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 Saturday at 19:00 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

[Cornwall Steve]

4 hours ago, LowB_FTW said:

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

I have to agree. I like quirky. I like different. Traditional style J and P basses are all very well and everyone has/had one but sometimes we all yearn for something different. But lets face it, is it really all down to looks.  We're choosing a musical instrument. At the end of the day and shouldn't we should be prioritising what the bass plays like, sounds like, etc, etc....

As the old sayings go, 'looks aren't everything' and 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. Having said that gut reaction tells us we ain't gonna pick up a bass every day we haven't fallen in love with 😍Yep, bass players too are shallow people 😂

[pete.young]

16 hours ago, Cornwall Steve said:

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.🤔

 

About the only thing the 'SX' version has in common with the SGC Nanyo Bass Collections is the shape.

[Cornwall Steve]

49 minutes ago, pete.young said:

 

About the only thing the 'SX' version has in common with the SGC Nanyo Bass Collections is the shape.

And neither is the SGC Nanyo Bass Collection my thing either. I've played a 5 string version of one a couple of years ago and it just didn't appeal to me.

[Terry M.]

18 minutes ago, Cornwall Steve said:

And neither is the SGC Nanyo Bass Collection my thing either. I've played a 5 string version of one a couple of years ago and it just didn't appeal to me.

Steve what basses do you like regardless of cost?

[Cornwall Steve]

1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

Steve what basses do you like regardless of cost?

My next bass after this one (this one being what this Thread is all about) will be a Lakland 55-01/02 or a G+L 2500 Tribute

However the mystery £500 purchase seems to be leaning towards a Sire V8/M5 or 7, a Cort Space 5, or an Ibby BTB 5 string (though only certain models)

[Gizmo]

1 hour ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Ibby BTB 5 string (though only certain models)

 

Since im sending the Sire Z7 back on Monday i'll have about £500 burning a hole in my pocket  which BTB's do you fancy ?....some of the the newer BTB's have also caught my eye, there's a Ibanez BTB845V (a japanese only released 33" scale E-C) i quite fancy on the bay atm and there's a BTB SC (BTB865SC....WTF is it with ibbys lame naming....) up on Zenmarket that im mulling over (im a sucker for singlecuts) but with shipping/Import that would be up at around £600 & 3 months wait (i refuse to pay £120 to ship a bass via air vs £40 for surface)

 

 

[Cornwall Steve]

13 minutes ago, Gizmo said:

 

Since im sending the Sire Z7 back on Monday i'll have about £500 burning a hole in my pocket  which BTB's do you fancy ?....some of the the newer BTB's have also caught my eye, there's a Ibanez BTB845V (a japanese only released 33" scale E-C) i quite fancy on the bay atm and there's a BTB SC (BTB865SC....WTF is it with ibbys lame naming....) up on Zenmarket that im mulling over (im a sucker for singlecuts) but with shipping/Import that would be up at around £600 & 3 months wait (i refuse to pay £120 to ship a bass via air vs £40 for surface)

 

 

I think I know every BTB that's currently on or has recently been on the market. And considering there are circa 140 models in the entire BTB range that amounts to only a disappointing few.

The 845V - the shorter 33'' Volo model - looks very nice however I think I prefer the longer scale. The 17mm spacing for me might also be a bit of a deal breaker too. There was one for sale last Summer not too far from where I live. I wanted to go take a look but I just didn't have the money at the time.

I'm not interested in any of the older/earlier models (i.e. the 405) and with the more modern ones I'm not keen on the bland 'flat' natural finish models.

Does get a bit frustrating when you spy an especially nice example available for sale in Japan or USA but shipping and tax add up to being a killer 😖

[crazycloud]

1 hour ago, Gizmo said:

there's a Ibanez BTB845V

I have the 846v and it's luvverly. Spacing is 16.5 on the 5 and the 6.

 

[pete.young]

21 hours ago, Cornwall Steve said:

My next bass after this one (this one being what this Thread is all about) will be a Lakland 55-01/02 or a G+L 2500 Tribute

 

String spacing on the GL2500 Tribute is pretty tight - I had one years ago and I think it was 16.5mm. 

[Cornwall Steve]

19 minutes ago, pete.young said:

 

String spacing on the GL2500 Tribute is pretty tight - I had one years ago and I think it was 16.5

Thanks for pointing that out Pete. From what L-2500 Tribute owners past and present have posted on line, string spacing for the 5's appears to be 17-17.5mm (except for post 2021 750 series which were widened to 19mm)

I might have to have a re-think and just go with a BTB (with 19 spacing - some versions are narrower) or the Lakland 55

[Terry M.]

1 hour ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Thanks for pointing that out Pete. From what L-2500 Tribute owners past and present have posted on line, string spacing for the 5's appears to be 17-17.5mm (except for post 2021 750 series which were widened to 19mm)

I might have to have a re-think and just go with a BTB (with 19 spacing - some versions are narrower) or the Lakland 55

I spotted that too and nearly pointed it out until you said that the mystery £500 purchase had other leanings 👍

[Cornwall Steve]

1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

I spotted that too and nearly pointed it out until you said that the mystery £500 purchase had other leanings 👍

Crazy though isn't it. In the overall scheme of things people would ask you 'what difference does it make whether it's 18-19mm verses 16-17mm' ? Difficult one to answer that especially to someone who doesn't play bass 😂. That is until I hold up my 70 year old gnarly arthritic hands with a finger missing on my fretted hand. And why anything less than 18mm is a bit of a ball ache for me 😖

[kwmlondon]

14 minutes ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Crazy though isn't it. In the overall scheme of things people would ask you 'what difference does it make whether it's 18-19mm verses 16-17mm' ? Difficult one to answer that especially to someone who doesn't play bass 😂. That is until I hold up my 70 year old gnarly arthritic hands with a finger missing on my fretted hand. And why anything less than 18mm is a bit of a ball ache for me 😖

Well, it's just as personal as weight isn't it? I'm lucky in that it doesn't bother me how heavy a bass is. What I'd say about string spacing though is that I've owned an SR505 that had both narrow string spacing AND a slim neck and while I could play it very quickly, I just could not pick or slap on it. I've got an OLP Tony Levin 5-string now and though I'm pretty sure that has the same 16mm spacing I find it much easier to play with a pick or slap so I sometimes wonder if the numbers tell the whole story (much more of a C shape than a D).

 

Mind you, the Dingwall I now own is actually quite a struggle for me to play with my small-ish hands but I like it so much I've spent years developping my technique. If I went by specs and what was sensible I'd play a medium scale bass but I like my Dingwall and I will keep plugging at it till I get it right!