I'm all about mustangs now, but for a while the five string pbass did everything for me. I had a fender american pro, but when I really looked into the blackened crusty remains of my heart, a Yamaha BBP35 was my dream bass. So one day I had one transferred to a local store and bought it. The fender was nothing special, just a good worker. I did have to modify the bridge and shim the neck to get the action where I wanted it, but I did get it set up fantastically well. The Yamaha also set up ok, without real effort, but just never felt as good. It felt hard, where the fender was like a nice steel tractor seat - also hard, but the right shape to be comfy. Maybe it was just that the fender was the shape I expected it to be, the Yamaha always felt like someone else's bass. I also couldn't get the sound I wanted out of it. I could make it sound fantastic, but when I got up there I had to just solo the P pickup, roll off the tone and grit my teeth. Then one day I changed the strings and discovered that I could not get it to set up correctly, and upon closer inspection the neck had developed a twist. I had it for almost a year, was definitely under warranty, but the store I got it from did not want to help me out. I took it to another nearby location of the same store and they said it wasn't that badly twisted, charged me a minor restocking fee and put it on the shelf. It sold the next day.
Ever get that moment when you realize you just wrote a pile of crap that probably means nothing to anyone but yourself? Still posting it, just to get it out.
Hope you pick the right bass for you.
