Best 5 String Jazz Bass?

[NWB]

Since you didn't specify price, I'd suggest Fodera.

 

[Doug Parent]

You need to try them for yourself. The different makes can sound and feel surprisingly different from each other. Here's my take on the ones I've tried or heard. It's really preference, there's no a lot of bad options out there. I've liked all of these:

F bass: very hifi and modern, generally bright and scooped sounding. Beautiful, and heavy.
Sadowsky: modern, with a touch of vintage. Cuts through and works well in a busy mix. Pre is 2-band boost only.
Nordstrand: vintage in general, but with modern touches - my favorite, love the 3 band pre, love it passive.
Dingwall super J: modern construction but surprisingly warm organic sound with strong mids. Generally quite light.
Alleva Cop: very vintagey, very expensive.
Fender: Standards have the fender sound. Deluxes sound very modern, less growl and punch.
Carvin: great value, customizable, generally somewhat modern in construction and sound.

Good read here. Fender American Standards are really worthy of consideration, I like their single coil pickups a lot, much more traditional as you say with decent balance tonally. Throw some aftermarket single coil pickups in an American Deluxe, like Nordstrand NJ5F's either single coil or HC, and you have a damn good sounding instrument. Bart, SD, etc as well. For some reason Fender stacked and side by side HC J pickups are either too modern and/or noisy

 

[Real Soon]

Like so many such posts, this is for the most part a "What bass do you like/own sort of like what I'm looking for?" kind of deal.

So I'll just note that if the Washburn T-25 (passive 24-fret 5-string jazz) plays anything like the T-24, that's an axe worthy of consideration and worth a lot more than its asking price.

Of course, since it's not a Squier, you won't find it on the floor in your local GC.

 

[T. Brookins]

I have a Sadowsky Metro UV70 5 string with the hum cancelling pickups.

While I'm not too enamoured with the tone of the HCs...I've got to tell you; this is hands-down the most comfortable bass I've ever played.

I'm a big guy though (6'5) so a full-sized jazz bass is just about right for me.

View attachment 513370

I like that body style better bc the Sadowsky dinky style has a top horn that is just a little too short to balance perfectly.

 

[T. Brookins]

Favorite Jazzes are F Bass BN5, Lakland 55-94, Barrington TMS-5. Love thin neck finishes. Some of the older Squier jazz 5s have a nice thin neck profile too.