Baritone

[JD01]

Anyone here got or played a baritone recently?
If so, how is it? What have you got?

In a mix, would you also need a baritone bass you think? Don't think my standard bass would go to drop A.

[Lt. Bob]

which is just another reason for a 5 string bass.

As a bass player myself (and a long-time bassist for 50+ years with prolly at least 20 of my gigging years being primarily bass and always playing some bass gigs for all of them) ... even though I'm old school and all those gigs were on 4 strings .... once I got my hands on a 5 string in 2005 I immediately switched.
5 strings are SO much better for so many things.

I know there are lots of great famous bass players that stick to 4 strings but for the life of me I can't understand why.
They're limiting.

Which has, of course, nothing to do with your question but I'm old and ramble .......... that's what we do!

[JD01]

Actually, Bob. Not long after I posted that I thought of 5 strings. A few of my mates have them so that's an option.

[paulman]

I love having a five string bass. I don't often use the low B string, but it's there when I need it.

Still not on the topic of baritone, but I've never played one. But now that you've made me think about baritone guitar, I have "Whiskey Lullaby" in my head. Not a happy song. Thanks JD.

[Lt. Bob]

I love having a five string bass. I don't often use the low B string, but it's there when I need it.

the single best thing about the B string is not that you have extra lower notes although you do, it's being able to play low E on the fifth fret.
That really helps with some patterns

[Armistice]

I'll admit that up to this exact moment in time I didn't know, on a 5 string bass, which side the 5th string was on, low or high...

Not that I'd given it a great deal of thought.

[rayc]

I'll admit that up to this exact moment in time I didn't know, on a 5 string bass, which side the 5th string was on, low or high...
Not that I'd given it a great deal of thought.

Nothing wrong with not knowing once you do.
I have a 5 string and I TRIED to tune it Low E to High B. It didn't work.
I'd have enjoyed that much more.
Asa Low B to G machine I just don't use it - I keep reaching for the B strings as an E...

[Lt. Bob]

I'll admit that up to this exact moment in time I didn't know, on a 5 string bass, which side the 5th string was on, low or high...
Not that I'd given it a great deal of thought.

Nothing wrong with not knowing once you do.
I have a 5 string and I TRIED to tune it Low E to High B. It didn't work.
I'd have enjoyed that much more.
Asa Low B to G machine I just don't use it - I keep reaching for the B strings as an E...

you just have to take enough time to get used to it.

HERE's how to learn a 5 string .... my own method which has worked for numerous friends of mine.

DO NOT play any extra low notes on it at all ..... none ... don't even try.
At first simply use the low B string as a thumb rest .... thumb rests are a normal thing and using that B string as a thumb rest is easy and natural and gives you time to get used to the fact that the E string is the second string.

So at first play it as a 4 string like always with a long flexible thumb rest.
Think of the B string as a thumb rest ..... period.
Take as long as it takes to get used to playing your bass just like always but with a big string thumb rest.

Once you get totally used to finding the regular 4 strings and no longer think of the top string as an E (because it's a thumb rest ) then you start to add the B string and the way you do that is to absolutely only use that fifth fret low E on the B string .... that's it.
No other notes .... no extra low notes ....just start adding the fifth fret low E when you need a low E.

The reason that's not too hard to do is because lots of bass patterns in A or D use the fifth fret in the pattern but when you have to hit a low E on a four string you have to suddenly hit an open string which breaks the pattern and is always a slight bit discomfiting and sounds different than the rest of the pattern where you're hitting a fifth fret.
Because of that it doesn't take very long to get used to the fifth fret low E and you're already used to using low E's.
And I guarantee you that quickly you'll find that having a low E on the fifth fret is freakin' awesome!
Not only does it allow you to stay in position with the pattern but there's lots of muting things you can do that aren't very doable when you're hitting an open string.

Then once you get used to that you can start adding the extra notes.

It only took me a week or two but I was playing a lot of bass at the time but I've never seen anyone take more than a month to get used to it using that method.

[Lt. Bob]

also you can restring a 5 string from E to high B if you buy a lighter gauge string for the high B and just toss the large low B ..... but that's stupid and loses the reason to have a 5 string in the first place ..... just use my method and you'll be playing 5 string in no time.

I would never even consider using a 4 string again.

[Tadpui]

I go through phases every once in a while where I want a baritone. That one from Danelectro looks like the one that I'd pursue if the urge strikes me again. It's modestly priced, sounds pretty good, and has a pretty good reputation online from what I've gathered.

As for pairing it with a bass, I'd probably stick with my 4-string. I never really play anything below 5th position on a bass anyways, so I guess it wouldn't be too hard for me to find a position that fell in line with the bari.

I've got a 5-string bass and I never play it. Honestly it's perfect for me since I don't generally play below 5th position, so that low B string comes in handy quite a bit. But I've learned that it takes a certain level of craftsmanship to create an instrument that can make a low B string sound good. My Squier 5-string J-bass isn't at that level of craftsmanship. So anything I hit on the low B sounds flabby and pretty bad. Plus that bass sounds pretty bad all around. My MIM P-Bass runs circles around it, so that's what I use anymore.

[rayc]

you just have to take enough time to get used to it.
HERE's how to learn a 5 string .... my own method which has worked for numerous friends of mine.
DO NOT play any extra low notes on it at all ..... none ... don't even try.
At first simply use the low B string as a thumb rest .... thumb rests are a normal thing and using that B string as a thumb rest is easy and natural and gives you time to get used to the fact that the E string is the second string.

So at first play it as a 4 string like always with a long flexible thumb rest.
Think of the B string as a thumb rest ..... period.
Take as long as it takes to get used to playing your bass just like always but with a big string thumb rest.

Once you get totally used to finding the regular 4 strings and no longer think of the top string as an E (because it's a thumb rest ) then you start to add the B string and the way you do that is to absolutely only use that fifth fret low E on the B string .... that's it.
No other notes .... no extra low notes ....just start adding the fifth fret low E when you need a low E.

The reason that's not too hard to do is because lots of bass patterns in A or D use the fifth fret in the pattern but when you have to hit a low E on a four string you have to suddenly hit an open string which breaks the pattern and is always a slight bit discomfiting and sounds different than the rest of the pattern where you're hitting a fifth fret.
Because of that it doesn't take very long to get used to the fifth fret low E and you're already used to using low E's.
And I guarantee you that quickly you'll find that having a low E on the fifth fret is freakin' awesome!
Not only does it allow you to stay in position with the pattern but there's lots of muting things you can do that aren't very doable when you're hitting an open string.

Then once you get used to that you can start adding the extra notes.

It only took me a week or two but I was playing a lot of bass at the time but I've never seen anyone take more than a month to get used to it using that method.

STRATEGY and LOGIC combined. I shall pull it from its case and have it on the - go to bass stand until I've my brain around it.
A working musician's workaround is usually the best way. I'll let you know how I go in a couple or so weeks. THANKS.

[vomitHatSteve]

My issue with 5 (and 6) strings has always been that if the neck is narrow enough for my stumpy fingers, the strings are too close together to play comfortably and precisely.

On the other hand, I never use the G string. So my solution is to buy 5 string sets and put the B-E-A-D on my 4 string. Of the 5 basses I have, only the upright still has a G.
That said, my playing style is very 90s punk, and I use a pick. So I'm probably a bad example for aspiring 5-string players!

[WhiskeyJack]

I only used a 5 string bass for a few months. And not for the LOW B, but because it seemed was a bit shorter scale and the strings were closer together than my P-Bass at the time. Much easier to play for what i needed to do. I had to play this incredibly stupid fast bass riff for two of our songs and i just could't get it nailed in time for our upcoming shows on the P-Bass. I knew one of my buddies had a girlfriend that played in a metal band and she had a short scale 5 string for her munchkin hands so i asked and she let me borrow it while she produced a child. It helped. A bit. I tried to incorporate the low b into some songs thinking it might bring something to table but it didn't seem to generate any "awwwfuckyeadude' type comments at practice so i just gave it back once i got those really really hard riffs banged out. They were still tough on the p-bass and if i were to do it all over again i would have just practiced harder and longer on the p-bass. The smaller scale while easier to bang out those runs also made me a bit more lazy and didn't help with the muscle memory aspect of it for going back to my Pbass.

[Greg_L]

I'd always rather go up on bass than down. I've never once in my life of playing ever wished I had more lower notes.

[Lt. Bob]

once again THE big thing about a 5 string is not the lower notes .... it's being able to play low E on a fifth fret.

You guys aren't bass players per se I know, but being able to play low E on a fifth fret is reason enough to use a 5 string

[Greg_L]

But why is that better than just banging on an open E string?

[Lt. Bob]

But why is that better than just banging on an open E string?

well two reasons
One is that lots of times if your playing say, a I, IV, V song you'll be playing the same patterns on all the chords but just moving one string over one way or the other to play it.
But if you're in A and go to the 5 you have to play an open string rather than just doing the same pattern you do on all the other chords.
So often that can be a little harder because it's the only note that doesn't fall in that fingering pattern.

In the style music you do there's a tendency for the bass player to just bang away on whatever note he's on so for that I don't think changing hand position would be a big deal but on more complex patterns it can be.

2. An open string sounds a bit different than playing a note on a fret so that E might be a different volume or timbre than all the other notes.

Also if I'm playing on a fret I can do all kinds of things by easing up my grip to momentarily mute the note and you can mute it in very brief rhythmically useful ways.
It's not nearly as easy to momentarily mute an open string ... you can mute it, of course, but not in as complex ways and not as quickly .... sometimes an open string will still ring a bit even if you mean to mute it.

even in punk, there could be a time when I want to bang away on a low E and just stay there but want a fast staccato series of notes.
I can do fast staccato a lot easier on a fret where I can lift my finger slightly off the fret to achieve the mute between notes.

[Greg_L]

I guess that makes sense. Still, I aint no slouch on bass. I fucking rip on bass and I've never wished I had a 5th string for down low. That's just me.

[Lt. Bob]

well, you fuckin' rip on everything.

I bet you're a bad-ass mechanic too!

[Greg_L]

well, you fuckin' rip on everything.

I bet you're a bad-ass mechanic too!

Lol I used to be! Modern car technology has left me a little behind. All the shit they cram into the interior of cars now...bluetooth and touch screens....I don't fuck with that shit.