there are currently some available in classifieds... I'd be prepared to spend a bit to get a good B string on a short scale bass
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Going from 4 to 5 (merged threads)
- Thread starter unbasslichkeit
- Start date
Wow I am glad I pulled up this thread again. I have joined a band where a 5 is almost mandatory. I have had a beautiful Stingray 5 for a few years that I have never really spent the time to get used to it as I feel more natural on a 4. I see I just need to spend more time on it. Tonight is the only second night I have played it in a couple of years and I was ready to throw it in the trash. I have a hard time keeping strings quiet and finding notes that I can't see. I get lost in the lower strings somehow. More will be revealed I hope.............it will be really useful for a band of modern rock covers.
A few months back, I jumped in feet first into the 5 string pool. It was a bit of a learning curve, but mostly, I took to it like a duck to water. I think that the bass that I chose, and Ibanez SR405EQM, helped immensly though, with it's thinner neck and 34' scale.
When I got my first 5 string bass.
I was excited to have the new bass and it to a practice and it was a disaster. At the time, I didn't have the fretboard knowledge that I have now. I had "Panic Position" and "Panic Notes", when I would get lost, my Panic position was middle finger on the G and then I knew where I was. As you can imagine, that panic position didn't work well on the 5 because I was now on D.
Until I could acquire a much better fretboard knowledge, I put the 4 in the closet and forced myself to only play the 5 for a solid month. I also worked on changing my "Panic Position" to the "E" on the "A" string which ends up almost center of fretboard both vertically and horizontally.
I worked on fretboard knowledge from there outward until I had a very good fretboard knowledge and no longer have or needed a "Panic Position".
When you first switch, you will have to get your brain used to that closest string not being an "E". That might take a couple weeks. Put your 4 in the closet and only practice with the 5 for a while. Try to learn where the notes you already play are located on the low "B" string. Try refingering familiar songs E at the 5th fret, play the G at the 8th fret... etc... That will help acquaint your brain and fingers with the new string.
At first just play the stuff you already play and don't make any special attempt to "Play those low notes". When I first got a 5, I way overused those low notes.
Try fingering the songs that don't need the low notes further up the neck so you are using the B string in the same register, but farther up and on a lower string. You will automatically start using those lower notes where they fit best. You will find that using the E, G, etc... on the B string will give you a fatter rounder sound that the E string, which will give you different tonal options.
Of course there are times where you just know that hammering that low "B" really fits the song. Use it, don't be afraid of it.
As far as keeping strings quiet, as you get more strings, that becomes more of an issue. I play 99% finger style and used to plant my thumb on the top of the pickup. I saw a video on Youtube about a "Floating Thumb" technique. You use your fretting hand to mute the strings that are higher than where you are playing and use your thumb of your plucking hand to mute the notes lower. I typically rest the tip of my thumb on the B string when I am playing on the E string and if I am playing on the A string, rest the thumb on the E with the side touching the B. The floating thumb technique really helps with extra strings ringing. If you play pick style... I have no good advice there because I suck at that. Palm muting is what works there... I guess.
My first experience with a 5 String was being asked to sit in on a couple songs and being handed a 5 String Jazz. I fumbled about and was unhappy with the experience. A few years later my band situation found me generally lugging around multiple basses in different tunings. referencing my earlier troubles, I bought a cheap samick 5 string at a local shop and used it exclusively at rehearsals until I was comfortable. The stingray is a tough bass to get comfortable with coming from a 4, the string spacing is fairly narrow, and the tone is pretty unforgiving with string noise lol. Try using a foam mute until you get it down.
I came here to ask something about moving from 4 to 5 and I'm not sure if this is the right thread...
I started a year ago with an ibanez mikro and it's going great. Now, I'm a metal fan and I got a really nice deal on an 90s 505 Ibanez.
What I've noticed since I've started to play on it is that my technique has... Decreased?
I can definitely do stretches easier now and the mikro feels tiny but I've also noticed that I'm not keeping my thumb on the back of the neck anymore. Sometimes yes but most of the times I do these weird movements with my hands that I definitely wasn't doing before.
I'm 5'2" (158cm) and have little T-Rex arms which is why I went for the mikro initially. I tried a 5 string mikro once but for some reason I didn't like it then. Maybe today it would be a different story.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to not screw up my technique while playing on a long scale bass coming from a shorts scale?
Thank you.
I started a year ago with an ibanez mikro and it's going great. Now, I'm a metal fan and I got a really nice deal on an 90s 505 Ibanez.
What I've noticed since I've started to play on it is that my technique has... Decreased?
I can definitely do stretches easier now and the mikro feels tiny but I've also noticed that I'm not keeping my thumb on the back of the neck anymore. Sometimes yes but most of the times I do these weird movements with my hands that I definitely wasn't doing before.
I'm 5'2" (158cm) and have little T-Rex arms which is why I went for the mikro initially. I tried a 5 string mikro once but for some reason I didn't like it then. Maybe today it would be a different story.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to not screw up my technique while playing on a long scale bass coming from a shorts scale?
Thank you.
- Oct 30, 2013
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We all gotta work with what we got….
when I met Jaco,Stanley,Marcus,Larry G,Bootsy,TM,Nathan E.etc.
their hands are big!!
So we little guys gotta make up for it by working on our speed, that’s all.
Just shed and work on getting from point A to B a little faster every single day.
good luck ^_^
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I think your problems are two fold. 1) Going from super short scale to long scale; 2) from a 4 string to a 5'er.
My daughter had the same exact problem. The short scale that she started out with had a narrow nut width and thinner neck. As she grew older and hands got bigger, she was using her thumb to mute the E string. Then came the long scale 5. Thumb muting was almost impossible (maybe on the low B), and she also faced the common 4 to 5'er issues that's been discussed to the nth degree on Talkbass.
Put the 4 away in the closet, play strictly the 5 only. Spend a little time going back to basics, eg. thumb on the back of the neck. Took her about a week a couple hours a day to get over it. Read up on TB regarding going to 5 from 4. Some pretty good stuff and knowledgeable folks here.