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Recommendation? 5 String Single Cut Away

nicktunz

nicktunz

Commercial User
Apr 23, 2008
131
21
Miami, FL
Disclosures
Mesa Boogie, Arc Effects, Small Sound Big Sound, Earthquaker Devices
#1
Hey Guys,

I'm a frequent reader, very infrequent poster. None-the-less, I have to ask you guys for advice again on something:

I want a 5 string bass with a single cut away.
I really want to get one of those Les Paul basses from the 90's that Gibson made, but I can't find them anywhere. I should have gotten one when I had the chance 15 years ago. Oh well.

So, there are not many single cut away basses, for whatever reason. Even less are 5 string. I wouldn't mind if this were a semi-hollow body, but I am least concerned about that.

The Epiphone versions seem to have a very wide neck. I am used to playing a Ken Smith Burner 5, so I like my necks to be kinda on the slim side, with narrow spacing.

Any advice would be appreciated at this point.
Thanks!
-nick
 
#2
I should also note that I don't really want to spend a lot of money. I def don't want to be buying a Fodera. I know they are great basses and all but I'm just not going to spend more than $1K for a bass right now. I believe pretty strongly that I can get a good bass under $1K, no problem.
 
#3
nicktunz said:
I should also note that I don't really want to spend a lot of money. I def don't want to be buying a Fodera. I know they are great basses and all but I'm just not going to spend more than $1K for a bass right now. I believe pretty strongly that I can get a good bass under $1K, no problem.
Click to expand...

I think this is going to be your biggest issues to start with - you can absolutely get a great bass for under $1,000, but finding a good Singlecut at that pricerange is a different story. Singlecuts are a niche design and tend to be custom, upper-end basses. Even a used Gibson Les Paul Bass from the '90s might go past 1K on the Used Market simply because of the rarity of the line. Nothing comes to my mind at the moment, but I'll keep my eyes open for you.
 
#5
Thanks Ian,

Yeah, I kinda realize that the $1K and under price range is kinda gonna be an issue, hence why I brought it up. I may do something like go to Warmoth and get an LP body and a Gecko neck. I guess while we are on the subject, if I did that, any idea of how to prevent the neck from hanging, besides going with some sort of lightweight tuners?
 
#6
mmbongo said:
G&L ASAT, but that might not be the single cut style you're after.
Click to expand...

Yeah, not exactly what I am going for, but I don't mind it, either. Problem is, I don't think they make it in 5 string. I guess I could make a 5 string neck fit by routing out the body, etc. But, I don't really want to do that.
 
#8
I'd say warmoth is your best bet, they do the les paul shape for bass. I'm guessing a no frills neck and body combination should land somewhere around 800'ish. 200 should cover the electronics and tuners, especially if you're willing to get some of it used. And you'd most likely end up with a really nice instrument, warmoth stuff is really good.

Edit. Oh shucks, I forgot it was 5.. I don't know if warmoth does the LP for five strings.
 
#9
nicktunz said:
I guess while we are on the subject, if I did that, any idea of how to prevent the neck from hanging, besides going with some sort of lightweight tuners?
Click to expand...

Lightweight Tuners help a *great deal*, I believe I've heard shaving something like 1 lb in total from the headstock end. Other than that it's all the shape of the body, a high-mass bridge (which doesn't do as much as the tuners, but compare a modern HMB to a "bent-metal" Fender and it's something ;) ), strap button placement, and your strap - wider and "grippier" like suede or Neoprene certainly helps Spectors, which can be a touch droopy.
 
#10
Kipaste said:
Edit. Oh shucks, I forgot it was 5.. I don't know if warmoth does the LP for five strings.
Click to expand...

I emailed Warmoth and they will do me an LP body that fits a 5 string neck. They won't do a 35 inch scale, though. That isn't crazy important to me, just another wish on the wish list. I understand that I am asking for the world, but whatever. I also don't really 'need' this bass. I just want it.
 
#11
Ian Perge said:
Lightweight Tuners help a *great deal*, I believe I've heard shaving something like 1 lb in total from the headstock end. Other than that it's all the shape of the body, a high-mass bridge (which doesn't do as much as the tuners, but compare a modern HMB to a "bent-metal" Fender and it's something ;) ), strap button placement, and your strap - wider and "grippier" like suede or Neoprene certainly helps Spectors, which can be a touch droopy.
Click to expand...

Any recommendations for lightweight tuners? The Gary Willis Ibanez has some that are plastic. Not sure how much I like the idea of plastic, but may not be so bad. My Smith is suuuuuper droopy. It's pretty annoying, actually. But, I am used to it, by now.
 
#12
nicktunz said:
I emailed Warmoth and they will do me an LP body that fits a 5 string neck. They won't do a 35 inch scale, though. That isn't crazy important to me, just another wish on the wish list. I understand that I am asking for the world, but whatever. I also don't really 'need' this bass. I just want it.
Click to expand...

I can't see a longer neck helping with such a small bodied bass in the grand scheme of things.
 
#14
nicktunz said:
Any recommendations for lightweight tuners? The Gary Willis Ibanez has some that are plastic. Not sure how much I like the idea of plastic, but may not be so bad. My Smith is suuuuuper droopy. It's pretty annoying, actually. But, I am used to it, by now.
Click to expand...

Very much a coincidence - I've just heading out to Guitar Center to place an order for some items, one of which includes a couple of set of the "Tri-Wing" Tuner Heads from the Gary Willis Bass (I've always liked the look of them, and can remember when he sold them from his website before his Ibanez Signature deal came along, which likely made them exclusive to his bass). I don't think they'll do much in terms of weight, as they only replace the "Y" of a Gotoh-GB7 with the plastic "tri-wing" and not the entire tuner... and that has more area.

As for whole tuners, I have Hipshot Ultralights on my two Mike Lulls, and while I can't give you a before/after as they were standard on them, both basses have absolutely no problems with neck dive, even on the 5-string and with Lightweight versions of their "Bass Extenders" on both basses (a "D-Tuner" and an "A-Tuner" :D). Light as well as well-built - I've never felt that they're too light and going to fail.
 
#15
nicktunz said:
Any recommendations for lightweight tuners? The Gary Willis Ibanez has some that are plastic. Not sure how much I like the idea of plastic, but may not be so bad. My Smith is suuuuuper droopy. It's pretty annoying, actually. But, I am used to it, by now.
Click to expand...

The hipshot ultralights are probably the most common quality light weight tuners. Of course modern shape over those big cloverleafs helps a bit too. Gotoh res-o-lites are also very good, but quite difficult to come by.

They definately won't take a pound off the weight though. If I remember correctly the modern style hipshots weight around 55 or so grams where gotoh gb7's are around 75 grams a pop. So for five strings, you would look at three ounces or so. It might not sound like much but it can actually make a difference in neck heavy instruments. It's not the actual weight, it's the distance from the balance point.

But LP body and 35" neck does sound pretty "interesting" when it comes to ergonomics. By the way, good string design makes a huge difference in low B's. It's entirely possible to have a brilliant low B on a 34" instrument.
 

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