Advice on 5-String Acoustic Bass

[J-P]

My Lad is a Drummer/Bass Player studying Song Writing at Uni and has found that since re-stringing his Acoustic Bass it’s working well as Song-Writing Tool through playing Chords.  He has asked me for a 5-String Acoustic to develop this further to give him mor flexibility on how to shape the chords.  Having read loads of threads and phoned half a dozen UK Companies I’m really struggling to find the right Bass at the right Price... I’m looking at no more than £750.

I really liked the Warwick Aliens but they are discontinued everywhere I’ve looked and the only other Brand I know about is the Ibanez 105, Others available are the Crafter 580, the SIGMA 155, the ESP TL 5SM or a couple of Ortega’s.  EBay’s no real help though there are a couple of interesting Michael Kelly Customs from overseas and Reverb seems to have quite a lot of options though I’ve never used it so a little nervous about importing a second hand Bass un-played/in-seen.

So, the question is, do you have any advice on what BAsses to avoid or are recommended, and where I should or shouldn’t I be looking to buy it from.

Huge thanks for any guidance anyone can provide.

JP

[therealting]

I’d hold out for a secondhand Alien personally. Most acoustic basses are simply not very loud, and the problem is exacerbated when you add a B string. 

[lownote]

But is the OP looking for a B string?  Surely, for chords you'd be wanting to string it EADGC, which might ease the volume problem.

[yorks5stringer]

I had a Crafter maybe 20 years ago but found the B impossible to intonate, obviously no bridge adjustment so I tried loads of different strings to no success.

Had a s/h Godin however which was very good, an early one without the midi- type connection.

[J-P]

Lownote is right, in fact the idea is he’s trying to shift the range higher up the register and increase the breadth of chords he can use... making it more of a tenor instrument I suppose.

[therealting]

10 minutes ago, lownote12 said:

But is the OP looking for a B string?  Surely, for chords you'd be wanting to string it EADGC, which might ease the volume problem.

1 minute ago, J-P said:

Lownote is right, in fact the idea is he’s trying to shift the range higher up the register and increase the breadth of chords he can use... making it more of a tenor instrument I suppose.

Fair play! The additional bracing may still restrict things, but I imagine the problem will be less pronounced.

Has he tried a short scale? I tried one of the GS Mini Taylors recently and it was VERY inspiring for chordal type things, even though it was only 4 strings. 

[GuyR]

Used Godin A5. Mine is strung with a low B, but I don't see why it wouldn't work E-C. Lovely tone and very easy to play.

 

[Grahambythesea]

I had a Washburn AB5 which had a neck like a tree, it coped with low B but was a killer on the hand. Avoid!

[CamdenRob]

If he’s looking for an acoustic instrument for chords and song writing, would an acoustic guitar not be a better tool for the job?

[J-P]

CamdenRob, you mean the same way everyone else thinks? His Bass playing is far better than his guitar and this is where he’s ended up... it would certainly be more straightforward that’s for sure.

Thanks for all the advice, will keep looking.

[redbandit599]

You can get baritone acoustic 6 string guitars strung with a low B. Might be worth a look