I like playing my 5 string as it allows me to suck 25% more!
 
-JP

LOL, Thanks JP I needed a good laugh this morning.
 
OO

I played a 5-string German upright bass for a couple of years in the local university's orchestra before having my Alembic built.  Roger Spencer, then a studio guy in L.A. on upright and electric, tried talking me into a 5-string electric (citing JJ), but I couldn't conceive ever needing that much bottom with an electric (and of course Chris Squire and JE got by just fine with 4 strings).  5 years later, I succumbed (after spending some quality time with a Chapman Stick) and had a 5-string Jazz Bass built, and tuned all my 4-strings down a 4th for about a decade.  In 2002 I picked up a bargain Conklin 7-string, which I dubbed The Tendonitis Machine for what it did to my wrists when I played it for more than a couple sets.  I found that I only really used the bottom 5 strings and the additional treble strings just made me do more mental gymnastics and play some interesting unintentional harmonic variations.  Now, interestingly enough, I most enjoy playing 4-strings and only miss that 5th string occasionally.  For me, I suppose it's a cycle of challenges that dictate what I enjoy.  As much as I enjoy playing 4-strings, I can see at some point migrating to something different for the sake of migrating to something different..  Anybody remember the concept of tuning the bass in major thirds?  It's a thought...
 
John

I really enjoy my 6 string Europa. I see it as an ERB with a 4 string in the middle surrounded by 1 lower & 1 higher string: a very balanced combination. 5'ers look & feel a little off-balanced. I would have a hard time going back to a 4 without a low-B, but would get by if it had a hipshot detuner.

I'm an ignorant reforming guitar abuser(getting better, my guitars are feeling more and more alien...) and I get WAY lost on five strings...maybe one day, but that day is not soon...besides, I suck just fine with four...Tony.

I only play 4-string basses. I have a 5-string G&L but never take it out playing. If I am playing in a band that does dropped D tunings, I just take a spare bass (usually a Steinberger XL or XM) and tune it as such. It always does the trick for me.
Bill

I was talking to an old high-school friend a few days ago, him and I are only a few who still play music at least live; he's WAY more talented than me, but whatever...he's started playing pedal steel and here's my twisted idea- an Alembic pedal steel BASS!!! gwann! I dare y'all!!
It would be a scary beast,no?    Tony.

How many strings?  As many as you require for what you're trying to play.  As many as you can handle playing.  
 
For me, four or five work fine.  If I'm slapping, I prefer four.  Otherwise, it doesn't matter.  Six ends up with too wide a neck for me to play comfortably, so I won't try to go there.
 
When fives became popular, I switched over and played five almost universally.  It turned me into a lazy player.  I generally played across the neck and lost a feel for position switching.  I went back to fours about four years ago and I think I'm a better player for it.  Reworking parts for fewer strings re-developed my feel for the vertical fretboard.  This furthers my belief that we become better players by moving outside our comfort zones.  It's good to play a variety of string counts and scale lengths even if you will only perform with one instrument when it counts.
 
Tony, as far as getting lost on a fiver, you can.  You can also avoid it pretty well.  If I ever got lost, it was a result of a bad position shift.  My laziness came from having two octaves under my hand in any position.  There are an awful lot of songs that can be played entirely within that tonal space on the bass.  No position shifts, no getting lost.  
 
-bob

Four are enough for me. One of the  main reasons being aesthetics believe it or not.   There is something about more than four that just doesnt do it for me.
 
Second reason is size, I have small hands, and just can't handle the wider fingerboard that 5, 6 string basses have.

Four is enough for me too, good enough for Jaco, James Jamerson,Bernard Edwards et al.
All the great grooves were played on fours..nuff said

All the great grooves on the last 3 or 4 James Taylor albums have been played on a 5....nuff said ;-)
 
Graeme

I have pretty small hands too Greg and oddly enough 2 of my 3 five string Alembics are comfort taper necks. My Series 2 has a standard neck and I do prefer its narrow neck.  
 
OO

jacko..you are talking about 4 albums, there are far more 4 string grooves than 5 string.

You don't think the monsters of days gone by would embrace multi-string instruments if it served their musical purpose? That's like saying A horse was good enough for George Washington, so no car for me!.
 
Larry

My bass has six tuners, and there are six slots in both the nut and tailpiece, and there are six saddles on the bridge, so I use six strings, since it would just look weird if I only put on four or five.