Roseweave

I decided on a Z7, unfortunately I missed out on a deal(out of stock now entirely) and then another website that had one looked Shady. I almost might just get one of the 4 String Z3s at this rate and give up on playing a 5 string. it really is hard to find good 5 strings locally.

Was looking at that - only 20 frets unfortunately. I really want a bass i can play Aeroplane on LOL Z7-5 might be worth checking out tho?

Here in Ireland atm there's a limited range of basses available to me for the most part, so I'm probably going to end up having to order blind sooner or later. Guitarist in my band is gonna be leaving in the summer, so there's a narrow window for me to get to use it with that band(we play mostly heavy 90sish alternative, stuff like Skunk Anansie, heavy Shoegaze etc.) My current basses are a J&D Jazz Bass copy(my main bass) and an Ibanez Mikro(the one I take for going out and about). They're nice, but they don't inspire me like they used to; I feel like I need a "Main" Bass. I was taken in by the idea of a Stingray as it sounds so unique compared to my other basses, and some of my favourite guys like Joe Dart used one. Most stingrays I've tried have been really excellent and articulate under dirt in a way few other basses are. I've also started moving towards the idea of a 5 string for a number of reasons - if I were to get a Z3 it probably would be the 5 string as I found the string spacing up the neck a little much on the 4 compared to what I'm used to. I've tried out a Z3 and M2. Both were great. I liked the neck pickup and versatility of the M2, but the base tone of the Z3 SEEMED better. It does have a chunky neck - but this could be a benefit for me in the 5 string model. I'm not sure how much I'd be able to get on with it. If it was just for this band I'd probably get the Z3, for my own music I do like to do funk, dreampop, psych and vintagey tones too. I know Stingrays can sound smooth, but I did struggle with the Z3. A pickup swap wouldn't be out of the question, but I mostly really like how it sounds. I just don't know if I'd use it as a main sound. I haven't been able to find an M5 locally unfortunately to play. Being able to switch between Parallel and Series is a bonus. I've also been looking at the Cort stuff - I tried one Cort 5 string and found the neck very comfortable. The B5 Element looks great - but I'm not sure I'm sold on the Bartolini Mk1s. I'm open to other "Modern" style basses in that style though - Ibanezes tend to have too narrow a sting spacing(same for Sterling 5s) and tend to have too flat a neck - I'm very picky with 5 strings and need a sweet spot of not too thin or wide, thick enough to wrap my hand around but not so wide it strains me. I'd rather stick with 34" but am not beyond 35" if the bass isn't too physically large. the "best of both worlds" here could be the Z7 - but I'm worried about the weight, and if it's just "too much" bass for me. The look of the Z3 has grown on me, particularly the Rose Gold which isn't available in 7. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the M2 knobs which are roughly the same on the Z7 - though I guess they're replaceable. I am really looking for "that" Bass which I know is no mean feat. The main sound I want out of it is one good for some heavy moody psych stuff and gnarly alt rock, but able to do some smooth jazz funk noodling too. I'm open to left field options here - my main issue I think is finding a 22+ fret 5 string(or bass in general) that feels comfortable in my hands and is a good balance of articulate and smooth without sounding boring. Budget up to €700 but ideally closer to 5, I'm not sure what I can afford.

A dinnae ken what yer oan aboot ye wee bawbag

i'm so glad a scottish person has weighed in, thank you

This is true from what I've heard. It's really aggravating. Wonder if there's a way to buy direct from the factory. Sounds like they're around the same quality as Harley Benton and J&D anyway.

Tried the LT25 and Rumble 25 today - the regular Rumble was disappointing, IMO, largely because the Overdrive requires you to crank the amp like a Tube amp, which kind of defeats the purpose of a practise amp. better there than not, but not very useful. Base tone wasn't great tbh. LT had much better sounds, but was hit and miss - really liked the Bassman models. Didn't buy it on the spot as I Wanted to test it vs. the Ampeg 108 - but apparently that's the same deal? Was hoping it would just be a set level of Overdrive you controlled via your volume knob, like one knob fuzz pedals. Really between the LT25 and a Cube - though I *really* like the base tone of the Orange a lot too. A shame the 25 doesn't have OD and the 50 is larger/more expensive than I'd keep around. So those 3 are my options atm. Hearing Joe Dart used the Cube 30 and the compressor on it does make me lean towards that, but it's likely the LT can do that sound too.

That sounds promising, Paul. I'll be mainly playing Oldies with my Dad with this bass so a vintage vibe is what I'm going for.

Yeah, unfortunately the gotoh one has the weird wiring and it's a bit more pricey. My main bass is from Musicstore.de actually. Maybe I'll have to look there again.

I have the guitar zoom so am considering reformatting it as the bass version

After transporting my J&D Jazz Bass to my parents I'm definitely feeling the need to have a bass down there. I carry too much home as-is with a laptop and pet gecko. Unfortunately it got damaged at some point, either transporting or at the house. It is clumsy finding space to comfortably play a full scale bass there. Originally I was going to get a regular cheap banger P-Bass(I figure that makes more sense for a cheap bass, since one pickup, hum cancelling so shielding matters less, and probably easiest platform to upgrade) but with the amount of times I've banged the headstock on my gecko's enclosure amongst other thing I thought a physically smaller instrument might be nice. I do have quite large hands though - shorter figures, but large hands overall as I'm just an oddly shaped person in general. One of my guitars is a Jaguar - and mostly I get on with it fine, as the shorter scale helps me do awkward shoegaze chords. I have noticed on Bass, my little finger strength isn't great and stretching can be difficult, so having a shortscale to practise on could be nice. The problem is you're really limited when it comes to banger shortscales these days. The options are: PB Shorty from Thomann Various 3/4 models from Gear4music Mini Precision Bass Maybe an Ibanez Talman or Mikro if I luck out price wise? I don't want to get a Bronco unless it's cheap enough I can swap the pickup - I honestly considered the Glarry one for a bit. Would I be best off abandoning the short scale idea? As a beginner will it mess with things too much to have different scale lengths? My 3 guitars are all different scales but obviously I've been playing for years(and I'm poopie anyway) I have seen that Stingray style basses - at least HB's seem to be slightly shorter overall despite the same scale length - would that help? HB does have a nice cheap one. I'm leaning strongly towards the PB Shorty atm out of convenience, since Thomann has an amp I wanted to order, but it is a very "plain" bass, even at this price point there's more interesting options at least visually, but more importantly I have heard some people say it's cramped even for a shortscale. What should I do?

I'm in Ireland, I reckon UK & Ireland tend to have the same availability, though Brexit has messed with that quite a bit. I'm really looking at a bedroom amp atm, so the Mustang LT or one of the smaller Cubes preferably.

i don't got a stage amp lol. i have no need for one as i don't intend to play any venues I can't DI in. I have a pair of M-Audio monitors that are pretty good, I might upgrade them at some point so if people have suggestions for cheapish ones of a similar quality but very slightly more bass I'm up for that. Likely not any time soon though.

I'm looking at the lower end of amps atm - I tried out the Rumble 15 and was pretty unimpressed(unsurprisingly) and the 25 Watt Orange - which was better, but still had no dirt. I've been considering the next rung up from bargain basement here. I'm leaning towards the LT25 since it seems to get good reviews and is the most likely to squeeze the most bass out of a small speaker/enclosure. But I'm still worried as to exactly how much low end it's going to put out. I would consider getting the 110s of the Rumble, Ampeg, Orange or otherwise though that's running into the 300 euro range and I'd like to keep it to 200. Also considering the Bass Pathfinder - shame it didn't come in a slightly larger version for 200, it'd be incredible. The other big alternative to the LT is the Roland Bass Cube - either the XL version or a regular Cube 30. I can probably get one of those second hand fairly easy - Cubes are pretty nice reliable amps in general, but of course the modelling on the LT is much more modern. I'll also be running guitar through this, as a pedal platform, since I play Doom and similar genres, but I think any of these options will work. I'm leaning towards the Rumbles on this one as I know they sound great, and the LT even has reverb built in so I can run into the amp dirty and still have some space(plus, I really like a Jazz Bass with a pinch of spring). Any more suggestions? How much low end does the LT put out? I've been mostly using my Vox ADIO Air GT on the Bassman and AC30 models as a practise amp, which *sort of* works, and my Nux Mightyplug(which can do some really nice sounds but needs more tweaking esp. for dirty ones).

Oh, that's pretty interesting. I was going to get a second (P) Bass to leave at my parents, so I'll keep an eye on this thanks!