4 Strings Or 5?

Well, there are several issues. Concerning the number of strings. When I was purchasing my bass somebody told me that if Jaco Pastorius played a 4 strings probably a 4 strings will be enough. Almost a year later I completely agree. You will get 5 semitones with the 5th string and I have read it doesn't sound good in the cheapest models.

Tal Wilkenfeld plays a 4 strings, it is a Sadowsky J-bass, great bass but it is out of your budget (I think). Sadowsky basses are probably one of the better basses (the best one?).

For blues, jazz and funk (slap?) perhaps a J-bass is the recommendation. I bought a J-bass, those were my music styles, too. Currently I'd buy a P-bass...

I remember Steinar recommended a P-bass if I think the tone is in thee fingers. I can modify the tone just by using my fingers and by changing the style of playing that with the bridge pickup. The bridge pickup also adds very nice harmonic (I think) but I needed several months in order to identify the tones!

On fretless. Steinar (and many others) also recommended a fretless. I tried a... Washburn. Pretty cool. I liked the sound and also the feeling. I guessed much more difficult. But now, I wouldn't buy a fretless... I would buy an upright bass (in fact I have several candidates).

On brands. I have a Squier Classic Vibe Jazz Bass. I am very, vey happy with it. Ed Friedland compares the Classic Vibe series with their Fender counterparts ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Cd98DH__U ). There is a difference between J-basses but the Fender is a Custom Shop. I don't know if I can hear differences in the P-basses.

I don't like the other Squier series, Vintage Modified included.

The Fender Classic 50s Precision has very good reviews. I didn't play it. It could be in your budget. I played a Highway1 and a Standard (MIM). I liked the Highway1 but I don't now if you can get a better bass for that price. I didn't like the MIM.

Anyway, I tried many basses and wrote my feelings in this thread. I hope it can useful for you now!

Ibanez and Yamaha have very good basses. The Yamaha BB414 was a very serious candidate. And don't forget G&L, probably they can be in your budget and they are great basses (and the 5 strings sounds great and it is an 34").

Thanks Nuno! Do you have the Squier Jazz in Olympic White w/ Red Tortoiseshell p'guard? Just looked that up and it looks so HOT!! 8) And at £250-279 it would be a decent price to pay. I also came across this purty lil thing (a bit more expensive tho)...

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/24523-ibanez-edb550-walnut-flat-.html

The problem with hunting for a bass is mainly that I don't quite know what I'm looking for. Obv, good construction, but aside from that and aesthetic judgements, I'm a little lost. Ideally, the cost of the Squier is about what I was hoping to pay.

I'd suggest not getting a 5 until you can play the heck out of a 4 and find a "need" for those extra five notes ...

I thought I needed a 5 to compete with our keyboardist's heavy left hand, but instead I commandeered the mixing board and EQ'd her low end away. :twisted: So four is enough for me to fill the bottom end.

Then again, I like the idea of always having a lower-octave 5th interval just a few millimeters away ... nah, not worth it for five measly extra notes. :lol:

Some 4-string suggestions at the upper end of your price range.:
MIM Fender (you just can't go wrong with Fender)
G&L Tribute
Lakland Skyline
The new "Sterling" line by EBMM

You should be able to find them used for a good price.
I'm not into 6 string basses. Never heard one with a good tone on the upper register.

Aside from Anthony Jackson and John Patitucci, there aren't many who can make one sound good.

The problem with hunting for a bass is mainly that I don't quite know what I'm looking for. Obv, good construction, but aside from that and aesthetic judgements, I'm a little lost.

The way it feels in your hands is one thing. The necks can really vary greatly from one to another. Also some are quite heavy; others not so much. If possible, try before you buy.

To judge the tone, try a variety of amps. Ampegs don't sound like SWRs and so forth.

Thanks Nuno! Do you have the Squier Jazz in Olympic White w/ Red Tortoiseshell p'guard?
You are welcome! :D

And yes, I have that bass, I take some pictures when I bought it. If you want heard it, I'm doing many collaborations with Dogbite and I'm playing it in those recordings. But remember I'm playing bass just for a few months and I'm not very experienced with guitar! I guess you could get a better sound.

That Ibanez is very beautiful but it is active, it sounds very different to the J-bass and P-bass. I was playing a different model and the tone is very cool. You can shape it with those controls (you can cut and also boost the bass and treble and depending on the model you can also adjust the mids and even the freq of the mid... but you can also do it with the amp).

Do you have a guitar store near? Try to play some of them. We are speaking of 34" basses, perhaps you feel more comfortable with a 30". I have never played a bass and I remember that the tuning machines seem very far when I try the first one!

Thanks Gabba, I'll def be doing a lot of testing as I get near to saving enough cash for this, so I'll bear your comments in mind. The G&L Tribute is very tempting. Very. But the price of the Squier is pulling me quite a bit (I'm cash-strapped, and this is an addict's purchase).

I'm leaning towards the Fender Classic Vibe Jazz that Nuno mentioned,as most of my fave players use Jazz basses. Will try before I buy though, and probably in the shop. I've ordered online before (and got v lucky with my MIM Tele), but it's not really for me. I've played too many guitars to know that two from the same model can differ greatly, so I prefer to buy in store and play the one I'll be taking home first. With my first (and only, for some time) bass, I think it possibly even more important to do this, even it means paying a bit extra.

Nuno - yeah I saw your pics as I read the rest of the thread while waiting for my modding pics to upload. Very tasty looking, I gotta say! I don't mind the size of basses, I've played a few before (nothing serious....hitting some root notes in school bands and projects from age 11-15, and borrowing a mate's 5 string Yamaha once - didn't really use the 5th string then either, but I was working quick and just laying down some bass on my compositions for exams) and I if I coped with size when I was 11, I'm sure I will now. Besides, I'm stubborn as hell, lol, so it would just be a challenge for me. :wink:

5-string Fender Jazz. You're a good player, and a songwriter. Yes, it's just 5 notes lower, but it's that D that matters. Plus several riffs are easier with that extra string. Check your local CraigsList or other sources for used instruments. That's how I found mine.

https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43698

Well - first things first, I know you've got fairly long flexible fingers, so a full-size bass, as opposed to a short scale bass, shouldn't be a problem.
I'd suggest not getting a 5 until you can play the heck out of a 4 and find a "need" for those extra five notes ...

Well, she CAN play the hell out of a six string, and knows the fretboard pretty well - shouldn't be too much of a leap to a 5-string bass. I've often thought of buying a 5-string - I like the idea of having a really low D note on the bottom string, but then again I write a lot of songs in the key of D, so that may just be my personal prejudice.....I'd like the root D note on the bottom string instead of the third string where it sounds, well, a bit wimpish to my ears....

You know what's coming next, Scrybe - the recommendation. Get yourself down to Curly, or Dawson's, and try a few basses. With the usual rider - you don't KNOW that you're going to be able to spend a lot of time on bass, it'll cut into your guitar playing time - so, if it was me buying a new bass, I'd go for "cheap'n'cheerful" at first. You can get a decent low budget bass for around £150 - you know how to set a guitar up, you know about action and intonation, bass is pretty similar; and always bear in mind, if you're going to play at any volume whatsoever, you WILL need a bass amp. That'll cut into your budget, too. I tried playing my Shine bass (the Hofner-style one) through my 30W cube amp - soon as the volume was louder than about #2, it started rattling like there was a pneumatic drill plugged in.

So bear in mind, you WILL need a bass amp - but a cheapish one should do you for now. They'll also sound good with a vocal mic, or a keyboard, plugged in - or even your ipod so's you can jam along to play with your fave songs. I used to have a lead from my Sony Vaio computer to my bass amp, so's I could jam along to recorded music or youtube - sounded fine through there, and with the added bonus of LOUD and clean!

:D :D :D

Vic

5-string Fender Jazz. You're a good player, and a songwriter. Yes, it's just 5 notes lower, but it's that D that matters. Plus several riffs are easier with that extra string. Check your local CraigsList or other sources for used instruments. That's how I found mine.

https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43698

Oooooooh Laz, I'm so envious, that bass looks awesome! If I had a spray gun I'd offer to do the artwork (heh, got some guitar "projects" for the future which will blow the roof off my Little Mods thread, guaranteed).

Now I'm really torn. I do write a fair bit in D, so having the low D would be rather useful. My thinking was that if I go with 5 I've got more opportunities than if I go 4 and then need the extra note. But the Squee is a very tempting price. Looks like it might come down to a combination of lots of testing plus how long I can save before I crack and have to buy something.

I've been tuning my guitars down to A on the 6th string so I can groove partial bass lines along with chord progressions and I'm just addicted to the low end now, I wanna work that some more. Detuning like this is great for e.g. Solo acoustic playing, but the bass needs acquiring.

For starters I'll be playing quiet through the Marshall, andunplugged, then I'll save and research bass amps.

If I did go with the Squier, I could always save for aqualuty 5 string and make the Squier a fretless once I get bass #2...

FWIW, as I'm not primarily a bass player:

I've had a 35 in scale DeArmond Pilot Pro V for some years now. Fender/DeArmond blew these out for a buck-fifty shortly after Fender bought the DeArmond line and decided to clear stock. as I understand it, DeArmond knocked off (cloned) discontinued Guild electrics, and the Pilot Pro was originally a Guild model. it's a 5-string, dual humbuckers, with active 3-band EQ, blend and volume controls. a generous gift that I've rarely used, mainly because I never could really get a good timbre out of the low B, and the neck really never grabbed me. nevertheless, it is a good bass, and receives decent reviews from gigging players.

FFW to a few weeks ago. a friend of a friend was dumping a bunch of musical equip, including a Squier P bass -- the basic, Affinity line P bass. for $80, it seemed worth it. received it at work, gave it a once-over (clearly a budget instrument), tossed it into my car trunk, and a couple days later drove up to David's for a visit. on the way into the house, the bass "took a really bad fall and hurt itself." it now sports a crack from the lower edge of the neck pocket all the way to the tail, and visible on front and back. this is repairable, but is not structurally critical, so I've been putting off the repair, and instead been spending time noodling on this thing. and it is a blast. the four string neck feels very good in hand and is just right. the balance is just right as well. wanting to know if I have simply been enthralled by the new girl in town, I grabbed the Pilot Pro and had a comparative whirl. it feels better than before, but still not as nice as the P bass. however, the Pilot's tone is better ... except for that dang low B. so maybe I'll change the stringing to extend the high end (high B or C)

my personal conclusions and collected notes:

a) +1 on gotta go try them -- for feel and timbre
b) I need to try a Jazz or JP bass, but the Precision is a brilliantly comfy ergo design. I suspect I from here on I will always have a J, P or JP bass in my arsenal. I wish I had started with a J or P bass years ago.
c) get a bass that excites you and inspires you to play. got too much ho-hum in the world, why go for more. my DeArmond did not inspire, so I never touched it. that will change due to the lowly Squier.
d) brands have been mentioned. I'm a G&L guitar fan. I have no doubt I would dig G&L basses. other basses that have a def coolness and/or should get consideration (in addition to above-mentions): Warwick, Music Man -- I've played around with these in the store. interesting.

probably not very helpful. YMMV, Scrybe.

The bass I borrowed for the Merseyside Jam was Roy's old G&L - very nice.

As Scrybe is a song writer, here are some questions that may be relevant: do any of you record with a 5-string bass - and if so, any problems getting good tone? I've heard the B-string can be ... difficult. Flabby and undefined, I suppose. Especially on low-end models. Would a 35" scale give more definition on the B? No experience myself; just things I heard when I considered a 5er.

Yeah Greg, I've heard great things about the Music Man basses too. Damn near every bass player I know talks them up, as do all the reviews.

Thanks for the comments guys, I've got a clearer idea of what to consider while I'm trying them out now. Still a little torn between good quality 5 string or bargain Squier CV Jazz, but that'll likely get decided in the trials, as I find one more comfortable/inviting than the other. I'm also a little tempted by the idea of a fretless (which would have to be the Squier CV jazz or percision as I'd be defretting it myself.....why go fretless and miss the opportunity to do it yourself?). May be satiated by a fretless guitar. I cleaned the FB and frets on project Raif but there still some dings on the early frets which would have taken too much work to smooth out (would require refretting). If it's a problem when playing it, that might become a fretless guitar. Heh, I'm just looking for excuses now. :roll:

Oh, I'm also gonna visit the Spear website and try to find some of their basses in the shops to try too. My Spear guitar was a bargain at £400, and I've seen and tried other Spear guitars, and they're seriously quality for the price. So I'm guessing their basses may be similarly excellent. I wont be buying sight unseen however (as I did with the Spear - the low price and good reviews prompted me to get Curlys to order it direct from Spear, nowhere stocked them at the time), this is definitely one instrument I wanna trial first.

I think these just won the funky instrument category...

http://www.spearguitar.com/product/pro_2/info_3.asp

But this one is just soooooo purty! Dunno exact price on this, but other Spears in this category (and thus price range) retail around £349 (around $700).

http://www.spearguitar.com/product/pro_2/V-p/v-dxe.asp