Lakland, Sadowsky, Peavey Cirrus all have amazing B strings.
You can tell when you make a record with one. That really is the best way to hear it.
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Do Fender 5 strings suck? - Whats your opinion
- Thread starter PastorofMuppets
- Start date
Lakland, Sadowsky, Peavey Cirrus all have amazing B strings.
You can tell when you make a record with one. That really is the best way to hear it.
I had a Roscoe Beck V with an amazing B, and I've played tons of Fenders with great B's. If you think you have a bad B string, get a bigger gauge.
I have always felt like the necks on the mim deluxe 5's felt weird and inconsistent and the B never sounded good. I also thought the necks on the mim passive 5's felt almost like a short scale neck with a floppy unusable B. However I recently played a American Deluxe J5 that felt really tight and sounded almost as good as my Lakland 55-01's.
I've owned and gigged with 3 different Fender 5-strings.
The first was a 2004 ADPB V and it had a great B string, with very strong fundamental and plenty tight.
The second, was a 2007 ADJB V. While the B string on it had a tight, solid feel, it seemed to be a little anemic in terms of output.
The third is a 1996 Roscoe Beck V, with a B string that I describe as the equivalent of hitting the building with a wrecking ball. Tight, focused, strong output. The RB V is one bass that I will likely keep as long as I am able to play. I used to read some of the raves that people posted about them and think to myself "It can't be that good", but it really is that good.
In all three cases, the overall quality of the instruments has been excellent.
Having said that, I have played some of the MIM Jazz V's with the five in-line tuners that just did not feel that good to me.
As with any manufacturer, consistency is a critical factor. There have been periods of time in which Fender instruments seemed to have too much deviation in quality, resulting in some "great" instruments and some "lousy" ones- even within the same model in the same year. In recent years, I think they have done a good job of tightening that gap and would not hesitate to recommend a Fender 5-string to anyone.
YMMV.
The first was a 2004 ADPB V and it had a great B string, with very strong fundamental and plenty tight.
The second, was a 2007 ADJB V. While the B string on it had a tight, solid feel, it seemed to be a little anemic in terms of output.
The third is a 1996 Roscoe Beck V, with a B string that I describe as the equivalent of hitting the building with a wrecking ball. Tight, focused, strong output. The RB V is one bass that I will likely keep as long as I am able to play. I used to read some of the raves that people posted about them and think to myself "It can't be that good", but it really is that good.
In all three cases, the overall quality of the instruments has been excellent.
Having said that, I have played some of the MIM Jazz V's with the five in-line tuners that just did not feel that good to me.
As with any manufacturer, consistency is a critical factor. There have been periods of time in which Fender instruments seemed to have too much deviation in quality, resulting in some "great" instruments and some "lousy" ones- even within the same model in the same year. In recent years, I think they have done a good job of tightening that gap and would not hesitate to recommend a Fender 5-string to anyone.
YMMV.
As a tiny bit more information. I was once upon a time looking for a Fender 5er and as luck would have it TWO Roscoe Beck V basses identical except for color showed up at GC (of all places). I checked them out and inspite of being virtually identical, one of them was just as you decribe: Totally incredible. The other one was definitely Meh. Not just the B string either. The whole bass. This just shows the variability out there. Unfortunately because of the money I didn't come back until early the next day, but it was already too late. The killer was gone. Ya snooze, Ya lose. As it turned out the Meh Roscoe hung around GC for months until it was gone. I ended up with a MIM Jazz V which to get a decent B took some money and effort as I described above.
Just saying.
I'm liking the new Am. Dlx 5's with the maple fingerboards. Don't care for the rosewoods at all. I have 2 Pedullas.
The only Fender 5 string I've played is the American Deluxe Dimension Bass. I hated every second of it. It sounded like the disgusting love-child of a Jazz Bass and a Musicman Stingray. The B string was floppy and constantly hit the pickup when I slapped it or finger picked it hard enough. Also I found the neck way too fat. Go with Musicman boys. They don't fail.
I've never played one that I liked, but I clicked "Sometimes" because it appears that plenty of folks like theirs - and I haven't tried one in several years. They might be better now.
Suck? I would not say that. I have had some that were not so great in the early days of their attempts at the 5ers. I have had some pretty nice ones too. All in all I would not say that the name Fender comes to mind when I think of great, exceptional 5 string basses. But I would not say they suck.
I don't like any of the Fender 5 strings that they currently make. They're just way too bulky. My main bass is a Fender 5 string, though, but it's a MIJ Fender MB-5 (only made for a few years in the 90s). I love that one!
Not a fan.
I've tried some 5 string jazz basses and just didn't like the tone or the way they felt. It's totally subjective, but they aren't for me.
I've tried some 5 string jazz basses and just didn't like the tone or the way they felt. It's totally subjective, but they aren't for me.
As well!
The mostly fives that I tried in the past didn´t liked. All they came to the factory with a low B bigger in gauge than in another brands. And I realized that the mostly his low B sounded muddy, no punchier, and with less volume that the rest of strings. I remember a couple of five strings just a little bit better than the rest that I tried. But really not so far away.
For five strings I´d rather by far a Musicman that a Fender.
I played a Fender P5 for a while and really liked it, but sold it last year for a EBMM SR5 that I like better. Nothing wrong with the Fender I just wanted something different, but the B string on the SR5 is punchier and the neck is narrower which I prefer.
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Had a RB jazz 5er. Nice bass but the low B was an issue. Could not intonate it properly for up the neck playing.
I have a 2011 AM STD 5 string Jazz bass. It sounds great and while it plays great I have yet to find a set of strings that I'm totally happy with, especially for the E and low B.
As far as string sets (and of what I can recall) I've tried Fender, D' Addario XL's, Dean Markley Blue Steels, Roto Sound Swing Bass, Elixir's, GHS Boomers and DR Lo-Riders and DR Fat Beams. The closets I've come is with the DR Lo-Riders. One of the problems with the Lo-Riders was....at first I tried the "standard" 45, 65, 85, 105 and 130 and found it to be very unbalanced. The 45 and 65 were way too stiff for me and the 105 and 130 weren't as tight as I would like. I then tried a 40 and a 60 and while overall it was much more to my liking I still wasn't totally thrilled with the E and B.
When I tried the Elixirs I thought for sure they would work because I also have an SR505 that I use Elixirs on and it's the perfect set for that bass. No complaints at all. (You could knock a wall down with the low B on that bass!!) I thought seeing how both basses have the same scale length that they'd work great on the Fender. Big disappointment. That whole set just flopped on the Fender.
Yes, I know how to set a bass up. While I'm no "tech" and can't do fretwork I've never had any problem doing a basic setup on any of my other basses. Fact is I even setup a bass the other night for my friends son and he was thrilled as to how much better it played.
I don't know what strings are right for this particular bass. I've mentioned this before, folks have told me I'm wrong but I'll say it again. On my 4 string basses I have no problems with strings and a few times I thought I'd try the same set on my 5 string but the tension feels totally different. Folks here have told me that the tension should feel identical but sorry, my fingers always tell me different. Any set. For example, once I had the Swing Bass set on my 4 string Jazz, loved it and that's why I tried the 5 string set. Felt too loose.
Bottom line: I just want to find a set of strings for the Fender 5 'er that has identical tension as that on my 4 string Jazz bass. That's all!
Do Fender 5 string basses suck. No, they don't. I just haven't found the right set for my bass. Or rather, the right set for this particular bass.
HELP!!!!
As far as string sets (and of what I can recall) I've tried Fender, D' Addario XL's, Dean Markley Blue Steels, Roto Sound Swing Bass, Elixir's, GHS Boomers and DR Lo-Riders and DR Fat Beams. The closets I've come is with the DR Lo-Riders. One of the problems with the Lo-Riders was....at first I tried the "standard" 45, 65, 85, 105 and 130 and found it to be very unbalanced. The 45 and 65 were way too stiff for me and the 105 and 130 weren't as tight as I would like. I then tried a 40 and a 60 and while overall it was much more to my liking I still wasn't totally thrilled with the E and B.
When I tried the Elixirs I thought for sure they would work because I also have an SR505 that I use Elixirs on and it's the perfect set for that bass. No complaints at all. (You could knock a wall down with the low B on that bass!!) I thought seeing how both basses have the same scale length that they'd work great on the Fender. Big disappointment. That whole set just flopped on the Fender.
Yes, I know how to set a bass up. While I'm no "tech" and can't do fretwork I've never had any problem doing a basic setup on any of my other basses. Fact is I even setup a bass the other night for my friends son and he was thrilled as to how much better it played.
I don't know what strings are right for this particular bass. I've mentioned this before, folks have told me I'm wrong but I'll say it again. On my 4 string basses I have no problems with strings and a few times I thought I'd try the same set on my 5 string but the tension feels totally different. Folks here have told me that the tension should feel identical but sorry, my fingers always tell me different. Any set. For example, once I had the Swing Bass set on my 4 string Jazz, loved it and that's why I tried the 5 string set. Felt too loose.
Bottom line: I just want to find a set of strings for the Fender 5 'er that has identical tension as that on my 4 string Jazz bass. That's all!
Do Fender 5 string basses suck. No, they don't. I just haven't found the right set for my bass. Or rather, the right set for this particular bass.
HELP!!!!
