kwmlondon

1 minute ago, Geek99 said:

Looked at from the other side of the coin, if you don’t mind paying a smidge more for the name you’re actually getting an acceptable bass with enough financial headroom to turn it into what you want, and I don’t buy the argument that a U.S. jazz ultra is three times better to justify the £££ uplift 

It's always been diminishing returns though. A £250 bass will be a LOT better than a £125 one. The £500 bass will be a fair bit better than the £250 one but once you get past £1000 the improvements will be smaller. I'm being deliberately sweeping here though - there will be individual instruments that go against this and offer amazing value at a high or low price but I stand by the general point.

There seems to be a sweet-spot about £500-750 ish where you can find a lot of manufacturers giving very good value. When I've spent more than that I'm very aware that it's very much because I WANT something rather than being logical about it. There's usually a perfectly good alternative a lot cheaper that does MOST of what the expensive thing does!

5 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Not quite 70s,more 60s. I have a DJ5. That's if you're referring to the distance between the pickups. 

I must have misunderstood the person in the store then. My bad.

39 minutes ago, Sean said:

Just like on the annoying house-buying TV shows where they throw in a wildcard, I'm going to nominate an Ibanez SRMS805.

I've got one with US Barts and preamp and pickups that are switchable series/parallel, single. Slim neck, 33.5-35.5 scale and the gem for me, 18mm spacing.

This bass is on my A Team and is a keeper. The multiscale aspect doesn't even take any getting used to.

These look tasty. I had an SR505 - it was a gateway drug to 5-string madness. It was really rich and fruity. I'd love to try one of the higher-end ones.

14 hours ago, dub_junkie said:

Another vote for the Lakland Skylines. I've played and owned Musicman, G&L, Fender, Warwick amongst others but I never owned a Skyline until 2021. I've owned five since then and they've all been really great basses. I sold on the four strings but kept the fives as they are now my 'go to' brand for band work now. 

 

I have a quilt top 55-02 Deluxe, a 55-60 with East J Retro preamp and a flame top 55-AJ. I want to pick a winner but I can't. 

 

 

55-AJ (Active Jazz?)

 

55-60

55-02

 

 

Pure bass filth! 

2 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

If I wanted a workhorse 5 string active bass, I wouldn’t be looking much further than a sadowsky metro line - the Japanese ones. They’re light, well balanced and sit in the mix perfectly. For noodling at home I’d probably wait for an Overwater in budget.

I hear great things about the preamps. The one I tried was afar eastern one and didn’t feel as nice as a Lakland, but that was just the ones in the shop and thad Darryl Jones bass had lovely rolled edges on the neck. Yummy! 

29 minutes ago, Jonrh98 said:

24 frets is definitely good for the jazz fusion outfit, I end up doing lots of chords and melodic stuff.

 

Not too fussed on having a passive tone, as for most gigs I would be able to facilitate bringing my P5 (which has flats and is passive) as well for that more classic sound.

 

I'm not too fussed on looks either in all honesty, at least not in terms of stereotypes - as long as I like it, I'm happy! I do like the look of the BbG5 with soapbars so could be worth a browse on the used market.

You’re being very sensible and logical about this! I tend to be a lot more unhinged in my approach to buying a bass. Much more emotional. 

8 minutes ago, Jonrh98 said:

I have used a 35 inch BTB before and loved the scale - I also typically use flats so the stiffer feel isn't a huge concern. I'm hoping I'd be able to try a Lakland to see if the neck feels speedy enough.

 

Sadly, I can't stand the neck on every G&L I've played, which is a shame as they're so cool.

 

I have also loved the playability of SRs I've had/played. They were my first thought when planning this purchase.

 

As much as I love Yamaha, I've tried the BB735a and 435 and really didn't enjoy the playability of them, the neck felt a little chunky for me in terms of depth.

 

I would certainly consider a modded or custom bass, as long as the bass in question was already right for me, so it would just take some digging and waiting I think!

 

Being a function band bass is certainly a key part of this - but my biggest concern is not visibility in the dark, it's actually weight.

Yeah, I've not tried the BB735 or 435 but they seem chunkier from all I've seen. They also have a more trad feel - the BBG5 I'm playing at the moment feels closer to Ibanez - not skinny but svelte of neck and 24 frets which can be handy if that's what you like. It's properly light too. About the same weight as my Stingray 4 string! This one's passive with the two single coils though, but the upside of that is plenty of space between neck and neck pickup. Me? I'd prefer to use an EQ pedal than active eq but if you're doing covers I'd say it's worth considering fitting the preamp of your choice anyway as you may need a passive tone as well as EQ. Downside of singles is slight noise when you move away from both on at the same time, not catastrophic but noticable. One thing though is that it does look "modern" and that can be an issue for some. Personally, I play a Dingwall in a punk group so I could not give a stuff but some people are very judgmental about this kind of stuff.

37 minutes ago, Jonrh98 said:

I'm currently putting some money aside to get a new bass and would appreciate some input from you guys.

 

I currently use a Sire P5 with usa ultralites and a 63 pure vintage pup, and a Mexi Jazz bass with xtender and hi mass bridge. I'd like to get myself a nice 5 string, active, double humbucker bass to use as a workhorse on my function gigs, for more modern sounding stuff and for the solo stuff with my jazz fusion trio. This may replace the Jazz Bass.

 

Budget is between £1,000 and £2,000.

 

Of course, there's tons of options. Used USA musicman, Premium/Prestige Ibanez SR or BTB, MTD Kingston Z5, used Sandberg California, an older used Japanese Yamaha, the list goes on!

 

I enjoy thinner necks (front to back) but am not overly fussy on neck width. Passive mode is great but not a must.

 

Ultimately, I just want to find a really solid instrument that sounds and plays great as is.

 

What do you guys reckon I should be thinking about? Used/new? Japanese/American/Indonesian? Lots of nordstrand equipped basses out there (more than barts nowadays), do you like them? Just eager to hear opinions to help narrow my search or find other options.

 

I’ve been kindly loaned a Yamaha BBG5 and it’s lovely. It is very easy in the hand and is super playable and if the TRB5 feels the same I’d definitely shortlist it- I think Chuck Rainey plays one. 
 

I tried a Sandberg in a store and it felt very, very well made. The tone of that particular model didn’t quite press my buttons but I was very taken with the quality. 
 

The Lakland Darryl Jones I played may be one of the nicest modern J- type basses with a 70s pickup layout. I thought it much nicer than a comparable Sadowsky, the rolled fretboard was super comfy and the pickups excellent. Even nicer than the Fender USA Jazz Pro II which was great but a bit polite (though I think their V-mod pickups are brilliant). On that basis I’d definitely shortlist an active Lakland. 
 

14 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Disagree, sorry 

there’s nowt wrong wi’ a squier 

 

even the affinity ones are quite good 

I had an affinity Jazz. Nice piece of kit. 

1 hour ago, merello said:

They should dump the Squier brand now.

It does seem odd to have such a big crossover between the high end Sqiers and the budget Fenders, but they are a very successful company. I think they’ve probably done their market research and have a plan to protect the brand. 

14 minutes ago, Musicman666 said:

me too ..i can't deal with just one string tuned down and bead was not giving me the highs and anything below d was not discernible which by trial and error brought me naturally to drop d standard ... this half way house sort of prevented me from wandering over to the dark side of 5 stringers.

I skipped over to 5 stringers never to return. I tried a Dingwall in a store and that low B made me tingle. I’ve spent the last 4 years trying to get to grips with the  extra string, extended range and fanned frets and I just can’t go back. It just feels right to me. 

1 hour ago, Musicman666 said:

drop d standard on 4 is the sweet spot ..

My brain isn't quite nimble enough to cope with a drop tuner but that's a really good way to deal with songs in Eb! Kubiki's E/D string is definitely the most elegant and brilliant way of getting an extended range out of a 4 string bass though.

6 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

In the 80s a Westone was what you saved for if you had no chance of getting a Fender.

The upside is there are absolutely fantastic instruments out these at better prices than collectible ones. I have a messed about with late 80s made in Japan strat that’s a fab guitar and not particularly valuable. 

2 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I would’nt mind paying 549 for a “real” fender 

On the downside you’d end up with a bass that would be the same sort of quality as a 449 Squier, the upside would be that you can always sell it for decent money because it’s a “proper” Fender. In that light it’s not a bad purchase. 

2 hours ago, -asdfgh2- said:

It's "edgy". It also means I have to trawl for reviews as the copy is incomprehensible. Maybe I'm just too old and if I was under 30 it would seem more groovy and happening.  A friend of mine uses a screen reader and might assume that it had gone rogue reading that page.

I’d assume I’d spilled some wine in the green reader. 

22 minutes ago, alyctes said:

Today Kim dug me out of a hole I made for myself, and I am very grateful.  I really need to check that I can actually use the contact numbers people give me *before* I start on long journeys...

Thanks, Kim.  I owe you one.

More than happy to help. Hope it all went well! 

I can't belive this. I'm waiting for Dingwall to build and send my bass on to the UK and in the meantime I'm without a 5 string fretted bass - it's what I play almost exclusively now. Mike very kindly loaned me a Yamaha 5 string for the duration and heroically found me in Cobham services car park! An absolute hero and gentleman and I can't thank him enough. May have do to a video call with him when I can take him through my box of treasure/junk to see if I can pay him back with any prime bits I'm not using but really he's helped me out a huge amount.

7 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Marketing ploy, that's all.

 

You're better off with Maga Trumpbuckers.

But they only work with Orange amps.

1 hour ago, Cato said:

 

I stopped reading at 'bubblethumpwhip'.

You see now you've piqued my interest...

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Nordstrand now do 51 style P bass pickups in a jazz housing:

 

https://nordstrandaudio.com/collections/4-string-jazz-bass-pickups/products/51j4s

 

So if the placement is right in a bass with J pickups then that should be pretty nice too.

Is that an AI page translation or are the marketing team stoned?

7 hours ago, mikebass456 said:

Looks a quite convincing site - is it AI or BS? 🤔😆

It’s real. 

19 hours ago, Leon C 2 said:

Kim, you are far too kind! Many thanks for the painless deal, and your very kind words! I'm very happy with the Dingwall, and all I have to do now is unlearn 40+ years of left hand technique! Thanks again and all the best! Cheers, Dave B.

Didn't seem like you had much to change from the way you sounded. The last few frets on the E and B string can take a bit of getting used to but as you and I have small hands we both have to pivot anyway so it's just a matter of calibration more than anything. 

56 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Very disappointing from such an established brand. 

I had a USA Pro Jazz that was absolutely amazing except it had terrible dead spots. That was really frustrating as it played like a dream, sounded epic, looked amazing - a really special instrument, but the dead spots were not niggles but huge issues.

I watched the Philippine McKnight reviews on YouTube and he felt that the the Fender Standard Tele was okay for the money, basically a bit of a premium for the brand but probably not unreasonable at $499 though he’d personally go for a new Squier or used MIM at the price. The Strat, however, at $650 was poor value and not worth the money for the quality of the guitar. 

Yep. Fender reissue 70s USA Jazz in natural. I’ve always loved thise early 1970s models, and I got a really good discount buying direct from fender and it was the most disappointing bass I’ve ever had. Fit and finish were bad and the E string was anaemic and weedy. The vintage case was absolutely awful too, felt cheap and tacky. After that I never bought another high end Fender.