Choose a 5 string bass for £500 (ish)

[Terry M.]

18 hours ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Come on Terry empty out your pockets. You always come up with something interesting for me 😂

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/bass-collection-sb315-5-string-bass-guitar-made-in-japan-lovely-bass-/1499771017

 

Oh all right then 😆

[Cornwall Steve]

41 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/bass-collection-sb315-5-string-bass-guitar-made-in-japan-lovely-bass-/1499771017

 

Oh all right then 😆

I've had a couple of basses off Tony in the past. They're above market value but both in great nick. I had the SX version of this bass which was okay but not my thing. I believe the bass collection version are well regarded by some but not me I'm afraid.

Just out of interest Terry what would you buy for yourself if you wanted a 5 string with 18mm spacing and a budget of £500 give or take ?🤔

[Terry M.]

55 minutes ago, Cornwall Steve said:

I've had a couple of basses off Tony in the past. They're above market value but both in great nick. I had the SX version of this bass which was okay but not my thing. I believe the bass collection version are well regarded by some but not me I'm afraid.

Just out of interest Terry what would you buy for yourself if you wanted a 5 string with 18mm spacing and a budget of £500 give or take ?🤔

That's fair Steve. So if it was me I've had very good luck with Squiers so would look at another one. I know you don't like them however 🙂

Edited 10 hours ago by Terry M.

[LowB_FTW]

Unpopular opinion incoming 😅

 

For the price range suggested I'd wait for one of the rather snappily titled Jackson X Series Concert Bass CBXNT DX V's to become available.

There's one in white on Reverb but it's in the US, so you'd have to pay loads more in import fees and tax and duty and tariff and it just wouldn't be worth it, but I've wanted one of these basses for a long time.

They were heavily discounted at some point in the past but I just missed that. I still keep a vague lookout for them at decent prices, but I've not seen any.

 

Mark

[Cornwall Steve]

2 hours ago, LowB_FTW said:

Unpopular opinion incoming 😅

 

For the price range suggested I'd wait for one of the rather snappily titled Jackson X Series Concert Bass CBXNT DX V's to become available.

There's one in white on Reverb but it's in the US, so you'd have to pay loads more in import fees and tax and duty and tariff and it just wouldn't be worth it, but I've wanted one of these basses for a long time.

They were heavily discounted at some point in the past but I just missed that. I still keep a vague lookout for them at decent prices, but I've not seen any.

 

Mark

Many thanks for your reply Mark

Interesting you should nominate the Jackson X (let's just call it that because it's model title is too long - even for me 😳).The on line reviews seem positive and favourable but, like you say, you very rarely see them up for sale. And that might be because bass players have bought them and don't want to sell them, or nobody has bought them in the first place.

Not sure its what I'm looking for exactly, but I'm curious probably because I'm a sucker for anything quirky.l

[LowB_FTW]

34 minutes ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Many thanks for your reply Mark

Interesting you should nominate the Jackson X (let's just call it that because it's model title is too long - even for me 😳).The on line reviews seem positive and favourable but, like you say, you very rarely see them up for sale. And that might be because bass players have bought them and don't want to sell them, or nobody has bought them in the first place.

Not sure its what I'm looking for exactly, but I'm curious probably because I'm a sucker for anything quirky.l

Right? All the reviewers I've seen that approached this bass was with trepidation and caution, only to be really impressed with it.

Yes, it may just be a Jazz/Precision bass, but every review I've seen of it have all been positive with particular mention of the range of tones that it can produce.

I'm just really curious about them, and I don't hate the styling of it, it just needs to come in at a good price and I'd get it.

 

Mark

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, LowB_FTW said:

Right? All the reviewers I've seen that approached this bass was with trepidation and caution, only to be really impressed with it.

Yes, it may just be a Jazz/Precision bass, but every review I've seen of it have all been positive with particular mention of the range of tones that it can produce.

I'm just really curious about them, and I don't hate the styling of it, it just needs to come in at a good price and I'd get it.

 

The styling definitely doesn't appeal to me - stick a Rick scratchplate onto a Precision, add a cover that may or may not be covering a bridgier pickup than the P pickup, and stick a droopy Jackson headstock on.

[LowB_FTW]

15 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

The styling definitely doesn't appeal to me - stick a Rick scratchplate onto a Precision, add a cover that may or may not be covering a bridgier pickup than the P pickup, and stick a droopy Jackson headstock on.

Yep, you've just highlighted the main criticisms of this bass from everyone else, even the reviewers that I've seen have the exact same issues, not just people on Reddit going 'WTF?!?' 😂

But I don't hate the Jackson headstock, similarly for the scratchplate and bridge (I actually really like that bridge), I'll admit the scratchplate gave me pause at the start, but I got over it pretty quickly.

 

As @Cornwall Steve said, it's a bit quirky looking, but in this case, I think it all works.

 

Mark