caruso

Some further information as the type of bass, scale would be helpful to recommend a set of strings. Generally the thicker the string the better it will sound with dropped tuning.

I am a member of bassic.ch and there are many members who ordered from ishibashi. All in all the service ishibashi supplies can be counted as extraordinary: people unsure about how to communicate with them just write in English and get English response. Shipping is fast and packaging on the heavy duty side. The quality of the jap. Fenders according to those members is much more consistent on the better side of the spectrum (compared to US or Mexican produktion). They're all very happy and satisfied with service and product. VAT etc. has to be paid, of course but still the prices are good.

If you choose to let one have build for you bare in mind that this has (even ordering from the best luthiers) one big disadvantage: you never know how the bass comes out in the end. Bassdirect stocks some nice Roscoes. Geoff Gould builds great instruments that have to be ordered and George Furlanetto, who builds F-Basses has the reputation of a very high standard.

Sound sample to be found under category Gallery, Andrew Vannoy's Milo bass.

Yes, not only did I try them, I have them stocked in my flat (6 sets per package). Such a nice stainless steel string with the right amount of pull on my fingers, growly, gritty tone, sweet highs, nothing of that harshness Dean Markleys have, tension comparable to Rotos but softer to your fingertips, last 3 to 4 gigs in a slap/pop setting, fingerstyle even longer including approx. 4 rehearsels. Pricewise very good. Have them on my Jazz(passiv) and Ibanez(aktiv). Never tried the 5 string set though.

Well, i use La Bella HRS 45/65/85/105/128 as i find the bstring to be the most defined of all brands, good tension on all strings, not as high as Rotos and they feel a little bit softer than Rotos. Thicker b strings give me the feel of playing a steel bar without giving me the possibility of tose subtle playing nuances.

Why is learning on a 4string the gospel and then taking up a 5 ot 6 string a graduation. Don't misunderstand me i learned on a 4 string and feel it is the best way. But hey, do guitar players have a choice? They have to accept their 6 strings. Same goes to fretless. Ask any violin player if he/she had the choice to buy a fretted instrument. Regarding ''strange'' basses as flying v forms/explorers etc. i sincerely advise beginners not to buy one even if they want to play harder musicstyles. Learning on a bass you can play only standing up (flying v form) is a pain and takes away concentration from learning the music. One last thought: we are in a lucky position to have the choice between lots of different makers/brands/colours which is nice. But what about people like Jamerson, Montgomery, Fielder, Felder, Jermott? It was either Precison, maybe some Gibson or even a Rick. What i want to say is that if you see a bass you like, it feels good sitting and standing up, sounds decent, doesn't smell funny (some paintjobs gave me a headache) and has acceptable hardware buy it and learn it inside out. In the end it is a tool and the music is what counts.

Cort, Dean, Elrick, Fodera, Kenneth Lawrence, Sandberg, Börjes use 35 scale for some of their 5ers/6ers. I feel that the 35 scale has one big problem which is that the high (d+g) strings of a 5 string bass have too much tension resulting in a harsh, thinner tone. I think it is more a question of construction as i feel the b string of my Ray 5 and Marleaux Consat 5 to be up to par with basses of longer than 34 scales.