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Rock N Roll that requires a 5 string.

A 4 string in BEAD will work for a Modern Country band.
I think a 4 string in B,E,A,D would work for most of what I play. Heck even D,E,A,D would work. I've used that tuning a ton, and on occasion, C,E,A,D for Cinderella's Diary of Jane if I can ever get anyone to play it, which is a rarity. It's always you wanna play it, you sing it, lol. Ain't happening.

But I had the opportunity to pick up a Peavey Millenium BXP 5 for 200 bucks and I took it. And right now it's getting a lot of attention. Just a really fun bass to play. And I intend on getting my money's worth out of it :D

I was actually looking at modding it too. Have already talked to Nordstrand about a custom set of pups based on the NJ5 Vintage Single Coil that they make. Peavey for some odd reason made a 5 string bass with a 4 string pup sizing and no exposed poles. Probably more economical because they could use the same pups in the 4 and 5 string models of the same bass. But finding a true 5 string replacement pup for it hasn't been an easy task. Don't know if I'll go that route yet or not as I'll end up with more money in the pups than I have in the bass.

The reason I even considered upgrading pups was I was having an issue with the pots or possibly the pups, or so I thought I was anyway. But two things fixed that issue. First one was if you're going to run the bass straight to the board make sure you have Hi Z engaged. Clearly a user error on my part. And second, clean the pots. Wonders never cease :roflmao:

The pups in it now are pretty good, and the tone is quite good actually. I'm now in one of those "if it's not broke, don't fix it" conundrums. How much would buying the custom Nordstrands really do for the tone? Probably not enough to justify doubling what I already have in the bass and then some. I've even recorded it with it already and it sounds fantastic in the mix. The Nordstrands should give it a little more growl on the low end. But it already has more growl on the low end than any of my other basses.
 
I have pickups in my Epiphone EB0 that cost more than the bass. It's worth it to me. If you decide the sell the bass, put the originals back in.
Thanks, just what I needed, encouragement to spend more money, like I need any help there, :roflmao:

I'll hang onto the original pups, but I'm not one to sell my basses, so they probably will never make it back in there if I do swap them out.

I already have one bass like that. A 1985 Epiphone Accu Bass or what I call "Epicision". I bought it for 65 bucks with every intention of putting a little money into it. Did a little work on cleaning it up, installed a EMG GZR P set, splurged on a custom engraved truss rod cover, ended up with $248 in it after strap and strings. It is my recording bass. And a part time gigging bass as well. It's a joy to play, but the weight isn't conducive to a 4 hour gig. But it might be afterwhile. During January I did three practice/recording sessions with it for a total of 16 hours of it slung around my neck while standing. So now it's getting a lot of stand up time and it doesn't seem as bad as it once did weight wise.

I have another bass that will eventually end up with more money in it than I paid for it. a 2015 FSR Squire Jag that I got for 100, going to put a EMG GZR P/J set in it, those sell for 179.

The difference though is those two basses need/needed new pups to be in working order whereas the Peavey is fine and only needed a little pot cleaning.
 



Thanks for the Three Days Grace, I suspect Breaking Benjamin probably has some tunes I need to look at as well. Both of their debut albums were pretty good.

Creed, I was a huge fan back in the day. I need to go back and check out some of the stuff from Mark Tremonti's two projects, Tremonti and Alterbridge. I have all of their music.

The Gary Clark stuff I'll have a lot of fun with too!

Not a Nickelback fan per se, but...
It did make me think of something, or someone.

Thornley!
 
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Somewhere in the mid '90s I bought a 5 string and learned to play it in case anyone ever asked for me to use one. So far nobody has asked.
And no one will probably ever ask me either. But it sure is a fun bass to play. And obviously can allow you a different way of playing the same notes on a 4
 
I'm glad I had the fiver when I went into the studio to record with a keyboard player I know. He had written a kind of boogie/swing/blues number in D. Without the five string, my wonderfully conceived (sarcasm...it was pretty simple) walking bass line would have had to work off the open D string. Instead, we went to the low D on the B string and walked that b1#$h home!
 
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A lot of early 2000s modern rock/nu metal -whatever you wanna call it- has many low notes. Bands like Three Days Grace, Disturbed, Volbeat, Evanescence. Whether you like the tunes or bands, a 5 is nice to have for that era.