miles'tone Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Hey everyone. Does anybody own or have you played one of these basses? If so, how have you found the B string? Is it up to the job? I'd like to get an inexpensive 5er you see and I've been very impressd with the two Vintage basses I've had, and I miss having a MM vibe at hand since I sold my Stingray a while ago. They are cheaper than the SBMM SUB 5, and I trust that the Trev Wilkinson electronics and hardware are up to his usual standards (read of some people having probs with the SUB's pre - farty distortion etc..) So, any good anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus x-1 Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Hi, I had one about 5 years ago, pretty good I thought, especially for the price I paid (£125 S/H). In fact as a 4 string player, I often regret selling it, as it was very well built & IMO a nice looking bass, as I remember the 'B' was OK. Would be a good used buy. Isn't there a bargain Squier 5er now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted September 28, 2013 Author Share Posted September 28, 2013 Thanks for the input. I've just been looking at Squiers and the Active V Deluxe looks great. Full 19mm string spacing too! It really is mindblowing how cheap decent basses are these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 The vintage stuff is definitely good value for money, but imho, the best quality 5er you could get for very little money is a Yamaha of some sort. There's loads of RBX375s about, but my preference would be for a BB405, BB605, BBN5, BBG5S type of thing if you can find one. I got a BB605 on eBay as a backup bass last year, and it's astonishingly good for the small sum I paid! Hope you find something that suits your needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted September 29, 2013 Author Share Posted September 29, 2013 (edited) Yes, the Yamahas look great value, especially second hand (£100ish quid for a bbn5!) Thanks! This vid is what is drawing me to the Vintage. Can't understand what he's saying mind, but I can hear in there a nice honky tone that I could really get on with methinks. Wish he'd used the B a bit more though. Funnily enough this is a stingray copy that sounds less harsh than a stingray. I like that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZuCHuX2das Edited March 24, 2014 by icastle Link fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus x-1 Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 Yeah, BTW forgot to say, IMO the Vintage Stingray copies sound nothing like a MM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggo Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 (edited) I own a Vintage EST96 which is the previous name of the V96 (not sure why they renamed them - the v96 used to be a jazz copy iirc). As stock they are not great as the preamp in them is not good. It is too muddy and the treble does nothing. When I got mine I wired it passive thanks to a wiring harness from basschatter KioGon and this made it sound much better, and the actual pickup is actually really good. Does give a decent imitation of the stingray vibe. However, I discovered this inexpensive preamp : http://probass.co.uk/StingerEQ.html Easy enough to install and the bass sounds great with it in! It's a clone of a 2EQ stingray preamp and this genuinely gives this bass the stingray vibe it is missing as stock. In regards to the B, I find it is okay, it's not too floppy with a decent guage string and is perfectly usable. I do recommend bass, it plays really nicely and the unfinished maple neck is pretty quick. It does play better with a straight neck so may need a tweak of the rod to get it there. If you do get bass definitely pick up one of those preamp and bin the stock One! Cheaper than a John East too Here is a song my band were working on which has the bass with the new preamp in - bit rough but gives an idea. Just direct into digital 4 track no post processing. https://db.tt/xthQSQaU Edited September 29, 2013 by Greggo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted September 29, 2013 Author Share Posted September 29, 2013 Wow, that's great thanks Greggo! I can't download your track on my phone for some reason so I'll check it out on the pc tomorrow at home. Cheers! What's the weight like on your bass? I'm hoping they're lighter than the MM Stingrays (a deciding factor in the sale of my own Stingray - great bass, weighed a ton). My Vintage V4 Pbass weighs 8 3/4 lbs and the Vintage V96 Jaco fretless Jbass I had weighed around the same (I agree, wonder why they changed the model names around? Confusing indeed!) Seems the eastern poplar is a good sounding and light tonewood. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggo Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 (edited) [quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1380491691' post='2226220'] Wow, that's great thanks Greggo! I can't download your track on my phone for some reason so I'll check it out on the pc tomorrow at home. Cheers! What's the weight like on your bass? I'm hoping they're lighter than the MM Stingrays (a deciding factor in the sale of my own Stingray - great bass, weighed a ton). My Vintage V4 Pbass weighs 8 3/4 lbs and the Vintage V96 Jaco fretless Jbass I had weighed around the same (I agree, wonder why they changed the model names around? Confusing indeed!) Seems the eastern poplar is a good sounding and light tonewood. Thanks again! [/quote] No worries! I'm not too sure of weight but it's lighter than my Yamaha BB414 that's for sure. It's definitely not a back breaker. I just watched that you tube clip, the bass sounds ok in that clip to be fair. I don't know if the preamp has been changed at all for the newer model. Either way, the stinger preamp I installed just gives the tone that stingray type of voice. I couldn't say for sure how close to the real thing it really is, but based on clips I've heard of a ray its well over halfway there at least. I'm in the process of modding the pickup on mine - it has two ceramic bar magnets, which I'm going to swap for two alnico v bar magnets which in theory should sweeten the tone more and hopefully get it even closer to the tone of a real ray. Well as close as you can for a non EB sub £200 bass with £45 of total mods! Edited September 29, 2013 by Greggo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggo Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 (edited) Oh I found this :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np9q95HCxu8 Same reviewer as your video but more detailed analysis. Can hear a bit more B string too. Edited March 24, 2014 by icastle Link fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 Cheers Greggo, mucho appreciated! I really am tempted, shame I can't try one first but it is alot of bass for the money (as all Vintages are it seems) so not too worried about buying unseen. Cheers again mate and good luck with your further mods! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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