I started a thread a couple days ago asking on people's opinions on 4 stringers and 5 stringers and I think I've made up my mind. I plan on playing a lot of metal and rock so I think I'd like a 5 string.
Which 5 string would you recommend for my first bass? (I'd like one that I could get used for under $200-$250 or so)
Oh, yeah, getting into metal (or, my biased opinion, anything),
go for the fiver: You want that low-B rumble. You really really do! The more versatile your bass, the more you can contribute to a band in a genre that is extremely guitar (the little six-string things, y'know)-centric, esp. w/those crafty short-scale shredders playing downtuned seven-stringers half the time. You'll have the ability to cut right through the mix at least in the sense of punishing them with insanely low-freq pounding grooves and the drummer will love you if you two gel. Ah, remember this: The drummer must become your best musical friend in the world. You need to learn to develop near-ESP so that you're in-synch. No wall o' guitars can stop ya then. Go for the four-string if you just can't wrap your head and/or your hands around the fiver. I play fretted fivers but four-string fretless. I tune my fretless drop-D and it works for now, but I'm new to fretless & couldn't be bothered with more strings than Jaco had. So maybe, you being new to bass, might have a better time with a four-string detuned; I don't find drop-D a problem in the floppy-strings dept. w/a 34" 4-string.
(a) Shopping as you are for a used instrument, you might get lucky w/ EvilBay. Be
sure to check the vendor's creds (reviews like "I got the bass really quickly" don't count; reviews like "the bass arrived unscathed and the two-band EQ really helps me cut through the mix w/a sound I like" count more) and if what you read in the ad is too good to be true, it ain't true...or through a friend-who-knows-a-friend selling on-the-cheap: Your goal is to get the best bass for your buck. Problem is that most good basses appreciate in price as they "age...." But some sellers, for reasons that vary, are a bit on the desperate side. It's unethical to rip 'em off by pressuring 'em etc., but if they are okay with a price and it fits, heck, cool. Also, you might get a real bargain if you buy a bass that needs just a little TLC from a luthier and the owner can't be bothered.
(b) And what's the best bass for your buck, anyhow? Okay, you're into metal. That doesn't pigeonhole the sound you're looking for, though, nor does it tell us how you play or how your playing will evolve. Lots of factors come to play here, such as whether or not you're a finger-style player, and, in the end, what sound
you like to get from a bass. This bears repetition: Genre doesn't determine that; only you do.
(c) In my early years as a pro-player (i.e., gigging all the time for $ and free stuff, heheh--that's my def., alright) playing the alt hard funk-rock circuit, I stuck to Ibanez. I got mine new, but it cost about double of what you are willing to spend, & that was 20-yrs ago. That axe owned. I think you should avoid the Ibanez that retail new in the range you cited, b/c you'll outgrow 'em fast. But that's just my impression from noodling around w/'em for a friend who was curious. But the market's full of quality upper-mid-range ($-wise) Ibanez used. That's one route. That brand's everywhere. Don't rule out Schechters. Some retail new around $420 (w/a little haggling) and lots of younger/first-gig metalheads swear by them.
(d) Some "first bass" young metalists I know really dig Peavey's active (18V) 5-string, oh, what's its name, the one that you can get in tigerburst, purplewhatever, for around $300 new. Supposedly LOG's J. Campbell gigs with them (@ times). Aside from the price, they dig the active electronics (although a good passive bass through an amp with great EQ beats with a stick a mediocre active bass through same amp), the relatively closely spaced strings (not good if you slap even a bit; great for you if you're a picker), and the stunning finish that makes the instrument look like some, heheh, Fodera et al.
Good Luck.
Doc
