Should I get a five string?

[BassMent]

Have you played a bongo?

Absolutely! The first Bongo I ever saw was a 5er in Orange Firemist/Tortie with an HH configuration. What a striking instrument... especially in that color! Loved the tone... definitely distinct from the 'Ray or Sterling sound, somehow larger, broader, less focused but in a pleasant way.

But I could not get used to how far away the nut looked when it was hanging on my body... seemed like an extra long scale when in fact it isn't. Plus, one of my favorite features of the 'Ray and Sterling are the oiled/waxed necks, so I didn't really care for the finished neck on the Bongo.

And I've just never quite warmed up to the look. I like it when I see other people playing it! Maybe it's cuz I play cowboy music....

 

[OldSchool Noob]

... Here's how you learn to play it:

Start out using the B string as your thumb rest for your plucking hand (don't fall in love with this... because you are playing a floating thumb style, right? RIGHT?!?!?). Then just play the other four strings as you normally would... they'll feel pretty much the same (possibly a bit closer together than you're used to), and you definitely won't confuse the B with the E based on the FEEL (the B will feel huge).

Then one day you'll be playing a tune in G where you have to do a I-V move and a little synapse in your brain will fire and you'll instinctively move to the B string for the V interval rather than the A string... and you'll hear that low D on the B string in context. And your life as a bassist will change. After that it will all just start to fall into place. Because the intervals are even 4ths across all strings, you'll quickly figure out how to move stuff around on the neck, and play low passing tones that will liven up your fills and turnarounds. Major bonus is that you'll never have to hate songs in F again ...

Genius -- that's as well as I've ever seen it explained!

I have only been playing bass for about 5 years and only seriously for the last two. I play in Church and 4-string players in my idiom are few and far between. I was advised when I first started to learn on a 5 string just because that's "what was done."

It was great advice because (as I learned later), the lion's share of Gospel tunes are in Ab, Eb and Bb because those are comfortable keys for choirs to sing in. Additionally many of the changes are I-V or I-IV and it is SO EASY to drop down to the V on the B string or to do chromatic walks up to the Eb on the B string. Fivers just give you a lot of useful flexibility.

 

[jlepre]

YES!

And +1 on the HH!

 

[BassMent]

Genius -- that's as well as I've ever seen it explained!

I have only been playing bass for about 5 years and only seriously for the last two. I play in Church and 4-string players in my idiom are few and far between. I was advised when I first started to learn on a 5 string just because that's "what was done."

It was great advice because (as I learned later), the lion's share of Gospel tunes are in Ab, Eb and Bb because those are comfortable keys for choirs to sing in. Additionally many of the changes are I-V or I-IV and it is SO EASY to drop down to the V on the B string or to do chromatic walks up to the Eb on the B string. Fivers just give you a lot of useful flexibility.

Yup... I have played with church choirs and in orchestra pits... and Eb is a key you get VERY comfortable with in those situations! Eb tends to sound thin on a 4-string bass guitar... but with a 5er you really learn to love that key, because it's right in the sweet spot.

 

[MadMatt]

Then one day you'll be playing a tune in G where you have to do a I-V move and a little synapse in your brain will fire and you'll instinctively move to the B string for the V interval rather than the A string... and you'll hear that low D on the B string in context. And your life as a bassist will change. After that it will all just start to fall into place. Because the intervals are even 4ths across all strings, you'll quickly figure out how to move stuff around on the neck, and play low passing tones that will liven up your fills and turnarounds. Major bonus is that you'll never have to hate songs in F again.

Yup, EXACTLY this happened to me over the weekend. I was playing "Light my fire" at the end of the verse I went down to D coming from G instead of up and then on to E... It changed my life

-M@

 

[tkarter]

I have played 5 strings so long when I get on a 4 I have to say hey this isn't what I like. LOL.

So much music today calls for the 5 string everyone should have one.

Then there is the 6 string. LOL.

tk

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I would say jump in and get a 5-string.

You just have to go in without hesitation and have a positive attitude. If you think you might not be able to do it, then chances are you won't. But, if you think "no problem", then it won't be, just a little bit of adjustment with a big reward!

 

[sitonmybass]

Start out using the B string as your thumb rest for your plucking hand

I've said it before...I highly disagree with this approach. It can only lead to a habitual bad habit. You'll never get properly acclimated to a 5-string by doing this.

 

[MadMatt]

I've said it before...I highly disagree with this approach. It can only lead to a habitual bad habit. You'll never get properly acclimated to a 5-string by doing this.

Since I am in the middle of "The big switch" I'll provide my input (whether wanted or not )

This is what I do that is working well. (I am taking for granted you play finger style. If you play with a plectrum then this does not apply)

When you first get the 5 string start by playing your favorite E scale across 2 octaves (for me it's the blues scale). You will quickly realize you have to be very particular about muting the unplayed strings. Much more so then with a 4 string. At least with my 25th 5HH if I play almost any note on the D or G string without muting the others then there is always some string droning. Its weird, play an E on the G string and the open A gets going. On the 25th 4HH I had previously, I recall that this would only happen when I played the A on the G string. Simply put, this means you absolutely have to move you thumb down when you play the D or G strings and rest it on the E or A string respectively.

When I play songs that use the B string I generally rest my thumb on the B string unless I'm playing the D or G string. When I play a song as I would on a 4 string bass I usually rest my thumb lightly on the E string unless I'm playing it.

I think this is close to what the pro's do (pro's, please correct my if I am wrong). Its pretty intuitive to learn but does take some practice to get it in the muscle memory. I've had my 25th 5HH for about a month now and I still have to consciously think about it sometimes. Just apply common sense and think things though logically and it will work out.

The benefit of not using the pickup as a resting point is it becomes easier to move you hand towards the bridge or neck to change the sound. I've started doing this to change the sound between chorus and verse and its added a new dimension to my playing.

-M@

 

[adouglas]

IMHO there's absolutely nothing wrong with using the B string to anchor your thumb. It's not a bad habit, it's just another way of using your right hand. It's part of the floating thumb technique. I've been using it for 25 years and it hasn't held me up at all.

[youtube]PPVMBPmrblU[/youtube]

 

[drTStingray]

IMHO there's absolutely nothing wrong with using the B string to anchor your thumb. It's not a bad habit, it's just another way of using your right hand. It's part of the floating thumb technique. I've been using it for 25 years and it hasn't held me up at all.

+1, AD

For info at the masterclass held by Dave Marks in May I asked a question about muting on a 5 string. Dave kindly showed two or three muting techniques, one being the floating thumb method. There appears to be no one right way to this, although this method did seem to allow some incredibly fast playing.

He also showed what happens if you don't mute properly on a 5 string - that B string drones very loudly indeed!! This was v interesting as an audience member, and with a v good tutor playing at gig volume.

Muting was the biggest challenge for me when I added 5 string to my playing arsenal - I had developed (not deliberately either!) over many years a combination of finger muting with the fretting hand and palm muting with the right hand on a 4 string. It just didn't work on 5 string because the B string would constantly and v audibly drone. I tend to use the floating thumb technique and for slapping (the B string drone is a real pain when slapping from E upwards) I put my left thumb over the fretboard to damp the B. This works quite well when you get used to it (I got the idea from a Louis Johnson video - he was slapping a 4 string Ray and damped the E with his left thumb)

 

[danny-79]

This has been a very good read so far, thanks to all for input

 

[mobass]

I use the floating thumb technique, so I'm not concerned with that. The big advantage I see to a fiver is I won't have to move around so much, especially in certain keys. I haven't tried a bongo 5. I haven't seen a bongo at guitar center for quite sometime. How is the neck on a bongo compared to a stingray and sterling?

 

[BassMent]

IMHO there's absolutely nothing wrong with using the B string to anchor your thumb. It's not a bad habit, it's just another way of using your right hand. It's part of the floating thumb technique. I've been using it for 25 years and it hasn't held me up at all.

[youtube]PPVMBPmrblU[/youtube]

Yessir. When I'm soloing up on the D and G strings, my thumb is lightly anchored on the A, with the length of my thumb from the tip to the joint at my palm muting the other strings. That way, I can use fingering-hand muting exclusively for dropping space into the bassline on the strings I'm actually playing.

I definitely agree with the previous poster that ERBs seem to have more issues with droning sympathetic strings if you haven't mastered a technique to mute them. I don't know of many four-string players who ever anchor on the E string when they're not playing it, but I find that doing this on a B string provides me with a starting point for the floating thumb technique. Understand though, when I say "anchor" I don't mean jammed down with a lot of pressure like I see lots of guys doing on the edge of a pickup or a thumbrest. That's a bad habit that everyone should avoid developing, IMO.