Leaderboard

Have recently just obtained a Vigier Passion11 in greenburst to go along with my Passion111 custom in funky orange (not sure what the colour is!! though the bass is a funk machine!) So comparison between the carbon neck and the 10/90 system on the go at the moment....Both a joy to play and a very happy bassist

I would correct this and say 'one of the benefits....' - another benefit you have discovered is that finding notes on or around the 5th fret can be easier without ever dipping below the low E. I would also add the extra choice of where to play the note gives you the choice of what timbre the note will have - eg E played on an open string doesn't sound like E fretted on the B string so you can play what is most appropriate. I changed to 5 strings about 2 years ago and most likely won't change back even if there was no longer a need for 5 strings. But, as has been said, do what is most comfortable for you - from what you say it sounds like you want to explore 5 strings so I'd say go for it. If it doesn't work out, go back to 4. No-one will get hurt, it is only a bass!

So I bought a Mark Bass set up comprising a head and two cabs. Then, a while later, GAS got the better of me and I couldn't say no to a couple of Barefaced cabs. As Patrick O' Brian would say I was with child to try them out and promptly did so on the evening of the day upon which I'd wrested possession of them from @Happy Jack in the car park at Newbury services. They gave an incredibly detailed account of the instruments I put through them, but I did spend much of the rehearsal fiddling with the controls of the Little Mark Tube to achieve a sound I liked. No problem I thought, new gear takes time to learn. Every set up has its foibles. Last night I gazed along the mountain of amps and cabs I've accumulated over the years, and in a fit of quite astonishing laziness decided I could only be arsed to take the smallest of the BF cabs and a couple of cables and one bass. Once the folly of not taking any amplification had fully dawned on me I trotted back into the house and on nothing more than a whim I grabbed my ageing Behringer BX4500H. This cheap and cheerful head has been with me for yonks usually coming along for the ride as a back up where it has served me honourably. In fact on more than one occasion it has stepped bravely to the fore when far more illustriously named amplifiers have croaked in mid gig. Imagine my utter astonishment when the diminutive Barefaced Midget in combination with this ugly ducking of the bass amp world proceeded to produce the most astoundingly beautiful bass sound with which I have ever been associated. My singer looked up wide eyed from her seat to comment how the bottom end of the sound had passed through her chest in such a way as to make her draw breath, the clarity and smoothness of the upper frequencies had my aged yet nimble fingers dancing up the fretboard and the mid tones boxed their way cleverly through the other instruments there present as they seamlessly and fluently held together the whole in a way I'd not previously experienced. And loud. Boy oh boy. The master pot was barely off the floor and yet I filled the room with a sonic feast both voluble and delicious. The tone knobs were set to neutral, just the shape control engaged and the bass boost button depressed. I was playing a Stingray, the infamously zingy, tingy, teeth on a metal fork quality of which I have tamed by the application of some flatwound strings. It was truly bass heaven. I look froward to trying other combinations of amp and cab before flooding our for sale section with unwanted goodies but honestly I shall be extremely surprised were any of them to match up to what I heard last night. Just goes to show, don't write off a 'cheap' brand from a position of prejudice, and don't assume amp 'A' will be amazing with cabs 'B' or 'C' without trying them first.

Well, I've gone for it! I've bought the Jazz I borrowed, and I'm rapidly falling in love with it, even though it's giving my fretting hand a different type of gyp. But the ability to just whizz across the fretboard rather than race up and down it is fantastic. And that lovely sustained tone... oh, it's gorgeous. The only downside is having to relearn all the starting points for the scales, but that's a small price to pay. Aye, it took a big chunk out of my bank balance but I thought that as I would graduate to a pro axe anyway it seemed sensible to go for broke rather than buy another cheap instrument. So, what two fives did you buy? And have you got a favourite?

I'm really not sure that apology is sufficient, y'know.

From personnal experience, the time not to move to a five is half way through your honeymoon necessitating a 3 hour detour and going straight into a gig when we got home thinking "the extra string cannot be THAT tricky".

I bought some confectionary described as mint, every single one had a bloody hole in it!

Cheers Liam, both helpful and really not helping at the same time, takes talent, that.

I went and bought a Fender P because I knew that some of the people I was playing with (and also some of the band leaders that I wouldn’t mind playing with) preferred that sound image / look. The BL was gushing about how great the new bass was and said that his bass playing mate had said “I see that Pete has got himself a proper bass at last”! Personally, I think that a lot of it is nonsense and that a decent bass will get a sound that will work in pretty much all situations. But it can’t be denied that a lot of people think that a ‘proper’ bass sounds and looks like the basses on the records they grew up with (be it Motown or the Clash) and ideally has ‘Fender Made in USA’ written on the headstock. So, I bought one because it would help me get more gigs. I heard a story of someone auditioning for Mark Knopfler who turned up with a high end coffee table 5 string. The audition obviously went well because he was asked to come back but Knopfler said to him ‘next time you come, bring something that looks like a proper bass’! So, he went and bought a 5 string that looked like a Fender for the second audition and I believe that he got the gig in the end.

And it's an excellent thing to have if the monitoring is amazing.

Not exactly Behringer-levels of surprise, but an old-school/new school combination I have is fantastic: my Walkabout through my Barefaced Super Twin. The cab just delivers all the Walkabout sound, and on the upside, it goes very, very loud. I know Mesa watts vs other watts and all that, but it makes 300w more than enough to deal with a couple of 412 Marshall guitars and a shed-building drummer. And it's a verrry easy one-cab solution (40lbs and wheels? Oh, go on, then ), and with a £30 Maplin case, the amp's a breeze to carry, too. As far as backline's concerned, I'm pretty much done.

That's why I like the Labella white nylons. They can give you the vibe of flats by taming the top end a bit, but they don't sound out of place for other stuff I'd play with rounds. They do not have the metallic zing, it's a bit more top midrangey, but it's a good string to cover a variety of styles with. Especially the copper white nylons. If you want something brighter, the gold ones get you there.

Depends on who else is in the room, and how loud they are. If you're up against a live kit with a clumsy drummer and a guitarist with a Marshall stack, then no. If you play with musicians, then yes.

Why not? I often take 2 or 3 basses to a gig or whatever and select the most suitable for the sound required by the band and will ask which they prefer. The band usually has an idea of the bass sound they want. Obviously, the doesn't apply with people you play with week in week out, but with new bands. For example, I rehearsed with a band last week that I am gigging with this weekend (my first gig with them) and tried a Precision with flats and a Jazz with rounds, finger style and with a pick. We decided the best sound was the Precision with flats, but more top would help nail the sound they want, so I have re-strung the Jazz with flats for the gig. It's not people 'telling what bass to play', it's just trying to help the band to achieve the sound that they want, and not just from the bass. In my regular blues band, the guitarist will sometime suggest that the drummer use a different snare, or tune a tom differently. We are all part of a band, and the overall sound is all that matters.

IIRC, Billy Sheehan said something along the lines of "I'm still learning the 4 string & once I've mastered it, then I'll add another string". The benefit of a 5 string is having those 5 lower semitones (though you could buy an octaver & have 12 lower semitones ). If the songs you play call for the lower (or of you string it E-C, higher) notes, then defo go for it. If your playing style means the extra string will make things easier, then again, go for it. If you want a 5 string just for the sake of having a 5 string, stop. Have a think & work out why you're going for a 5 string & not a 4 or 6. I've played a 4 string for 30+ years & never needed more. That doesn't stop me wanting a 5 string fretless though.

There isn't a set probation period one is required to "have served" on a 4 string, to be allowed to move to a 5 string bass. Four strings are simply a good starting point for shaping your own preferences. ||: Try as many different configurations/models/setups as you can and always go for the one you currently prefer. And then... :||

Oh! haha I see now you're talking about my username, well I feel silly now.

If you can afford it and can keep the Ibanez too then I’d say go for whatever makes you feel enthused about playing, and hence learning and progressing. Also, have you asked your teacher's opinion? They may be the best placed person to have a valid opinion on this. Unless they happen to have a five string Fender Jazz for sale that is

Sound advice! I spent part of this evening trying to switch between the four and the five and eventually gave up. I put the Ibanez back in its case, grabbed the Fender and only stopped when my fretting hand and shoulder wouldn't stop complaining. The Fender weighs a ton! But it's such a gorgeous instrument. I made my mind up, put a big hole in my bank balance and now I'm sticking with the five.

These are fantastic strings you won't regret them. I've had them on my Sterling Ray 34CA for a month and the results have been wonderful.

He doesn't want £20 for it. He wants to start an auction at £20 and let it run for a week, big difference. Otherwise, yes it's well worth twenty squid!

Google for Scott Devine's video on why not to buy a five. It's actually a cheeky title, because the video is moreabout why fives are good but the hiccups you may have along the way and tips on how to make the transition. If I recall, and from my own experience, fives are heavier, the spacing can be narrower, and the extra string alters your fretboard patterns picture. The upside is being able to work across and not have to go up and down the fingerboard. While 'Jaco never needed more than four strings', a great many pros do play with a five. The best advice I've had and would give is commit 100%. Don't try and play both the 4 and a the 5, you'll never get there. Decide to play a five, find a nice five you like and then never touch the 4 again. FWIW YMMV

Perhaps the mods can move the post if it’s in the wrong place?

That way madness lies. As to the votes: I can't bear the suspense. The results may polarise before the end, but there's a pause in the voting, it seems. 10 votes so far..? A grizzly turn-out, certainly, but maybe some have simply furgotten the poll..? We don't panda to folks' tastes, s'all. Did we make a Boo-Boo in choosing this photo..? We need a steddy floe of suitable subjects to break the ice; the koalaty has to be maintained. I'll stop now; I've a head cold, so cub along, go bearzurk and listen to the compositions, then vote, please.

I'll cover the basic method I use and then a couple of variations. Like always, I just will outline 'this is how I do it - and it consistently works for me - but I'm not saying this is how it should be done!' It's very simple. For a basic stained finish, non grain-filled, I do the following: I sand down to 250 grit. If it is a bought body, I take care that there is no releasing oil or similar on it and that I'm down to clean wood I vacuum the body with a brush attachment to make sure all the dust is out of the grain I apply the ink, straight out of the bottle, using a piece of old t-shirt or similar, bunched up and soaked in ink using a circular motion, making sure that the ink has properly gone into the grain. Latex or nitrile gloves are essential unless you want very brightly coloured hands for a few days.... I let it dry and repeat if necessary. 2-3 coats is usually fine. Remember that each coat will darken the end result The colour when the ink is first applied and still wet is the best indication of what the finished, varnished, colour will be. When the ink dries, it will look completely different - don't panic! I let it dry fully I finish it with Tru-oil or polyurethane varnish If I need to fill cracks or grain, I use one of two methods. Basically, the water-based ink will absorb differently on different woods and surfaces so, for example, if you sanding sealed it or used many types of filler, the ink colour would not absorb in those areas Grain Fill - Method one. Stainable Timbermate I use the dark stainable one This veneer had multiple deep fissures. The Metolux Timbermate will mix with water stains and - to an extent - absorb stain once dry. For best results I do both I mix some ink into the Timbermate Then prefill the gaps, then when the timbermate is dry and sanded, apply the stain in the normal way If I had just filled with the Timbermate out of the tub, the filled areas would have shown up as lighter shades. If I'd used the 'light stainable' Timbermate, even premixing ink into it, the same would happen. Using 'dark, stainable' Timbermate, premixed, the filled areas end up the same shade or slightly darker, both of which look fine on the finished result Grainfill - Method two. Tru-oil slurry and buff This is a method I've never seen other people do. Generally, it is said that you can't slurry and buff a stained surface because you will sand the stain away. Actually, if you are careful, you can. This is how I do it: I stain in the normal way I apply a coat of tru-oil and let it fully dry I apply a second coat of tru-oil, applied with 800 or 1000 grit wet and dry (you can also use micro-web) slurrying VERY gently. The slurry WILL take up some of the stain but the trick is not to go deep enough to expose unstained wood. Basically you are trying to slurry the first tru-oil coat, not the stained wood The slurry will fill grain perfectly well. While still wet (within 10 mins) very gently wipe the slurry off Let it dry, then repeat the slurry and wipe Repeat once more then leave as is (hand buffing to satin smoothness once it's properly dry) or add more tru-oil coats for a greater gloss or over-coat with varnish, whichever preferred. If you don't add the top gloss coats over the slurry and buffed finish, surely the ink will come off on your hands when you play? Well - it doesn't seem to. In fact, because I like satin necks, this is how I do all my stained necks nowadays - even for very, very regular players - so far they assure me they've never been caught red handed. Hope this helps Andy

That's the thing, you probably have but they had the good grace not to play one within earshot...!

Further information String gauge 045 - 065 - 085 - 105 Material Nickel Plated Scale Long Scale Taperwound No

Hellzero, I don't think Grangur's post was an attack on your suggestion, just a comment on what goes on in the bass string industry. I have looked at the Fodera site and their strings are made in the USA, as are the Warwick Black label. Warwick Red label are made in China. If the Fodera string are indeed the same as the Warwick Black label then it would at least mean that they fit the Warwick bass!!, if not the same then it gives me another option.

If no one here can help then there's a long and active thread on TB about Ampeg scroll basses - https://www.talkbass.com/threads/love-of-ampeg-and-other-scroll-basses-part-2.1044767/page-68. Lots of AEB-1 owners on there who may be able to help. Visual comparison with P-bass below might be useful as a guide.

Yep for me Walkabout with Barefaced Big Twin II is an incredible match made in sonic heaven. You are right the BF Twin cab delivers in bucket loads. I did a gig with that setup last weekend and the boogie was on about 1/4 on the input and 1/4 on the master and that was filling some space sound wise.

Behringer gets a mixed reaction generally, but I like their stuff. I've had cause to use one of their bass combos as backline on more than one occasion and they did not lack heft or articulation. Of course marketing would have you think otherwise. Best pairing I've had was a Burman 100W all-valve through two Bill Fitzmaurice J12s with Kappalites. All gone now, I'm sorry to say.

I have asked the guitarist several times to pour petrol over his orange combo and set fire to it. Still hasn't happened!

I get to choose who I play with now seriously... I've commented on the choice of guitar of some of the guitarists I play with (the strat was better than the Les Paul for our music, I thought) and they sometimes have commented on particular basses I may have tried... but the final choice always rests with the player. However, this could be different if I join a band where there's a clear leader in charge of the band's direction and sound. If I show up and he says "something like a Precision would be better suited than your Stingray for this", or he prefers a fretless or whatever... then I'd be listening, because the goal is making music, not for me to play an individual instrument. I guess what it boils down to is whether the band sound is decided collectively or there's one person in charge.

Thanks, everyone. Some good advice here, and I really appreciate it. I think my mind's made up - I'll go for the five. Time to go shopping!

I'm not averse to making suggestions to other band members, either, it is a two way process. In one band, I often ask the guitarist to turn up (yeah, hard to to believe!) and am always asking the harmonica player to turn his amp down. Or preferably off!

I've lived in the US all but one year of my life Blue, but yeah, from what I've seen the Midwest is very different from Washington and Oregon for sure. The J knockoff was a loaner and I also prefer the other bass in question in this context, so there's no issue there on my part. But the OP asked if my bandmates or audience would notice if I brought a Squier, and at least one clearly would. Anyone I play with on gigs typically gets to choose between the three that I own (one fretted 5, one fretless 4, and one EUB) and if they wanted a Fender-ish bass instead I would gladly let them buy or loan me one if it meant that much to them. Same for upright, which one band does currently provide for rehearsals. It's just a tool in my world, not a religious artifact.

According to the laws of dynamics and aeronautical engineering, bumble bees can't fly. IMHO small hands fall into this same category. If you want to play a 5, 6 or 7 there's nothing to stop you. You could find a trip to The Bass Gallery would be time well spent. You could also try Denmark Street good. Try some 5s and find what suits you.

Hi Laura, I moved from a 4 to a 5 string a couple of years ago and would definitely not go back. Like you I find the extra string useful. BTW I think we have the same tutor, Jamie and he uses both 5 and 4 string bases. I say go for it.

The flats on my Stingray are rounds. Ok, no, I don't have flats on my Stingray... but let me elaborate I tried EB Cobalt Flats. They were very very nice. Brighter than most flats, but easy to tame and become more traditional flat-sounding. However, next time I try I'll be using Labella Tapewounds, the white nylon copper ones. They don't exactly feel like flats, but they are smooth, and can sound much like flats but they have a very present low midrange that I love. Deep thick sound. They can be very bright if you want them to and sound fantastic slapped too. They cover a wide range of sounds, especially on a Stingray. So that would be my choice: Labella white nylon tapewounds copper, which are actually rounds inside, so my initial comment may make more sense now

I use to have chromes on mine but the tension was too stiff even after I went down to custom light gauge. I currently have La Bella low tension flats and I love them! They're a lot deeper and creamy sounding but I can get a good bark out of them when I open the tone. I'm probably never going to change them!

If you like filter based basses like the wal, alembic would have been a good choice but the models with filters are quite heavy which is something you are trying to avoid. Like was mentioned above, the ACG filter based basses would be good alternative and the weight is a comfortable.

I dont think he is. There may be a small but significant clue in his forum name. Its hard to spot though ...

Ah yes ... Orange Terror bass + Barefaced Midget, my go-to rig for several years. Loved it.

You can purchase it here : https://www.banzaimusic.com/Schaller-E-Bass-bridge-2000-5-string-Black.html

JUst rattled off a couple of pics of that bridge on my bass. To change the spacing, simply get an allen key and undo those four bolts at the rear of the bridge. Pic 1 shows its widest spacing, and pic 2 shows its closest spacing

Yup, there's a 5 and a 6 string version of the 2000. I have a 5, on a used Overwater to bring the spacing in a bit. Awesome bass! Schaller also do a 5 string version of their usual roller saddle bridge, but you can't get the spacing quite so tight. I think the details are on their site.

I was there too..not close to the stage but their's was the only set that me stop what I was doing and look up. Got a few live albums including the brill Donny Hathaway one but I reckon GFWYKnow may well be the best live album ever made. Very crisp.