Those of you who have read some posts of mine might know that I'm a Stingray5 guy who's always looking for a Fender sounding 5er that not only feels like my SR5s but also that has at least the same quality low B, that extra edge (punchiness, in-you-face-ness, cut-thru' power) a Stingray has, just on an instrument that's timbrically in the Fender ballpark.
I've been thru' a Sterling5 HS (just too thin sounding and only remotely decent at a sorta' Jazz Bass'ey thing), several Yamaha BBs (stock preamps sucked in those active and necks weren't that fast/comfortable), a very thin necked 2 pickup Ibby ATK (very versatile, just not aggressive enough) and a Maruszczyk Jake 5a+ (with Delano big pole pickups, killed what otherwise would be a magnificent bass, I know many love those pickups but to me they sound dead, terribly dead if you have the real thing beside to A/B).
I had been interested in a Schecter Model T Session 5. VERY hard to see around here in Europe (Schecter distributors seem only interested in the "classical" Schecter metal oriented gear), as is the CV-5 also. Now, I wasn't even aware of the CV-5's existance a month ago. Found out accidentally thru' TalkBass (can't recall where really), one thing led to another and to Schecter's website with all of the neck specs (something I really appreciate). After listening to some reviews I decided to hunt for one and last week I got myself this beautiful ivy b-stock unit from the USA for maybe 25% less than what I'd have to pay here (buying from the UK).
I still haven't made up my mind about this bass' looks, can't yet decide if it only looks weird to me or if it's plain ugly. What I'm 100% sure is THIS IS THE BEST FENDER KILLER I'VE EVER HAD. Those ugly guitar looking pickups and those coil tap switches provide a magnificent array of tones and characters, some of them personal, some great impersonations, always with an attitude. This bass PUNCHES and has some burp to its low-mids that reminds me of Wals. Can do the P and J thing great, in several flavors. Not finding the series (down) positions too engaging because the volume jump is so hard it forces me to adjust the input gain on whatever I plug into (SansAmp or MS60B emulating it). There's plenty of bass boost, or scoop combinations available at the flip of a switch, really liking it.
This is my first 35" bass and I must say I don't feel anything different about it, the VERY THIN neck profile and the overal sensation of the bass feel like home, I'm equally as comfortable as with my Stingray5s despite the longer scale, didn't require any adaptation. In my case this bass came indeed "Setup to play" (as a sticker on a little cavity cover in the back claims), low action (maybe a little too low if I dig in too much, but I prefer it comes this way than a little too high), perfect relief and intonation, and the nut comes at the right height (usually I have to file them down on most instruments in this budget range). The long Slinkys this comes equipped with are really nice (I had a Slinky endorsement from a local EB distributor more than a decade ago and wasn't too crazy about them, these seem much nicer). Fortunately my usual cheap Warwick Red Label NICKEL (not the usual steels, these are only available thru' thomann) fit this bass well enough, with taper starting some 1cm after clearing the nut. It's not that I go thru' strings that fast, in fact the contrary, my hands won't sweat, ever, string zing lasts for months of daily use and I discard strings when they're halfway thru' their life for many other bass players' standards (and even that may be each 6 months on any bass that gets played on a daily basis). Still, going from spending 12.60€/set to probably over 30€/set was a "concern" for me. I'm a cheap creep, I know.
Now, speaking of cheap, this audio-visual insight into my CV-5 comes courtesy of my (2012?) Samsung Galaxy Grand, sorry in advance.
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This is both pickups on (neck singled, bridge in parallel). Riffs courtesy of Billy Talent (clumsy playing only my fault)...
