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"Best affordable" five-string p/j bass

jacoby75

jacoby75

Supporting Member
Mar 11, 2010
5,661
10,716
Coldwater, MI
Disclosures
Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
#1
Hey guys,

So I've got the itch to pick up a new bass. I have most of my basses (pun intended) covered tone and pickup wise. At least most that I want. With the exception of one: A five-string P/J. (actually, I don't have ANY p/j, but I overwhelmingly play five strings these days, so I thought I'd stick with it. Especially since most of what I play is modern worship, and it helps to have that low B to drop to. Though I suppose it might also be an option to get a four and string it B-E-A-D)

I thought I would reach out for opinions as to what your guys' favorite P/J's are, specifically five strings, if you have one. You'll note that I put "best" in quotes because I know that is a relative term. By "best," I would mean, "best bang for your buck." Highest tonal and build quality I can get for the money. I can't say there's any real specific sound I'm looking for. I do favor passive basses, so might prefer something passive. My one requirement would be that if it IS active, that it have an active/passive option, because I hate being in the middle of a gig and having a battery die. I also put "affordable" in quotes because that is also relative. I'm thinking $800 or less. New or used.

At this point, I'm leaning towards a Sire P7. Not a ton of recordings of the tones out there, but it seems pretty well reviewed, and they look great. I'm not averse to import basses. But I thought I would reach out and get your thoughts.

Thank you, as always.
 
#3
You can close this thread now. You're welcome
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#6
jlepre said:
Oh and they are a joy to play. I've been gigging mine for close to 2 years. I also have the Jazz VV7 as well.
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Certainly tempting. Of course, I don't even have the money yet. Have to sell some pedals first. But it's fun to dream. The V7 sounds really great too, but I already have a five string passive jazz that I love. But I am also considering getting a 4-string V7 vintage in black, to have a knock off, super charged Geddy Lee jazz bass. Of course a big part of Geddy's sound is the pickups, but at least it would "look" like Geddy's, and have some improved features.
 
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#8
LBS-bass said:
I got a lot of recommendations in this thread recently: Feel like I need a P/J fiver

Ultimately I went with the Sire P7 but there were many other great options mentioned.
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Ah. That's good to know, thanks for the link. I searched for "best" or "affordable" five string p/j, but nothing came up. I didn't hit the right combination of words, lol.
 
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#9
Nothing wrong with the Yammy BBs, nor the Ibby TMBs (especially the 600 series), but yeah, no surprise, Sire gets my vote.
 
#11
dabbler said:
The Sire is a great choice, BUT the Harley Benton Enhanced PM is a better value:

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Fancy. I recently had a Schecter diamond P/MM that I just could not bond with or get a decent tone out of. I bought it intending to route it for Thunderbird pickups just for kicks, but it was no fun to play. You could tell the build quality just wasn't there. I don't want to cheap out TOO much. Because it will pale in comparison to the other basses I have and likely won't be as fun to play . . . and thus won't get played.
 
#12
jacoby75 said:
Fancy. I recently had a Schecter diamond P/MM that I just could not bond with or get a decent tone out of. I bought it intending to route it for Thunderbird pickups just for kicks, but it was no fun to play. You could tell the build quality just wasn't there. I don't want to cheap out TOO much. Because it will pale in comparison to the other basses I have and likely won't be as fun to play . . . and thus won't get played.
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That being said, you can seriously get a 5-string PJ from them for $121?! What's the catch?! Is it made of cardboard?
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#16
I just got a Harley Benton enhanced P/MM. The build quality is great. The stock preamp is meh, otherwise it punches way above its weight class. Not sure about their even-cheaper models... probably don't have things like binding/blocks, 6 bolt neck, 19mm spacing, string thru body, zero fret, string retainer, roswell pickups, etc.
 
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#17
jlepre said:
Just curious,
What makes it a better value? The Price?
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Yes, price is lower AND you get stainless frets, a 6 bolt neck, a hi-mass bridge and the MM splits.

I also have a Sire V7:

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and the Sire does have a more flexible pre, due to its being 3 bands with a mid sweep and a passive tone control, but you pay for that.

The Sire has a more vintage tone, but you could gig with either in a lot of situations.
 

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