lowregisterhead

For what it's worth, I have a 2007 Skyline (Korean) Lakland DJ5, and also had a 2008 Skyline (Indonesian) DJ5, but I much prefer the Korean - it has a bigger sound, and is a little heavier, which may have something to do with it. I sold the 2008 DJ5 to finance a new purchase, but not because it was a bad bass in any way - the build quality and general finish was excellent, it played beautifully, and sounded great. I've also owned USA Laklands in the past, and they are higher quality, but perhaps not so much that it justifies the much bigger price tag, in my opinion. As EssentialTension said further up the thread - try before you buy, every bass is different.

I've owned a headless S2, and a headed Empathy, both 5's. If you can get your head (no pun intended) around a headless, it feels very liberating and unencumbered, and there is a school of thought that states the lack of a head means a more even response, as markorbit said. I can't say that, as in my experience I felt my Empathy was more tonally consistent than the S2! The Empathy isn't made anymore obviously, so if you're going for a new S2, my only advice would be don't go for a bolt-on, pay the extra and get a thru-neck. In my opinion, the extra rigidity seems to make the bass sing a bit more. That said, it's worth noting that the new S2s, unlike the Empathy, don't have a complete 'thru-neck', as it stops at the bridge pickup. What effect that could have on the overall tone of the instrument is endlessly debatable, so I'd wait for others to put in their twopence worth about that! One warning about the headless - unless you use double ball end strings, be aware that the allen studs used to secure a standard string at the head can fracture the core if over-tightened. I had a couple of Gs snap on me there. You also may fall foul of headless-haters who think anything without a head is an '80's bass'! Ponytails and legwarmers are optional if you play one, of course. I like either myself, and the Status head is good looking, compact and nicely in proportion, IMHO.

This is potentially a bit of a minefield, and no doubt there are recognised techniques for left as well as right hand damping, but personally, I just move my thumb onto the E when I'm playing the A, D or G, and even up to the D on occasion, but whatever works for you, obviously. The string spacing of your chosen 5 will play some part in this too, I reckon, as well as the size of your hands - I play a Lakland DJ5 with wide spacing, but then again I have hands like shovels. I assume you're well over the hurdle of mistaking the B for an E... when I got my first five 20 years ago, I made the mistake of taking it onstage for a big gig at Alexandra Palace. The first number was in E, and I hit a huge, trouser-flapping B. Didn't go down well!