NickA

This thing of beauty entered my life on Friday afternoon. I've never owned a 5-string before and had thought to buy either something sensible, like a decent Stingray, or a bargain, like another Warwick Dolphin (half the price, most of the quality) ... but in the end I knew my eventual aim was to trade up to a Wal and with the cash sitting in an ISA earning almost zero interest, this MIGHT even be a sort of investment (I told my missus). Following dismantling and reassembly of the stiff tuners, tweaking of the truss rod and bridge heights, adjusting of the internal pots, new NYXL strings and replacement of the battery (dated 2001) ... it's sounding pretty good and unlike any other 5-strings I've tried, the B string is "just another string", there is no "flobbiness" or change in tone as you play below the E-string (the exception being a Sandberg VM - but that was a 35"). Admitted, there are sounds I can make on the dolphin that this can't do, and even my project Jazz bass has a few advantages (clear harmonics from single coil pickups) and whilst a fretless Wal (I have a 4-string) is probably the best fretless bass in the world ... a fretted one is perhaps a bit more ordinary, but once I find the right settings I'm sure it will be very great indeed.. Now I need to learn how to play it!! Having played 4-stringed instruments for the last 48 years, a 5th string provokes some unexpected difficulties. Not the string spacing, which is quite wide for a 5er, and not the new notes (I've worked those out and often play my double bass tuned "scordatura" to C, G, D, G etc anyway) .. the thing is, I'd never considered the difficulty of plucking the same string as I am fretting - having learned it on 4-strings from age 8 it became natural ... UNTIL suddenly the A-string is smack in the MIDDLE of the fingerboard instead of being a "low" string - sometimes find myself fretting string 2 (now an E) whilst plucking string 3 (now an A) or fretting mid way between E/A or A/G. String damping is a thing too - those extra strings can ring on, so having only used left hand damping for years, I probably need to master "the floating thumb" .. yes? The other issue is new positions for the same notes - part of my reason for a 5-string was to be able to play more sequences of notes without position changes; and as pointed out to me whilst trying out 5-stringers - there is a lot to be said for NOT sitting in 1st position when you can get all the way from E-flat to D in one position by basing your left hand with finger 2 on the B-string E = more notes less stretch. Anyway - what advice do you 5-string players have? Any exercises or studies to try (right now I'm hacking away at Bach flute and cello suites for some dots to follow that go down to C and D). All advice welcomed. Cheers.

"Did you get to play one last time you were at BD? " didn't dare ask! I was after my first 5-string with a budget of £2k ... then blew twice that on a 2nd Wal. Also, to be honest, didn't know much about them until I got home did a little research and then remembered I'd a recording of John Pattitucci playing a Smith bass. Brighter than a Wal ..but I guess it depends which knobs you turn (totally changed my 5-string by tweaking the internal trim pots). The Smith's series parallel switch is a nice thing to have .. anyway, up there with Alembic, Fodera (and Wal of course).

Bass direct had a whole bunch of new Smiths in last time I visted and often a second hand one or two. They evidently sell quite well as they have none at all right now. Yet I've never seen anyone playing one (you-toob aside) I just love the build quality, especially the unecessarily wonderful way the neck is swaged into the body.. makes my Wal look a bit basic (though the sound seems not dissimilar ........ through my poxy laptop speakers, anyway). Anyway - thing of beauty. Hope you enjoy it.

It seems as though b&h carried on selling much the same basses after the merger as Hawkes was selling before ... And those are well regarded; BUT most of them now very beat up having spent time in millitary bands ( and in the hands of the army repair shop - hence the weird tuners). A good Hawkes bass can cost £1000s .. My guess is this is a good bass that's had a hard life and which needs £2000 + of work done on it ( my bass had the front off, repairs replaced and a new bass bar in 1999 at a cost - to the insurers - of £1500 - but it been dropped and had started to rattle ). THEN it might be worth .. £4000 + ? Worthwhile for a dealer / repairer to buy and do up, but maybe not something you'd buy to play. Hawk round a few dealers and they will probably tell you it's worthless, restore it and put it up for £7000. An independent restorer might be more honest if you say you want to keep it and ask about repair costs.

Sold away from ebay or withdrawn .. we don't know. Would have been a bit of a bargain for <£1500. Probably pop up again if we keep watching.

Given what you'd pay for a Wal, a Smith or a Fodera, and despite the silly new build prices, Warwicks remain amazing value 2nd hand. It's just fashion I guess ... just looking at these recent prices made me wonder if fashions are changing, but streamers have always been the Warwick for people who don't like Warwicks much 😉

Well I'd never DO it, but it would nice to be ABLE to do it. Amazing right hand work ... despite appalling left hand technique, (classic bunch of bananas stuff). Weird how slap double bass is cool again, whereas slap electric bass is currently a hanging offence😁

Certainly does. The bass direct one is currently "on hold for bruce t" so probably went for..... £2000 - £2100? At these prices, once rare streamer 2 5ers will be popping onto the market all over the place.

It will be a simple fault with the switch blade that's activated by putting the Jack in. Probably fixable with a pair of pliers .. failing that a new jack .. or an on off switch. Bargain.

Here comes another one! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Warwick-Streamer-Stage-II-5-String-Electric-Bass-guitar-2013-Hardly-Played/113767460425?hash=item1a7d11ae49:g: £2600 now.

I think it's probably cow poop. All that those spectrograms show is better sustain above 10kHz ... I can't even hear 10kHz these days. Plus they only show the first 30ms. The indication is that the attack might be a bit clearer ( like pulling out the "pick attack" knob on a Wal ). ...and if basses "play in" to a player's style ... whose style are they playing your new bass into before you get it?

Finally worked up to owning the 350W version built into a 1x15" combo - paid £800 in 1997 and was very chuffed indeed. + VERY loud, VERY punchy, HP filter in the effects loop - AWFUL heavy, noisy fan and sounded dreadful with a double bass. So adjustable and tweakable though, and therein was another problem; spent so long "tuning" my sound with compressors, bass lift, EQ, valve blend and effects loop filter settings .. I rarely practiced any notes! Ended up cutting some bits of card in the shape of the EQ I wanted for different sounds. Its modern replacement has just five EQ knobs, which mostly just sit at 12:00, plus gain and volume. I loved the trace to bits, but it had to go to make way for a replacement I could actually lift - sold for £170 to some bloke from Hungary who was driving around the UK picking up unwanted TE kit (had a van full). Sad ... I'd still have it but for the space. A bloke round the corner from me had one too, but had the good sense to extract the amp, bin the speakers and buy some lightweight Ashdown cabs ... and it sounds very good too (he plays rock with a Stingray, I play Jazz with a DB and a fretless Wal ... so horses for courses). That little ELF and the new tiny TE cabs are just ... not ... the same.

I have a little Phil Jones BIGHEAD - truly pocket sized yet so much more than merely a headphone amp. It has an aux in and a bass in so you can mix backing and your playing, some basic tone controls and adjustable gain and volume. You can even use it as pre-amp into a powered amp or PA system. Also a USB port so you can use it as a sound card on your PC (or Mac ) for digital input and output. Rechargeable by USB, works for several hours.

Not me. Sadly I have spent this year's (lifetime's?) bass budget. The speed with which my offers were rejected indicated that ebay was set to automatically reject anything below the starting price; no counter proposal was offered. The buyer was quick and happy to answer questions though. I read that talk bass thread (https://www.talkbass.com/threads/portland-oregon-area-scam-artist-busted-warwick-dolphin-5-string-found.1102385/) which talks about the stolen one (which was serial 64556 before the scumbag filed it off!) This one's 64555 and the serial no is visible) - they are indred extremely rare, estimates ranging from 2 to 5. The colour put me off a bit frankly as I'd have preferred another brown one ... nice wenge neck tho (mine is ovangkol) and I doubt the maple affects the sound much - possibly a tad brighter? Ebay is a crap way to buy quality instruments as it's so hard to get to see and try them without agreeing to buy. I might message him saying "put the damned thing on Bass Chat .... with some higher res photos". A good look at it might confirm it's worth a deal more than £1400 (my 4-stringer cost more than that).

Ha, too late. It was still up when I posted the message. Maybe he just realised someone offered more than his new starting price (offer now withdrawn and all funds very much spent)

This unusual maple and wenge dolphin pro 1 5-string: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202689141122?ViewItem=&item=202689141122 has been listed for a few weeks; I nearly bought it just to get a decent 5-string (it would also go nicely with my 4-string dolphin!). Originally up for a "too much" £1700 (no bids), then listed again at £1600 (I offered, £1350 which was immediately rejected, then tried £1550 with the same result, still no bids). NOW relisted at a more reasonable £1500 (less than my last offer). Wait 6 days and it might be £1400; at which point, a decent price I would think. The buyer says its Serial number 64555-99 So 1999 - a bit too early for the Warwick online data base. Anyway - I've ended up buying something else (for a lot more money!) ... so this is still up for grabs. Kind of wish I could have TWO new bases, but erm ......

Great graphic; says it all really. Tho raising the height involves quite careful shaping of those hardwood spacers which have to match the curve of the instrument's belly very closely ... which is why fitting a whole new bridge IS a pro job (lots of thin bits of veneer might do it). That "flat section" on the fingerboard is a "Romberg Bevel" - my 19th century German bass has one as does my 1890 french 'cello (and my dad's 18th century english 'cello - which pre-dates invention of the bevel, so presumably the finger board is newer). It is just a way to give a bit of relief under the bottom string so that you can bow it REALLY hard without it hitting the finger board. I think they are dying out with newer higher tension strings and also purely Jazz players often don't have them as they don't need to bow much. So it's a common feature around the world. The boosey and hawkes I learned on initially also had a bevel and said "made in china" inside - it was horrid (partly due to being half size), but they aren't all bad. Could also be eastern european - but that bright orange varnish speaks china to me. Anyway at £400 it's no rip off (!!) especially with a nice new bridge and sound post on it. When I said I wouldn't spend £500 on it, I really meant "wouldn't spend £500 on WORK on it. It will be fine for starters I'm sure, but if it's hard work getting a nice tone out of it, don't blame yourself entirely - a £5000 bass would make a nice sound more easily :¬)

.. and so you should, and so should I .. in theory. .. and don't spoil it with flats. Dull thuddy things. This is purely my personal opinion as a lover of coffee table style boutique basses endowed with zing and twang ... .. and which I know is very unfashionable and quite unacceptable in modern popular music ... and perhaps why I don't actually own a Sandberg or a Precision (though keep trying them, as I feel I should). I have compromised on one bass with EB Cobalt flats which feel as nice as the best round wounds and actually sound very good .. even to me ;¬) I'm kidding ... the sound you want probably does demand flats. Thomastic Jazz Flats? I'm told they're pretty good too - though at the price, they should be.

Plus one for a Sandberg. California vm. Has a p pick up reversed for less mud and a Stingraystyle humbucker if you want a bit more bite. Think you can even turn off half the $ to make it into a jazz bass. Also beautifully built and a good price. The perfect sound will be in there somewhere. Bit ...erm ... Is " anodine" the right word? Lack of personality .. bit BMW, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I also thought "cheapy chinese" but didn't want to sound insulting! So thanks to Burns Bass for saying it out loud. I wouldn't have spent £500 on it either. Not sure I'd spend £500 on my 1880s carved German one for that matter! However, as that money is already spent, you may have a decent bargain beginner bass that someone else overspent on! The action doesn't look that high to me. It has to be a lot higher than on an electric bass because the longer strings move around a lot more. I've pushed my action lower than recommended (for arco) by sawing off the top of the bridge; it's now much easier to play and has a lovely mwah sustain; BUT there is one note (luckily on an un-used quarter tone) that buzzes and when playing LOUD arco with my local orchestra (eg Weber's Oberon Overture) the strings are a bit "slappy" so I have to take care. I might buy an adjustable bridge one day. Anyway, what I mean is - go easy. You can always lower the action, but you can't bring it back up! If you still want a lower action, you don't really need a pro to do it .. just start by cutting the slots a bit lower with a needle file, mm at a time, until you like the sound and action, then saw or file the top down to match (the strings should be about 1/4, or a bit less, of the way into the slots); take care to keep the bridge profile "as is" which should more or less match the fingerboard curvature (I scribed round mine using a Jenny Odd-legs caliper inherited from my Grandad before getting the saw out). Oh ... and when taking the bridge off to do the final sawing down ... put the bass on its back and lift the bridge very gently - or the sound post might fall over and is a bugger to get back up. Anyway, no need to obsess about where it came from; just enjoy the experience and when you get the hang of it, think about trading up.

It may not be the neck as such; but the fact that a particular neck uses your wrist in a particular way and has given you a repetitive strain injury. The alternative neck (maybe) puts slightly different stresses on your wrist and doesn't exacerbate the RSI. I had something similar (on my plucking had though) that caused 10 - 15 minutes of bass guitar playing to make my wrist hurt (for hours) and I was waking up with a hand that barely moved. Thought I was getting arthritis in my right hand. Sorted out by a physio who gave me some wrist mobility and stretching exercises to do ... who also said, don't stop playing, just take regular rests, don't over do it and keep doing the exercises. £60 well spent (and cheaper than replacing my basses!) - if I feeling it coming on again, I stop playing and do the stretches for a bit. In fact, the root cause was not bass playing, it was my wrist resting on the table whilst I typed; bass playing just irritated the injured "soft tissue"..... Dont lose hope .. it will get get better.

forget it.

The BG 400 is great. Especially with a c4 cab underneath. Bit more "zing" than the briefcase and flight case, heavier too, but then, it has the full 400W inside it.

One for @SpondonBassed here! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Steinberger-XL25A-5-string-headless-bass-guitar-rare-vgc/223514699862?hash=item340a83a856:g:2RIAAOSw8CJc2toW Anyone remember that film Subway with Isabelle Adjani and Christopher Lambert .. in which an impromtu funk band played after hours in a music shop ... one of these. Beloved of Jamaladeen Tacuma (aka Rudy McDaniel ) too. Spirit of the 80s. Tried one in in that Bass Centre shop in London once - bit bland to be honest, but very clear and clean.

Hmm they're none of them very loud. The Fenders I tried were nice to play but very quiet indeed. I ended up with a Tanglewood partly on big size and big volume but it's still near inaudible when anyone else is playing. You might need a little battery powered amp (a Roland Micro-cube for instance) to be heard ... at which point, may as well plug in the electric! Of course the real solution is to get a double bass!! I remember that band Fairground Attraction had a Mexican Guitarron which they did use for acoustic busking ... but they are HUGE. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarrón_mexicano