Being able to play below the open E string is an essential part of the skill set for the modern bassist. Most orchestral bass parts reach below the low E, and not being able to play these notes means not really having all of the professional tools necessary for the job. Reaching these low notes means either having a five string bass or an extension.
I am not a luthier and am therefore basing these comments solely on my own experiences and those of my colleagues. I welcome any comments or insights into the world of extensions and five string upright basses.
-5-string basses-
In many ways, having a five string bass is the ideal low note solution. Being able to play the low notes on the fingerboard makes life much easier, and it helps with good finger patterns. The major disadvantage to five string basses is the difficulty in finding a decent instrument. Luthiers seem to build five string basses much too thickly. This produces a boxy, tight, “woofy” sound unfortunately associated with five string basses. More and more builders are attempting to push 5-string basses into the American marketplace including Eastman Strings and Upton Bass. Disadvantages also include closer string spacing (requiring an adjustment of left hand and right hand technique) and probably a more difficult sale when you decide to move on to another bass (although there are always people hunting for good five string basses).
I have a colleague who has converted four string basses to five string basses, and he has reported positive results. This is a radical procedure to perform on a bass. It requires adding another tuning peg (and usually having to rearrange the layout of the other pegs in the peg box), and will almost certainly require a new fingerboard. A new neck is also advisable for this procedure, although I have played conversions that kept the old neck and just had an extra wide fingerboard mounted. This procedure adds more tension to the instrument as well, which may or may not affect the structural soundness of the instrument.
-Extensions-
Most bass players already own 4 strings, so putting an extension on is usually the most practical option to acquiring low notes. Getting an extension no longer involves cutting into one’s scroll of their existing bass. One big advantage of an extension bass over a five string bass is that the spacing between the strings remains normal, so no new bow techniques need to be learned to play the instrument. Also, the extension will not negatively affect your tone (unless it’s a poorly designed extension that is plagued with buzzes) and will most likely help the tone of the G string. I found that fact out when I got my first extension. My open G string (and all of the harmonics on that string) always sounded a little closed when compared to the other strings, but leaving that low extended C string open let the G string spin much more freely. People were always amazed when I demonstrated this—it was a very obvious transformation.
Extensions come in three flavors: the Stenholm-style machine, the “stick”, or the “stick” plus closers. The simplest of these extensions is commonly called the “stick”. It has a closer for the low E—no other moving parts. This is the cheapest of all the extensions and in many ways is the easiest to learn to play since there is no additional mechanism. The disadvantage of these is obvious once one starts playing with it in a bass section. Holding low notes gets extremely tiring on the “stick”, and shifting from low notes to high notes makes you look like a fool. Both other extension styles are an attempt to solve these problems.
The traditional extension for orchestra players is the Stenholm extension. This machine consists of a series of levers beyond the E string that close the low notes. Low notes are very easy to close, and the left hand never has to reach above the scroll. Unfortunately, these extensions are very heavy. Basses with Stenholm-style extensions are often so scroll-heavy that the bass rests on the top rib and the scroll when on the floor, not on both ribs. Also, many luthiers refuse to work on Stenholm-style extensions, so it can be difficult to get them repaired. They are also fairly complicated devices with many moving parts that can get bent, rusted, broken, and buzzy.
The newest form of extension is an amalgamation of the previous two styles. It is a “stick” extension with closers (like a permanently mounted guitar capo) for each individual low note. These have become very popular in recent years. Playing a low pedal note is even easier on this style than on the Stenholm style. The player can simply close the appropriate lever and blast away. It is nice to be able to just have a low Eb, D, or Db string. They are certainly more complex mechanisms than the “stick”, although not as complex as the Stenholm.
My extension is of the latter type, and it was made by Chris Threlkeld-Wiegand of the Heartland String Bass Shop (check out my podcast interview with him). He used to work for the Robertson & Sons Violins Shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and he is currently based in Iowa City. He makes, hands down, the best extension I have ever seen. It is a low B extension and works like a charm!
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Jason, I’m no luthier but I believe properly converting to a five string also means internal changes including moving the bass bar and the sound post as a result of using a wider bridge. Many people believe that a low B string of the same string length as the other strings is simply not long enough to sound and respond well for the pitches it is responsible for.
I myself am a fan of extensions. You are very lucky to have one of Chris’ extensions. His work is beautiful. I had Bill Merchant make the extension on a previous bass and my current bass has one made by Arnold Schnitzer. Both are also very, very fine examples of extensions. Not as fancy as Chris’ work but functionally and structurally very good.
I’ve heard of Bill Merchant and Arnold Schnitzer. It’s good to hear about their extensions-I haven’t met anyone here in Chicago with one. I also don’t really know much about 4 to 5 string conversion. A colleague of mine that does a lot of bass repair and set up work has told me that he has converted basses before himself. Obviously he replaced the bridge, but I am not sure what else he did. It would seem like one would also have to replace the bass bar.
Another alternative to five strings, and extensions is tuning your bass to fifths. Some bassists are converting to it and you can find sets of strings made for it. It can improve the tone of a cheap bass and probably a nice bass too. I have a crappy cremona student bass and I get compliments on its tone all the time after switching to fifths. Of course, it takes a lot of patience to re-learn everything, but for some people it is worth it.
Thanks for the comment. That is also definitely a valid way to get to the low notes. I don’t have much experience myself with tuning in fifths, but I know that many well-known bassists are either experimenting with it or have completely switched over to it. My only concern would be in teaching it to young students. It may confuse things between lessons and school. I wonder what would be a good age to introduce this tuning to students. Any thoughts?
I have an extension from Kansas City Strings that they have designed and built so it does not require them to drill through the scroll. I can even take the extension off if I wish for a solo string.
http://kcstrings.com/bass-extensions.html
I have played with my bass tuned in 5ths for a few years now. I bought a set of 5th tuning strings from Lemur and a lutier friend modified my nut/bridge a little for the C string. It improved the tone of my instrument (50s plywood Kay) substantially. I love getting that low C without the extension or extra string and it really makes the higher notes a lot more accessible. Hardest thing was re-working my left hand. Playing with a 5th tuning involves a lot of small pivots and shifts.
I haven’t taught a lot of students, but I have found that introducing 5th tuning really depends on the student. I’d say you either start early before the student has locked into 4th tuning patterns, or later on after the student is fairly proficient at the instrument. Anything in-between might complicate things. I would also recommend it for High School and College age students. the C string takes a bit of muscle that younger students might have trouble with. .
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I also use the fifths tuning. Joel Quarrington’s website persuaded me to try it, and my experience has borne out everything he says (from the other end of the food chain – I’m an amateur orchestral player.)
Not only do you get the low notes without the problems of either 5 strings or extensions, but the bass resonates and sounds far better.
I just switched to 5th tuning, on my 5 string with a High E.
The instrument is so much nicer sounding and the fingering seems much more natural to me as I used to play violin, viola and cello long ago. The big thing is my instrument sounds so much better and I’m loving it!
I play Tango Bass and need only the low D on the E string. How do I find the Chris T. extension. And what do extensions cost anyway. Please email me. thanks.