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About $2000 to spend, in the market for a 5 string

H

holllowbody

Guest
Mar 25, 2009
148
0
#1
In the near future I will add a 5 string (low b) to my collection and my budget is at about 2k. If I found the right bass, I could go higher.

My current bass gear is as follows:

Warwick Corvette standard fretless 4
Warwick Corvette $$ 4
Boss obd-3
Fulltone bass drive (I will have a Choralflange soon)
Radial JDI, J48 and bassbone

I want to play things like hard rock for the most part with the 5 string, just to give you an idea of what I want to do with it. Live playing, not recording.

Since I like my Warwicks, the obvious thing to do is to get a Warwick Corvette 5. But then in the back of my head I am still wondering what else out there I would like.

My preferances:

-Bolt on neck
-Fretted
-Passive pickup(s)
-Solid body
-Made somewhere other than an Asian country or some other sweat shop
-Single coil pickup(s)
-The bass must NOT say Fender, Gibson or Ibanez
-I must be able to find a hardshell case for it

Thats all I can think of at the moment to describe what I want.

Any ideas as to what bass to look into?

Thanks!
 
#4
holllowbody said:
In the near future I will add a 5 string (low b) to my collection and my budget is at about 2k. If I found the right bass, I could go higher.

My current bass gear is as follows:

Warwick Corvette standard fretless 4
Warwick Corvette $$ 4
Boss obd-3
Fulltone bass drive (I will have a Choralflange soon)
Radial JDI, J48 and bassbone

I want to play things like hard rock for the most part with the 5 string, just to give you an idea of what I want to do with it. Live playing, not recording.

Since I like my Warwicks, the obvious thing to do is to get a Warwick Corvette 5. But then in the back of my head I am still wondering what else out there I would like.

My preferances:

-Bolt on neck
-Fretted
-Passive pickup(s)
-Solid body
-Made somewhere other than an Asian country or some other sweat shop
-Single coil pickup(s)
-The bass must NOT say Fender, Gibson or Ibanez
-I must be able to find a hardshell case for it

Thats all I can think of at the moment to describe what I want.

Any ideas as to what bass to look into?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Snag a Spector Euro 5LX or 6LX for anywhere from $800 to $1500 and save the rest for a rainy day. I know your preferences specify a bolt-on with passive pickups single coils but, trust me, a Spector (of any kind really) will KILL despite those points. The Spector ReBop series is bolt-on but I don't think it's sound is as well rounded as the Euro LX's

I'd like to think of a Spector as sounding like a tighter, punchier, more focused and more versatile Warwick, but that's just me. They have their own sort of growl to them; It's not like the super recognizable Warwick growl but closer to a super jazz.

I dunno if you would want to go as far as 6 strings but if you do I have a Spector Euro 6LX that I'm trying to move.
 
#7
They used to make 5 string Rickenbackers ...

Rimg1087.jpg


The problem with the 4003s5 was the string spacing was 2 1/16" at the bridge ... too tight for fingerstyle ... then they made the 4004cii5 which had a string spacing pretty much identical to the Musicman basses. The problem with the 4004cii5 was it had pickups that had 2 1/4" rails and they couldn't cover the 2 3/4" string spacing. The really sad thing can't seem to make a good 5 string bass.

But the 4004 4 string bass can be modified into a good 5 string bass.

bass5%20062.jpg
 
#8
Would a Music Man Sterling/Stingray suite my needs? It appears that it would. The obvious thing would be to try one, but that is not always an option, hence the question.

Keep in mind, hard rock with lots of low end is the kind of music being played. I also want some high pitched fret noise to come though the mix. I want it to be well suited for a fairly aggressive style.
 
#12
Check the TB Classifieds. There are so many basses there for you price range.

Trujo77 or something like that is selling all of his Warwicks, including a SSII and a Thumb. Check him out. He has about 4 or 5 for sale.
 
#13
holllowbody said:
Would a Music Man Sterling/Stingray suite my needs? It appears that it would. The obvious thing would be to try one, but that is not always an option, hence the question.

Keep in mind, hard rock with lots of low end is the kind of music being played. I also want some high pitched fret noise to come though the mix. I want it to be well suited for a fairly aggressive style.
Click to expand...

the MM would be a good choice, especially if you get one with dual pickups (two pickups give a good pinch for hard rock or metal).

I'd also suggest the G&L L2500, for even more aggression. The G&L pickups have even more kapow than the MM humbuckers if you can believe that's possible. With both pickups on you get a really pinched kind of "scoop" and extremely hefty low bottom that's IMO a great metal sound. Only drawback to G&L is slighly ho hum looks and the US made ones aren't all over the place like others.

LS
 
#15
MTD all the way man!! Email Michael (he is a really cool guy) and he will hook you up with exactly what you are looking for/need. And even if he can't he can suggest some stuff for you. If you weren't so anti foreign country I would say check out the Kingston series. Or you could just check it our any way:ninja:
 

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