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Favorite Five-String Passive Bass

#101
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#102
Mike Sorr said:
I'm currently having Carvin put together a JB5 for me. It has an active/passive pull switch, so you can use it either way. I prefer passive too, but it's nice to have that extra capability. I'm paying just over a grand for a custom made instrument which is pretty fantastic. I believe you can go all pasisive as an option as well and save about $150 give or take. I've owned Carvin basses before and I'd put them up against just about anything. Fantastic B strings for 34" scale.
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Indeed. That's the way I'm leaning right now. I'm a little concerned though that carvins don't seem to hold their resale value well.

But as of this second I'm debating between a carvin pb5 with a j pickup, or a Yamaha bb1025x.
 
#103
Dang. That's a cool looking bass. That fanned fret vibe is so weird. I don't think I'd ever get used to it. Probably wouldn't work with my crappy "hold the bass like a baseball bat" technique.
 
#104
jacoby75 said:
Indeed. That's the way I'm leaning right now. I'm a little concerned though that carvins don't seem to hold their resale value well.

But as of this second I'm debating between a carvin pb5 with a j pickup, or a Yamaha bb1025x.
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Carvins have not historically held resale value very well, but that seems to be changing with the new models. The Carvin PB and JB series, the SB series and the B series all seem to have fine resale value. I wouldn't expect to make money like you can with the right Fender, but who knows? The Carvin series I mentioned are still pretty recent. In a few years maybe the traditional style models may hold their value. I just bought a used Carvin B50. I'm sure new it went for somewhere around $1100, give or take a few bucks. I paid around $700. Last year I bought a used Fender American Standard Precision 5. New they go for around $1400 in a store, I got mine in like new condition for $950. I bought a modified American Special P bass about two years ago. New they go for $1000. I paid $625 total with the mods which had to have cost another $200 for the guy I bought it from. So, I would say that new Fenders may hold their resale value better than new Carvins...but only slightly.
 
#108
Yamaha BB series... talk about something that doesn't hold it's resale! I like the BB series, have and older one I wouldn't part with. I played a BB1025x and didn't like; the neck is super-flat, 24" radius as I recall. I like 12" - 16" a lot, but 24" might just be jumping the shark on the flat fretboard thing. And that noisy single coil in the bridge position persists, despite the price.
Anyway, the 1025x was a finely made, good-sounding bass, but for me not worth the money.
 
#109
Dr. Cheese said:
If it's relatively cheap and does what you want it to, why worry about resale? Heck, plan on keeping it instead!:bassist:
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True, I wouldn't plan on ever selling it. But my concern was if it doesn't hold its value that might speak to an issue in quality or longevity. Purely a theory, though.

bdplaid said:
I played a BB1025x and didn't like; the neck is super-flat, 24" radius as I recall. I like 12" - 16" a lot, but 24" might just be jumping the shark on the flat fretboard thing. And that noisy single coil in the bridge position persists, despite the price.
Anyway, the 1025x was a finely made, good-sounding bass, but for me not worth the money.
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That's very good to know, thanks. I had a yamaha trb1005 that I loved the sound of, but I could never get comfortable with the super flat neck. That could be a deal breaker if it's similar.
 
#110
jacoby75 said:
True, I wouldn't plan on ever selling it. But my concern was if it doesn't hold its value that might speak to an issue in quality or longevity. Purely a theory, though.



That's very good to know, thanks. I had a yamaha trb1005 that I loved the sound of, but I could never get comfortable with the super flat neck. That could be a deal breaker if it's similar.
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As a Peavey fan, I know that resale is all about market perception, not actual quality.
 
#113
Looking back at the original post, from passive basses I';ve had, the faves were a 1965 Jazz (long gone now, sold before the "vintage" craze) and an Ibanez RB something or other. Going on 30 years old now, I still have the Ibanez and it still works great.
My current passive bases are ones I've built using mostly Warmoth parts. I discovered that I like Fender vintage pickups the best. That's what you see in my avatar.
Another that I like a lot is - get this - a Squier Affinity Jazz, one of the Chinese ones. I bought it on a goof, but it was great out of the box, and I added new electronics to it. So help me, I'm shocked at how good it is.
But if I was buying something today, I would have a long look at the Fender American P5. Just sounds and feels right. I'd get a used one and add a bridge pickup to it.
 
#114
jacoby75 said:
I should also specify that in my experience with 5-strings, which I've been playing exclusively for a while now, 35" scale makes a big difference, particularly with the low B. Sometimes string through on a 34" scale is sufficient, but I like tighter strings. In the case of some higher end builders, sometimes you can get a good sounding low B out of a 34" scale, but that's been the exception to the rule in production basses, at least in my experience.
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FWIW, a string through design has no effect on string tension.
 
#115
I just accept that a 34" scale was not designed for the low B, and just try to make the best of it using a .130 or .135 inch string. Low B strings sound like crap anyway, so I only it for effect. I don't even change the B every time I restring the bass; cheaper that way and a better selection of string sets. Yes, some basses are better than others, but the only decent ones are 35" scale and up, and I don't like playing those. Except for my Modulus. ;-)
 
#117
FWIW, I like my Stingrays better with a proper 4-conductor wire pickup (so that both parallel and in-series are options) and in passive.

I would not hesitate to fulfill the wish for a 5-string passive bass with either a pearl white non-classic stingray or a blue classic 5, put in the Seymour Duncan (or similar) 5-string alnico pickup, put parallel/in-series and split switching on push-pulls and make $$$ selling the original electronics on Ebay.
 
#118
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I've had this bass for the past few months and it is fantastic! Mike really builds a great instrument. Though, I really do need to take some of my own pics of this bass instead of always posting ones from Gelb...
 

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#119
I decided to start with a Schecter diamond custom p 5 and go from there. It's the only thing I could find under $1,000 with the specs I wanted: a 5 string passive p/j in 35" scale, apart from buying a p of some kind and adding a j pickup. Probably change the pickups as soon as I get it. I had a schecter stiletto studio 5 in the past that was one of the best feeling and playing bass I ever had. I ultimately sold it get something else, and because cosmetic things were going bad on it, but overall they are solid basses. Plus, schecter had a ridiculous deal on the white ones on their website.
 
#120
Interesting. I also had a stiletto, loved it, but in the end just got tired of the scale and the closeness of the strings (17mm at the bridge is tight!). I bought a Diamond PJ5, but sent it back because I didn't like the sound - I'm into a vintage P sound in a 5-string, and I didn't think the Diamond P had it. although, changing pickups is an option. I love humbuckers/ dual J pickups in the bridge position, which is what that Schecter has.
Good luck, keep us posted!
 

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