5 string electro acoustic - any recommendations?

[niceguyhomer]

My band wants to do a bit of an acoustic thing mid set so it looks like I'm going to need an electro acoustic. Any recommendations fellas - I don't want to spend a wad on it but it has to play and sound decent.

Ta muchly.

[Dom in Dorset]

I constantly bore people here with how pleased I am with my Ibanez (AEB8E?) it's a four string but I bet they do 5 and I bet it's good.

[Mykesbass]

Crafter BA 580 - bowl back job, not the greatest unplugged but do a great job plugged in - look for one with an LR Baggs pick-up.

[Pete1967]

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='731322' date='Feb 1 2010, 07:59 AM']My band wants to do a bit of an acoustic thing mid set so it looks like I'm going to need an electro acoustic. Any recommendations fellas - I don't want to spend a wad on it but it has to play and sound decent.

Ta muchly.[/quote]

I have a Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5... it works for me and the inlays look the dogs if you ike that kind of thing. Good VFM even if I did have to import if from Texas. I have found that the strings on an acoustic make a huge difference. Good ones make the bass sound great but bad ones can give you a really duff tone - more marked IME than with a pure electric. The Thomastic-Infeld are my favourites, but a bit fragile and effing expensive.

P

[chris_b]

I heard a Tacoma Thunderchief 4 string and it sounded great. It had a full bassy tone with good volume and projection, probably because the neck and most of the body is mahogany. I would expect the 5 string to be just as good.

When small companies are taken over by big companies the emphasis often shifts from the product to profit so I don't know about Tacoma after the Fender buy out but they should still be worth a listen, if you can find one!

[Born 2B Mild]

I went through a similar GAS 'need' recently. I decided I wanted an electro-acoustic 5-string that was neither too deep nor traditional looking. This pretty much boiled down to one choice ...the Godin A5. It has a Fender-like neck and can be played comfortably standing up.

Eventually I tracked one down on ebay in Canada, but it still cost me a fair bit. Offsetting this is that it is now my regular bass for my Americana band AND it has worked out surprisingly well as a bass to noodle with at my desk, when I don't want to bother with amps.

[niceguyhomer]

That Godin looks really nice but I'll bet it's gonna cost more than I want to spend for the sake of 3 or 4 songs

[Dom in Dorset]

If it's only for four or five songs you might be better off getting a good four string rather than a not so hot five.
Ibanez four strings are about £200 (Nevada music)
Ibanez EWB205WNE-NT 5-String £339 ( Dolphin music)

[john_the_bass]

[quote name='Pete1967' post='732842' date='Feb 2 2010, 12:57 PM']I have a Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5... it works for me and the inlays look the dogs if you ike that kind of thing. Good VFM even if I did have to import if from Texas. I have found that the strings on an acoustic make a huge difference. Good ones make the bass sound great but bad ones can give you a really duff tone - more marked IME than with a pure electric. The Thomastic-Infeld are my favourites, but a bit fragile and effing expensive.

P[/quote]

My dad's got a Michael Kelly Dragonfly fretless 5 and thinks it's very nice. Although the next bass on his list is a fretless Godin A5.

[franzbassist]

What sort of wedge are you looking to spend Homie?

[sixshooter]

I have a Washburn 5 string for sale here on basschat if you are interested? Someone was interested in it from Italy but did not feel that I trusted the shippers with an Acoustic!

[niceguyhomer]

[quote name='walbassist' post='733104' date='Feb 2 2010, 04:23 PM']What sort of wedge are you looking to spend Homie?[/quote]

I dunno - probably about £300 but I can be tempted to spend a bit more I guess. A four string would do but I thought a five string would give me somewhere to anchor my thumb in the absence of pickups. How do people anchor when they're playing the E string on a 4?

[franzbassist]

[quote name='sixshooter' post='733173' date='Feb 2 2010, 05:03 PM']I have a Washburn 5 string for sale here on basschat if you are interested? Someone was interested in it from Italy but did not feel that I trusted the shippers with an Acoustic![/quote]

This bass would be a very good call.

[Born 2B Mild]

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='733019' date='Feb 2 2010, 02:59 PM']My dad's got a Michael Kelly Dragonhttp://basschat.co.uk/style_images/basschat/folder_editor_images/rte-image-button.pngfly fretless 5 and thinks it's very nice. Although the next bass on his list is a fretless Godin A5.[/quote]
Yes, that would be very nice. Hope this isn't a hijack Al, but here's an A5 fretless I spotted and 'filmed' a couple of weeks ago. Robert Godin was standing next to me admiring the playing too.
[Correction: I think this is an A4 but what the heck!]

Edited February 4, 2010 by Born 2B Mild

[niceguyhomer]

I think I'm gonna put this on hold for a few weeks and see if I really need one. TBH I got a shock yesterday how much it's going to cost me to fly to Crete in August and I need to tighten my belt a bit.

[Isis]

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='734698' date='Feb 4 2010, 07:08 AM']I think I'm gonna put this on hold for a few weeks and see if I really need one. TBH I got a shock yesterday how much it's going to cost me to fly to Crete in August and I need to tighten my belt a bit.[/quote]

I've got an Ashbury 5 string and I'm very pleased with it. I had a four string a long while ago and to be honest, the finish and quality was not good, but things have changed and the finish and quality of my 5 string is very good. The cost? £299 just a couple of years back. The can be got from Hobgoblin Music (Google will find them).

Now I'm looking to get a 5 string fretless Dragonfly. They are not available in the UK at the moment, but I've had assurances they will be re-importing as from about April.

Pete