5 String

[malcspring]

I am totally new to bass guitars having previously been a drummer and saxophonist. I have had a long standing ambition to learn to play the bass and a friend of mine is a bass teacher. I am therefore in the market for a new guitar and I have decided upon a 5 string. I do fancy an American Fender Jazz 5 string, but availability is virtually non existent until October. I had also been looking at the Music Man Sterling 5 string, but that has a waiting time of 3 months to get the finish I want. Lastly, amplification for the bass. With me wanting a 5 string I am told that the low b string is in the region of 30 hz, so I will be needing a practice amp that will be able to handle the lower frequency. Thanks for any advice.

[OutToPlayJazz]

Welcome to BC!

Those are two very nice bass choices, but also very different basses you've listed there...

The Fender American Standard V is a lovely bass with all the nice modern Jazz bits like the posiflex graphite neck support rods, thinner undercoat, high mass bridge & light weight tuners, etc. It also has one of the nicest 5-string necks around with just about the most generous string spacing as well.

The Sterling is a completely different bass - A very powerful active 3-band eq preamp, hugely bright ceramic pickups etc, with the options of on board parallel//single coil/series settings.

I suppose the choice between these two is a straight contrast between modern and punchy versus classic and warm. This is the kind of comparison only you can do with your own hands and ears. My personal preference (if it's to be your main bass) would be the Sterling, as it'll do so much so well, but as I said, that's down to you.

As for amplification, I'd be looking not only for a practise amp, but something you can also get out and gig with. For the price of a decent Roland Bass cube (30 or 100w) you can get a new Ashdown Electric Blue 180 15" combo. These are ample for many until the volume gets out of hand!

As a for instance, I recently got a pupil his first bass package (he'd been with me previously as a cello pupil for a while), which was a new trans black Epiphone Thunderbird Pro 4 & the Ashdown amplifier above. By buying the larger amplifier, you don't need to upgrade it as soon as you want to go out and play (when the time comes!) QED?

Alternative 5-strings in the sort of style & price range you're looking at are very commonplace, but see if you can get to play a Lakland Skyline 45-01 (massive value and huge tonal range/great sound) & a few Warwick 5-strings as well.

Obviously everyone will point you towards the bass [i]they[/i] think is best, but the only real solution is to get to as many dealers as you can and see which bass feels right in your hands.

Best of luck with it all!

Rich

[malcspring]

Thanks for your very detailled reply. I will get out ant start looking.
Malc

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='848870' date='May 26 2010, 08:12 PM']Welcome to BC!

Those are two very nice bass choices, but also very different basses you've listed there...

The Fender American Standard V is a lovely bass with all the nice modern Jazz bits like the posiflex graphite neck support rods, thinner undercoat, high mass bridge & light weight tuners, etc. It also has one of the nicest 5-string necks around with just about the most generous string spacing as well.

The Sterling is a completely different bass - A very powerful active 3-band eq preamp, hugely bright ceramic pickups etc, with the options of on board parallel//single coil/series settings.

I suppose the choice between these two is a straight contrast between modern and punchy versus classic and warm. This is the kind of comparison only you can do with your own hands and ears. My personal preference (if it's to be your main bass) would be the Sterling, as it'll do so much so well, but as I said, that's down to you.

As for amplification, I'd be looking not only for a practise amp, but something you can also get out and gig with. For the price of a decent Roland Bass cube (30 or 100w) you can get a new Ashdown Electric Blue 180 15" combo. These are ample for many until the volume gets out of hand!

As a for instance, I recently got a pupil his first bass package (he'd been with me previously as a cello pupil for a while), which was a new trans black Epiphone Thunderbird Pro 4 & the Ashdown amplifier above. By buying the larger amplifier, you don't need to upgrade it as soon as you want to go out and play (when the time comes!) QED?

Alternative 5-strings in the sort of style & price range you're looking at are very commonplace, but see if you can get to play a Lakland Skyline 45-01 (massive value and huge tonal range/great sound) & a few Warwick 5-strings as well.

Obviously everyone will point you towards the bass [i]they[/i] think is best, but the only real solution is to get to as many dealers as you can and see which bass feels right in your hands.

Best of luck with it all!

Rich [/quote]

[OutToPlayJazz]

I also just remembered this bass... This sounds truly amazing & very versatile. Available from www.thomann.de for £965. Sounds like a bargain to me!

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='848870' date='May 26 2010, 08:12 PM']As for amplification, I'd be looking not only for a practise amp, but something you can also get out and gig with. For the price of a decent Roland Bass cube (30 or 100w) you can get a new Ashdown Electric Blue 180 15" combo. These are ample for many until the volume gets out of hand!
Rich [/quote]

I would point out as a long-time Ashdown EB owner that, while mine has put in sterling (geddit?) service as a small gig amp, for practicing I find the tone is thin and dull until you crank it a bit - the Roland Cube really scores here, if I was JUST looking for a bedroom practice-type amp I'd definitely choose the Roland. I'd also definitely buy secondhand

[pete.young]

[quote name='malcspring' post='848763' date='May 26 2010, 06:14 PM']I am totally new to bass guitars having previously been a drummer and saxophonist. I have had a long standing ambition to learn to play the bass and a friend of mine is a bass teacher. I am therefore in the market for a new guitar and I have decided upon a 5 string. I do fancy an American Fender Jazz 5 string, but availability is virtually non existent until October. I had also been looking at the Music Man Sterling 5 string, but that has a waiting time of 3 months to get the finish I want. Lastly, amplification for the bass. With me wanting a 5 string I am told that the low b string is in the region of 30 hz, so I will be needing a practice amp that will be able to handle the lower frequency. Thanks for any advice.[/quote]

Seems like a lot of money to spend on an instrument when you don't actually know that you're going to stick with it. You stand to lose a serious amount on resale. I think you might be better off to check out the second-hand forums on this site and bide your time a bit - there's a lot of really good gear for sale second hand at the moment, for silly prices.

[7string]

Be a pain in your local store and try as many different basses as you can

There are a bunch of basses at the price range you're looking at so take your time. Let us know where you are in the country and, hopefully, someone can suggest some shops in your local area.

There are so many variables and sound, scale length and weight are just 3 of them. The more basses you play the easier your search for your ideal bass will be.

Enjoy the shopping!

[dub]

Another option for practice is to get a decent pair of headphones and something small with a headphone output. The pocket pod is quite good for this as it has a stereo input so you can practice to CDs or ipod.
It's a useful thing to have with you as if you can practice anywhere without bugging anyone.
It also means you can get started and take a while to check out some amps to see what works for you.

[JTUK]

Wasn't there a Marcus Miller 5 on here the other day... if you are still looking for Fender types.. which you really should be IMO..

[Meenie]

give the Epiphone 5 string pro T-Bird a go,i'm using mine loads at the moment and its holding up great.

[thepurpleblob]

Speaking as someone who started on a 5 string...

Get a four string

You won't have a clue why at first but some things are just a touch trickier on a 5 (particularly around muting) and you are just making life harder for yourself than you need to. Also 5s vary a lot more than 4s and you can play all you like in a shop - you probably don't know what you are looking for (yet).

So... get a middle of the market, common as muck 4 string and expect to upgrade in a few months once you can play the thing a bit. Although you might still be playing your Sqier Jazz/Precision in ten years time

Edited May 27, 2010 by thepurpleblob

[Metalmoore]

I gotta agree with thepurpleblob. I recomend a Squier VMJ which plays and sounds great then work your way onto a fiver and the VMJ is a keeper in most cases too.