POLL: If you could only have one...

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  • I love this place  :3
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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    Only get a five string if you'll be playing music that uses the extra low notes.

    I can see why someone might think it's better to have the string there even if they don't use it much but it means you'll always have an extra string to mute so it will be a hindrance unless you need it.

    I'd say in general, in genres that use five strings, most players in that genre will use one. So look at players who pay the same genres as you.
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4942
    As @ICBM said '4 string'. USA made Fender Precision.  All I need now is a 'talent boost' pedal.  Suggestions most welcome.
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Get a 5. Logically speaking that gives you both.

    I like a 5 as it gives me somewhere to rest my thumb.
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23908
    thegummy said:
    Only get a five string if you'll be playing music that uses the extra low notes.

    I can see why someone might think it's better to have the string there even if they don't use it much but it means you'll always have an extra string to mute so it will be a hindrance unless you need it.

    I'd say in general, in genres that use five strings, most players in that genre will use one. So look at players who pay the same genres as you.
    I disagree massively.

    The best part about a 5 string isn't the extra low notes, it's being able to play across the board more for less fatigue and easier fingering patterns.


    Note to anyone silly enough to say "basses have 4 strings" and the like.
    The double bass started with only 3 strings. So if you want to be authentic you have to take off the G from your 4 string.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    edited March 2020
    fretmeister said:

    The best part about a 5 string isn't the extra low notes, it's being able to play across the board more for less fatigue and easier fingering patterns.
    Except that I find a 5-string far more fatiguing because the neck is too big... that's really why I decided mine - which didn't even have a wide neck by 5-string standards - was not for me. It's true that I do have small hands - but I find moving up and down the neck far less tiring than stretches across it.

    Note to anyone silly enough to say "basses have 4 strings" and the like.
    The double bass started with only 3 strings. So if you want to be authentic you have to take off the G from your 4 string.
    I have thought about that quite a lot... there was a period when I didn't play anything on the G string in the band's entire set, although there are now a couple of songs I use it for. To be honest I'm not that keen on the sound of it normally, it's a bit weedy - I prefer playing the same notes five frets up on the D string usually.

    Or you can go one better...


    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23908
    @ICBM ;


    Here you go!



    It is real!
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    @ICBM ;


    Here you go!



    It is real!
    Wow! Want!!

    :)

    What's the pickup? I would probably prefer to fit both halves of a P pickup but spaced more like a Jazz, so it could be hum-cancelling as well (assuming that one isn't).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23908
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3iCeBAmmbo


    I think it is just half a Delano P pickup.
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23908
    Turns out there is a Dual pickup one!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqzi0CxARFc

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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    thegummy said:
    Only get a five string if you'll be playing music that uses the extra low notes.

    I can see why someone might think it's better to have the string there even if they don't use it much but it means you'll always have an extra string to mute so it will be a hindrance unless you need it.

    I'd say in general, in genres that use five strings, most players in that genre will use one. So look at players who pay the same genres as you.
    I disagree massively.

    The best part about a 5 string isn't the extra low notes, it's being able to play across the board more for less fatigue and easier fingering patterns.


    Note to anyone silly enough to say "basses have 4 strings" and the like.
    The double bass started with only 3 strings. So if you want to be authentic you have to take off the G from your 4 string.
    Sounds like a theoretical benefit rather than something that actually gives much in the real world.

    I don't think I've ever heard bassists complaining that having to move horizontally on the fretboard is so fatiguing or difficult to finger that it's a problem.

    Re: the 3 strings, I think I would be mostly fine with 3 since I use the highest string the least. It doesn't cause muting problems though so there wouldn't be any benefit removing it.

    If I found a bass made for only 3 (so the fretboard was narrower) I'd give it a try and see! Definitely not 2 strings though, that's not enough.
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4942
    TBH three strings are enough for me. Actually plenty. 
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23908
    edited March 2020
    thegummy said:
    thegummy said:
    Only get a five string if you'll be playing music that uses the extra low notes.

    I can see why someone might think it's better to have the string there even if they don't use it much but it means you'll always have an extra string to mute so it will be a hindrance unless you need it.

    I'd say in general, in genres that use five strings, most players in that genre will use one. So look at players who pay the same genres as you.
    I disagree massively.

    The best part about a 5 string isn't the extra low notes, it's being able to play across the board more for less fatigue and easier fingering patterns.


    Note to anyone silly enough to say "basses have 4 strings" and the like.
    The double bass started with only 3 strings. So if you want to be authentic you have to take off the G from your 4 string.
    Sounds like a theoretical benefit rather than something that actually gives much in the real world.

    I don't think I've ever heard bassists complaining that having to move horizontally on the fretboard is so fatiguing or difficult to finger that it's a problem.

    Re: the 3 strings, I think I would be mostly fine with 3 since I use the highest string the least. It doesn't cause muting problems though so there wouldn't be any benefit removing it.

    If I found a bass made for only 3 (so the fretboard was narrower) I'd give it a try and see! Definitely not 2 strings though, that's not enough.
    Go join Basschat. There’s hundreds of them. 
    Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

    They / we don’t complain about 4 strings, we just enjoy 5s when it’s easier.
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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    thegummy said:
    thegummy said:
    Only get a five string if you'll be playing music that uses the extra low notes.

    I can see why someone might think it's better to have the string there even if they don't use it much but it means you'll always have an extra string to mute so it will be a hindrance unless you need it.

    I'd say in general, in genres that use five strings, most players in that genre will use one. So look at players who pay the same genres as you.
    I disagree massively.

    The best part about a 5 string isn't the extra low notes, it's being able to play across the board more for less fatigue and easier fingering patterns.


    Note to anyone silly enough to say "basses have 4 strings" and the like.
    The double bass started with only 3 strings. So if you want to be authentic you have to take off the G from your 4 string.
    Sounds like a theoretical benefit rather than something that actually gives much in the real world.

    I don't think I've ever heard bassists complaining that having to move horizontally on the fretboard is so fatiguing or difficult to finger that it's a problem.

    Re: the 3 strings, I think I would be mostly fine with 3 since I use the highest string the least. It doesn't cause muting problems though so there wouldn't be any benefit removing it.

    If I found a bass made for only 3 (so the fretboard was narrower) I'd give it a try and see! Definitely not 2 strings though, that's not enough.
    Go join Basschat. There’s hundreds of them. 
    Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

    They / we don’t complain about 4 strings, we just enjoy 5s when it’s easier.
    What's real?

    I don't understand what you're talking about.

    Already a member of that forum but really don't know what you're referring to.
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23908
    If you find any thread on Basschat about people getting their first 5 string it will be littered with comments about the ease of playing across the board.

    It's a common view.

    Even more so among bassists playing music in keys that are not friendly to open string use. 
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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    If you find any thread on Basschat about people getting their first 5 string it will be littered with comments about the ease of playing across the board.

    It's a common view.

    Even more so among bassists playing music in keys that are not friendly to open string use. 
    I've heard it said loads of times, I was never saying it wasn't something that people say.

    What I mean is that when you're thinking about comparing 4 strings vs 5 string basses, technically being able to go down a string instead of down a few frets is easier but when the majority of bassists are playing 4 string basses, it's easy enough to go down frets anyway. That's what I mean by it's theoretically better; it's solving something that isn't really a problem.

    Like if someone invented a machine that applies the right amount of toothpaste to your toothbrush for you - it would be technically easier than putting it on manually but no one's struggling with that anyway.
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4942
    edited March 2020
    @ICBM ;;


    Here you go!



    It is real!
    What is the purpose of the third control knob?   Assuming one is volume, the second is tone....
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    Rocker said:

    What is the purpose of the third control knob?   Assuming one is volume, the second is tone....
    I assume it's active, so it's volume/tone/hiss.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4942
    ICBM said:
    Rocker said:

    What is the purpose of the third control knob?   Assuming one is volume, the second is tone....
    I assume it's active, so it's volume/tone/hiss.
    Maybe each string has a separate volume control :)
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • proggyproggy Frets: 5827

    I would have a 4 string and it would have to be a Jazz Bass.

    I really can't see the point of that psychedelic 2 string bass thing or understand why anyone would bother with it.

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