ForestPoetry

We all have off days. My Squier VM Jazz, sometimes I absolutely hate the sound and feel of it, other times it's just right and I'll happily sit there and bang out Rush tunes on it for an hour straight. Same thing with my Ibanez Portamento 5 string; some days it's the best instrument I've ever owned, other days even the Soundgear neck feels too big for my girly sized hands and I don't want to look at the thing. It's almost like Russian roulette with these things at times.

The new 2016 SR300s are made of mahogany now, like the 500 series, and have upgraded electronics. Definitely worth looking into. I'm getting one of the 5 strings soon as I need a good modern active beater for gigs. Looking forward to it! The 500 does have the Bartolini pickups (which seem to polarise a lot of people, I really liked them) and Wenge/Jatoba neck. The neck on my old SR505 was brilliant. I wouldn't pay £300 for one though, although maybe I'm still smarting from only getting £150 from mine when I sold it on good old Ibby resale value... OP you may want to look into Cort. The B4/C4 is essentially the SR500 slightly cheaper (same materials and electronics), slightly fatter body, and this year they've jumped on the upgrade train and started putting MarkBass preamps in them which sounds pretty nice! I have yet to play one myself but on paper it ticks a lot of boxes. [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Cort_C4_Plus_OTAB.html"]http://www.bassdirec..._Plus_OTAB.html[/url]

The 2016 Ibanez SR305's look amazingly good for the money. They've upgraded the electronics and the body wood is mahogany now. It was already a damn good instrument for the money (around £250). The new version is basically an SR505 (RRP around half a grand) for half that price. The Yamaha TRBX series looks really good too, I've been quite keen to try one out. The TRBX305 will set you back just shy of £300 new. Second the Sire MM Jazz too, they look excellent. Don't ignore the Squier VM/CV models either.

I've been quite pleased with my Ibanez Portamento. I'd say it was the best fretless 5 on the market for under £1000. The only thing I'd change is the rosewood board....I like ebony more. The Spector Legend Classics look very good too. Not played one. I owned an LTD B205 fretless for about a week. Nice bass, but the electronics really let it down. Returned it, got the Portamento and haven't thought twice since then.

I forgot to mention I had also looked at the Yamaha TRBX305. What are people's thoughts on that? I find Yammy's kindof ugly looking but in terms of functionality they seem quite capable.

Basically I need a new 5 string for gigging purposes, that should be good enough to record with ideally (running through a Sansamp to juice up the tone for example). What I'm after is a beater, pretty much. Not junk, but not "great" as my budget right now doesn't allow for it. I've narrowed it down to 3 options: ESP LTD B-55 - I like the shape and the P/J config, and the overall raw simplicity of it. Seen mixed reviews though. I had a B-205 for about a week and returned it cause I thought the pre-amp sucked, but I guess this one wouldn't have the same problem as the electronics are totally different. Ibanez SR305 - SR's are my "go to" basses and I know I can just pick this up and play it well and comfortably. This is another one I've seen get some mixed reviews, but wether or not that's just gear snobbery I can't say for sure. I've also seen some people report problems with the bridge. I had a fretless 4-string of this bass a few years back, and it served me pretty well. Also arguably the most versatile bass on this list. Jackson JS3VQM - With this one, I dig the 35" scale and the pointy headstock. I'm in a metal band so aesthetically this bass would be the obvious choice. I haven't been able to find very many good demos of this though. Unsure about the tone.

Discipline by King Crimson

Fits "Wuthering Heights" like a glove! Though I would have rather done "Deeper Understanding" myself as the fretless playing in that song blows me away. One minor point I will now raise about this bass, although perhaps it is a non-issue: the finish. It's the same finish as the SR500 and yes, it's already started wearing away from normal use. I always disliked that about my SR505. It's just a rather flimsy finish job. I guess I'll just have to be careful and deal with it when it does inevitably get more worn down...mojo and all that.

Wal Mk II fretless Pedulla Buzz in arctic blue with gold hardware A premium series Ibanez SR A 10 string Chapman Stick with full MIDI controller facilities like Nick Beggs has got

[quote name='Trashbat' timestamp='1438000537' post='2830659'] Thanks for the replies. Do you think £250 is a good price for an SR700? It seems a little cheap to me which makes me a little reticent about taking the plunge (it's online so I can't try it out)... [/quote] Soundgears have horrendous resale value for some reason, obviously this makes it pretty good for picking them up second hand! You can get a lot of bass for not much money. I bought my SR505 new for around £500, then sold it 3 years later (in still very good condition) and the most I could get was £150. It was insulting, but that's how it goes.

They're exactly the same bass aside from the finish I think. The finish on the SR500s is really weak, so the 700 one will be more durable. They also look a bit better imo. Both are leaps ahead of the 300. Night and day level of difference. I had a fretless one and it was killer for the money but the electronics weren't that noteworthy IMO.

Thanks all, it's getting it's first gig at my friend's wedding in a week's time on some Sting, Police and Kate Bush tunes. Went down really well at the rehearsal for that yesterday.

Why no Wals? That's his best tone IMO.I really don't get why he doesn't play them anymore. His playing was at it's zenith during the Wal era too IMO...but then when it comes to Rush I have a huge musical hard-on for all the 80s stuff, especially Power Windows through Presto when he was playing the Wals. I really like the Steinberger sound on Grace Under Pressure too though.

Nice review up there! Indeed the ability to blend the magnetics and piezo makes it a very versatile bass. I have noticed though that bringing in the piezo seems to defeat the EQ section for the Barts. Not really an issue to me, so far I've been enjoying soloing the piezo for the most part. Something to be aware of, though. That and the piezo output is very hot, but you do get the individual saddle volume pots on the back of the body. This is easily the most impressive fretless I've found in the mid-range price point. My first fretless was one of those limited run SR300s about 3 years ago. Technically it was a downgrade as I had sold my SR505 and found myself with no bass (that's a dark place to be, I tell you). I have always loved fretless (grew up listening to guys like Mick Karn and Tony Levin before I found metal in my teens, and eventually guys like Steve Digiorgio playing fretless on the mid-era Death albums and the incredible Sean Malone in Cynic, see my avatar) so I got it as an experiment and well, here I am. I thought at the time a higher end fretless SR would be the tits...and it is!

Those fanned fret SR's are seriously nice looking: Drool.

The only picture taken at my first show with black metal band Aklash on the 12th of June. Venue was the Facebar in Reading. This was my first time on stage in over 10 years since I quit the brass band thing, and my first show ever with a rock band format (i.e no music stand to stare at instead of a crowd), so I was quite nervous. Anyway I plowed through the fear and had a blast! We went down well and my friends and bandmates said I did a good job. That's the only photographic evidence. I didn't spend the whole thing hiding beneath my hair lol, this is a mid-concentration shot. It's an SRX500 I'm playing btw. Borrowed our guitarist's Sansamp DI pedal and it worked a treat. Our next performance is at the end of this month in Brighton, so I'm looking forward to getting some better shots of us then!

Very nice! Also I am super jealous of you for having owned a Wal, even in the past.

That's an eye catching fingerboard though! I'm pretty sceptical of the Rockbasses. That looks like an older one without the 3D bridge. Does it say "Rockbass" on the headstock instead of the "W"? As for that model, I wanted to be impressed by it when I played the 5er but the pickups were a bit muddy. The active Corvettes with J pickups were noticeably better to my ears.

Only my 2nd post but I won't turn down a chance to show off this thing! This is my 4th fretless. I had the the biggest GAS for this thing ever since I first became aware of it. I got a fretless LTD B-205 a month or so ago, and it had some potential, but the pre-amp was a major dissapointment to me. So, I returned it and saved up a bit more, and got the bass I wanted all along. This thing is just great! I find the piezo tone control is ridiculously powerful and should be kept well below halfway for the best chance at EUB tones. It does a pretty decent impression if you play on the extended "ramp" bit. And on top of that, it's a very nice electric fretless anyway! SR's are probably my favourite in terms of commonly available basses you can walk into a music shop and buy, ie not custom stuff. The body's a bit chunkier than a typical SR which is a definite plus in terms of tone. The thru-neck and additonal contour on the rear of the body are excellent. Overall, I'm chuffed! I was also looking at the Ibanez GWB35 Gary Willis, which looks like a very nice piece of kit too despite what I have read about the pre-amp not being amazing. I almost went for it on the basis of the ebony board, but I decided the Portamento was the more interesting choice.

Stunning! Nice bit of wood.