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That's because we're in Bristol which is objectively the best place in the UK.

Maybe it's an age thing - I grew up in the Trace Elliot era when we learned to set the gain to a level where it just started to peak, and THEN added the output volume. That also gives a much more faithful sound of your bass.

Loads of answers here. I only have one 5-string these days - my Status KingBass Mk-II. It has quite simply the best B-string I've ever heard, and that's on a comparatively light 125 gauge too. Of course, with the scarcity of these, the prices are going to be a lot higher than £2.5k, but a graphite neck'd 5-string will definitely surprise you with it's clarity across the board. There's a nice all-graphite Status 5 (which I've briefly played) on GumTree at the moment in the Leicester area for about £2k. https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/status-all-graphite-5-string-bass/1499697344 One other 5 which surprised me was the Hils Next Bass HNB5. That had a biblical sounding B. All for under £700.

I looked at a website promising 'ten hard basslines'. They were all what I'd call "intermediate", but I think the point of the article was they demanded groove and feel or consistency rather than sheer speed.

Is the pickup module rear-loading so you can change the pickups without taking the strings off? Simply turning it upside down and making it top-loading would mean no dirty great hole on the centreline.

At the pub/club level, I doubt that. The pubcos really screw the tenants, and the clubs cannot have enough buying power to get booze at good prices. Of course, some clubs do enough to warrant an entertainment allowance from the drink supplier (I know one club that got £8K in 2017). Of course, that is factored in to the price the club pays for drink.

I am always astounded by the huge differences in output levels between basses with different pickups. I make a lot of use of gain to get a more consistent edge of overdrive sound, with effects I use compression to achieve the same. I think low output pups are often condemned because people turn up the master volume and get a vanilla sound as a result.

I've used these Wedgies for many years now. I like them for the thumb indentation that helps with grip. I've recently started fiddling about with my EQ to try and remove some of the 'click' but I still want clank. Not there yet

My pleasure. Have fun with it.

Yes - that works. Thank you.

The best sounding B string I’ve ever come across is on the Ken Smith HF Burner I bought about six months ago. Absolutely thunderous sounding; almost synth-like in the purity of the tone. Regular 34” scale but built beautifully. Aside from that I’ve had a couple of Warwick 5-strings (bolt-on and NT) and both of them had excellent B strings; very even across the whole fingerboard. Definitely worth investigating.

I was merely responding to your original post in isolation. But blocks (or crowns) in general, yes yes yes.

This deviates from the Spector recipe a lot IMO. The Bolt with the Aguilar pups is Spector trying to appeal to a wider market. Not my thing. It's all about thru-neck and EMGs.

But combined with the glitch in the rout for the lower horn (Fender) and the equal spacing of the scratchplate holes... (j not p)

I've had a lot of 5 string basses from the dirt cheap to the silly money. I've had scales from 30 on a no-name ebay thing to 37 inch on a Canadian Dingwall. Construction quality is far more important than scale length so don't buy a 37 inch or even 35 just because someone says it will be better because it might not be. My favourite B (and indeed drop A) I ever found was on a Marleaux Consat Custom 5 string. 34 inch scale. Delano pickups with a (iirc) Glockenklang 3 band preamp. With a budget of £2500 you'll have to look for a used one and be patient about it as they are very expensive these days. String choice is also very important on a low B. The Marleaux came with it's stock strings and they were awful. Did not work at all. D'addario Pro Steels suited that bass the best and the difference was night and day. I should never have sold that bass.

Thanks Chris I will take my time and will go through all the replies and check out all the basses mentioned then look for a used one probably to get the best deal

Almost impossible to say. What suits one player may not suit another. There is no one size fits all. The things that matter most to me are: construction - a well constructed bass will always produce better low notes than extending the scale length alone, by all means pick a long scale length because you like the extra space between the frets but don't automatically assume longer equals better. Everything else IME is down to playing technique. If you play hard, like I do, you'll probably find that you'll want a taper-wound B (and maybe also E) and you'll also probably want to move the pickup(s) away from the lower strings slightly. If you have a light touch these things may not matter and something else (I don't know what) will be more important. Spend a couple of days out at Bass Direct and The Bass Gallery trying all their 5-string basses including some outside your budget just to check that you don't need to save a bit more to get the bass you really want.

I played a stingray 5 through a quality rig but it the low B was rubbish

Had a good practice last night. Just getting the set together for tonight's gig at the Gryphon with a couple of Canadian doom bands, Witchrot and Tumble. Tumble were caught up in a Canadian flight attendant strike and it was touch or go if they'd make it or not, so we prepped a short and a long set. I've also managed to make a parallel fuzz sound on my GX-100 inspired by the Mountain King Megalith that actually sounds as good as pedals and confirmed by the rest of the band, so I'm very happy with that and have taken the pedals out of the effects loop (after carefully backing up the patches of course!).

This discussion should really be on the SW bass bash thread. So I will post my ideas over there.

I basically agree. Playing the guitar with your teeth, behind your back, doing the splits or back flips whilst singing etc etc. A long history of technical achievements that engage an audience and make a show more interesting but don’t really have much to do with the music. The primary purpose was to hook the audience in and stand out from the crowd. TikTok etc have put this requirement on steroids as there is so much noise to compete with. IMO a Bach cello suite played on a fretted bass at 200bpm is likely to get more clicks than a background member of a world famous orchestra playing it normally (unless they were hot and doing it in a swim suit whilst riding a unicycle). As for whether it’s musical? I guess that’s down to personal preference. Are Polyphia musical? Sounds like arse to me but I like iDLES!

My point was that these are technical achievements not musical statements. Chopin created some of the most complex and beautiful piano music possible. It flowed through him. Of course, you could probably find some kid that could play it at twice the speed, but why? The majority of popular YouTubers create content that sucks you in. (Fastest bass line ever, most complex bass line ever, can I play this violin solo on bass, etc.) They’re all technical accomplishments but is it musical? In my opinion, it’s not. But that’s my view. You may love to see Bach cello suite played on a fretted bass at 200bpm. And if you do, that’s the magic of the world. I’m off to get measured for some clogs.

Ah, I hadn't read this yet. Is that the radio frequency one? I think I was looking at that a while ago, just not sure if it was the 75 or another one. I was interested because the latency on radio units is really low, but the sound quality can vary a lot (there's a lot of processing going on and bass response can be reduced). Please let us know what you think once you've got it

A great bass tone comes from how well the bass is made and the quality of the components. Cheap pickups will never sound good. The bass that ticks the quality materials, quality manufacturing and quality components boxes will get you the best tone, across all strings. The 3 best basses I've discovered so far are Sadowsky (Japanese, US and German models), Mike Lull basses and US Lakland 55-94's. . . . the Lakland Skylines are also worth a look. Don't rush this. Take your time. You have a great budget. Buy a good used bass and get much more bass for your money.