Richard R Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Funny how things turn out (as Victoria Wood sung many years ago). I've been keeping an eye out for a 5 string version of my bass, a Brawley. They aren't well known in the UK, but were made briefly in the US for a couple of years and are a very nice mid-range instrument. Last year I posted this: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/398769-brawley-artemis-5-string-but-in-manchester-new-hampshire, which was an observation that there was a 5 string Brawley for sale in Manchester, but it was Manchester in New England not the UK. Earlier this year @Larry D messaged me to say that he'd seen the post, and I was the first person in the UK he had come across who had even heard of Brawley. He also had a very nice 5 string and we agreed we should meet up at a bass bash when we're next allowed. Then a bit later on he PM'd me again asking if I would be interested in buying the bass as it wasn't getting a lot of use. Well that was a silly question - of course I was! He sent some pictures, and the one thing that worried me was the width of the fretboard, 51mm at the nut and wide all along. Not having played a 5 much I was concerned how this would feel, and wondered if there was any way to try the instrument out. Step forward Larry's neighbour, who was working in Birmingham last weekend and offered to bring the bass up and meet somewhere public so I could try it out and if I liked it buy it! She knows nothing about basses or guitars, but what a very generous offer. So on Sunday I met her (and her colleague who very sensibly came along riding shotgun) in Tesco's car park near the M42 and was able to try and buy the bass. Pics now, and opinion afterwards 🙂 Brawley 5 string.MOV It is very pretty - and even better in real life. You can see what I was worried about with the width of the fretboard, but I really needn't have been. The 5 string bass has exactly the same scale length, 35", and string spacing as the 4 string, and the neck is equally shallow - which means it feels exactly the same to play. In fact I make exactly the same mistakes on it 😞 The low B sounds great, and I'm enjoying playing across the neck. Fortunately I've always muted with a sliding thumb, so no change there. The four isn't going anywhere, but the plan is to focus exclusively on the 5 for at least a few months and get good at that. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Everybody loves a NBD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 My colleague has just sent me this 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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