This Big Al 5 SSS - f*** me it's good!

[Grand Wazoo]

10 days into the ownership of this here beast....





I am a happy bunny! This bass might look odd to most of us (yeah, I also find it a bit funny looking) but I've always been adventurous, and believe me [b]Ernie's Balls [/b]have never been bigger than this Quite simply the bass rocks!!

Throw any music style at it and it can totally prevail in all of them. Soundwise this bass is a mixture of vintage Ray, with a heavy touch of the Bongo turbo power (that 18 volts preamp / eq is a force to be reckoned with) and the fact that the single coils pickup can brush up Jazz Bass tones as well as Precision at the touch of a button, no pun intended: it's got loads of buttons. I am particularly loving the "all switches up" position which gives the bridge and middle pickups together in series, with the active / passive switch in passive mode and the tone control half way off, this gives a perfect Bernard Edwards tone.

Yeah the bass is funkee and despite it's odd looking shape, very very comfortable to play. I can't put it down! You own one of these and I guarantee you, it will be the only bass you take to a gig! It does it all.

Go try one!

[Toddy]

Thats good to know wazoo,,,, its an awesome looking beast,, and screams quality to me.

I saw Uncle Albert play live a couple of years ago,, and on the guitar version he seemed to have a lot of neck dive and was constantly re-adjusting his guitar,, thought at the time they may have balance issues...

Its a bloody fantastic looking thing,,,, awesome.....

[merello]

Loved them the 1st time I saw them. Glad you're liking it.

[Jigster]

Right. So no more GAS then?

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='898091' date='Jul 18 2010, 02:54 PM']I am a happy bunny! This bass might look odd to most of us (yeah, I also find it a bit funny looking)[/quote]
Pretty good looking I'd say (although it seems to have an extra string). It kind of looks like a surfer's bass to me.

[Grand Wazoo]

[quote name='Jigster' post='898189' date='Jul 18 2010, 05:07 PM']Right. So no more GAS then? [/quote]

Well not for the moment, 9 basses are enough, I might make that 10 when the Squier Jaguar VM comes out.

[mep]

Tasty. I read the review about them in Bass Guitar Magazine and they sound great. Good to hear a review from a BC member. Rock on, Funk on or 'whatever you want' on by the sounds of it.

[Grand Wazoo]

[quote name='mep' post='898261' date='Jul 18 2010, 06:24 PM']Tasty. I read the review about them in Bass Guitar Magazine and they sound great. Good to hear a review from a BC member. Rock on, Funk on or 'whatever you want' on by the sounds of it.[/quote]

did you watch this demo?

[Meenie]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!
I really want one!!!


Gotta pay my share of a new tour van first though!


Frustration x1000000!

[Prime_BASS]

Massive gas now people.

[dub_junkie]

I love it!

Cant wait till the day I can afford one of these.It's going to be an s/s/s/ and not the single H and it'll more likely be a 4 string as they have the same neck profile as the Sterling.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='899056' date='Jul 19 2010, 03:42 PM']I love it!

Cant wait till the day I can afford one of these.It's going to be an s/s/s/ and not the single H and it'll more likely be a 4 string as they have the same neck profile as the Sterling.[/quote]

Tbh, I still want one despite cancelling it.

Give it 3/4 of a year and hopefully I can test one out and buy one.

Im with you, even though I think they look better as a 5. Im going to probably get a 4 SSS purely as a bass like that needs thrashing in my rock/punk bands and I enjoy myself more on a 4 string in those settings with a pick.

[OutToPlayJazz]

I had a feeling these were going to be seriously good, especially after watching the Ed Friedland video on the 'Al a couple of months ago. Seriously cool looking, too.

I seem to remember asking you a while ago GW (but don't remember the response - Duh!), but how does 'Al 5 compare with your 25th Anniversary/Reflex? They obviously have the same mad bad and dangerous preamp, so I wondered if they were particularly different in terms of playing/sound?

[51m0n]

Sorry that thing is SO ugly I couldnt ever own one, I hate all the straight edged basses and guitars though, they just dont do it for me at all....

[Musicman20]

[quote name='51m0n' post='899206' date='Jul 19 2010, 06:12 PM']Sorry that thing is SO ugly I couldnt ever own one, I hate all the straight edged basses and guitars though, they just dont do it for me at all....[/quote]

Ouch!

[51m0n]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='899211' date='Jul 19 2010, 06:13 PM']Ouch![/quote]

Hey, dont get me wrong, if it floats your boat thats great, it clearly has a bazillion tones to choose from, and will no doubt be a fine bass, I just hate the look. I'm willing to accept the fault here may well be mine

[TheBass]

I'm missing the switches to vary the scale length and for frets/fretless.

[OutToPlayJazz]

[quote name='51m0n' post='899222' date='Jul 19 2010, 06:19 PM']Hey, dont get me wrong, if it floats your boat thats great, it clearly has a bazillion tones to choose from, and will no doubt be a fine bass, I just hate the look. I'm willing to accept the fault here may well be mine [/quote]

Someone call the taste police! You're missing out on a seriously cool looking bass here, mate.

Last time I looked, it was 2010, not 1951...

[Grand Wazoo]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='899173' date='Jul 19 2010, 05:43 PM']I had a feeling these were going to be seriously good, especially after watching the Ed Friedland video on the 'Al a couple of months ago. Seriously cool looking, too.

I seem to remember asking you a while ago GW (but don't remember the response - Duh!), but how does 'Al 5 compare with your 25th Anniversary/Reflex? They obviously have the same mad bad and dangerous preamp, so I wondered if they were particularly different in terms of playing/sound? [/quote]


OTPJ, on paper one would think that there might be a lot of similarities bwtween the two, interestingly enough the only similarity I have discovered is in the neck profile everything else is a departure from one another and I'll explain essentially why:

First of all on the 25th Anniversary, the body is made out of a bottom slab of Ash, with a mahogany tone block that runs under the pickups from the bridge to the neck joint, the whole thing is covered by a highly figured maple cap. In addition to this my 25th has a rosewood f/board. See pic below of the guitar cut out: (bear in mind the basses are not chambered like the guitars):



You then have one Humbucker with ceramic poles and two neodymium single coils with phantom coils fitted under them for hum cancelling purpose. The preamp is a lot more subtle than that of either the Bongo or the Big Al 5 and it perfectly compliments the 25th by giving it more of a deep marimba type of tone rather than an out an out rock machine, it is a gentle giant with an incredible array of beautful sweet sounds, yeah 16 of them if you count active vs passive. The whole bass weighs 10.08lbs / 4.76Kgs

On the opposite scale you have the Big Al 5, made entirely out of African Mahogany, which in terms of density vs resonance is very very similar to basswood and has the welcoming feature of being just under a pound lighter at just 9.12lbs / 4.42Kgs. Pheww. Now contrary to the 25th which has a rosewood f/board my Big Al has a maple one and we all know the diference between these are immense to begin with.
The sounds you can get out of the Big Al are all more out there as in brighter and more centre present rather than subsonic like the 25th. Of course you can make things really deep with the active preamp, and dark with the tone in passive but when you play all 3 pickups on both basses with all the controls flat one (the Big Al) is more agreessive than the other so, my best way to descibe the difference is to compare the 25th to a Bentley with all the posh timmings and the Big Al to a muscle car like Mitsubishi Evo or a Scooby Impreza. **cking fast and Furious to give you an idea. I am actualyl glad that the 2 are different, if it wasn't that way I would have felt like burning a hole in my pocket by buying two similar expensive basses in different body shapes but thankfully no! There's a sea in between them, and if you like me are a bit of a Music Man fan you can't have one with out the other, and then you know me, I've got a Bongo 5, I had and sold a Stingray 5 (waitng to save for a Classic one in Fiesta Red for next year...) Life goes on and I am very pleased with my choice, you ought to try one and I guarante you would regain your passion for the EBMM stuff, as I know you had a mental fall out with them.

Cheers

[OutToPlayJazz]

Thanks for the detailed reply, GW

Yes, I liked certain aspects of the Stingrays I had. The piezo equipped natural 4-string was a very nice bass, but it had no place in the stuff I actually play for a living. A Status S2 or a double bass/EUB all do the job so much better. I much preferred the sound of the 5-string Ray with the ceramic pickups - Much brighter and punchier, but really didn't like the rough unfinished necks at all. It actually annoyed me that they could produce such a nice bass without bothering to finish it, LOL!

I think if I don't end up trying a Nordstrand 5, the Big Al 5 may be the "wooden 5-string" I end up going for. It sounds as if it has the aggressive (but tameable) range of sounds I'm looking for and it looks very distinctive, too. Consider it on my list - Especially since seeing your CAR one. Congrats again, mate!

Edited July 19, 2010 by OutToPlayJazz

[thisnameistaken]

I do quite like the look of these but I reckon I'd only ever use the neck pickup, and I think I'd have to get one with less contrast between the pickguard and body, but I do like the design overall.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='899241' date='Jul 19 2010, 06:37 PM']Someone call the taste police! You're missing out on a seriously cool looking bass here, mate.

Last time I looked, it was 2010, not 1951... [/quote]

Yeah but "futuristic" was a '50s look wasn't it. Brief resurgence in the '80s while ET was in cinemas and Status basses were cool, then back to ironic T-shirts where it belongs.

[OutToPlayJazz]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='899357' date='Jul 19 2010, 08:19 PM']I do quite like the look of these but I reckon I'd only ever use the neck pickup, and I think I'd have to get one with less contrast between the pickguard and body, but I do like the design overall.



Yeah but "futuristic" was a '50s look wasn't it. Brief resurgence in the '80s while ET was in cinemas and Status basses were cool, then back to ironic T-shirts where it belongs. [/quote]

'Ere laddy, when I was at school, we used to tuck our shirts in and look smart. That was cool - If you happened to be in the nerd brigade like me!

Anyway, if Doctor Who can make bow ties cool... Nah, scratch that idea!

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='899389' date='Jul 19 2010, 08:46 PM']Anyway, if Doctor Who can make bow ties cool... Nah, scratch that idea![/quote]

I saw a band last week, full of sixth formers by the look of them and I could tell they were cool because they smoked, and the bass player was wearing a bow tie.

OK to be fair the bow tie will only be cool when it's the lead singer or guitarist who's wearing one, but it's a start!

[LawrenceH]

That thing is seriously, seriously fugly. I quite like a lot of modern designs, but the ratios on that thing are all screwed up. I guess it could be cool, in a 'f*** you' sort of way. But pretty soon in the future it'll be the bass equivalent of having a mullet.
If it sounds good, of course, then none of that matters a damn (sounds pretty 'generic modern active bass' on that video though!)

[Grand Wazoo]

Look peeps, at the end of the day, I know the bass shape might not be to everyone's taste, as I've repeatedly said, I myself find it a little odd, however there are a couple of things that crash the "culture shock" impression, [b]one[/b] is the impressive ergonomics: i.e. it wears well and plays comfortably, and two no matter what anyone can say about the looks it more than makes up for it with the array of sounds you can get out of just one bass.

And finally: all comments are appreciated both positive and negative ones, however there is that element of respect that some of you tends forget when describing someoene else's instruments.

Let me explain: personally I am not fond of Warwicks, Status, headless of any kind, composite bass necks in general, yet I wouldn't offend an owner of any of these basses by saying your bass is FUGLY, is like someone saying, Jesus mate your wife looks well rough! You just don't do that. That is the part I don't like about this forum: people always go that extra length to be out and out rude. Have some common sense and respect and if you see something you don't particularly like, just say "not my cuppa" or not for me, and keep your nasty comments to yourselves.