[Fineus]

This is for those of you with a musical tendency...

What's the difference between a 4 string and a 5 string electric bass guitar... other than the obvious extra string on the 5 string?

[Slanker_MT]

Well, it's easier to play high bass accords with the additional string and in general you become more flexible. At some time or another you might feel limitated with only 4-strings, but 5-string basses cost more. Bass is mainly a rhytm instrument and you have to stick with basic rhytms most of the time, which can get boring. If you haven't played any bass before, I would suggest getting a cheap 4-string and start learning with it. If you feel like playing bass is your thing, you should try out some 5-strings in a shop and see if it's any useful.

Edit:  Playing bass can become very difficult in certain musical styles. Funk can get very hard and uses of slapping and some progressive metal stuff can become very complicated.

[ShadowWolf_IH]

Bass....Bah....Get drums....then you can hit something......lol.  

If you are just learning to play, i would definately get the 4.

[Fineus]

I'd definitely just be learning at this stage.. it's something that has been knocking around in the back of my head. So I don't want  to splash out on a lot of money doing it. Not untill I know if I'm interested or not

Thanks guys!

[Slanker_MT]

Yamaha has got some nice beginners bass guitars. RBX-series, if I remember correctly.

[phreak]

5-string or a chapman stick

[Flipside]

Stick to 4 strings at first, if you want lots of strings, buy a Guitar, otherwise you are just learning Bass technique etc and don't need that 5th string.

There are some good Basses around, ironically enough, one of the best cheap Basses I've tried is the Aria Pro.

[Janos]

1 string.
The you need one guitar with some really cheap distortion effect, a minimalistic drumset (snare, hihat, bassdrum and nothing else), and you're ready to ROCK THE MOTHER ****ING UNIVERSE YEEEEHAAAAAAA

edit: ding ding ding
V V V V V V V

[Flipside]

Hehe... Kinda reminds me to the 'Presidents of the United States', they used a 3 string guitar and a 2-string bass

[phreak]

hmm thats sort of limiting.  then again i want a 7 string

[Grey Wolf]

The 12 string guitars seem interesting. The double necks are pretty amazing, I'm honestly not sure how you would play one.

[Drew]

bass as rythm insturment my ass  playing bass as a lead instrument is fun as hell, just crank it and explode and you can instantly upstage the rest of your band just because the percussive effect of the bass just hits people in the guts and makes them pay attention

theres really not much point for a beginner to buy anything more than a 4 string because all that extra string does is help you with your leads, and will change your style of play. practice on a 4 string, then try out extra strings at see if they suit your style

anyother thing is that extra strings make the bass harder to play because you have to strech your hands more to fret well. bass's are already hard to fret on, and some fretboards with extra strings can be wider than your entire palm which can make them difficult to play and you probably will have to totaly ajust your hand position

[Ulala]

You can play 12 string guitars just like 6 strings. The extra 6 strings are basically right next to or underneath the original 6, so when playing chords, it's not hard to push down the extra strings when pushing down the originals. Finger picking however can be more difficult on a 12 string.

[Grug]

Why not learn how to play an acoustic guitar first?

I like playing acoustic guitar much more than electric these days. I'm actually just getting back into playing again myself. I've been playing for about 3-4 weeks now, after few years break.
At least I finally have my calluses back on my fingers now so I don't cry in pain while I'm playing.

Learn a bit of the old stuff first: Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Cat Stevens, etc. Then pick up on the newer songs. of the younger fellahs I talk with at uni just don't understand when I start going on about a neil young or Redgum song these days...

But yeah, most of all, have fun!
PS. (look for second hand ones first, save you a fortune. )

[kasperl]

If you want acoustics, there are acoustic basses. Be prepared to start counting at 300 euros. I got mine for 200, but that was just really lucky in getting a good sounding one. I tried some worth 400, and those sounded worse then the case you'd carry them in.

Anyway, I've only played 4 strings, and I've rarely missed anything, except a lower string in one or two Counting Crows songs, but their bassist must love odd stuff, since he always uses odd tunings anyway.

4 strings is plenty for most baselines, but playing bass can indeed get a bit boring unless you have either a very nice bass line, or like listening to a melody while you play.

Do you play another instrument already?

[Fineus]

Cheers guys, but I think I'm going to go ahead with a 4 string electric if anything. This is really something I just want to "dip my toe into" so to speak... and the 4 string electric seems a good choice for that.

[kasperl]

Problem is, you can't play an electric without a bass amp. Acoustics have a somewhat different sound, too.

[Roanoke]

Bah. Base is for pussies who can't handle 7 strings. Morons.


*runs*
joke!