Simple question. How many strings does you bass have?
If you have more than one bass answer for the one you use the most.
Mine: 4.
Mine has 4 as well. My hands are too small for any more strings.
4 on all 3
I’ve been playing bass for about four years and I’m still using the same one. It didn’t make sense to get a five- or six-string or something more complicated my first time out.
I’m not going to pick a poll answer because I’m not a bassist*, but I tend to think 5 strings sounds the best (particularly BEADG). I really think anything above an A an octave up should be used sparingly in simple bass parts, which forces you to go up for IV or V. I think it sounds better if you have the option to walk down to that low D or whatever.
*I’ve only played around, and don’t actually own one.
I’ve been playing longer than that, but picked a five string as my first for similar (or exactly opposite) reasoning. The store was having a sale on the day I went in and the 5 string was selling for the same price as the equivalent 4 string usually sold for. I figured I might as well get the extra string because it never hurts to have it, I can always not play it, but I can’t suddenly go for that extra low C if I don’t get it. Turns out I use a good bit of the time.
I own a 5-string but don’t like it much. My favorite bass is a MIJ fretless Fender Jazz.
Fretless basses have a nice sound, but I’m not at the level to make them justice. I need to think every note too much.
I am a mostly a guitarist, but I do play bass on occasion. I have a 4 string but I really enjoy playing the 6 string as it seemed more familiar to me.
IMHO it really depends on what you’re playing, I’m into Lee, Claypool, Hamm, Harris, Sheehan, etc. so the extra strings are handy… with more traditional styles basic rock, country, etc. it’s not necessary.
There’s no option for 2. When I’m playing Morphine-style, I whip out slide & my growly 2-string.
I have three 4 string basses, 1 sixer (that I never play) and my modified 2 (which was a four in a past life.) So I answered 4.
Two basses. Both 4 string.
I’ll add that option if Ají de Gallina is okay with it.
I haven’t played a doghouse in about 25 years, but if I ever get around to buying one, it’ll be a four string with a ‘C’ extension, ‘B’ if it doesn’t cost anything more.
I could get used to a 5-string double bass, I suppose, but the one time I tried it I kept bowing the low string by accident - seriously embarassing!
4 for me. I could possibly get behind a 5-er, I think, but haven’t really messed around on them enough to feel comfortable with the extra string. And I don’t run into too many situations where I really miss having the extra low notes (occasionally songs in D, but even then…).
And 6 or more? Can’t really see it for anything I’d ever want to play bass-wise. But as a guitarist as well, I would really dig having a baritone guitar to cover that kind of middle ground in a way that’s suitable to my style.
4 on both my basses. I don’t really need more than that for what I like to play.
No need and no worries, Marley. I don’t seriously consider myself a 2-string player…I was just being a pain. I’m a four stringer who ocassionally picks up the 2. Or the six. Or the mandolin.
Besides, I don’t think anyone seriously plays 2…unless they are in The Presidents of the United State of America.
No problem for me at all.
Done, then. Added an option for two, and entered one vote.
Perhaps not. But as I gaze out this window, overlooking Mark Sandman Square in Cambridge, I think that 2 may well be the most rock n’ roll number of strings for a bass to have. And the 4 I use are clearly indicative of some sort of overindulgent wankery.
My main bass is a Yamaha five string with four-string spacing. Makes the slapping and popping easier. The fingerboard looks like a runway.
My fretless is a Warwick fiver. I found it on Craigslist last summer for a great price. Amazing instrument.
My other basses are four strings except I have an eight-string. That’s an octave doubling string in addition to the regular four strings. Like a 12 string guitar. It has a massive sound that’s great for bombastic rock.