Question Drop D or (dare I say it) 5 String

[T-bone]

It seems I'm playing a lot of Eb lately, which has started me thinking about a 5 string. Drop D sounds interesting, however:
1) I don't want to modify either of my LE's
2) Bb to Eb to Ab to C# would completely mess me up

On the other hand, every time I pick up a 5 string I feel I'm all thumbs. Has anyone else found it difficult to transition from 4 to 5 strings? Or have you found that if it doesn't come naturally, then keep playing the way you always have?

Either way, it could be I'm just looking for an excuse to buy a Sterling. Hey Maddog, got any equations that'll work on shebone?

tbone

 

[Jodizzle]

I suck on 5 string as well. However, I did purchase one just to start practicing at home. I find myself needing that low D more and more. One day I will become one with the 5er.

Good luck.

 

[giggrafix]

I put a Hipshot D Tuner on my sterling and the holes matched up exactly.
Works like a charm.

 

[oddjob]

I had a ton of trouble going to the 5 (and have dumped a number of them) - the Hipshot works for me (I am tuned out of Eb too) without too many issues. I will be getting another 5 soon out of necessity (just because even with drop d there are somethings I need the 5 for) but it will litterally be for a song or 2. But all in all I love my Hipshots!

 

[T-bone]

I suck on 5 string as well. However, I did purchase one just to start practicing at home.

Glad to hear I'm not alone.

Hey, you're back. How was your trip? Did you scare em down there?

I put a Hipshot D Tuner on my sterling and the holes matched up exactly.

There's still the issue of everything shifting (on the E string) down 2 frets. My brain would have to create a few new pathways for that.

tbone

 

[oddjob]

There's still the issue of everything shifting (on the E string) down 2 frets. My brain would have to create a few new pathways for that.

tbone

it isn't that bad... you actually get use to it pretty fast (I actually had trouble adjusting to my Kubicki ExFactor because of the hipshot)

 

[bovinehost]

Jeez, bunch of wimps, get a fiver.

 

[strummer]

For me, it took some effort to get used to the 5er, but now I wouldn't be caught with less than 5 strings
I usually tune Bb, no problems.
You just have to dump the 4-string for a period of time, and go fulltime 5!

 

[fidooda]

you just have to dump the 4-string for a period of time, and go fulltime 5!

+1

 

[oddjob]

Jeez, bunch of wimps, get a fiver.

Wimpy, whinny and stupid... yeap that's me

 

[oli@bass]

Has anyone else found it difficult to transition from 4 to 5 strings?

Yep. Unfortunatley. Actually I never got the hang of it even after playing fivers for over eight years. I may be particularly stubborn but fact is, that I never got used to have that extra string close to me, and from that point couldn't memorize song changes by keys anymore but only by hand position. That in turn, messed up my ability to understand chord progressions and to play around them. Pathetic, I know.

After coming back to the world of four string basses, I wonder why I ever thought I'd need to use fivers... I hardly every really used (as in "needed to") the B string. Get a Hipshot and a good Octaver pedal (Ampeg OCT-SCP, MXR M-88 -- both not produced anymore ) for to throw in those extra ultra low notes every now and then.

All that said, I hate songs in Eb....

 

[strummer]

a good Octaver pedal

EBS OctaBass, veeery good and still produced

 

[bradfordws]

Get that Sterling 5! The neck on that thing is quite playable. I've been a full-time fiver for 20 years! I have a band where the guitarist/songwriter is always tuned either to Eb or any number of tunings like Joni Mitchell used to do and I would have gone nuts with a d-tuner, having to rethink everything. I always tell folks to use the B string as a thumbrest and don't thing about it until you need to go there. It's a little challenging for slap or funk in the key of E, but you'll get a little more precise with your thumbing after a while. I still bring along the Sterling 4 for some gigs, but I usually stay on the 5 in case I want to go down in the mud. Sometimes a lick based around open strings on a guitar tuned down to Eb can be a problem, but it makes you work out different fingerings that are good for you to learn anyway. Anyway, my vote is get the Sterling 5!

 

[oli@bass]

EBS OctaBass, veeery good and still produced

You surely say that only because you've never played the other two...

(I tried all of them... I didn't like the EBS at all, it tracked my playing very badly)

 

[phatduckk]

i had a 20th SR5 for a little while and it wasnt too bad getting used to it. it just wasnt me.

but the Sterling 5's are tempting me!

 

[Russel]

Jeez, bunch of wimps, get a fiver.

For real!

It was easy for me. But I moved down from a 6, so...

I'm pretty adaptive, though.

 

[Lonnystingray]

I use a Hipshot D-Tuner.

And one of the reasons is the face of our guitar players, full of envy, when they need to tune down, and all I have to do is flip the lever.. I have a hipshot on all three basses, a 7ender, an Epiphone and on my Stingray, never had any problems.

Really, just the face of our guitar player.. That's already worth the investment..

 

[Aussie Mark]

It seems I'm playing a lot of Eb lately, which has started me thinking about a 5 string.

I never buy this argument. If the song is in Eb, I play the root on the 6th fret of the A string, and with flats, a decent rig and a Stingray or Bongo it's more than fat enough to sound great in any situation.

 

[ptg]

Real men play 4 bangers

 

[WillPlay4Food]

You just have to dump the 4-string for a period of time, and go fulltime 5!

This is what I've done, but sometimes I'll still tune down the 5-string. I do this because some songs drone the dropped note and it can get tricky trying to run down to the 3rd or 4th fret on the B string and keep playing high up on the fretboard.