Which One of these Bass should I buy?

[uAdi]

1) Sterling StingRay 5 

2) Cort C6 Plus Zbmh 

3) Cort B5 Plus AS RM

4) Ibanez SR306EB 

Any other from the similar price range of the above? 

[Twigman]

The one you find easiest to play 

[chris_b]

Don't make lists, go out and play all the basses you can find.

[Woodinblack]

8 hours ago, uAdi said:

1) Sterling StingRay 5 

2) Cort C6 Plus Zbmh 

3) Cort B5 Plus AS RM

4) Ibanez SR306EB 

Any other from the similar price range of the above? 

Depends if you want a 5 or a 6 really, quite a fundamental question in there!

[ezbass]

Whichever gets the job done best for you. However, if part of that job is future resale, the ‘Ray is likely to move quickest.

[uAdi]

2 hours ago, Twigman said:

The one you find easiest to play 

I would have. But I live at a place where there's no major music shop. I gotta buy online only then I would know.

[uAdi]

56 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Depends if you want a 5 or a 6 really, quite a fundamental question 

I could play both but I am more focused on the tone. So whichever gives the better tone regardless of the string count.

[uAdi]

2 hours ago, chris_b said:

Don't make lists, go out and play all the basses you can find.

I'm not interested in making lists either and I really want to go out and play each one of these before I buy! But my city does not have any good music store let alone a bass store which would actually have the ones I mentioned in my "list". I gotta buy online and that's only when I get to play them. 

[uAdi]

2 hours ago, Twigman said:

The one you find easiest to play 

That's the problem. I can't play any of them before I actually buy them as my city does not have any stores that keeps any good musical instruments . That's why I came here to ask for the opinion of experienced guys. 

[Woodinblack]

3 minutes ago, uAdi said:

I could play both but I am more focused on the tone. So whichever gives the better tone regardless of the string count.

What is a better tone? No-one makes a bass and things 'lets give it a bad tone'. I have played the Ibanez and the stingray. They both sound fine but they sound different from each other. Personally I would go with an ibanez because I like thin necks (although the 6 is hardly thin), but most people don't get on with them. The corts are probably going to be similar to the ibanez.

I suppose you are going to have to go for a shop with a good return policy.

However, for the new price of any of those your options for second hand opens up more.

[chris_b]

4 minutes ago, uAdi said:

I'm not interested in making lists either and I really want to go out and play each one of these before I buy! But my city does not have any good music store let alone a bass store which would actually have the ones I mentioned in my "list". I gotta buy online and that's only when I get to play them. 

OK. Are there any Jam nights near you, where other bass players go? You could talk to them about their basses. Or make contact with local bands to talk to their bass players.

[dannybuoy]

5 minutes ago, uAdi said:

I could play both but I am more focused on the tone. So whichever gives the better tone regardless of the string count.

‘Good tone’ is subjective though - e.g. any bass I’ve played with Bartolini electronics has sounded really dry and dull, so for me I would probably skip the Corts. I had a Ray4 that sounded pretty good to me, I love the Stingray sound so would probably choose that from the list if buying blind (deaf?).

If a passive PJ might float your boat, I’d look at the Yamaha BB435 also.

[DoubleOhStephan]

As pointed out above, tone is highly subjective, some love a P with flats, others love the Spector growl... 

If its tone you're interested in above everything else, your best bet is to look through YouTube and watch as many demo videos as you can (through decent headphones). 

Here's some to kick things off - 

StingRay

Cort C6 Plus

Cort B5 Plus

Inbanez 

Hope this helps. 

[Crawford13]

Couple more things here we would need to know to help.

What “tone” are you looking for? What bands do you like the bass tone of? What type of bass did their bass player use?

But the other unfortunate truth is that tone is also heavily dictated by your playing, so if we both played the exact same bass, it would sound different.

If you haven’t played a 5 or 6 string before I would have a good think about if you need the high C, as it’s great for soloing and chordal playing, but you have to remember that the fingerboard will be wider and the string spacing narrower, so the bass will be different to play.

[Twigman]

Just now, DoubleOhStephan said:

As pointed out above, tone is highly subjective, some love a P with flats, others love the Spector growl... 

If its tone you're interested in above everything else, your best bet is to look through YouTube and watch as many demo videos as you can (through decent headphones). 

Here's some to kick things off - 

StingRay

Cort C6 Plus

Cort B5 Plus

Inbanez 

Hope this helps. 

However string choice and playing style makes a huge difference to tone.....the only way to make an informed choice is to play them yourself.

[Marc S]

26 minutes ago, uAdi said:

I'm not interested in making lists either and I really want to go out and play each one of these before I buy! But my city does not have any good music store let alone a bass store which would actually have the ones I mentioned in my "list". I gotta buy online and that's only when I get to play them. 

Hi there @uAdi,

It doesn't say in your profile where you are based?
As you say, you're nowhere near a shop - You could try another approach - most BC members are friendly sorts, and always willing to help out a fellow low end player
Perhaps you could ask members whether they have any of the models you list, and whether they'd be willing to let you have a quick "try" of their bass(es)? Are you anywhere near other BC members? There must be other forum members somewhere in the vicinity....

Also, I've bought a lot of my gear second-hand, from fellow forum members. It has allowed me to try many different basses (and amps of course), trying before buying, whilst chatting to the seller about their experiences and thoughts on the bass in question, and on comparable models etc. The other plus for buying used on BC, is that if after a few months playing, you decide you want something else - there's less of a financial loss than buying from new. 

You can't really judge "tone" or build quality or comfort of playing, by buying online
However, there are plenty of YouTube videos of people trialing different models - so do a bit of research there too

Good luck with your search

[DoubleOhStephan]

5 minutes ago, Twigman said:

However string choice and playing style makes a huge difference to tone.....the only way to make an informed choice is to play them yourself.

Yep, by unfortunately the OP isn't the position where that's possible 🤷🏻‍♂️

[ianrendall]

The red one! They go faster. 

[Dapper Bandit]

I had a Cort A5 years ago and it was an absolute corker so I would probably have to say the B5 is what I would go for.  That being said, some people aren't overly enamoured with the Bartolini's in them but they sound perfectly acceptable and bass-like and I never had any complaints.  The only downside with Cort is that they are not a cool name brand, there are no legends on their roster.  What they have got going for them is that Cort actually make most companies instruments for them so they absolutely know what they are doing and they offer quite a good deal for their price, I've always thought.

[Maude]

If you want to buy new then Thomann have an excellent return policy, will be able to buy a few of the ones you mention and return the ones you don't like. But I have found that using a bass for a decent amount of time is the only true test, sometimes a bass I didn't like with a little adjustment here and there and a different type of string will become my 'go to' bass. If at all possible, second hand would be your best bet, even if buying blind, as you can use it for few months and if it's really not doing it for you then you can shift it on with no loss, and if you buy wisely you could even make a profit. 

[uAdi]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

What is a better tone? No-one makes a bass and things 'lets give it a bad tone'. I have played the Ibanez and the stingray. They both sound fine but they sound different from each other. Personally I would go with an ibanez because I like thin necks (although the 6 is hardly thin), but most people don't get on with them. The corts are probably going to be similar to the ibanez.

I suppose you are going to have to go for a shop with a good return policy.

However, for the new price of any of those your options for second hand opens up more.

Hi! I mostly wanna play Necrophagist , Maiden and Opeth and All three have a very different bass playing. So can you suggest which one fits the kind of bass playing on these bands?

[uAdi]

3 hours ago, dannybuoy said:

‘Good tone’ is subjective though - e.g. any bass I’ve played with Bartolini electronics has sounded really dry and dull, so for me I would probably skip the Corts. I had a Ray4 that sounded pretty good to me, I love the Stingray sound so would probably choose that from the list if buying blind (deaf?).

If a passive PJ might float your boat, I’d look at the Yamaha BB435 also.

Thanks a lot that is very helpful! I was rooting for the corts because of their electronics! the bartolinis and Markbass EQ but you’re point now makes me more inclined towards the Sterling. Just for your information, I wanna play Necrophagist , Maiden and Opeth mostly..and my budget is around 400 dollars so it would actually make sense if you could suggest me a better option other than my above mentioned basses in that price range.

[uAdi]

2 hours ago, Maude said:

If you want to buy new then Thomann have an excellent return policy, will be able to buy a few of the ones you mention and return the ones you don't like. But I have found that using a bass for a decent amount of time is the only true test, sometimes a bass I didn't like with a little adjustment here and there and a different type of string will become my 'go to' bass. If at all possible, second hand would be your best bet, even if buying blind, as you can use it for few months and if it's really not doing it for you then you can shift it on with no loss, and if you buy wisely you could even make a profit. 

I live in India and Thomann or any other bigger websites would cost me a lot of Import Duties. There’s only one website (www.bajaao.com) from where i buy my instruments. If you could checkout that website and suggest me a better option, that would be  a great help. FYI my budget is 400 dollars and i mostly wanna play Necrophagist, maiden and opeth.

[uAdi]

2 hours ago, Dapper Bandit said:

I had a Cort A5 years ago and it was an absolute corker so I would probably have to say the B5 is what I would go for.  That being said, some people aren't overly enamoured with the Bartolini's in them but they sound perfectly acceptable and bass-like and I never had any complaints.  The only downside with Cort is that they are not a cool name brand, there are no legends on their roster.  What they have got going for them is that Cort actually make most companies instruments for them so they absolutely know what they are doing and they offer quite a good deal for their price, I've always thought.

I don’t actually care about the brand name..I already have a Cort X300 Electric Guitar and I absolutely love it. A5 is actually my favourite one..but it’s very expensive for my budget (mine is 400 dollars) . If you could suggest me a better option for my budget, it would be a great help! Mostly gonna play Necrophagist, maiden and opeth!

[Maude]

I don't know a lot about two of those bands, Maiden yes but not so much the other two. The dilemma you have is that the bass players used very different instruments, well one of them anyway. Maiden is all Precision bass, Opeth (from pictures) is all Jazz bass but Necrophagist (again from pictures) uses a six string. I would say a P or J (or indeed a PJ) style bass would be good for either of the first two bands and you will get a decent new one for your budget but it obviously won't be suitable for Necrophagist, if he uses all the range. So that means you will have to buy a six string, which you will be able to play all three bands music with. I'm not into six strings at all so have no idea what's available but I'd guess you're going to struggle to get something decent new for your budget. Sorry I can't be more help.