Finally Switching 4 to 5

[GKBassman]

Well i finally made up my mind and decided to switch over to a five string, or i should say that i have decided to get one. I havent much of a chance to play many and have looked at a few and i could really use some info and help towards steering me to a good 5 Stringer, I dont want to spend too much on this one; 500 - 700 i am willing to stretch that if i have too.
I havent ever had a chance to play a ESP bass and thought the model that i was looking at on musicians freind was sort of fugly but it kind of grew on me,

What do you guys think about these basses or what should i check out?
Any help would be much appreciated.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/navigation/esp-guitar-basses-5-string-electric-bass-guitar?N=100001+306314+201358&page=1

[White_Summer]

Ibanez makes some nice well priced 5 strings, and they come with barts too!

[GKBassman]

I was checking out a Sr505 and it seemed like a nice bass, I also checked out a schecter Stilleto Elite and almost bought one 6 months ago, but i ended up getting a new Jazz 4 string at that time; so now i decided that i want the 5 string but soo many decisions.

[Pluperfect_Arson]

You should definitely look into Ibanez and Schecter. You cannot really go wrong with either one.

Also, I have heard varying opinions about ESP basses, but I have never actually played one. I have heard good things about them, though, but I cannot tell you anything first-hand.

[peeted]

yamaha are worth looking at too.

[lemoley]

Schecter Stilleto Series

[Pluperfect_Arson]

Schecter Stilleto Series

The Studio basses, now, come in black! :eek:























I think they look really ugly like that, too.

[lemoley]

Honey burst for the win :thumb:

[Radiobass81]

Get the LTD. You won't regret it.

And anyone who thinks Ibanez has thin necks... hasn't played an ESP :p.

[Afrokid]

ESP and Scheters are very opinion based...they contain EMG pick ups...which in my opinion rob the bass of its soul... o.O

[myassitches]

go for ibanez

[One Groovin Clown]

If you want the best transition, go for an Ibanez soundgear. I bought that as my transition into 5 strings. The thin neck is surprisingly easy to adapt to, even when adding another string onto it. Those basses are completely surpass they're price, (which isn't too high either).

[thelowsoundofbass]

If you want the best transition, go for an Ibanez soundgear. I bought that as my transition into 5 strings. The thin neck is surprisingly easy to adapt to, even when adding another string onto it. Those basses are completely surpass they're price, (which isn't too high either).

That is what I have always said about the Ibanez SR305 that I used to have, it play and felt like bass costing $1000 more. It lacked a bit in the sound department, but that could have been changed with new pickups. It was a steal for the price and the only reason that I no longer own it is due to me having a six string and a four string and seeing no reason to have a fiver as well. There are still times that I wish that I still had it.

lowsound

[Radiobass81]

That is what I have always said about the Ibanez SR305 that I used to have, it play and felt like bass costing $1000 more.

Haha, no.

[blizzard]

Haha, no.

123

I have always found the soundgear Ibanez's to feel cheap especially the 5 and 6 string versions. Well maybe not cheap but definitely not a $1000+ bass.

[Radiobass81]

They feel alright, but they sound so bad.

[Thunder Fingers]

Switching to a 5er is overrated, i tried for a year, and i almost ended up hating the instrument..

[GKBassman]

Well that kind of scares me,
Well see the thing is i can spend upto 1100 bucks on American musical and am not sure what i want to get,
Here is my current setup
MIA Jazz Deluxe, Samson SX1800 PowerAmp, SansAmp Programmable BDDI, DBX162 Compressor, 6 space SKB rack, and a Avatar B410 cab loaded with new eminence beta 10a's and i like the sound i get but there is no low end there, i dont have a problem being heard but my sound cant be felt; and everytime i try to get more lowend out of my sansamp i get more of a slightly driven sound, so i was thinking about getting a new 810 but i want a new bass, but i cant make up my mind
I could get a new bass and a new Ampeg SVT 410 HE cab, i like the SVT 410 HLF but its 4ohms so pairing it with another cab wouldnt allow me to bridge my poweramp with them, so if i went with the SVT410 HE cab which is 8 ohms i could pair it with my other cab for now,
But i dont know if my preamp is causing my low end problems, i was thinking about getting the sansamp rack model or the Line6 Bass Pod XT Live, i just dont want to waste anymore money on gear, im 21 years old and have already wasted enough money on gear just to not be happy a few weeks down the road.

So in idiot form here is what im trying to decide on and want to keep it under 1100 bucks

AMPEG 810 CAB $ 1000
New 5 String Bass 600- 700 Bucks
Sansamp Rack BDDI 300 bucks
Ampeg SVT 410 HLF 600 bucks
Line6 POD XT Live 400 bucks.








I knew i should have just bought the SVT 4 Pro a few months back instead of going with the poweramp bc now i could be getting the 810 cab to match.

[mastrrbasser]

I feel right at home with a fiver. Four strings actually feel weird for me now. In my opinion, a five string makes a groove so much better when you add some nice fat notes on the low B. I also have huge huge huge banana fingers, so four strings always feel kind of weird to me. I'm very happy with my stiletto elite fiver too. I use it in my band a lot more than I use my warwick actually. Don't let the EMGs scare you, I get some pretty great tones out of it.

[Thunder Fingers]

well, i guess we all feel different, it was like "coming home" when i got my warwick 4 in exchange for my 5er.

[One Groovin Clown]

Strange, when i switched over from a 5 to a 6, it felt like coming home.

And no I never was a guitar player. I've always loved the feel behind 6 strings.

[HaVIC5]

Switching to a 5er is overrated, i tried for a year, and i almost ended up hating the instrument..
Yeah. You need to make the jump to 7.

[One Groovin Clown]

Clearly that switch was as smooth as butter eh? :p

[ebe9]

I used to dislike 5ers, mainly becasue I had a crappy amp setup that was unable to handle the low B. Now that I have a new setup its all roses with my 5er.


As for suggestions, do not rule out the Warwick RockBass series. Very solid all rounders, just be sure to pick an ash bodied one, think it a corvette shape if I am not mistaken.

Also the Cort Artisan series might be to your liking, the B5 is particularly nice.

[GKBassman]

So should i get something like a 600 dollar 5 string and the podxt live? or should i not get the 5 string at all, my band plays alot of our own originals and i was hoping to open new doors with a 5 string and hopefully open that creative window that seems to have been closed lately, /busts out the w*** lol.

[Akira]

Clearly that switch was as smooth as butter eh? :p

I jumped from 4 to 7 and it wasn't that bad.

[EADG]

I used to dislike 5ers, mainly becasue I had a crappy amp setup that was unable to handle the low B. Now that I have a new setup its all roses with my 5er.



C string = ftw. :thumb:



Anyone have a pic of the black Studio? The one on the Schecter site isn't working.

[Pluperfect_Arson]

Here:

http://media.schecterguitars.com/imgs/studio-4_stbls.jpg
http://media.schecterguitars.com/imgs/studio-6_stbls.jpg

No five string. :[

In my opinion, they don't look that bad. I just don't appreciate black basses. I prefer the honey satin way more than the black.

[jordan-z]

The yamaha trb 1005 is a very nice fiver. I played one at GC a while ago and fell in love. I usually have a hard time slapping on a five string but, it was so easy to do on this thing. Great tone also, definetly worth considering.

[Akira]

That Shecter looks really nice in my opinion.

[EADG]

It looks alright, can't compare to honey satin though (imo).


A little too gothic for me.

[Afrokid]

still check out the bass at GC or something before u fully commit...i still have a grudge against emgs...they are good for techno i guess ...lol..but thats just my opinion

[One Groovin Clown]

The yamaha trb 1005 is a very nice fiver. I played one at GC a while ago and fell in love. I usually have a hard time slapping on a five string but, it was so easy to do on this thing. Great tone also, definetly worth considering.

you're not going to get a New TRB for 500-700$

[White_Summer]

So should i get something like a 600 dollar 5 string and the podxt live? or should i not get the 5 string at all, my band plays alot of our own originals and i was hoping to open new doors with a 5 string and hopefully open that creative window that seems to have been closed lately, /busts out the w*** lol.

i would say stay away from fender, and go for schetor, or esp, or seriously, take a wad of cash, and just go try a bunch of basses out, it makes no difference what any of these baffoons say, because in all reality you could love ESP, hate ibanez and love fender 5s who knows? so like everyone else in the forums will ever tell go try them!!! also, you probably wont find an ampeg 410 HLF for that cheap, i got mine slightly used for 1000 canadian so that puts it at like at least 900 american

[GKBassman]

American musical has them for 699 but the problem is, thats a 4 ohm cab so i wouldnt be able to hook another 410 to that one and bridge my amp because that would be too low of wattage for bridge mode. Im probably going back to the music store today since i need some new strings anyway and im gonna play some various basses and look at some various cabs and hopefully they have a boss gt6 so i can try that out as well.

[jordan-z]

you're not going to get a New TRB for 500-700$

Its like $799, close to his price range/worth considering

[GKBassman]

Well i went to Marshall Music today, a music store in my town, and every bass they had sucked, first he handed me a rockbass and it had strings that were 3/8 of a inch away from the fretboard at the 17th fret and i said wow this sucks, so then i was checking out a eden 112 cab so i asked him to play the MIA Jazz and that sucker played way worse than my MIM Fender Jazz Deluxe, I like to play with my action really low; my strings are about a 1/4 inch away from the fretboard at the 20th fret. So i didnt have any luck as far as getting a idea for a new bass since i couldnt even pull off any groves with the action on those basses.
All he had for cabs was a 410 Eden Nemisis, a 212 Eden Nemisis, and a nice eden 112 but i couldnt stack the 112 with my 410 and he wanted way too much for it.

[Akira]

Just because the bases were set up badly doesn't make them bad basses.

[GKBassman]

Just because the bases were set up badly doesn't make them bad basses.

Correct, but i wasnt too happy that none of them were setup, and what made it worse was they didnt have my strings in stock so i was forced to buy D Addario
and i dont like those on my jazz they feel like spaghetti, .050, .070, .085, .105

I have been reading nothing but good reviews about the Stilleto Studio Elite 5 string, i just wish someone had one that i could play.