CameronJ

That tort is lovely actually. A nice pearl vintage cream plate would be a nice alternative I reckon!

I have to say, on this note, Martin Sims (of SIMS Custom Shop & Enfield Basses) is excellent. Nothing he does is particularly cheap cost-wise but the quality of the end product really reflects this - it’s top notch.

Yup. 😩

@intime-nick is an absolute wizard!

I used to have one and found it to be very good. As you say, it is a clean preamp (which I prefer). The only reason I sold it was because all of my basses had active EQs anyway and I was downsizing my board so it was surplus to requirements. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one again if the need arose though.

You may have hit the nail on the head there, though it’s a bit of a shame they only come in matte black or sunburst. Would’ve liked a classic Antique White like the old series flagships had. I’m actually half tempted by the granddaddy P34/35 but again, the colour choices are somewhat limiting!

Hmmm...well I suppose the Sandberg is a P+M, whereas the Yammy is a P+J. Sandberg is bolt-on, Yamaha neckthrough. My only negative point for the Yammy is that as a result of being active, it has no passive tone control 🤔 That’s all good. I don’t mind narrow string spacing - my first 5er was narrow so I’m quite used to it, thankfully. I know it would be a big dealbreaker for most!

I am smitten. And I can afford it. I just fear that it would throw my current state of equilibrium out of whack, as I’d then have two active 5-string Ps in the stable! My Sandberg is strung with flats though, so I suppose I could just string this with rounds...🤔

A bit of a wildcard suggestion as it isn’t a Gibson, but have you seen/heard of Supro basses? Could be a winner. http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/SUPRO_Huntington_II.html and here’s a clip of Michael League making one sound amazing:

This is a thing of beauty. I’ve been flirtatiously glancing at it for a while now:

I wouldn’t get too caught up in the folklore regarding scale lengths and quality of the low B. There are many luthiers out there making 5s and 6es at shorter scale lengths (30”/32”/33”) which sound and feel fantastic. Admittedly these tend to be quite high end instruments but it is proof that there are more factors than simply scale to worry about. The kind of strings on the bass makes a HUGE difference, for a start.

If you have a free day some time, pay @thebassgallery in Camden a visit. Plenty of tasty 5 stringers in stock and you’ll be able to get a good feel for various brands. If you’re prepared to travel a bit further afield, I can also highly recommend Bass Direct - have a look at their current selection of used basses: http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Second_hand_Ex_demo_Bass_Guitars.html

Having had lengthy personal experience of Ibanez, Yamaha and MTD I can safely say that you cannot go wrong with any of them. Fantastic instruments at every price point. I would strongly recommend playing as many basses as you can - finding that first 5 string can be tough. I spent almost a year trying different basses out before settling on one. The neck profile and string spacing at both the bridge and the nut are all things to consider, however numbers only tell half the story. There is no substitute for physically getting the instrument in your hands. My main advice though would be to save a little longer and add about £200 to your existing budget. Once you get above the £500 mark you start coming across some really excellent basses.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

I can always rely on you for the good stuff!

Very nice. Now I’m considering the DHA VT1 Pro...do you have any sound clips of bass straight into the QSC vs bass>DHA>QSC?

A gloss black Yamaha RBX774 which I bought used on eBay for about £100. Only sold it fairly recently as it was sitting around unused and unloved for quite some time. Thing is, the tone was simply phenomenal and had a nice low action too (I had no idea how to setup a bass until about 3 months ago 😅) so for a first ever Bass I was pretty spoiled. The bar was set very high.

Hmm. Definitely looks like a slightly simplified BH series head. My question: if it ain’t broke, why try to fix it?

I’ve been meaning to buy this tool kit for some time.

To be fair, that pacific blue burst SR5 is a seriously handsome bass. Right up my street. Out of interest (and a slight derail of the thread) has anyone here played a Sandberg Basic? I'm attempting to work out whether it's a close enough version of a 'Ray to quell my GAS 😕

Agreed!