need a 5-string. Inexpensive, not cheap

Ibanez Cort LTD and Yamaha seem are very solid and are all underrated basses because they don't look like fenders. They won't sound like fenders and they have their own unique tone. If you are after a stingray though I would check out the sub series stingray. lots of the stingray players here seem to like them. I see you're in Germany and I know that makes a difference. I wonder if you can get good prices on used Warwick basses. Even the lowest budget rock bass is really great. Here in the US they are more rare but when they do come up for sale sometimes they can be very good deals used. But Warwick is high on my list if you want excellent basses.

 

Budget is key. However I will say that for low budget you're actually going to do better with passive basses. The reason is that most preamps especially the cheap ones tend to be crap. I've played basses that I just couldn't get to sound right and it's usually a preamp that isn't working with the bass. I've heard more cheap but still good passive pickups. I would say for you keep looking for used basses and you'll find something in your budget. If you can get about €250 saved up you can find something decent. If you are good at fixing and setting up basses you can find a very good deal on a bass someone else didn't set up well and is selling cheap because he thinks it's crap.

 

I got a Chinese fretless and the preamp was definitely hot garbage. The pickups were ok but not very good. I ended up getting passive tone and wiring it that way with pickups from a Spector bass and it sounds really nice now. It's the wood grain bass in my profile picture. Another brand I didn't think of but wouldn't be bad is Sire. They are Korean and Marcus Miller is an endorsing artist and investor in the company. But aside from price what kind of tone are you looking for and what would you like the bass to look like? Hopefully we can narrow it down for you.

 

Check out the Yamaha BB line of basses. I recently bought a BB435. Cost was a bit less than $600.00 but they have instruments at higher and lower price points to fit most budgets. I have yet to read a bad review of them. Good luck with your search
Cheers J.S.

 

I can highly recommend trying to get your hands on a Sterling Stingray 5. It’s the best bang for the buck of all my basses. I only have 5, ranging from ~$300-3500, and it hangs with them all, despite being the $300 one. It needed a setup, which it took well, and it plays and sounds great. It’s my only fiver. It’s active with a single humbucker. The preamp has a pretty decent range of tones. I’ve been really happy with the quality of that bass, especially considering how inexpensive it was.

Good luck finding your new axe!

PS:
Requisite eye candy:

 

A friend of mine has the Sire V5 Jazz (passive), and I was very very impressed with it. I'm not a 5 player, but I kind of want to buy one just to play around with. His played surprisingly well straight out of the box. Pickups were very good quality, but if I had it as a main player I would probably upgrade. The neck and overall look was just fantastic. He got his end of last year for $599 from Sweetwater.

 

I can personally endorse both the Ibby (mine was an SR5) and the Squier (not sure which specific model I have). I'd add ESP MTD to that list as well. All very playable and solid budget instruments.

 

I was using one of these to learn 5 string it was a nice player
Yamaha TRBX305

 

Ibanez ATK 5s are GREAT values and excellent players.

 

Any Ibanez SR. They'll all feel the same (body size and neck feel/shape), but S/H, you could get something very nice depending on where you are and what's in the wallet.

 

My bang-for-buck choices:
Ibanez SR505... Mahogany finish wears fast, but sounds and plays great. Under $500 used.
Yamaha BB735a (my back up) tons of features, plays and sounds fantastic. $950 CDN new. probably $500 used.

 

I would recommend the Sire V3. It's cheaper than the V5 and V7, $469 new, but people praise how well built and good sounding it is for the price. It also has the same preamp as the V7, which is killer. I have the V7 5 string, and I love it - and the B string sounds great! With the active/passive switch and EQ settings I think you may find it a great sounding and versatile bass. You may be able to find it for cheaper used on Reverb or Guitar Center.

 

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/bas...Bass - Electric Bass - 5 String Electric Bass

3 bills to five string nirvana. Enjoy.

 

try a few different Ibanez models

 

It would be helpful to know the maximum you're will to spend?

 

+1

 

Squier or Ibanez are good safe "cheap" but not "crap" options. I have a Ibanez talman that is pretty awesome, got a good deal. My main player though is an old squier vm jazz that I've had for over a decade, and it just gets better with age. Only issue I had was the input jack was shorting (easy fix) but the tech had a whole new control plate with new pots and what not which has been great.