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First Post...Need 5 String Advice for Studio

O

oceantracks

Jul 20, 2011
9
0
#1
Hello to all, great forum.

OK, I'll TRY to be brief...

I'm a guitarist. I work professionally in a studio situation and am hired often as a music producer to do many different styles of music. One day alternative, next day country, next day a 60s retro sound. The Sixties thing I have covered with a P bass.

I'm not a hot bass player, as I said, mainly a guitarist. I've been getting by with the Fender P Bass, and a cheap Spector 5 string I bought used for about 350 ten years ago.

I'm looking for a 5 string bass that will not break the bank, will NOT be active (sorry I can no longer deal with batteries in instruments) and WILL have a great sounding low B string that doesn't sound like indistinct thunder.

I'm thinking about an American Standard Fender Jazz 5, and wondered what the REAL bass players....you guys....thought of that bass as an all around versatile bass.

Thanks for any advice!

Tom
 
#5
Off the beaten path, but you might want to look at the Lightwave. Active but rechargeable with no hassles.

Immense tone shaping, tremendously solid and clear B. For the studio, it is dead quiet. I never realized that even my best basses made some noise until this one made absolutely no noise.

It is however, fairly unforgiving in revealing sloppy technique...
 
#6
oceantracks said:
Hello to all, great forum.

OK, I'll TRY to be brief...

I'm a guitarist. I work professionally in a studio situation and am hired often as a music producer to do many different styles of music. One day alternative, next day country, next day a 60s retro sound. The Sixties thing I have covered with a P bass.

I'm not a hot bass player, as I said, mainly a guitarist. I've been getting by with the Fender P Bass, and a cheap Spector 5 string I bought used for about 350 ten years ago.

I'm looking for a 5 string bass that will not break the bank, will NOT be active (sorry I can no longer deal with batteries in instruments) and WILL have a great sounding low B string that doesn't sound like indistinct thunder.

I'm thinking about an American Standard Fender Jazz 5, and wondered what the REAL bass players....you guys....thought of that bass as an all around versatile bass.

Thanks for any advice!

Tom
Click to expand...

Tom,

funny how when someone asks about a specific bass, they get comments about everything else under the sun not even closely related to the bass they asked about.

The Fender J5s, esepecially 2008 and newer are fantastic instruments. The B strings are great and they record REALLY well. I just recently let mine go to go back to a Stingray 5 (my preference). I used mine on the road quite a bit and a fair amount in the studio. I was/am more partial to my 2008 Fender P5 though. Again, GREAT B string on it and goes to track like a monster. (I've got some work I did with my P5. PM your email address and I'll send you some of the tracks.)

The Laklands mentioned are great too. Great tone, very solid build. I don't much care for the 35" scale on them though. If that's not a deal breaker for you, would be worth checking out, but for my money, the Fenders have it.
 
#10
I can vouch for my very talented friend who owns a passive J5 as his do-it-all 5-string and it gets a lot of use, especially from his more bass-oriented friends(He's a guitarist/teacher). I've never really been into Jazz basses so my do-it-all 5 is an ATK mainly because it definitely didn't break the bank. I would check one out but also if you want a good J5-type I'd look at a Carvin B50(you can even get a kit and put it together yourself for less than $500 I believe). I've been real impressed with the quality of their stuff.
 
#11
I've always been a fan of the Marcus Miller jazz. I don't have any experience with the 5 string version, possibly someone who has can chip in on how the B string plays. But They've got an Active/Passive switch as well, the onboard EQ is really good to add a little extra bottom/high end if you want to do some slapping. The passive mode sounds really great as well.
 
#13
zachbass02 said:
Tom,

funny how when someone asks about a specific bass, they get comments about everything else under the sun not even closely related to the bass they asked about.

The Fender J5s, esepecially 2008 and newer are fantastic instruments. The B strings are great and they record REALLY well. I just recently let mine go to go back to a Stingray 5 (my preference). I used mine on the road quite a bit and a fair amount in the studio. I was/am more partial to my 2008 Fender P5 though. Again, GREAT B string on it and goes to track like a monster. (I've got some work I did with my P5. PM your email address and I'll send you some of the tracks.)

The Laklands mentioned are great too. Great tone, very solid build. I don't much care for the 35" scale on them though. If that's not a deal breaker for you, would be worth checking out, but for my money, the Fenders have it.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks so much!

As I said I'm no bass expert, and this whole 35 and 34 inch scale thing is new to me as well, I did read one thread up here where someone said the reason the B string sounds so bad on many 5 strings is due to using a 34 scale, but it seems he was roundly refuted up here.

So thanks to all, a lot of options. I really do love the body style of the Spector (it's an old Korea made NS2 style thing) but it's low B has always been terrible, and last night I plugged it in and no sound. New battery. Dead. So it got me thinking maybe it's time to get a new 5 string.

So will make a run up to some shops and check some out, and revisit up here to let you know how I do. I probably couldn't wrong with the Fender though.

Regarding price, yeah I should have been more specific, was hoping to find something in the 800-1000 (list range).

Thanks again
Tom
 
#14
zachbass02 said:
Tom,

funny how when someone asks about a specific bass, they get comments about everything else under the sun not even closely related to the bass they asked about.

The Fender J5s, esepecially 2008 and newer are fantastic instruments. The B strings are great and they record REALLY well. I just recently let mine go to go back to a Stingray 5 (my preference). I used mine on the road quite a bit and a fair amount in the studio. I was/am more partial to my 2008 Fender P5 though. Again, GREAT B string on it and goes to track like a monster. (I've got some work I did with my P5. PM your email address and I'll send you some of the tracks.)

The Laklands mentioned are great too. Great tone, very solid build. I don't much care for the 35" scale on them though. If that's not a deal breaker for you, would be worth checking out, but for my money, the Fenders have it.
Click to expand...

I would agree with the Fender American Standard J5 or P5.
Both are passive, both are 34in scale, which will be easier for a guitarist to switch over to. Both are top performers in the studio for most types of music and retain their value well.

Fender B strings are just as good as any one's 34in B string. You do however have to try the actual bass out for yourself. Some basses have good B's, some not. Try before you buy.
 
#17
Fender American, Lakland, and Carvin SB5000 all seem to be the passive go-to basses for studio work as they're very versatile. They can all be had for about the same price too.

For strings, I'd recommend a set of Circle K Balanced 136's. They will give you a very consistent tone and a thunderous low B, regardless of scale length.
 
#20
Talking about skill level, not composing ability, and I think what was "douchey" was implying that a guitar player can't play bass and I should hire someone else, without even knowing my skill level....and what does "our bass players" mean? ;)

In describing my situation the point was that I wasn't a flashy slap bass guy, or speed guy, some aspects of instruments that might be important those types of players are not to me. Hope this helps. Using PM as a reference would give most people an idea of what I meant, I thought...

Tom
 

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