Best 5 string bass you've ever owned and why?

[therealting]

11 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

Wow, nice basses. I wish I could get on with a five string.

I’ve always found six strings easier to get on with than fivers for some weird reason, but am now almost as comfy with fivers.

[mangotango]

I've posted this picture before, but...here are my Spectors.

The fretted Legend Custom does pretty much everything that I need from a fretted bass. It snaps, it snarls, it thrums. Because of the set neck, it has punch and sustain. Pretty heavy, though not to the point of being uncomfortable. The neck is a little chunkier than I'd like, but again, not to the point of being uncomfortable.

The Spectorcore fretless however...is just a pure delight to play. It sings, and I find excuses to use it where possible. Out of 14 tunes for the two sets that we'll be playing on Saturday, I will use it for over half of them. The others need the gank! of a fretted bass.

HOWEVER......

The best 5'ers that I've played but DON'T own...would be two completely different beasts, different from these and from each other.

When I was up in Glasgow a little while back, I played a Sandberg VM5. Pretty much up there in terms of spec., a top quality instrument.  I didn't particularly like the Heavy Relic finish, but the feel and the sound...even just trying it out in a shop on a rainy Saturday morning, it made me play better than I thought I could. Which is all that you can ask of an instrument.

And at the last Bass Show, I finally got round  (after much being told about how great they are by @Scoop) to playing an ACG Singlecut. After a short while of appreciating its sheer wonderfulness, I was mentally considering where the possible exits were and what my chances would be of getting to one of them with the bass and away, before anyone caught me. Or failing that, how many internal organs I would have to sell to be able to take it home legitimately....

Edited October 23, 2019 by mangotango
As correctly pointed out by Al Krow...the Legend Custon is a set-neck bass, NOT a neck-through. Edited accordingly. Not sure what I was thinking there......

[uk_lefty]

I've had two fivers and a six that was so bad it's not worth any more... Moving on. 

Five string fretless Kramer Striker. A cheap bass off musicyo in the very early 2000s. I love it. It was my 18th birthday present and has been the only constant for me since. Lined rosewood board, beautiful. Upside down pointy headstock, metallic black paint... Its a good passive bass but needs decent strings and a good amp to get the best out of it. The pickups could do with upgrades, the coil tap is pretty crappy so would prefer a better single coil sound. It's part of me though and it still gets gigged. 

Sire vintage V7. I don't own this anymore and I'm kicking myself a bit. For a reasonable price you can get Ash body, maple neck and board, 70s pickup position, lefty, and a high quality pre amp that's dead easy to use. For a lefty that's mind blowing at the price point. I liked it a lot but felt guilty after spending so much on a new USA Stingray so I sold it to help downsize my gear and raise a few hundred quid. It had a great bright snappy zingyness to the tone and arrived set up amazingly. I tried to play this as a fiver rather than a four plus a few extra notes and was getting on well. I regret selling it but I still think my Mexican Fender jazz with bartolinis had a slightly more sophisticated tone though not the flexibility of the preamp. I'd happily have another Sire, particularly the 2nd gen with the satin necks. 

[andruca]

Another Stingray5 guy here. I own 2, from the ceramic era (circa 1997 & 2003). The Stingray5 has been my #1 choice since 2001.

 

- It plays like no other 5er (absolutely love thin sharp C necks, mine are 20mm thick @fret1, also 17.5mm spacing is where it's at for me)

- It has an aggressive personality I love to its sound (much prefer ceramic to alnico SR5s, too hi-fi'ish/"tame" for me in comparison)

- It cuts in a mix like no other instrument (thanks to some notorious "prrrrrrrrr" magic in the lo-mids)

- Has a really serious low B, top stuff amongst 34" scale basses
 

 

Been looking for a 2 pickup timbrically Fender'ish bass with those 4 features for the occasional need. I've settled on a Schecter CV 5. The neck's even thinner (so is the spacing at 17mm, not even remotely problematic to me) and it's so comfortable to play I can't even tell the extra 1" in scale length. Very versatile twin switchable humbucker configuration, sounds all sorts of Fender, but with that "in-your-face-ness", punch, cutting ability and playability I love about my Stingray5s.

 

 

As a reference, I've owned many other 5ers including:

- Ibanez CT-5

- Ibanez SR-505

- Ibanez ATK-305

- Ibanez ATK-405 (2 pickups)

- Fernandes APB-5

- Fernandes Gravity Deluxe 5

- Maruszczyk Jake 5a+

- EBMM Sterling5 HS

- Cort Curbow 5 (Mighty Mite pickup version)

- Yamaha BB-615

- Yamaha BB-425X

Edited August 22, 2019 by andruca

[Pinball]

On 16/08/2019 at 09:51, JapanAxe said:

I now own this bass, and it is also the best 5-er I have owned. Actually I have only owned one other, a G&L L1505. The Dingwall is easier and more comfortable to play and control, and sounds like variations on a P-bass. Which is what it is! Resonant, responsive, and the weight just feels right.

I remember owning that G&L L1505, I found it a joy to own and play but maybe a touch heavy and I couldn't quite the sound I wanted with my band so I sold it on. I now use a Fender Dimension HH Standard and am very happy with it so I guess it gets my vote. It is passive and I get the tone that I want just by dialling in different amounts either the back or front pickup. It hits the spot, years of GAS cured...for now! 

[Pinball]

On 19/08/2019 at 09:56, drTStingray said:

Here's my favourite 5 string of all time. It's by far the heaviest bass I have but sounds great - I used it for two gigs at the weekend and even my late middle aged frame didn't have a problem with the weight - mind you it balances perfectly on a strap anyway. Using the treble and mid controls as tone controls and to get/dial out the Musicman treble shimmer, this bass is simply thunderous - growls for England - simply full of tone, sustain and resonance. Makes you smile all night.

And if I decide to buy into the lightest is best theory, I use this one - also thunderous but not quite so growly as the ceramic SR5 - but also excellent. 

The Musicman Stingray 5 is definitely the grand daddy of all 5 string bass guitars! 

Yep Stingrays...can't go wrong with them 

[Al Krow]

On 20/08/2019 at 16:47, mangotango said:

I've posted this picture before, but...here are my Spectors.

The fretted Legend Custom does pretty much everything that I need from a fretted bass. It snaps, it snarls, it thrums. Because of the neck-through, it has punch and sustain. Pretty heavy, though not to the point of being uncomfortable. The neck is a little chunkier than I'd like, but again, not to the point of being uncomfortable.

The Spectorcore fretless however...is just a pure delight to play. It sings, and I find excuses to use it where possible. Out of 14 tunes for the two sets that we'll be playing on Saturday, I will use it for over half of them. The others need the gank! of a fretted bass.

HOWEVER......

The best 5'ers that I've played but DON'T own...would be two completely different beasts, different from these and from each other.

When I was up in Glasgow a little while back, I played a Sandberg VM5. Pretty much up there in terms of spec., a top quality instrument.  I didn't particularly like the Heavy Relic finish, but the feel and the sound...even just trying it out in a shop on a rainy Saturday morning, it made me play better than I thought I could. Which is all that you can ask of an instrument.

And at the last Bass Show, I finally got round  (after much being told about how great they are by @Scoop) to playing an ACG Singlecut. After a short while of appreciating its sheer wonderfulness, I was mentally considering where the possible exits were and what my chances would be of getting to one of them with the bass and away, before anyone caught me. Or failing that, how many internal organs I would have to sell to be able to take it home legitimately....

I have three that are currently vying for my top spot. All three are fantastic basses and I count myself lucky to have them.

The one I can't currently put down, however, is...a Spector Euro 5LX. The sculpted body, great neck, meaty low end and OMG, above all, that tone!!

[ead]

Bearing in mind that I am still striving for mediocrity on a 5er I have owned (for mostly shortish time periods) a Yamaha BBN5, a Peavey Zephyr, an ACG fretless 5er and a Squier VM 5P.

I recently resolved to have one more shot but with a more mid range bass and recently acquired a preloved Korean Lakland Skyline DJ5 from a member of this parish.  Nice and light at 4kgs and very easy on the eye to boot.  Easily the best of the bunch and lives on a stand in the officially designated practice area where it can be easily accessed.

Edited October 22, 2019 by ead
to include mandatory picture

[TALLTULLES]

Sire V7 5 cordes noir ébène

[grayn]

I've owned 3 fivers and my favourite is probably the cheapest.

I had an Overwater Jazz, that I got for half price in a sale.  Wonderful bass but it made my fretting hand ache after 15 mins of playing.  Later I had an LTD that had a through neck and all sorts of great spec , for not much cash.  But my favourite was a Squier Deluxe Dimension Bass.  Got it new for under £300 and was so impressed with it's design and build quality.  A real pleasure to play and it's active pickup got some very decent tones.  I'm a four string player but I like to dabble occasionally.

 

 

[itu]

I wrote about my Quantum 5 earlier. As she has left the building, I have now a MG Genesis 5. It is somewhat big and heavy, but the neck! Thick but not overly, and 19 mm at last! This is my thing. 34, 35 or 36" but 19 mm at the bridge end.

[tom5string]

On 20/08/2019 at 17:47, mangotango said:

The Spectorcore fretless however...is just a pure delight to play. It sings, and I find excuses to use it where possible.

Absolutely. I love mine. I love this fundamental acoustical bass tone from the piezo pickup, almost uprightesque, combined with a modern bright sound with very pleasant mids produced by the magnetiv PU.

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

[bassmayhem]

I've always liked the 19 mm (3/4") spacing that Fender basses have, and I want the same on five and six strings too. The first really good five string I got was a Lakland 55-94 Deluxe that felt at home immediately. Later on I favoured fan fret basses and got my first Dingwalls. But - they had 18 mm spacing, so they didn't feel exactly how I wanted them to feel. Later on I got the Dingwall Super J5, which had 19 mm spacing, but also a shorter scale. Well, after reducing the sauce I found my five string of choice, a Payson Supercharger PJ. 19 mm spacing , 37" - 34" scale, all passive and in every other aspect an old school bass, all to my liking, since I am kind of old school too, closer to my statistic age of death than my exam.   

[Graham]

29 minutes ago, bassmayhem said:

I've always liked the 19 mm (3/4") spacing that Fender basses have, and I want the same on five and six strings too. The first really good five string I got was a Lakland 55-94 Deluxe that felt at home immediately. Later on I favoured fan fret basses and got my first Dingwalls. But - they had 18 mm spacing, so they didn't feel exactly how I wanted them to feel. Later on I got the Dingwall Super J5, which had 19 mm spacing, but also a shorter scale. Well, after reducing the sauce I found my five string of choice, a Payson Supercharger PJ. 19 mm spacing , 37" - 34" scale, all passive and in every other aspect an old school bass, all to my liking, since I am kind of old school too, closer to my statistic age of death than my exam.   

That looks lovely

[bassmayhem]

4 hours ago, Graham said:

That looks lovely

It is lovely!  
Here it is with its brother-in-arms:

Edited October 29, 2019 by bassmayhem

[pacman84]

Nice thread with an easy answer from my end:

Any one of my Spectors, especially the ones that feature the neck-through design. From the handling, to the balance, appearance and especially the tone, they're my number one.

-Pac

[Graham]

1 hour ago, bassmayhem said:

It is lovely!  
Here it is with its brother-in-arms:

Are they Nordstrand pickups on the Payson?

I've loved the feel of the Dingwalls I've played, but the tone has always left me cold

[bassmayhem]

13 hours ago, Graham said:

Are they Nordstrand pickups on the Payson?

I've loved the feel of the Dingwalls I've played, but the tone has always left me cold

Yep! Bigrig 5 in lefty version, but in a 6 string format to reach over, since fan fret makes the "diagonal length" greater than across the strings. Also an NP5.
One thing I didn't like with the Dingwalls was the switching system. I wanted the ability to mix pickups, not just switch. Another thing that makes the Payson more like a Fender is the body thickness; Dingwall makes their basses thinner to cut weight, but it also cuts tone. The Super P5 is also modified; I took out the rather useless "dual way tone pot", where you rolled out the mids in one direction (smiley face) and rolled off the highs in the other the ordinary way. Taking out the mids is taking out the P from a P-bass. On both my P5 and P4 I have Stellartone Tonestylers, the very best retrofit for ANY P-bass. Period. My Dingwall Super J4 has also been modified: switching system out and a J-Retro Deluxe in. 

[moley6knipe]

Don’t make me choose!

Oh ok then: Ibanez BTB Prestige 1205. Korean, 2006, one owner from new. It’s SO heavy. Thin flat neck makes getting around a breeze, great B string, and the Bart pups and pre sound great. Really fat, centred, aggressive if you need it to be sound.

Also love this because I’ve played it to death. Partial refret. Thumb’s worn a hole in the bridge pickup. Dings everywhere.

Close runner up: 2011 ‘Ray. Screaming eBay bargain - £781 (not a typo). Dude had some cash, fancied trying bass, this was what he bought. Still had the plastic on the pickguard. Love this because it’s so different from the Ibby. Chunkier neck, but a joy to play and hugely versatile sounds. Plus, Honeyburst, maple and white is not only the best ‘Ray colour scheme ever, it’s the best bass colour scheme ever (fact).

Edited November 1, 2019 by moley6knipe

[AndyTravis]

Peavey GV or Yamaha TRB5PII.

Ultimately the GV won because it weighed 3lbs less than the Yamaha and sounded just as lovely - albeit a little different.

[therealting]

On 29/10/2019 at 18:32, Graham said:

I've loved the feel of the Dingwalls I've played, but the tone has always left me cold

I don’t like the tone of the longer scale 34-37” ones, but the 32-35” Super P5 is the best tone I’ve ever had. 

On 30/10/2019 at 08:26, bassmayhem said:

One thing I didn't like with the Dingwalls was the switching system. I wanted the ability to mix pickups, not just switch. Another thing that makes the Payson more like a Fender is the body thickness; Dingwall makes their basses thinner to cut weight, but it also cuts tone. The Super P5 is also modified; I took out the rather useless "dual way tone pot", where you rolled out the mids in one direction (smiley face) and rolled off the highs in the other the ordinary way. Taking out the mids is taking out the P from a P-bass. On both my P5 and P4 I have Stellartone Tonestylers, the very best retrofit for ANY P-bass. Period. My Dingwall Super J4 has also been modified: switching system out and a J-Retro Deluxe in. 

I didn’t like the Tone-Fusion pot either - I put a Sadowsky pre in my Super P5 instead and I’m as happy with it as with anything I’ve ever tried. 

[grayn]

6 hours ago, moley6knipe said:

Don’t make me choose!

Oh ok then: Ibanez BTB Prestige 1205. Korean, 2006, one owner from new. It’s SO heavy. Thin flat neck makes getting around a breeze, great B string, and the Bart pups and pre sound great. Really fat, centred, aggressive if you need it to be sound.

Also love this because I’ve played it to death. Partial refret. Thumb’s worn a hole in the bridge pickup. Dings everywhere.

Close runner up: 2011 ‘Ray. Screaming eBay bargain - £781 (not a typo). Dude had some cash, fancied trying bass, this was what he bought. Still had the plastic on the pickguard. Love this because it’s so different from the Ibby. Chunkier neck, but a joy to play and hugely versatile sounds. Plus, Honeyburst, maple and white is not only the best ‘Ray colour scheme ever, it’s the best bass colour scheme ever (fact).

Love the EBMM.  Classic looks and sound😎

[JMarkD]

I have several fives ranging from the exotic (early Steinberger L-2 5) to the popular (1991 Musicman StingRay 5 and  a 1997 Fender Roscoe Beck 5) and they are all great.  But when I used a five exclusively I went with a 2000 Modulus Quantum 5.  It came with the odd Bartolini NS3TMB preamp that featured the +9/-9 volt design that proved problematic.  After many years of constant use, I returned to four string basses for the most part.  

Last spring I decided to reacquaint myself with the five string, again turning to my old Modulus.  True to form, the preamp abruptly failed, rare for a Bartolini but not for this particular design.  Turning to our local repair gurus at The Guitar Factory in Orlando, they replaced the old preamp with a modern Bartolini as the old design is long discontinued (though Bartolini probably would have built me one if I really wanted it).  These guys like to tinker, having worked with Michael Tobias when he started out in Florida, so they added a pull pot to the mid-range knob allowing a shift to a lower frequency when engaged.  I love this modification!  When engaged it becomes a low-mid control.  If turned down, the low end cleans up and loses mud while leaving the deep lows intact.  When boosted this bass is a monster able to cut an overly frisky piano player's left hand down to size.

Why this bass?  I think it is the composite neck.  I have always liked what the composite necks provide, punchy tone, even note strength and great sustain with minimal dead spots.  There may be better fives out there but for me, this old Modulus works best for me.  The additional tone options make it even better.  But I really must dust those book shelves.

 

[bassmayhem]

3 hours ago, JMarkD said:

... But I really must dust those book shelves...

 

 

Nice bass!
Here is a simple solution for your "dusty bookshelf situation": place the books at the outer edge of the shelves; then you won't see the dust.  

[tvickey]

I really like the sound of my 2004 Warwick Streamer CT (Chrome Tone)... Ebony fretboard gives it a very bright sound.