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FDP Forum / Fender Bass Guitars and Bass Amps / My kid's high school band director wants him to play a 5 string!!!
FDP Forum / Fender Bass Guitars and Bass Amps / My kid's high school band director wants him to play a 5 string!!!
Previous 20 Messages
brianrost
Boston, TaxachusettsJun 3rd, 2012 07:56 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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Pretty weird, the "extended range" of a 5 is only 5 notes:
Eb D Db C B
I'd just detune the E string myself.
BTW in the 18th and 19th century string basses typically had only 3 strings.
Iconoclast
Contributing Member
******
The bitter comes out
...batter on a stollen guitar!Jun 4th, 2012 11:16 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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Me personally, I don't care what generates sound below 40 hz (roughly a low E on an electric bass) -- a five/six string bass, a keyboard, a pipe organ, a subway train rumbling below, an earthquake, a super-secret weapon, or a communications device -- it still just makes me feel queasy.
I find this greatly exacerbated by the fact that most rooms and FOH engineers can't properly handle ultra low frequencies and subwoofers. Now add a dollop of geezer sauce -- 99% of the music I love and play was written/recorded before the popularization of the five-string electric bass -- and you see where this dinosaur gronks.
There is nothing more unpleasant or jarring to my ears than drum machines, looping, fake horns on a keyboard, and ostensible musical information from a bass below 40 hz. When it happens in blues or jazz, it is downright painful.
Save the whales...
Standard24
San Antonio, TexasJun 4th, 2012 11:59 PM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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Iconoclast... Well said!
I forgot about the horrible trend for sound men to add tons of gut-slamming, low end from their "earthquake" subs. It seems they feel since they spent so much money on those things, they'd better get every ounce of rumble out of em'.
I hate that super-bass stuff. There's absolutely nothing musical about it.
barry.b
australiaJun 5th, 2012 12:22 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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has someone already suggested restring a 4 to BEAD tuning?
barry.b
australiaJun 5th, 2012 12:28 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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@Iconoclast:
"...Collect the whole set! "
thanks for that. It helped me find this:
Iconoclast
Contributing Member
******
The bitter comes out
...batter on a stollen guitar!Jun 5th, 2012 08:10 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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barry.b: LOL There's probably a great joke in here somewhere about "passing tones," but I haven't had enough coffee yet.
garp
Contributing Member
********
Connecticut USA
Stompin' on the avenue by Radio CityJun 5th, 2012 09:48 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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“How about the school? It would seem to me if they want him to play a 5 they should be providing it.”
+1. I was very content as a trumpet player in the junior high school band when all of a sudden, the band director tells me, “We need you to switch to baritone.” I replied, “Fine. Happy to help you out. But I ain’t luggin’ that mother back and forth on the bus. You rent me two of ‘em — one for home and one for school — and *then* we’ll talk.”
Steve Dallman
Contributing Member
*****
Merrill, Wisconsin
Ain't turned 60, but I got my blinker onJun 5th, 2012 12:09 PM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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My grade school, middle school and high school did not provide instruments for anyone who wanted to be in band, except for tubas.
SpinDoctor
Contributing Member
*****
Ohio USAJun 5th, 2012 12:34 PM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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^ I'm guessing none of the percussionists bought a set of tympanis or a marimba.
Basstorius
Colorado Springs USAJun 5th, 2012 04:05 PM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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If he's going to be a bass player for the long haul, I'd go ahead and invest in an affordable 5 string.
I held out buying a 5 for years and in 2004, I finally relented and bought a Lakland 55-01. I still play a 4 whenever I can but in reading situations a 5 string will lessen the shifting you have to do and allow you to keep your eyes on the score.
The extra range isn't always needed but when it is, it's nice not having to tune down and not worring about forgetting to tune back up for the next song.
Steve Dallman
Contributing Member
*****
Merrill, Wisconsin
Ain't turned 60, but I got my blinker onJun 5th, 2012 04:29 PM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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"Pretty weird, the "extended range" of a 5 is only 5 notes:
Eb D Db C B"
The low E string only offers 1 notes that the "A" string has, but do you only play the low E string from Ab on down? I'm sure you use it when playing above the 5th fret. Same thing with the low B string.
I played upright with an acoustic trio in the late 70's. The guitar player tuned down a full step, then capo'd all over the place. Having a 5th, low B string would have been a godsend.
There is nothing like being able to hit a low D, C or even the low B. I use the low notes judiciously, but they add a LOT both in my band (a three piece blues outfit) and at church. Two of the 5 bass players at church play 5's and three play 4's. The worship leaders prefer the 5's as do the keyboard players.
BrentD
Contributing Member
****
Lansing, MI
My CVR is noisy, but so is my playing!Jun 6th, 2012 08:28 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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I'm mostly a guitar player, but I didn't see a single post in this thread suggesting a four-banger set to B-E-A-D until barry's post yesterday. I would have beat him to it had I not waffled for a week as to whether my suggestion would add to the topic.
Is that tuning sacrilegious or something?
garp
Contributing Member
********
Connecticut USA
Stompin' on the avenue by Radio CityJun 6th, 2012 08:42 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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Not sacrilegious by any means. However, the change in string tension as a result of that tuning can take some getting used to.
BrentD
Contributing Member
****
Lansing, MI
My CVR is noisy, but so is my playing!Jun 6th, 2012 08:52 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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Doesn't Peavey make some nice 35" scale four stringers? That might help a bit.
shaffl
USAJun 6th, 2012 09:26 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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"Pretty weird, the "extended range" of a 5 is only 5 notes:
Eb D Db C B"
Think about the four string bass and the keys of F, Bb and Eb and how you would approach it. Now think of those keys in terms of having the extra low B string. There's the extended range and the value of it.
SpinDoctor
Contributing Member
*****
Ohio USAJun 6th, 2012 11:00 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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"Is that tuning sacrilegious or something?"
Not to me. I have one of my basses strung BEAD. For certain songs, a low D and a fretted E are very useful. On the other end, of course, I have to work around not having the G-string; a worthwhile compromise for me.
My next bass will be fiver.
jobsworth
Contributing Member
***
NCJun 7th, 2012 12:02 PM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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I find it easier to look at 4 and 5 stringers as rather different instruments, at least in their applications.
4 stringers can have tonal qualities that 5's don't (think Fender P, Gibson EB's, Hofners etc); 5's can get close but IME don't quite seem to nail the feel of 4's. But their extended range (not just below the E but up the neck too), ability to handle flat keys easily and some added tone dynamics and prescence that a 4 can sometimes lack... hence the reason why session guys pack both. They do different jobs, albeit with a fair bit of overlap too.
The old rube "a bass is just a guitar with fewer strings" implies an inability to see the essential differences in the instruments. This can also apply to the 4 / 5 debate. At the end of the day use what you need and feel comfortable with; there are no essential rights or wrongs with either approach.
(I take slightly more issue with 6 and 7 string basses as they really tend to pull the instrument away from its root function - contrabass. With higher pitched strings the temptation to run around in a guitar players sonic turf can become overwhelming. Not a wrong thing necessarily but I hold to the view that a guitar is a lot more effective as a solo instrument than a bass is).
heynorm
Omaha, USAJun 8th, 2012 09:39 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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Just remembered my 'first' bass had such a bad neck bow I eventually detuned it to basically a 3-stringer: -, E, A, D, just let the "E" flop and never thought of using it as a B. 45+ years later I still don't use the G string as much as the rest.
Standard24
San Antonio, TexasJun 8th, 2012 01:21 PM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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Maybe we'll look into detuning, or re-stringing as in B-E-A-D. Or maybe the school will provide a bass. We have extra basses that we can experiment with.
RoboChrist
Toronto ON, CanadaJun 10th, 2012 09:31 AM Edit Profile Print Topic Search
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Why in the sh1t are they asking YOU to pay for a new school bass?
Previous 20 Messages
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