Buying my first fiver

[BillyBass]

I've been putting off buying a 5 string for a while now.  Every time we learn a new song in some form of drop tuning I consider it again.   From Monday I'm going to be stuck indoors for two weeks while wifey is away in Turkey and a conservatory is being built on the back of our house.  So I thought this would be a great time to buy a 5 string and knuckle down and learn how to play it, and I've also got 2 weeks to think of an excuse as to why I have just bought another new bass.

 

I don't want to spend more than £800 unless there is a good reason.  So, I'm thinking of perhaps the Charvel Pro-Mod San-Dimas JJ V, or a Sadowsky Metro express JJ or PJ V, all of which are in stock in Guitarguitar in Camden.  Bassdirect has a great range of fivers in stock but that's a fair drive from North London, so I would only consider it if their stock was much better (the MTD stuff looks interesting though).

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Machines]

My personal opinion is you can get a lot better than those for your money.

 

What do you want from a 5 string ?

 

Ps BassDirect is a lot better than GuitarGuitar. They will definitely have more options.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Machines

[alyctes]

Excuses:

- To get rid of all that silly drop tuning.

- It's 25% better than the others!

- You can't learn to play a fiver without a fiver.

[Doddy]

If you want a decent, new 5 string in that price range,  I'd be inclined to look at the Sire V7.  

[Woodinblack]

11 hours ago, BillyBass said:

ISo, I'm thinking of perhaps the Charvel Pro-Mod San-Dimas JJ V, or a Sadowsky Metro express JJ or PJ V, all of which are in stock in Guitarguitar in Camden.  

 

Wunjo bass have quite a lot of 5 strings, with a lot more variation, I would be tempted to wander down to there if I lived that close.

[chris_b]

The first thing to do is to put your 4 string basses away and don't touch them again until you are fluent in 5.

 

The bass the original version of the song was recorded on is irrelevant. Stop thinking in terms of 4 string bass songs and 5 string bass songs.

 

I can't be bothered to swap basses back and forth. Every song can be played on a 5, so that's what I stick to. Makes life much easier and if you get a good one, like the Sadowsky I play, you just sound so good.

 

 

[Grahambythesea]

There’s an awful lot of 5ers for sale on here. 

[SumOne]

I'd go to Bass Direct and trade your 4 for a MTD. They have always given me good part exchange deals and I found the best way to get used to a 5 is to fully commit to it and ditch the 4, and it gives a good excuse for the new Bass - it's just a trade. 

[BillyBass]

51 minutes ago, chris_b said:

The first thing to do is to put your 4 string basses away and don't touch them again until you are fluent in 5.

 

The bass the original version of the song was recorded on is irrelevant. Stop thinking in terms of 4 string bass songs and 5 string bass songs.

 

I can't be bothered to swap basses back and forth. Every song can be played on a 5, so that's what I stick to. Makes life much easier and if you get a good one, like the Sadowsky I play, you just sound so good.

 

3 minutes ago, SumOne said:

I'd go to Bass Direct and trade your 4 for a MTD. They have always given me good part exchange deals and I found the best way to get used to a 5 is to fully commit to it and ditch the 4, and it gives a good excuse for the new Bass - it's just a trade. 

I was told this by someone else the last time I was tempted to buy a 5 string. He said I should not touch a 4 string for a month after getting the fiver.  I'm thinking about doing this now as I will be stuck indoors for the best part of 2 weeks and as the band I'm in aren't learning any new songs until our old singer returns in March, I want something else to learn.

 

 

[BillyBass]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Wunjo bass have quite a lot of 5 strings, with a lot more variation, I would be tempted to wander down to there if I lived that close.

looking at their website, most of their 5 string basses are either out of my price range or Ibanez stuff, which I'm not keen on.  The only bass they seem to have that I would consider is a Player series Fender Jazz V.  I already have a player series 4 string so it doesn't get the Gas going like a completely new bass would and the Charvel is supposed to be a bit like a player series on steroids, i.e. better pups, hardware and its active.  So the Charvel is looking attractive.

1 hour ago, Doddy said:

If you want a decent, new 5 string in that price range,  I'd be inclined to look at the Sire V7.  

Sire is one of those brands that I really never Gas after.  Perhaps if I had one over my shoulder I would change my mind.

[Happy Jack]

Best value in the BC Marketplace today (IMHO, YMMV, the value of basses may go down as well as up) = 

 

[Happy Jack]

If what you want to do is (a) learn to play 5-string and (b) remain married, then this would seem to be the simple option.

 

At that price, you haven't 'spent' £199, you have converted £199 worth of cash into £199 of bass, and you can convert back again at any time.

 

[SumOne]

4 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

If what you want to do is (a) learn to play 5-string and (b) remain married, then this would seem to be the simple option.

 

At that price, you haven't 'spent' £199, you have converted £199 worth of cash into £199 of bass, and you can convert back again at any time.

 

 

I never spend anything on Bass gear, it's all just diversifying my investment portfolio. 

[SumOne]

The main thing I found myself needing to learn on a 5 was the extra muting, and I still find it slightly more tricky to slap the E string on a 5 (having to mute the B and avoid hitting it). Neither are a deal breaker though. I don't actually play much below the low E on the B string but it is useful to not need to play E as an open string and for the added variety of fretting positions.

 

The other disadvantages people tend to mention are the added weight, and extra thickness of the neck (or tighter string spacing if getting a thinner neck). I haven't found either of those to be an issue (I don't like tight string spacing but that's alright as I don't mind wider necks, and had a Sandberg TM5 SL that was only 3.3kg) but I guess they are fairly important things to consider when getting one.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by SumOne

[OliverBlackman]

30 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

looking at their website, most of their 5 string basses are either out of my price range or Ibanez stuff, which I'm not keen on.  The only bass they seem to have that I would consider is a Player series Fender Jazz V.  I already have a player series 4 string so it doesn't get the Gas going like a completely new bass would and the Charvel is supposed to be a bit like a player series on steroids, i.e. better pups, hardware and its active.  So the Charvel is looking attractive.

Sire is one of those brands that I really never Gas after.  Perhaps if I had one over my shoulder I would change my mind.

The sire is just an excellent bass for the money; easy ergonomically where other five strings can be challenging and easy to sell without a big loss if you don’t like it.

[Woodinblack]

34 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

looking at their website, most of their 5 string basses are either out of my price range or Ibanez stuff, which I'm not keen on.

 

It doesn't really matter at the moment does it, you are trying to work out what you want. If you try stuff it gives you a better idea what you want.

 

 

34 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

The only bass they seem to have that I would consider is a Player series Fender Jazz V.

 

If that is the sort of thing you are after you are pretty well going to find it in any shop, so maybe there is something more local to you?

 

[Reggaebass]

Learning to play a 5 a few years back was one of the best things I did, it was great fun learning and I still play it now and again but for me it confirmed that I prefer 4 strings 🙂

[BillyBass]

43 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

If what you want to do is (a) learn to play 5-string and (b) remain married, then this would seem to be the simple option.

 

At that price, you haven't 'spent' £199, you have converted £199 worth of cash into £199 of bass, and you can convert back again at any time.

 

On the other hand, if I am to be violently separated from my manly parts, I might as well go the whole hog.

 

I'm trying to flog a couple of 4 strings to act as a makeweight, I'm hoping this will appease her majesty.

[Rayman]

Sire V9 or M7 (V7 or M5 for cheaper but awesome versions) would be where I'd be looking. That's from New. Personally I almost always go second hand. Ibanez 5ers are easy to play, narrow spacing and well built. A Yamaha BB is always a safe bet. I've heard the San Dimas comes with a very unexciting Pre.... Otherwise a lovely bass, if you're prepared to upgrade the Pre to something more useable. Having said that, the bass player with Diamond Head (old school rock) was using one the other night, and it sounded really great. I LOVE the look of the San Dimas.... I'm tempted myself..... but having researched the M5/M7 I'd probably go down that road..... (If you can live with the headstock).

Edited February 2, 2022 by Rayman

[Rayman]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224815384625?hash=item34580a8831%3Ag%3AX1QAAOSwbbZh9r~d&LH_ItemCondition=3000

 

Not mine...... but, I'd be all over this if I had the spare cash

 

*EDIT It's fretless...... I'd still buy it though

Edited February 2, 2022 by Rayman

[Rayman]

Fretted version

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334308194433?hash=item4dd6523881%3Ag%3At1cAAOSwK0ph7dEo&LH_ItemCondition=3000

[Lfalex v1.1]

If (by trying various basses) you can figure out what factors you do and don't like,  then that will hopefully enable you to buy second-hand.

By so doing,  your budget will go much further. 

 

Edit- I quite like the look of the MTD Kingston Super 5..

Edited February 2, 2022 by Lfalex v1.1

[Machines]

3 hours ago, BillyBass said:

On the other hand, if I am to be violently separated from my manly parts, I might as well go the whole hog.

 

As long as you are willing to take a financial hit of at least 30% if you choose to sell something you bought new (assuming they aren't super rare), then go for it.

[BillyBass]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

Sire V9 or M7 (V7 or M5 for cheaper but awesome versions) would be where I'd be looking. That's from New. Personally I almost always go second hand. Ibanez 5ers are easy to play, narrow spacing and well built. A Yamaha BB is always a safe bet. I've heard the San Dimas comes with a very unexciting Pre.... Otherwise a lovely bass, if you're prepared to upgrade the Pre to something more useable. Having said that, the bass player with Diamond Head (old school rock) was using one the other night, and it sounded really great. I LOVE the look of the San Dimas.... I'm tempted myself..... but having researched the M5/M7 I'd probably go down that road..... (If you can live with the headstock).

Basses for me are a bit like the opposite sex, I fancy some, others aren't my type.  I've just watched a review of the V7 version 2, though the reviewer was very impressed, he pointed out a couple of things that I wouldn't like: neck dive and a bit of a subdued J pup.  On the other hand, the Red Charvel JJ V with gold hardware and cream pups wouldn't look out of place in a tart's boudoir.  I love the look but have yet to try one out.

 

[Rayman]

I think the M5/7 is maybe a better bet. It seems like a total all rounder. But yes the Charvel is a looker, I love the colours available, but again, apparently the Pre is a bit weak.