From 5 string back to 4

[Randracula]

Hey, I think he/she works at the AM/PM next to the Motel6 in SLO

 

[shamus63]

Hey, I think he/she works at the AM/PM next to the Motel6 in SLO

Graveyard shift, if I remember correctly.

 

[Randracula]

Graveyard shift, if I remember correctly.

Yeah, I wasn't quite ready for that at 5 in the morning

 

[shamus63]

Yeah, I wasn't quite ready for that at 5 in the morning

I just plain wasn't ready.

 

[Randracula]

I just plain wasn't ready.

Uhhhhh yeah....me either

 

[Dr. Nick]

im with you Doc. I swear by the Sterling and i think everyone else should too.

now everyone go play an HS Sterling then login here and say "Arin told me so"

thank u

That's right! I had forgotten what good company I was in! Wot a freakin' awesome Sterling collection, Arin, seriously!

Someday, after I've purchased enough guitar sh*t to satisfy my GAS, (ha!) I might consider getting an HS...

...why is it that I "need" a bunch of different guitars to get the tones I want, but I am always satisfied with my one and only Sterling?

 

[phatduckk]

You know, I have played an HS Sterling and was surprised by how much I didn't care for it. Conversely, every HH SR5 though I have played I felt was outstanding. I think if I wanted a fiver I would go with a SR5 HH over a Bongo HH.

funny enough i didnt play an HS Sterling at open house on purpose just so the first time I played mine would be a cooler experience. now fast forward a few months and my HS Sterling isnt done yet but I see one at GC, i couldnt hold out any longer so I played it ... and i hated it!!! I played the HS Sterling at GC and an HH Ray and honestly I was sad that I'd ordered the HS. So thats how i ended up buying that Trans Orange HH Ray from factory shelf stock.

so, I dont know what the hell happened that day at GC b/c of all the 2 PUP MM's i have (see my signature) the HS Sterling is easily my favorite. Its the one I play almost all the time now. So, I have no idea why I didnt like it at the store. was it the amp? just my mood? Was it cuz the one at the store had a RW board? (i doubt that would change my impression by too much). I dunno. either way ... try another one LoL

 

[MingusBASS]

You Sterlingians and your intolerant and judgmental views! I wish you guys would stop trying to convert us. I had a Sterling when I was younger and It just wasn't my bag at all. It turned me off torward the idea of Sterlinganity. I didn't choose to be a Bongoist, I was born this way!

 

[AnthonyD]

...I didn't choose to be a Bongoist, I was born this way!

Not that there is anything wrong with that!

I really like my Bongo... I absolutely LOVE my Sterling!

Either way - and back to the original topic - I am a 4-Stringer for Life.

 

[Dr Stankface]

4 strings look funny

 

[shamus63]

4-banger for life.

 

[adouglas]

I didn't choose to be a Bongoist, I was born this way!

Ahem...I believe the proper term is "Bongoloid."

 

[shamus63]

Ahem...I believe the proper term is "Bongoloid."

Yes, that is the proper vernacular.

 

[adouglas]

Yes, we are residents of Bongolia, a small but rapidly growing region located just to the east of (as in to the right of) Lefthanzia. Both are semi-autonomous republics within the great Empire of Ball.

Bongoloids are readily identified by their glassy-eyed thousand-yard stare, fierce patriotism, jaded "heard it before and it's not funny" attitude towards the great unwashed masses of Fenderphiles and abhorrence of toilet seat jokes.

Citizens of Lefthanzia are identified by their propensity to immediately move the water glass from the right side of their plate to the left when they sit down at restaurant tables. Oh, and their inexplicable willingness to pose for questionable photographs (still waiting for the promised Bongo photo, Chuck!).

 

[4metta]

Threads like this make me worried whether I did wrong starting on a four string knowing that I still need to get a 5 string to play some of the funk and r&b music I'm into. I just was very uncomfortable on the SUB 5 as far as size and weight and the neck (I'm a small chick) compared to the Sterling SUB which is just so sleek. I'm saving up for a Sterling5 or Stingray5, but all this while I've been playing on a 4.


Will I always feel slightly confused on a 5 now?



edit: typos

 

[shamus63]

Threads like this make me worried whether I did wrong starting on a four string knowing all the that I still need to get a 5 string to play some of the funk and r&b music I'm into. I just was very uncomfortable on the SUB 5 as far as size and weight and the neck (I'm a small chick) compared to the Sterling SUB which is just so sleek. I'm saving up for a Sterling5 or Stingray5, but all this while I've been playing on a 4.


Will I always feel slightly confused on a 5 now?

YMMV.

 

[Figjam]

I think once you play on a 5 for an extended period of time you'll adjust. I get adjusted to whatever Im playing more at the moment. Im playing my 4 again lately, i alternate every few days just because I like to confuse myself.

 

[maddog]

Threads like this make me worried whether I did wrong starting on a four string knowing all the that I still need to get a 5 string to play some of the funk and r&b music I'm into. I just was very uncomfortable on the SUB 5 as far as size and weight and the neck (I'm a small chick) compared to the Sterling SUB which is just so sleek. I'm saving up for a Sterling5 or Stingray5, but all this while I've been playing on a 4.


Will I always feel slightly confused on a 5 now?

No.

Just play it and you'll get used to it.

 

[adouglas]

Will I always feel slightly confused on a 5 now?

To be honest, I doubt it.

I have small hands (though perhaps not as small as yours...), and when I went for a 5 I was worried about being able to deal with it. It was never a problem. (I can't handle a 6, though....)

In terms of string spacing, a 5 is just like a narrow (Jazz-ish) 4 with an extra string that you can pretty much ignore most of the time. So if you're okay with your Sterling 4, you should be just fine with a 5. The neck will feel a bit different and you have to get used to seeing a different picture when you look at your hand, but you get used to it.

I do find that I use the B string all the time. For one thing, a lot of the covers we do are transposed down a step, and I need to get below low E for a lot of them. But it also lets me play lines higher up the neck, add 5th-below-the-root accents to notes on the E string, stuff like that...lets me do things I can't really do on a 4-string. I really like having the fifth string.

 

[4metta]

Thanks for the replies guys! I have played a Stingray 5 briefly when I can sneak and actually prefer the string spacing to my Sub Sterling. But I also noticed that you have to be more precise in your right hand. That hasn't worried me as much as the second guessing what string I was on. I guess after some quality time rather than short sessions at the music store I would get used to it. I just wish that Sterling 5 would hurry up and come out! I'm thinking the body would be even more streamlined and lighter.