For the past few years I have been playing a 5 string Warwick Rockbass Double Buck. I love the sound of it and I love Warwick's adjustable string spacing at the bridge.
But the 35 scale length made it feel like I was directing traffic whenever I fretted any notes on the first couple of frets. Because of that I got really accomplished at utilizing the low B string for all E notes and above so at least that was a good outcome But after seeing a 4 string short scale I started wondering if there were any 5 strings in that short variety. i just can't bring myself to live without those low notes that the fiver offers. I looked into it and immediately found companies that will custom make you a fiver starting around $2500 or so. Out of my price range. And then I came across the Ibanez Mezzo and the Talman 35. Since no music store near me had any of them in stock I had to rely on Youtube vids to learn about them. I ended up ordering the Talman.
It is passive but the P/J pickups were really hot. A little neck dive but I loved the short reach my arm had to make to fret notes. It is a blast to play. Noticeable string buzz out of the box so I took it to a trusted friend who sets up basses and we then discovered the stripped out truss rod. Totally rounded out. So I take it back to GC and they order me another one. Then of course they put it out for sale the next day but that's another story. i got the new one, truss rod intact and get the set up. There was just no way to get the buzz out. Sounded terrible through my amp. I'm pretty sure that the short scale means that the string tension is not as tight so the strings flop around a bit. I tried playing it for three days straight to see if I could adapt but I ended up taking it back. During all of this I had sold the Warwick so I found myself down to just my spare bass, a G&L L5000.
So I have given up on the 5 string short scale dream and bought this Yamaha TRB505. Its a 34 scale so only an inch shorter than my old Wick but oh well.
Active electronics, which I haven't had in a long while. I really dig the mids knob. I keep the pick up selector slightly toward the bridge pick up and with the extra mids control the thing just sings. I got it set up for me and I couldn't be happier with how it plays and sounds. I bought my Warwick about 4 years ago and paid over a grand for it. I paid a little over 500 for the Yamaha and I don't feel like I am sacrificing anything.
But the 35 scale length made it feel like I was directing traffic whenever I fretted any notes on the first couple of frets. Because of that I got really accomplished at utilizing the low B string for all E notes and above so at least that was a good outcome But after seeing a 4 string short scale I started wondering if there were any 5 strings in that short variety. i just can't bring myself to live without those low notes that the fiver offers. I looked into it and immediately found companies that will custom make you a fiver starting around $2500 or so. Out of my price range. And then I came across the Ibanez Mezzo and the Talman 35. Since no music store near me had any of them in stock I had to rely on Youtube vids to learn about them. I ended up ordering the Talman.
It is passive but the P/J pickups were really hot. A little neck dive but I loved the short reach my arm had to make to fret notes. It is a blast to play. Noticeable string buzz out of the box so I took it to a trusted friend who sets up basses and we then discovered the stripped out truss rod. Totally rounded out. So I take it back to GC and they order me another one. Then of course they put it out for sale the next day but that's another story. i got the new one, truss rod intact and get the set up. There was just no way to get the buzz out. Sounded terrible through my amp. I'm pretty sure that the short scale means that the string tension is not as tight so the strings flop around a bit. I tried playing it for three days straight to see if I could adapt but I ended up taking it back. During all of this I had sold the Warwick so I found myself down to just my spare bass, a G&L L5000.
So I have given up on the 5 string short scale dream and bought this Yamaha TRB505. Its a 34 scale so only an inch shorter than my old Wick but oh well.
Active electronics, which I haven't had in a long while. I really dig the mids knob. I keep the pick up selector slightly toward the bridge pick up and with the extra mids control the thing just sings. I got it set up for me and I couldn't be happier with how it plays and sounds. I bought my Warwick about 4 years ago and paid over a grand for it. I paid a little over 500 for the Yamaha and I don't feel like I am sacrificing anything.
