Do Bassists who start out as Guitarists prefer 6- or 5- or 4-string basses?

[Mannyinnewyork]

I switched from guitar to bass in 66. Don't think there was a 5 available - maybe a fender V. I would have picked the four anyway in hope that it would help me play the bass "more like a bass" rather than a guitar.

 

[tedious1]

I started out as a guitarist, and selected a 5-string bass as my first...just felt better.

Converted rhythm guitar player. Joined a second band mostly for the hang, but ended up playing bass. For that, I borrowed one from my brother, a POS 4 stringer. But when I swtiched from guitar to bass in my main band, I decided I better get a playable decent instrument.

So I got me a little tape measure and started measuring the interval between strings. Ended up with a pair (1/2 price sale and they had two in, and my budget was meant for bass, so...) of Washburn 5s. I suspect had their been a six, with even a slightly narrower interval, I would have bought that. Playing that POS 4 banger, I hated the interval between the strings, playing the 5er, much better. That it (The POS) was patterned after a P was not something I understood at that time.

Eventually I actually learned something about the instrument I had moved to, when we did our last lineup change, I decided it would be a good time to rebuild my entire signal chain, instrument to cab. So the bass search started again, but I was only looking at 4's and specifically Jazz-type necks, which are comfortable for me, I find P necks less uncomfortable now, but still gravitate to the narrower necks.

 

[Artman]

I have only fours right now, but I have had a five string, and find it equally useful, just not always necessary. I think it's impressive when others can play a six-string bass well, but I'm not a master soloist (on guitar or bass) so four or five work well for me. Not that all soloists require more than four either.

 

[silvertone]

I regularly play Fretted and Fretless J 4 strings but I more often play a Mod Q5 and have become heavily dependent on a B String.

My hands feel too small to tackle a 6, but I wouldn't shy away from trying or buying one....

Still - I'm happy w what I got and have no GAS.

 

[MordBass]

I voted 4 string because its practically the same width at the nut as any electric guitar.
As far as starting out on bass, I always suggest a 4 string because a low B is mostly used as an accent that helps bring some impact rather than something that you live on and a high C is mostly used for chords or helping with not having to move up the neck as far for runs.
The way I see it, everybody needs a P bass anyways so why not just grab a MIM or a Tribute and get that out of the way while switching over.

 

[nilorius]

When i started i played only 4 strings, a fey years later i changed to 5 string fretless, so i never changed.

 

[vvvmmm]

I started on guitar 30+ years ago, bass about 15, but I fooled on bass the whole time and there really weren't 5 stringers around much even 15 years ago, at least by me.

I'm pretty good on guitar (and I humble about it, too ) but it's hard to find good or better bass players, so by default I usually play bass in my band(s) in the last 10 years - say, 80% of the time.

I learned on 4 string, and my gear (single 12" or 15" bottoms) is set up for it; I'll drop tune to "D" once in a while if necessary.

All that said, I really love Bass VI!

 

[tpaul]

Four. The standard tuning is the same for bass as for the lowest four strings of a guitar. So I know where I am. Adding a low B would throw me off.

 

[Versatek6]

Been playing guitar since I was 6 or 7 yo (now 54 yo), been on electric guitar since 14, and got serious on bass just over ten years ago, starting on Ibanez SR 4 bangers. Just bought my first 6er in January. So 4-strings took me a long way. But a 6er was inevitable. I'll never buy another 4 since I've quickly warmed to what the low B can bring to the table.

This is very much my story, too. I started playing in church on a 4 when there was a need, and moved to a five a couple years after that. The 4s seldom see use, but I like to get one out if there is a set where I don't really use the B.

My "formal" instrument is trombone, and I think of the B string like the F valve on my horns; don't always have to use it, but it often makes life so much easier with greater range and alternate positions.

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

I started on guitar, and after about five years switched to bass, due to not being able to find a steady bassist for my band. My bass of choice was a 6 string. I think it had less to do with previously being a guitarist, and more to do with it being 1993(?), and some of the bassists I really admired, like Les Claypool and John Myung, were rocking sixers at the time, and I wanted to try stuff like they were doing.

I played that six, and eventually one other, exclusively for about 20 years, figuring if I needed a four string, well, I would just play the middle strings But five years ago I got into fives, then fours, and realized that they all have way different vibes and tones and bring out different types of things in my playing. Now I play 4 strings about 80% of the time, 5 about 15%, and 6 about 5%.

 

[Mustang Surly]

I wasn't able to bond with an Ibanez SRC6. I play bass fingerstyle (no flat-picking) which was problematic for me with this instrument's narrow string spacing.

I've decided that 4 strings is plenty for me.

 

[backin82]

I started on trumpet, then picked up acoustic guitar, then finally got my hands on a 4-string bass. I loved it. I quit playing trumpet at that point.

Then I got a 5-string bass, and I quit playing 6-string guitars at that point.

Then I got a Lakland DJ5 and quit playing all other basses at that point.

I honestly think there won't be any trend in people's responses.

 

[Yetifaced]

Anyone else on the flip side of this, Start on bass, try out guitar and go "lol, no thanks."

I figured it would help me out trying to learn guitar, and I'm sure it would, but trying to finger chords just feels gross.

 

[honeyiscool]

I prefer a 5 because a 4 is too easy for me and 5 makes it a bit more difficult.

 

[pcake]

i played guitar for 25 years before i played bass, and i prefer a 4 string. i started on a 5 string, but i find a 4 is just more satisfying for me.

 

[Dub56]

As someone who plays both guitar and bass, 6 string basses feel more foreign than they do familiar due to the difference in tuning compared to a 6 string guitar.

The first 4 strings of a bass lining up EADG just like standard EADG of a guitar helped me when I was learning, for sure. The addition of another string on bass is something I have to work to wrap my head around, it doesn't remind me of guitar when you start adding more strings.

 

[Two-Spirit]

4 would be the easiest but it's important to make sure you have the range and strings you need.

 

[Mustang Surly]

Since I tuned my Ibanez SRC6 (a short-scale) EADGBE, there was nothing disorienting in terms of "where to put my fingers" (I played guitar for years before getting serious about learning to really play bass). But it has a neck and string-spacing that is very "guitar-like" as well as very light-gauge (for bass) round-wound strings: trouble was, I found myself too tempted to fall back into old, "guitar-player" habits and play it in a very "un-bass-like" manner.

Jumping back and forth between it and a "normal" 4-string, strung with flats required (at least for me) a lot of conscious, mental and physical adjustments and didn't really yield benefits commensurate with the effort required.

 

[TjMetalhead]

TJ, the avatar says it all... .

hahahahaha! I was hoping someone would notice.

 

[Spidey2112]

hahahahaha! I was hoping someone would notice.

I'd recognize that mug, anywhere!