in E, are you surprised? I hate the sound of an open low E. Our bass player plays a fiver and always uses the B string to catch that low E.

On the other hand, (this I'm sure is just a gear thing) but I have also played with some players that are B string crazy and don't have the equipment to support it. To me, it sounds like mud below the E string.

My bass player in Colorado plays a 5 string Roscoe through a World Tour and his B string notes are money.

Guess it all depends on a player and his equipment.

There's definitely a difference in the fretted E on the B string and the open E, just the same as there's a difference in timber between a fretted B at the 9th fret of the D string as opposed to that note played at fret 4 of the G string. I guess it has to do with the way the string vibrates at certain lengths. I find myself playing high A, B and C on the D string more often than on the G, especially if I want body an sustain. Carol Kaye advises the same thing in some of her instructional videos. And it depends on the instrument: my Lakland 55-94 open E sounds just great, as does the E on the B string. However, the fretted E on the B string of my Lakland JO jazz bass doesn't sound as good as the open E. I guess a lot of things come into play as to why: body wood, pickups, fretboard wood, etc.

And the amp absolutely has to match the bass. I just did a session using a 1970s Bassman 10 -- 50 watts with 410s in a sealed cab. But it didn't like my low B -- probably cause no one has low B back then, so the cabinet wasn't required to handle it.

`
Haven't looked at since the renaming
to "Omni", but IIRC the Basscello was
available in both 4- and 5-string, and
offered strung in a buyer's choice of
fourths or fifths.

Hopefully only the name has changed.

`

Still the same instrument, and yes, it can be 4 or 5, strung as you wish. I don't know if Omnibass will increase sales. Sounds like a British mass transit vehicle.

If money were no object, I'd have a 4, a 6, and a Jerzy Drozd Legend X 10-string.

Not that I'm particular about any of them...much.

For me 5 strings, mostly for the fingering options, less hand shfting! I rarely use the lower extra notes...

I've never played a 5-string; I'm getting one soon. But I just love that sub-E sound, especially the low D. I know I could retune to get it but then I'd just confuse myself and would rather not have to mess with that. I'll probably be one of those players that uses it too much but it just does something for me ...

Even detuning, Robbie, I never really realized the difference between a detuned E-string and a fretted D on a B-string that was tuned up to its normal tension. Unless you're using heavy gauges meant for drop-tuning, it makes a huge difference. At least to my ear it does. IT was something that I never really noticed until I started playing my 5 regularly. Drop tuning suddenly became an absolute last resort, and at this point I would bring my 5 just for one or two songs if I thought I would need or even want the low notes. There's just so much more clarity and tone to be found in a string that's fully tuned up.

`

Oyeah, the difference is definite. But
I don't find one inferior to the other.

I have my 5-strings tuned *up*, to
CFBbEbAb, and my 4-strings tuned
*down* to DGCF [and even CFBbEb]
so I'm very aware of the contrasting
feel and tones. For me, it's all good.

My 5-strings offer me only two more
low notes vs my DGCF 4-strings, so
to me, a 5-string is *All About* that
qualitative difference. Quantitatively
it adds only two lower semi-tones.


`

I like to have different basses with different strings and tunings for different situations.

I have a down-tuned 4 string DGCF
A regular 4 string EADG
A 5 string BEADG
and a fretless 6 string BEADGC

`


I also occasional use CFBbEb, so I have
three tunings on hand ready to go, but
only one tuning [per gig] ever goes out
the door with me. I make my decisions
before the gig, not during ...


`