kwmlondon

These look tasty. I had an SR505 - it was a gateway drug to 5-string madness. It was really rich and fruity. I'd love to try one of the higher-end ones.

Pure bass filth!

I hear great things about the preamps. The one I tried was afar eastern one and didn’t feel as nice as a Lakland, but that was just the ones in the shop and thad Darryl Jones bass had lovely rolled edges on the neck. Yummy!

You’re being very sensible and logical about this! I tend to be a lot more unhinged in my approach to buying a bass. Much more emotional.

Yeah, I've not tried the BB735 or 435 but they seem chunkier from all I've seen. They also have a more trad feel - the BBG5 I'm playing at the moment feels closer to Ibanez - not skinny but svelte of neck and 24 frets which can be handy if that's what you like. It's properly light too. About the same weight as my Stingray 4 string! This one's passive with the two single coils though, but the upside of that is plenty of space between neck and neck pickup. Me? I'd prefer to use an EQ pedal than active eq but if you're doing covers I'd say it's worth considering fitting the preamp of your choice anyway as you may need a passive tone as well as EQ. Downside of singles is slight noise when you move away from both on at the same time, not catastrophic but noticable. One thing though is that it does look "modern" and that can be an issue for some. Personally, I play a Dingwall in a punk group so I could not give a stuff but some people are very judgmental about this kind of stuff.

I’ve been kindly loaned a Yamaha BBG5 and it’s lovely. It is very easy in the hand and is super playable and if the TRB5 feels the same I’d definitely shortlist it- I think Chuck Rainey plays one. I tried a Sandberg in a store and it felt very, very well made. The tone of that particular model didn’t quite press my buttons but I was very taken with the quality. The Lakland Darryl Jones I played may be one of the nicest modern J- type basses with a 70s pickup layout. I thought it much nicer than a comparable Sadowsky, the rolled fretboard was super comfy and the pickups excellent. Even nicer than the Fender USA Jazz Pro II which was great but a bit polite (though I think their V-mod pickups are brilliant). On that basis I’d definitely shortlist an active Lakland.

I had an affinity Jazz. Nice piece of kit.

It does seem odd to have such a big crossover between the high end Sqiers and the budget Fenders, but they are a very successful company. I think they’ve probably done their market research and have a plan to protect the brand.

I skipped over to 5 stringers never to return. I tried a Dingwall in a store and that low B made me tingle. I’ve spent the last 4 years trying to get to grips with the extra string, extended range and fanned frets and I just can’t go back. It just feels right to me.

My brain isn't quite nimble enough to cope with a drop tuner but that's a really good way to deal with songs in Eb! Kubiki's E/D string is definitely the most elegant and brilliant way of getting an extended range out of a 4 string bass though.

The upside is there are absolutely fantastic instruments out these at better prices than collectible ones. I have a messed about with late 80s made in Japan strat that’s a fab guitar and not particularly valuable.

On the downside you’d end up with a bass that would be the same sort of quality as a 449 Squier, the upside would be that you can always sell it for decent money because it’s a “proper” Fender. In that light it’s not a bad purchase.

I’d assume I’d spilled some wine in the green reader.

More than happy to help. Hope it all went well!

I can't belive this. I'm waiting for Dingwall to build and send my bass on to the UK and in the meantime I'm without a 5 string fretted bass - it's what I play almost exclusively now. Mike very kindly loaned me a Yamaha 5 string for the duration and heroically found me in Cobham services car park! An absolute hero and gentleman and I can't thank him enough. May have do to a video call with him when I can take him through my box of treasure/junk to see if I can pay him back with any prime bits I'm not using but really he's helped me out a huge amount.

But they only work with Orange amps.

You see now you've piqued my interest...

Is that an AI page translation or are the marketing team stoned?

It’s real.

Didn't seem like you had much to change from the way you sounded. The last few frets on the E and B string can take a bit of getting used to but as you and I have small hands we both have to pivot anyway so it's just a matter of calibration more than anything.

I had a USA Pro Jazz that was absolutely amazing except it had terrible dead spots. That was really frustrating as it played like a dream, sounded epic, looked amazing - a really special instrument, but the dead spots were not niggles but huge issues.

I watched the Philippine McKnight reviews on YouTube and he felt that the the Fender Standard Tele was okay for the money, basically a bit of a premium for the brand but probably not unreasonable at $499 though he’d personally go for a new Squier or used MIM at the price. The Strat, however, at $650 was poor value and not worth the money for the quality of the guitar.

Yep. Fender reissue 70s USA Jazz in natural. I’ve always loved thise early 1970s models, and I got a really good discount buying direct from fender and it was the most disappointing bass I’ve ever had. Fit and finish were bad and the E string was anaemic and weedy. The vintage case was absolutely awful too, felt cheap and tacky. After that I never bought another high end Fender.

Dave just bought my Dingwall. Absolutely perfect transaction and a very nice guy. Good grief, he's a helluva player though! My bass has never been played that well up until now - to say it's going to a good home would be an understatement! Anyway, thanks for buying, hope you enjoy it. Kim

Looks like the universe has different plans. Someone wants to buy it and it may be gone within a week. Which will leave me without a Dingwall for a couple of months which will make me sad.