first five string...advice or suggestions

[riff raff]

thinking about making a move to five.anyone recommend a good quality sensibly priced bass.second hand is ideal.values up to maybe 300 quid????

[WarPig]

What sound are you after? Current basses you own?

Best bet is to go to as many shops as possible to try any 5'er they have to see if you'll like a 5.

Edited June 22, 2009 by WarPig

[yorick]

Have a look at the Yamaha BB615.

[Deep Thought]

There's a BB615 cheap on the sale page at the moment. I'd have had it, but he's not able to ship. If you can get to London, it's a bargain.

[chris_b]

My first 5 string was a Stingray. In my view it was the best bass that was at the bottom of my price and quality range, but that was before the days of Lakland. If I was doing it again I'd start by trying either a 55-01, 55-02 or JO5 Skyline. These are just miles ahead of anything that I was looking at 15 years ago.

Edited June 22, 2009 by chris_b

[Bigwan]

[quote name='chris_b' post='520596' date='Jun 22 2009, 11:14 AM']My first 5 string was a Stingray. In my view it was the best bass that was at the bottom of my price and quality range, but that was before the days of Lakland. If I was doing it again I'd start by trying either a 55-01, 55-02 or JO5 Skyline. These are just miles ahead of anything that I was looking at 15 years ago.[/quote]

In total agreement with my learn-ed colleague on this one. A big thing to think about is string spacing and neck shape. My first decent 5 string was, as with chris_b, a 'ray. However I bought it without playing one first and regretted it almost immediately. The neck was too narrow/string spacing was too tight for my hands (although other than that it was damn good!). The Lakland 5 string neck is awesome, and I'd put my 55-01 head and shoulders above any 5 string I've played under a grand and a half.

Probably the best deal close to your budget would be a s/h G&L Tribute 5 string I should think, although I've never played one myself.

Play as many as you can before deciding what you want. It'll give you some time to save a bit more too!

Edited June 22, 2009 by Bigwan

[barry44]

this sounds like a sales pitch but i have an ibanez K5 for sale at £350 in the for sale section.

this was my first attempt at a five string and i found it very easy to get on with in terms of string spacing.

just a thought....

[PauBass]

[quote name='riff raff' post='520496' date='Jun 22 2009, 09:05 AM']thinking about making a move to five.anyone recommend a good quality sensibly priced bass.second hand is ideal.values up to maybe 300 quid????[/quote]

For that price I'd go with an Ibanez ATK 305...very, very good bass for the money, well built and good tone, similar to a Stingray with and also to a P bass on steroids depending on the pickup selector position.

[Bigwan]

[quote name='PauBass' post='520842' date='Jun 22 2009, 03:48 PM']For that price I'd go with an Ibanez ATK 305...very, very good bass for the money, well built and good tone, similar to a Stingray with and also to a P bass on steroids depending on the pickup selector position.[/quote]

Forgot about that one! Also an excellent suggestion, but I'd have to class it along with the 'ray. Good if you have small hands. Pretty tight string spacing for a 5 string. An excellent bass for the money though.

[BassBunny]

[quote name='Bigwan' post='520829' date='Jun 22 2009, 03:25 PM']Probably the best deal close to your budget would be a s/h G&L Tribute 5 string I should think, although I've never played one myself.[/quote]

+1 for the G&L.

I've had 3 of them and every home should have one. If ever i am struggling getting the sound i want at a venue, wheel out the G&L and it's there.
You can get Stingray, P-Bass and Jazz sounds out of it. If you keep and eye out on e-Bay, you should be able to pick one up for a reasonable price.

[JimBobTTD]

I have recently moved over to 5 string. I picked up an Ibanez SR705 (the older version of the model) from the classifieds here for a steal (£150), and I find it great. It has narrow spacing at the bridge - 16.5mm - and a narrowish neck too. I have always liked Ibanezes for their great necks, weight and balance.

Slightly off topic, but I have not noticed any major problems with adapting to the extra string. This is perhaps because I was never a genius with 4 strings, but possibly because the bass is so welcoming.

So, I would get an Ibanez. Get one with the SR5 neck, pref a neck-through with Barts, and take good care of it. If, in a few months, you decide you don't like 5ers, drop me a line!

[mrcrow]

firstly make sure you need a 5 and that your gear can do it justice on the low end

stringing costs more

i had a 5 for some time but could never get used to the bottom not being the bottom and had a lot of cross string fingering
i reconciled myself to the fact that i could perhaps try to be better and more interesting on a 4
and switched back

it was a very rewarding experience though....get a good one

[Bigwan]

[quote name='mrcrow' post='520945' date='Jun 22 2009, 05:53 PM']firstly make sure you need a 5[/quote]

That's also a pretty valid point. I only played 4 string for about 3 months before switching over to 5 string, where I stayed pretty permanently for about 7 years. It's taken me a long time to realise that I don't NEED a 5 string for anything I do. The real kicker is, no matter what 4 string I play, I always feel more comfortable on a 5 string... using the B as a thumbrest is all I really do!

[waynepunkdude]

Why don't you borrow mine before committing?

[riff raff]

many thanks waynepunkdude but..............ibanez atk 305 just purchased from paubass.i'm in 5 string world.welcome me oh welcome me fellow five stringers

[PauBass]

[quote name='riff raff' post='521183' date='Jun 22 2009, 09:33 PM']many thanks waynepunkdude but..............ibanez atk 305 just purchased from paubass.i'm in 5 string world.welcome me oh welcome me fellow five stringers [/quote]

It's already packed and ready to go Great bass, I'm sure you are gonna like it.

Edited June 22, 2009 by PauBass

[Kongo]

[quote name='riff raff' post='521183' date='Jun 22 2009, 09:33 PM']many thanks waynepunkdude but..............ibanez atk 305 just purchased from paubass.i'm in 5 string world.welcome me oh welcome me fellow five stringers [/quote]

Cracking bass!
Enjoy the "Stingray Killer" and feel free to annoy MANY 'Ray fans with it.

I welcome you 5-string bassist...I use no less than 5 these days.
Now...fancy trying er...I dunno...6-string?

[JTUK]

Depends how picky you can afford to be....

If you still play a 4 then get a comparable string spacing as the change will be quite different IMV and you don't want to be chopping and changing...
and the key thing of a 5, IMV, is how good the B string is...if you intend to string with a low B, that is.....

Too many 5 strings have a booming B string..

Some say that a neck-thru helps here..and others say, that a bolt-on is the best way...but then I suspect they would say that..
You need to hear the bass 1st and then you can decide whether it works for you...

[Sean]

This is from an email I had in my inbox, it was a reply to a question I had from someone who was about to impulse buy a 5-string:

[i]As far as 5s go, I've gone back to using them as they make more sense to me for the material the band does as it's easier to play for long periods if you are up the next using the 5th string (sixth position) rather than down the neck on the 4th (first position).

When buying a 5 different rules apply. Not that many manufacturers get it right; there seems to be a problem for some in getting the low B right, Fender for instance make less than perfect 5s on the whole and many of the cheaper Asian stuff is just floppy muddy trash where their 4 string equivalents will be pretty good.

Some of the better 5s generally have a 35" scale compared to the 34" standard "long" scale. (32" is medium, 30" is short)

There is also the issue of string spacing. A standard 4 string Fender-derived instrument such as your BB414 or my Lakland DJ has a 19mm string spacing (measured at the bridge), some 5s have this spacing which makes the fingerboard very wide. The Lakland 5s have 19mm spacing, my Spectors have 17mm which is quite a bit narrower but makes for very comfortable fingerstyle playing but can make slap a little more tricky. Most Ibanez basses have 17mm spacing and a 34" scale and the higher spec models are excellent. Ibanez also do a BTB range which have 35" scales and a generous spacing (can't remember exactly).

As well as all this dimensional stuff there's the issues of , "does it sound good?" and "does it look good?"

Get out and try some different basses so you get a feel for the differences and what features work for you.[/i]

[Sean]

There's also this:

"[i]Nut spacing differs again but generally closer spacing at the bridge means closer at the nut but not always.

Some Ibanez models have a 16.5mm spacing and for me that 0.5mm less is a step too far and the strings feel too bunched together.

There's also the issue of pickups - I would only buy a low or mid-range 5 string if it had standard size pickups so that if I wanted to upgrade to some aftermarket ones they'd slot in. Some models have proprietary pickups that can't be upgraded.

The most respected and popular 5s by mainstrean manufacturers are the Ibanez SRX and BTB ranges as well as a few of their signature models that are based on these, there's Lakland, Yamaha, Sandberg, Clover, Warwick's Rockbass, Spector's Legend Series, G&L's Tribute Series is brilliant and has similar dimensions to Lakland etc.

I think the way to go is to buy a used bass so that if you don't get on with it you can resell it without losing money. This way also you'll get a hell of a lot more bass for the money. There are regularly Ibanez SRX 5 strings that come up on ebay for around £250 - 500 depending on model/spec. The neck-thru construstion ones are fantastic - SRX705 or 755, I think.[/i]"

[BigRedX]

Reading through all the advice I think that the best thing you can do is get out there and try as may 5-string basses as you can, and buy the one you get on with best, that is in your price range, or if there isn't an affordable one good enough, wait until you have saved enough so you can afford something you like.

Advice about scale length and string spacing is all well and good, but ultimately these are things that only you can decide upon. My advice would be don't look at the numbers, play the instruments. If it feels good and plays nicely then it's worth considering, if not put it back and move on. You'll soon work out what is going to suit you and your playing style.

My first 5-string had a very narrow neck and tight string spacing (much tighter than anything I've come across since), but since it was the first 5-string I owned and I was just coming back to playing the bass after 7 years of synths and guitar, plus my previous bass was a short-scale 4-string, it didn't really matter. I could play what I wanted to on it which was what was important.

Also IMO with your budget 35" scale is a bit of a red herring. Getting a good sounding B string is from my experience much more about construction rather than length. A 35" B may feel better but until you get into the £1000+ range it's unlikely to sound any better than 34" B. I own 5-strings with 34, 35 and 36" scale lengths and the high quality 34" scale basses have by far the best feeling and sounding Bs of the lot. The 35" scale instruments (which are in the £500-700 range new) have the weakest Bs of the lot, except for the cheap 34" with the tight spacing.

So don't worry about the numbers just concentrate on plays and sounds good. The only reason to know about the scale length is when you come to buy strings a standard set may not fit some 35" scale basses. Other than than go on when feels good to you.

[steve-king]

Without wanting to hijack this thread, is anyone able to explain the differences between the SR and SRX series of Ibanez five stringers?

Do the SRX models have the SR5 neck? Can anyone help with a link to information on the weights (I had no luck on Ibanez' own site).

Thanks,

Steve (hopefully joining you in 5 string land very soon!)

[riff raff]

well its here.exactly as paubass described.many thanks fella.

first impressions.....its lovely.very big which i like.neck nowhere near as daunting as i thought it would be.looking forward to spending some time with it.action is a bit low for my tastes!!!!!

happy days.

[Kongo]

[quote name='steve-king' post='522716' date='Jun 24 2009, 04:42 PM']Without wanting to hijack this thread, is anyone able to explain the differences between the SR and SRX series of Ibanez five stringers?

Do the SRX models have the SR5 neck? Can anyone help with a link to information on the weights (I had no luck on Ibanez' own site).

Thanks,

Steve (hopefully joining you in 5 string land very soon!)[/quote]

Ibanez SR has a "workable flat tone", my description only. Like the BTB it's kinda natural sounding flat.
The Ibanez SRX has very punchy low mids and pronounced highs...TBH I prefere the tone of the SRX but it's not as decent as the SR in terms of feel.
Not too sure on the necks...I've never took many names down!

Edited June 24, 2009 by Kongo