5 String Advice

[Stealth]

I need some words of wisdom !

My new band plays a fair amount of detuned heavier rock. Up to now if been getting by with Hipshot Detuners, But it time to bite the bullet an go for a five. It just bass and guitar so i need a big chunky sound but with definition. If i could morph my rick and jazz with an extra string i would be there lol.
Past 5 strings that have come and gone:

Lakland skyline 5502 B string was MUCH louder than anything else
Dean Edge 5 Fretless nice neck dunno why i sold it really no good for this tho
Sadowsky Metro MV5 bit polite and didnt get on with the neck
Sei Jazz 5 34" ash J retro great bass low b wasnt great sold it cos i had 2 see below
Sei Jazz 5 all black EMGs very rock but needed the truss rod adjusting all the time so got bored

Needs to be rock solid in sound and build budget is £2k max the less i spend the more left over for beer ?

Waddya reckon

[Gust0o]

Stingray?

Or, try and lay hands on an MTD - I had a Kingston Heir 5 which was superb, and probably the better player.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I have schecter stiletto elite.
Awesome sound and feel for a lot less than your max budget. Not selling tho'.
Looks metal;) may post pic up later

[chris_b]

Last month, in a local shop, I tried a Fender Standard 5 string Jazz and a Squier 5 string Jazz (don't know which model) and the Squier came out miles ahead.

It felt like a much better player to me. So at approx £360 you could change the pickups and electrics and still be ahead financially.

[louisthebass]

Yamaha TRB5 - good bass for that type of music, you can get 2nd hand ones for under £600.

[Bigwan]

Dingwall Afterburner

[ferg36]

Hi, what about an Overwater J Series, or maybe I'm just being biased as I have mine for sale at the minute on here. Might be interested in your Lakland Bob Glaub if its a 4 string. Cheers Fergal

[stingrayPete1977]

Five strings, rock solid, under two grand, good b string, even response across all the strings (no weak g strings on fivers), looks great for rock or any other style.....erm.....erm....

[Lfalex v1.1]

2nd-hand Warwick.
Thumb 5
Fortress Masterman 5
Vampyre 5
Streamer Jazzman 5
Corvette FNA 5
Infinity SN 5

Plenty more where they came from...

[Bass-Driver]

No, not a Warwick! If you want your bass to have any sound, steer right clear of those morbidly overpriced soundless pieces of badly seasoned furniture wood.

In general - this is tricky... Try more Laklands, they're usually quite good. I'd recommend a used Alembic (like my Essence - it has an absolutely killer B string, and the sound is even all across the strings AND the fingerboard)) but scoring one for less than two grand might be rather hard. Maybe a custom job? There are many great luthiers out there.

But if I were you, I'd just get a Status, I really like those things. Rhino and Chris Wolstenholme play them so they are good for rock.

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='Bass-Driver' timestamp='1367791465' post='2069552']
......
But if I were you, I'd just get a Status, I really like those things. Rhino and Chris Wolstenholme play them so they are good for rock.
[/quote]

Get a Status Stealth, and say it's your signature model

[ezbass]

If it was just the B string on the Lakkie that was much louder than the others it sounds like a string/pickup height issue. When I went for my fretted five string I tried about 12 different basses; MMs, Sadowsky, Dingwall, Ibanez..... and the 5502 was the best to my ears and hands, it certainly had the best B string for me and was nice and even across the strings. I nearly bought an MM Sterling 5 which was very good, but the G string kept pulling off the fretboard. Probably my poor technique, but enough of a nuisance for me to pass. YMMV.

[stingrayPete1977]

I'd throw a proper g and l l2500k and a modulus funk 5 in the mix too.

[White Cloud]

If Lakland, Sadowsky and Sei 5 strings don't do it for you then forget about 5 strings and stick to the D tuner.

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='Bass-Driver' timestamp='1367791465' post='2069552']
In general - this is tricky... Try more Laklands, they're usually quite good.
[/quote]

+1 to this. When I went on my 5 string search a few years back I started at a Guitar Show, where I tried a 55-02 and hated it; It just felt wrong! Instead I ended up buying a couple of Spectors. I wasn't quite comfortable with these so started looking again, came upon a stunning 55-02 and have now owned three which are all lovely basses. My main gigging bass now is a standard (ie. not a "deluxe") 55-02 in natural ash. It is light, well balanced both in terms of weight, tone and volume, [i]and [/i]very versatile in its tone palette. I can only assume the one I tried at the guitar show was a badly set up, Friday afternoon bass!

Edited May 6, 2013 by MoJoKe

[Bass-Driver]

You might also want to try the upper-range Yamaha BB series. They're mighty good.

[Clarebear68]

[quote name='Bass-Driver' timestamp='1367791465' post='2069552']
But if I were you, I'd just get a Status, I really like those things. Rhino and Chris Wolstenholme play them so they are good for rock.
[/quote]

I just got a Series 2 5-string - it's the best thing I've played - even response across the neck and sounds great for rock, pop, funk, you name it.

[Stealth]

Food for thought. I did like the 55-02 maybe i need to try one again like i said the Sei with EMGs was awesome but it just needed setting up too much.

Status Stealth yes please who wants to sell me one. (headed only)

[lee650]

Have you looked at spector euros?, 35" scale tight focused sound from the EMG'S, and thunderous bottom end from the tonepump. They are fairly inexpensive ( when sold on here ) a very rock n roll bass

[51m0n]

Really, Roscoe Century Standard 5. I knwo I'm just saying what I've got, but I got it for all the reasons you list.

Light as a feather to hold, massive tight focused bottom end, punchy as hell, plenty of growl, goes from a super P sound on the neck across to burpy jazz on the bridge pup, there is something in between for you I'm sure.

Only thing to watch is its a 35" scale and therefore will take you a while to get used to...

[Silvia Bluejay]

[quote name='Bass-Driver' timestamp='1367791465' post='2069552']
No, not a Warwick! If you want your bass to have any sound, steer right clear of those morbidly overpriced soundless pieces of badly seasoned furniture wood.
[/quote]

The above probably happens when one of those is in your hands - but definitely not when this chap is playing his.

[Bass-Driver]

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1368142232' post='2073862']
The above probably happens when one of those is in your hands - but definitely not when this chap is playing his.


[/quote]

I have yet to hear the notes Robert's playing with Metallica... because so far it's been like a guitar with a muddy-sounding octaver.

I really adore this guy's skills, I wish I could do like 10% of what he's capable of. But his current sound is virtually non-existant.

Yes, there are many major bassists playing Warwicks - endorsement is the word, I guess... The only one who sounds good playing one is Jack Bruce. All others... Regardless of the skills, no matter if it's an absolute monster (in the positive meaning) like Ryan Martinie, Jonas Hellborg or TM Stevens, the sound is dead as a doornail. If you can hear the bass in the mix at all.

Sorry, my Warwick hate is strong.

[quote name='Stealth' timestamp='1367872189' post='2070551']
Food for thought. I did like the 55-02 maybe i need to try one again like i said the Sei with EMGs was awesome but it just needed setting up too much.

Status Stealth yes please who wants to sell me one. (headed only)
[/quote]

If you want to hear any articulation whatsoever, not only "louder-more quiet" steer clear of EMGs. Big bottom, detached highs, scooped midrange - that sounds good solo but in the mix it's hardly ever a good choice. Those pickups are the biggest dynamics killers I know. My articulation is on a sloppy side and when I play a bass with EMG I can't hear it at all, while whenever I pick up a Jazz Bass it hits me like a ton of bricks, lol!

I'd definitely try the Status, but the Lakland route isn't bad either. Very versatile and workable basses, even if lacking their own character. But it's your character you want to hear, right?

Edited May 10, 2013 by Bass-Driver

[such]

of course Stuart Zender also sounded very badly on first three Jamiroquai albums, if anyone could hear the bass at all
Same with Andy Levy of The Brand New Heavies, Mike Inez of Alice In Chains and many others.
One can not like the tonal signature of a W, but I haven't experienced a 5-string Warwick with a weak B.

I don't think those artists would choose to play an instrument they consider bad, even if they got it for free. Other makers offer endorsement deals too, you know.

[Silvia Bluejay]

[quote name='Bass-Driver' timestamp='1368225615' post='2074793']
Sorry, my Warwick hate is strong.
[/quote]

So strong that it forces you to make sweeping generalisations which, frankly, are utterly worthless not to mention silly - not just in this case but on any topic. Chill out and [b]listen instead of hating. [/b]You'll be surprised what you can hear, such as, you know, cool basslines, and the like.

Edited May 11, 2013 by bluejay

[Bass-Driver]

Bluejay - my attitude towards Warwick comes from nothing else than [b]listening and hearing[/b]. And from some experience.

I used to really like those basses simply basing on their looks. I still think they look really good, especially the Infinity - that's a real beauty! But then I tried one, a Corvette... it was horrible. I thought "ok, maybe it was a weak one, or maybe it's my playing...". Then I borrowed a Thumb BO from a friend for a rehearsal (the bass I had at that time, an unexpensive Yamaha BBG5S, was getting a new nut installed by a luthier). I was thrilled. "I'm going to wow everyone with the sound", I thought. Well... no. No matter how I tweaked the amp or the Thumb's preamp, no matter how I tried to adjust my technique, I either couldn't hear myself at all or was too loud - with a horrible tone. Somehow, with my mediocre skills, I sounded 5 times better on a fairly cheap Yamaha than a very expensive Warwick - the same band, the same amp, the same rehearsal place! And several years later I became friends with a sound engineer, one of the best in Poland (and a great bassist) who told me several stories about how recording sessions with Warwicks usually ended - 9 times out of 10, the bassist showed up later with a different bass. And believe me, the guy's really open-minded - e.g. he openly says that Japanese Fender copies from the 70s are usually better than modern Fenders, he's against keeping an instrument in original state if modifications can improve the sound (he loves Jazz Basses, owns several and ALL of them have been modded quite heavily, despite being from the 70s!); he also used to dislike most "modern" active ntb basses but when I handed him my Alembic, he plugged it in his rig, played several notes and said "don't you ever dare selling it, it's phenomenal"... He actually taught me about what to pay attention to (apart from playing well, of course) in the studio, what frequencies "sit in" the mix, what frequencies "cut through" the mix, how to get a sound I want, how to make a great-sounding bass from a simply decent-sounding one... He also organized gatherings of bassists in his studio where we carried out massive gear comparisons - and yes, there was one or two Warwicks... Well, you can imagine the results.

To put it short and simple - ovangkol and wenge are NOT tonewoods. And maybe that explains why the only decent-sounding Warwick I've ever held in my hands was an older Corvette 5 with ash body and 3-piece maple neck...

Edited May 12, 2013 by Bass-Driver