5 String Bass Guitar

When buying a 5 string guitar it is essential to have a budget in mind and do proper research on the guitar before purchasing. You have done pretty well in deciding that you want to purchase a 5 string bass guitar, now you just have to get the options narrowed down a bit, set a reasonable budget for yourself and find a guitar that suit your needs.

If you are a new guitar player it is important to note that you likely shouldn’t give yourself a tremendous budget until you learn to play and see if you like it. A five string bass guitar gives you the added bonus of having a larger lower range of tones or a bigger higher range of tones depending on the guitar.

If you are an experienced player then you likely already have a budget in mind and know about a couple of features that you may be interested in learning a bit more about. Maybe some of the features you are looking for aren’t on your original beginner guitar and are making you a bit skeptical about spending money on something that you are unsure about.

Make sure you really think about the added bonuses of such features and determine whether a couple extra notes or tones, or the ability to adjust the volume directly on your guitar is worth the extra price tag. Things such as whether you want your guitar to be fretted or not can carry a huge difference on the pitches you get and how sharp the tones are that are coming from your guitar.

There are so many things to keep in mind and so many options available to confuse a new buyer; when in doubt ask for help from someone with more experience playing a five string guitar. Another way to better inform yourself is by watching videos of reviews on a variety of guitars, these can inform you about the length of time manufacturers have been around for as well as how high of quality the products that they make usually are.

One final way to help you in the decision making process is by reading side by side product comparisons, these types of reviews will give you a better idea of specific features that you want included on your guitar.

How to choose the best 5 string bass guitar?

There are a couple of things that make a 5 string bass guitar unique. The first one being that it is five strings and therefore carries a ton more available notes than any 4 string guitar is capable of.

Depending whether you want volume adjustment controls and tone controls some guitars come with a variety of built on features while some are plain guitars that give off quality sound without the need to do much in the way of adjusting other than a regular tune up. Most 5 string electric bass guitars have an elder or ash body and a neck made up of maple in order to produce the quality bass that comes from these amazing instruments.

Generally the fretboard of these guitars are made of rosewood but you can also find them made from woods such as ebony and even maple. You can also find some 5 string bass guitars that are made up of graphite.

Due to the huge variety of materials that these guitars can be made from, it can be very hard to distinguish which guitars produce better quality sound than other ones. When in doubt of which guitar is a higher quality look for dedicated reviewing sites or side by side comparisons so that you can get an idea of which features each of the guitars have and which are best suited to you.

Who should buy a 5 string bass guitar?

If you currently play on a 4 string guitar and are looking for a new challenge, stepping it up to 5 strings will do just that for you. Just remember that it can be quite difficult at first to adjust to having an extra string but it allows for a ton of different finger movements and tones available.

If you are a beginner guitar player it is generally not recommended to get a 5 string guitar as your first guitar; this is largely due to the fact you will have even more notes to learn and it is going to take you longer to master the basics. It is much easier to switch over from using a four string rather than starting fresh with no knowledge right to a 5 string.

Another person who may be interested in buying a 5 string is someone who bought a 6 string initially and then realized it was a little bit too much for them to handle. If you are looking for a challenge, even things such as tuning a five string is going to be different than a four string guitar is.

To conclude:

Buying a 5 string bass guitar is by no means an easy task. Proper research is essential to finding the guitar that suits your personal wants and needs.

There are so many factors that can influence your overall decision, things like: if you are in a band, then maybe you have way different tone adjustment needs in comparison to other people. If you are performing in concerts maybe you want quick volume adjustment controls so that you can really get the crowd into your song at a certain point.

It is important to remember that if you are switching from a 4 string guitar to a 5 string guitar it is going to take some time to get used to the added complexity that these guitars have to offer. Once you get used to playing the extra notes, these guitars are often seen by users as the nicer guitar due to the broader range of notes that you are able to play on them.

Things you have to get used to include things like a wider neck on the guitar, different finger placement for notes and a 5th string for strumming and sliding.