darkandrew

Having bought an SB1000JT for about £1500 a few years ago and being very, very pleased with it (of all my basses it's probably the easiest to play) I was interested to see that Aria have brought out a 5 string version: [url="http://www.ariaguitars.com/english/products/sb-1000-5b"]http://www.ariaguitars.com/english/products/sb-1000-5b[/url] So I emailed Aria UK to find out about availability and pricing in the UK and was quite surprised to be told that the RRP is £2500 I know that this will no doubt be a very good bass and that it compares with the price of many other quality basses but I was still a bit shocked when you consider that only a handfull of JTs were made, all of which were handmade in Japan (according to the Aria info at the time) and that cost me £1000 less than this one. It's a shame because, like I said, I'm sure it's going to be a very good bass but at that price I can think of quite a few other 5 stringers that I'd probably buy over the SB1000/5b.

I decided to put in a bid on this before I went on my holiday but didn't win. It went for just a shade over £1000, I wonder if anyone on here got it?

Is it just me or is it more than just a little misleading to list a Ltd bass as being an ESP? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ESP-5-string-Bass-/170674776958?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item27bd026b7e"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ESP-5-string-Bas...=item27bd026b7e[/url] Surely this is the same as listing a Squire as a Fender, an Epiphone as a Gibson or even a Skoda as a Bugatti? This seems to happen all the time, I wonder if it's just people naively believing they have a £1000+ instrument or whether it's a case of trying to upsell and possibly even mislead? It's not helped when manufacturers blur the distinctions either, most Ltd guitars and basses also feature the ESP name on the trussrod cover, likewise some Epiphones come with "Gibson" on the trussrod cover and as for Warwick and their Rockbass line!!! Sorry rant over ...

I ditched my first 5 string after about six months, can't remember the exact model but it was a mid range Yamaha, I just couldn't get on with it. About 5 years later I thought I'd give fivers another go and bought a secondhand Spector Euro 5LX and took to it instantly - ever since then it has been my first choice bass. I don't know why the Spector did it for me when the Yamaha didn't, I guess it's just a case of finding the one that does it for you.

Warwick flight cases anyone? Why do they have to so big???? It's almost as though they measured the width of the average car boot and made the case just that little bit too big on purpose!

[quote name='Jondeeman' post='1318236' date='Jul 27 2011, 01:30 PM']Thanks gents, useful info... I had a feeling that a little creative "upselling" was taking place.[/quote] I sent him an email when I first saw the listing questionning the model and the Sting connection but he's not replied nor updated the listing. This sort of upselling is not uncommon, I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a Squire listed as a Fender or a bass with passive pickups (usually EMG Hz) listed as having active pickups. At least this guy is showing a little imagination.

Yes it's a 5 string Vigier Passion - I've always fancied one of these actually. New they go for around £2000, I believe, depending on finish, etc.

Hi, I've just come across this ... [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Simple-Minds-Vintage-Vigier-Passion-5string-Bass-guitar-/190558737512?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c5e2f9468"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Simple-Minds-Vin...=item2c5e2f9468[/url] What do you think?

[quote name='funkgod' post='1297325' date='Jul 8 2011, 03:27 PM']AHH,,,, seems to make some sence now, tho i still like the brass blanc better. the just a nut 1 was far better than the 3 with the individual screw tops, again no need for them to change that.[/quote] Except that the screws on the JAN1 will eventually wear out to the point that even Locktite won't stop them rattling and then you get all sorts of weird harmonics on open strings (Warwick in their English translation refer to this as "playing notes that aren't even there"). The JAN2 wasn't really that much better either, although it didn't rattle it would snap with the lightest sideways knock. The JAN3 on the other hand does seem to be OK (in brass form anyway) although do I really need an adjustable nut?

When I first started playing bass seriously I was a "100% pick" player but now I find myself playing about 90/10 in favour of fingers these days.

Again another vote of confidence for the Euro LX. I've got the 5 string variety and find it so easy to play and the sound is quite simply just how a bass should sound (with punch, weight and clarity all at once!). Definitely my first choice bass for 90% of the things that I do (probably more). As I'm sure you know, it's a buyer's market at the moment so pick one up now and you'll never regret it. Just a couple of things to bear in mind though ... all versions (4, 5, strings, etc) received an updated tone pump circuit about 4 years ago with a gain trim pot inside the battery compartment - this is quite useful as without it the output is very very hot. Also at the same time, the humbucker equipped versions were upgraded to EMG [u]TW [/u]pickups, these can be switched between humbucker and single coil mode for more variety in sound (previously they came with DC humbuckers without the single coil function). You can tell them apart by looking at the colour of the EMG logo on the pickups - the DC pickups are silver while the TW pickups are orange.

+1 to the Peavey Cirrus - probably the the narrowest of the 5 stringers I've played. However I play a Spector Euro 5 LX myself and I find that fine even though I don't have the longest fingers in the world. In fact of all my basses (Warwick SS1, Aria SB1000 and Spector Euro 5 LX) the Spector is probably my first choice bass 90% of the time due to its ease of play and tone.

Hi, I have a rather nice Warwick Streamer Stage 1 with MEC active P/J pick ups and active 3 band EQ. I find this MEC combination a bit too middley, if you know what I mean, but otherwise really like the bass so I'm thinking of swapping the MEC pups and EQ out for an EMG setup. Has anyone here already done this and if so was it straight forward and how did it change the tone? Cheers Andy.

Strange thing, I recently had a similar experience at a car dealership. I asked if I could test drive a car and was told that although the dealer was happy to drive me around for a bit I could only drive it around the car park. Bizarre! Goes without saying that I didn't buy the car.

Hi, I'm thinking of getting an MTD Kingston Heir bass ( [url="http://www.mtdkingston.com/thezone/prod_profile_theheir.htm"]http://www.mtdkingston.com/thezone/prod_profile_theheir.htm[/url] ) to be my gig bass - I have a number of other really nice basses but always worry too much about them when gigging, so I was thinking about getting one of these as it appears to be be a very good, relatively inexpensive bass. Although all the reviews of these are very, very positive I was wondering whether the Korean "Kingston" series use the same hardware as their USA counterparts and are just assembled in Korea to save money or whether the cost-cutting also includes using cheaper hardware? Any comments?

Just to throw a curved ball into the discussion, have you considered somrthing completely different? For a similar amount of money you get one of these MTD basses - they're Tobias designed but made in Korea, hence the price, and are to my mind some of the best basses you can get in this price range. [url="http://www.mtdkingston.com/basses/crb.html"]http://www.mtdkingston.com/basses/crb.html[/url] [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/MTD.html"]http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/MTD.html[/url] Or maybe even a second hand Spector Euro 4LX if you're lucky and can pick one up for a bargain price (after all it's a buyer's market).

Are we talking about active pickups or active preamps? My SS1 and Euro 5LX both have active pickups and active preamps while my SB1000 has a passive pickup with an active preamp - it can get pretty confusing, for example I've seen many basses featuring EMG Hz pickups being incorrectly advertised as having active pickups. Basically an active pickup will not work without power since the coil is directly coupled to a preamp inside the pickup, this preamp is used mainly as an impedance matching circuit to ensure maximum power transfer from the coil to the outside world (a similar function to a DI box) and cannot be bypassed. The main benefits of an active pickup are firstly that output from the bass should sound pretty much the same regardless of the load that you put on it and secondly that the output from the pickup is amplified earlier in the signal chain therefore increasing the signal to noise ratio. OK, so what are the limitations of active pickups? Well they won't work without power, this can be a pain if your battery goes half way through a performance. Other issues are that some active pickups feature a noise-gate type function in their preamp - whilst this is a good thing with regard to cutting out mains hum, etc when you're not playing it can sometimes lead to a slight latency with the gate's attack. And now active preamps - these are viewed mainly as active tone controls that can boost frequncies as well as cut them (a passive tone control can only cut frequencies), they also serve to impedence match and ensure maximum power transfer but unlike active pickups they can usually be bypassed, when this is done the "true" sound of the bass can be heard (ie. without any tonal adjustment) but don't forget that amps, mixers, etc with different input impedances will affect the way the bass sounds as they will be loading the pickup differently. I hope that all makes some kind of sense. By the way, my vote goes to active in both cases.

[quote name='Phil-osopher10' post='1080673' date='Jan 7 2011, 01:38 AM']How do you tell if your strings are dead?[/quote] They're not dead, they're just pining for the fjords (sorry, Python's law strikes again) ...but seriously, it does all depend on your personal preference and playing style. Years ago, before the days of internet shopping, all I could get were Ernie Ball Slinkies and these had a definite life-span to them: for the first few days they would be very bright and metallic, too much so to be honest, then they would settle down for a while before becoming dull and lifeless. I've found Rotosound stainless steels to have a similar character but now I use DR Extra Life strings which seem to be more consistent, ie they don't start off super bright and end up lifeless after a few months. I suppose, for me, the definition of my strings being dead is when I pick up the bass and think "Ughhh that sounds horrible", which can vary from string to string. In my experience I'd say that GHS Boomers and Rotosound Swing Bass 66 get to this point quicker than most, Ernie Ball and Elites (Player) are about average while DR Extra Life do what they say on the tin and last longer.