The best sounding low B

[Amando]

Ok so I’m looking to buy a 5 string can pay up to £2500, what has the best sounding (thunderous) low B and also has quality pickups/preamp etc. Hit me with your experiences/suggestions guys,

thanks in advance 

Edited 3 hours ago by Amando

[Rayman]

Wow, you’re going to get a lot of answers! That’s a great budget, and there’s a lot to recommend. I guess it’s in the ear of the beholder, and my 5ers are all well below that budget, my go to 5er is a Sire V7 that cost me peanuts, and sounds amazing, especially nice B.

 

That said, my absolute favourite 5er that I had was a Kinal MK5, Aero pickups, absolutely stunning….. but if I was looking now, I’d be after another Spector Euro 5. Absolutely outstanding low B, EMGs, totally fabulous. I personally would start there.

[Geek99]

5 minutes ago, Rayman said:

Wow, you’re going to get a lot of answers! That’s a great budget, and there’s a lot to recommend. I guess it’s in the ear of the beholder, and my 5ers are all well below that budget, my go to 5er is a Sire V7 that cost me peanuts, and sounds amazing, especially nice B.

 

 

Sire v7-5string also would be my choice 

Edited 2 hours ago by Geek99

[Sean]

🍿

 

Fab. I love these sort of threads. It's like asking, "What delicious cake should I buy?".

 

There'll be those that swoop in with their definitive answer, those that swear scale length is everything, then there's the String Gauge Brigade (I'm an honorary member) who say to use a 145. Roger from New York will be mentioned. I'll be playing my own game of BassChat Bingo. 

 

Good luck. 

 

I've got 2 5s. Both fab. Both very very different in construction, electronics, scale, sound. I got there by years of trail and error...

[Sean]

6 minutes ago, Rayman said:

 but if I was looking now, I’d be after another Spector Euro 5. Absolutely outstanding low B, EMGs, totally fabulous. I personally would start there.

As a Spector fan and Euro LX 5 player, always play one standing up with it on a strap before committing to buy. 

[Amando]

19 minutes ago, Rayman said:

Wow, you’re going to get a lot of answers! That’s a great budget, and there’s a lot to recommend. I guess it’s in the ear of the beholder, and my 5ers are all well below that budget, my go to 5er is a Sire V7 that cost me peanuts, and sounds amazing, especially nice B.

 

That said, my absolute favourite 5er that I had was a Kinal MK5, Aero pickups, absolutely stunning….. but if I was looking now, I’d be after another Spector Euro 5. Absolutely outstanding low B, EMGs, totally fabulous. I personally would start there.

Yeah I’m a bit put off Spector I just tried a used euro bolt 5 but it felt very cheaply made for a 2grand bass, very light wood and cheap black plastic controls for volume etc, it had Aguilar pups which didn’t sound that great although I must admit the low b was pretty good 

[SumOne]

People are going to say 'bigger is better' and go for a 37" Dingwall (which also sounds like a euphemism). 

 

I'd say they're wasn't a huge difference in B sound between a 37" Dingwall, a 35" MTD, or my current 35" Ibanez EHB MS. More of a difference in feel. I have found 34" B is a bit too floppy so needs higher action to get a clean B string notes without fret buzz. 

 

What does seem to make a big difference though is a good strings and good bass setup, and having an Amp and Cab that can properly cope with 30Hz.

[Amando]

I am currently using a vanderklay 4ohm 800w cab with an ampeg Svt pro 8 head

[prowla]

I've got bolt-on Warwicks which are really good, Status wooden neck models which are good, and I've had a Rickenbacker which I didn't bond with.

[tubbybloke68]

Yamaha Trb mk1 slapcut model with a’dario Es  170 xl high tension strings, and it’s not even a 34 scale, just under.. I’ve lots of high end basses and the only thing comparable are my Wals. But then again…. How long’s a piece of string… good luck with your quest! X 

[SimonK]

...dare I say "the best sounding (thunderous) low B" may have more to do with the amp and then the set up of the bass?

[chris_b]

A great bass tone comes from how well the bass is made and the quality of the components. Cheap pickups will never sound good.

 

The bass that ticks the quality materials, quality manufacturing and quality components boxes will get you the best tone, across all strings. The 3 best basses I've discovered so far are Sadowsky (Japanese, US and German models), Mike Lull basses and US Lakland 55-94's. . . . the Lakland Skylines are also worth a look.

 

Don't rush this. Take your time.  You have a great budget. Buy a good used bass and get much more bass for your money.

[Amando]

29 minutes ago, SimonK said:

...dare I say "the best sounding (thunderous) low B" may have more to do with the amp and then the set up of the bass?

I played a stingray 5 through a quality rig but it the low B was rubbish 

[BigRedX]

Almost impossible to say. What suits one player may not suit another. There is no one size fits all.

 

The things that matter most to me are: construction - a well constructed bass will always produce better low notes than extending the scale length alone, by all means pick a long scale length because you like the extra space between the frets but don't automatically assume longer equals better.

 

Everything else IME is down to playing technique. If you play hard, like I do, you'll probably find that you'll want a taper-wound B (and maybe also E) and you'll also probably want to move the pickup(s) away from the lower strings slightly. If you have a light touch these things may not matter and something else (I don't know what) will be more important.

 

Spend a couple of days out at Bass Direct and The Bass Gallery trying all their 5-string basses including some outside your budget just to check that you don't need to save a bit more to get the bass you really want.

[Amando]

12 minutes ago, chris_b said:

A great bass tone comes from how well the bass is made and the quality of the components. Cheap pickups will never sound good.

 

The bass that ticks the quality materials, quality manufacturing and quality components boxes will get you the best tone, across all strings. The 3 best basses I've discovered so far are Sadowsky (Japanese, US and German models), Mike Lull basses and US Lakland 55-94's. . . . the Lakland Skylines are also worth a look.

 

Don't rush this. Take your time.  You have a great budget. Buy a good used bass and get much more bass for your money.

Thanks Chris I will take my time and will go through all the replies and check out all the basses mentioned then look for a used one probably to get the best deal 

[fretmeister]

I've had a lot of 5 string basses from the dirt cheap to the silly money.

I've had scales from 30 on a no-name ebay thing to 37 inch on a Canadian Dingwall.

Construction quality is far more important than scale length so don't buy a 37 inch or even 35 just because someone says it will be better because it might not be.

 

My favourite B (and indeed drop A) I ever found was on a Marleaux Consat Custom 5 string. 34 inch scale. Delano pickups with a (iirc) Glockenklang 3 band preamp.

 

With a budget of £2500 you'll have to look for a used one and be patient about it as they are very expensive these days.

 

String choice is also very important on a low B. The Marleaux came with it's stock strings and they were awful. Did not work at all. D'addario Pro Steels suited that bass the best and the difference was night and day.

 

I should never have sold that bass.

[Sean]

1 hour ago, Amando said:

Yeah I’m a bit put off Spector I just tried a used euro bolt 5 but it felt very cheaply made for a 2grand bass, very light wood and cheap black plastic controls for volume etc, it had Aguilar pups which didn’t sound that great although I must admit the low b was pretty good 

This deviates from the Spector recipe a lot IMO. The Bolt with the Aguilar pups is Spector trying to appeal to a wider market. Not my thing. 

It's all about thru-neck and EMGs. 

[simonlittle]

The best sounding B string I’ve ever come across is on the Ken Smith HF Burner I bought about six months ago. Absolutely thunderous sounding; almost synth-like in the purity of the tone. Regular 34” scale but built beautifully. 
Aside from that I’ve had a couple of Warwick 5-strings (bolt-on and NT) and both of them had excellent B strings; very even across the whole fingerboard. Definitely worth investigating. 

[HeadlessBassist]

Loads of answers here. I only have one 5-string these days - my Status KingBass Mk-II. It has quite simply the best B-string I've ever heard, and that's on a comparatively light 125 gauge too. Of course, with the scarcity of these, the prices are going to be a lot higher than £2.5k, but a graphite neck'd 5-string will definitely surprise you with it's clarity across the board. There's a nice all-graphite Status 5 (which I've briefly played) on GumTree at the moment in the Leicester area for about £2k.

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/status-all-graphite-5-string-bass/1499697344

 

 

One other 5 which surprised me was the Hils Next Bass HNB5. That had a biblical sounding B. All for under £700. 

Edited 7 minutes ago by HeadlessBassist