5 string Epi

[patman]

My main gigging bass is now a sixer...

comes in handy for eighties rock...think Bon Jovi...We play "It's my Life" in "C"...doesn't sound right without a low "C".

Comes in handy for changing keys to where we can still sing the song...we do "Chain of Fools" in Am, for instance...a low "B" allows me to keep the original architecture of the signature lick, whereas if I play it on a four banger, I need to push the low "D" up to an upper octave...just doesn't sound right...we do "Hot Stuff" in "F"...would not sound right on a four banger, because you need a low Eb. I could go on and on.

I resisted the multi string thing for 20 years or more...and a sixer is a wicked workout on your hands, but as a tool in a band setting, a low "B" is wonderful.  You don't have to worry so much about a key change putting a song into an area of the bass that sounds like shit.

That being said, when I strap on my Precision or Longhorn, it's like driving a sports car compared to driving an 18 wheeler(the sixer).

[uwe]

Ok, the different keys thing is a point though a hipshot D tuner would help you too I guess. So for a covers band with key variety (and not five basses on stage tuned to the necessity of the individual songs), a 5er or 6er is a practical thing.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Must I really accept that as a card-carrying Judas Priest and Black Sabbath fan with Mastodon, Metallica, Dir en Grey, Rammstein, SoaD, Bullet for my Valentine and Slipknot in his collection?!!!

Yes.

[dadagoboi]

Ok, the different keys thing is a point though a hipshot D tuner would help you too I guess. So for a covers band with key variety (and not five basses on stage tuned to the necessity of the individual songs), a 5er or 6er is a practical thing.

The guys I'm building 5ers for are recording and playing original music, some of which is on the radio or whatever the current means of transmission...and it isn't metal.  A copy band bassist of the future will need a 5er if he wants to play the music of his youth.  A Dtuner will only get you so far.

[uwe]

Yes.

You young people are harsh! 

[patman]

The reality of music in Cincinnati Ohio, is that if I want to play 50-70 dates a year (and want to get paid a decent amount of money), I have to play covers.


Covers are good.  They get me out of the house.  Things at home right now are such that life without a band would be grim.

[SKATE RAT]

i still prefer a 4 string. i've only played one song that was in drop D tuning ever, i've never needed one. though i've always wanted to set up a 4 banger to be B-E-A-D just to try it. i don't see my self ever wanting or needing a 5 or 6 string.

[uwe]

"A copy band bassist of the future will need a 5er if he wants to play the music of his youth."

We'll see. The victory of the five string has been proclaimed often enough and has yet to take place. If anything I have noticed a resurgence of the four string once people noticed that you need not compete with a Yamaha DX7 keyboard for the lows anymore.  Is the sales ratio 4 to 5 string still 9 to 1? I can think of very few bass guitar heroes that absolutely must have a five or more string bass for their style - Anthony Jackson comes to mind and a few others -, but for everyone of them there is a JAE, Jack Bruce, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Glenn Hughes, Colin Hodkinson, Jeff Berlin, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Paul McCartney, Sting, Les Claypool, Flea, Bootsy, Lee Sklar, Billy Sheehan, Steve Harris, Geezer Butler, the list goes on.

But, hey, I like minorities!

And I did not intend to insinuate anything negative about playing covers, Patman!!! I have done so myself and continue to do in my law firm band-side project (Bud Jet & The Forecasts).

[patman]

I tried BEAD, and did not care for it (not enough high notes)...I have a just reputation for being pretty tight with spending money on basses, and only bought the sixer when my son needed the dollars and was going to craigslist it for next to nothing (it's an Alvarez).  I gave him full retail for it..."Thanks Dad".

So I was sort of dragged into this multi string thing kicking and screaming...

That being said, once you get used to it, it's a wonderful tool...I would never go back.

Change is good (many times).  You just have to make the leap.

[uwe]

"not enough high notes"

Now that I understand!!! I have absolutely nothing against basses strung E to C. 

[dadagoboi]

...JAE, Jack Bruce, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Glenn Hughes, Colin Hodkinson, Jeff Berlin, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Paul McCartney, Sting, Les Claypool, Flea, Bootsy, Lee Sklar, Billy Sheehan, Steve Harris, Geezer Butler...

Codgers

[ramone57]

when 5 string basses were first introduced, I remember thinking why would anybody need a string higher than the G?    then I found out they were low Bs  and thought that made a little more sense but still somewhat unnecessary.  at least for me.  I've tried fiddling with 5s at stores but always end up confused as to what string I'm on.  4s work just fine for me!

[dadagoboi]

when 5 string basses were first introduced, I remember thinking why would anybody need a string higher than the G?    then I found out they were low Bs  and thought that made a little more sense but still somewhat unnecessary.  at least for me.  I've tried fiddling with 5s at stores but always end up confused as to what string I'm on.  4s work just fine for me!

I hadn't played any of mine in a while and and it confused me when I picked it up again.  But after a while I forgot it was a Fiver and it started making some sense.  Probably a lot more than an 8 or 12 string from a strictly traditional bass player angle.

[uwe]

Codgers

I had hoped that with the strategic inclusion of Flea I might escape that remark. And Cliff Burton at least died long before codger status. Les Claypool would at least dispute being an old codger, even though he is eccentric enough.

I tried hard to think of some under thirty bass stars in popular rock bands, but couldn't think of any.   Which is perhaps not such a great surprise considering that after a period of almost limitless freedom in bass playing between 1968 and 1976, the inevitable "stick to the root and do what the bass drum does!" crackdown came with the advent of disco and punk and bass playing on commercial records really hasn't made a recovery since then. How long would Chris Squire's or Jack Bruce's style last in a recording studio today?

So who are the young guns bass players out there (with 5ers) that I haven't heard of? I'm interested.

[Pilgrim]

You can't really hear the note that is deeper than a low D either, especially non-musicians can't. And when it comes to focus of sound any cheap synth can cream you into the ground, how depressing.

I agree.  Much of today's live music includes low end that's nothing more distinct than "boom, boom" turning the inside of the performing space into a toneless boom box.  The sound guys go for impact with no musical definition at all. 

I saw Robert Randolph and the Family Band this summer, and their bass player was fantastic - but I couldn't discern any notes that he played on the low end of his instrument.  The sound guys had that frequency range boosted so loud that it was mush.  Great if all you wanted was impact - which I did not.