want a 5 string bass guitar

Rory

Rory

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got a very cheap acoustic 4 string at the moment just to get me started. looking at a 5 string- not silly money- max of £200 exc amp. What makes should I avoid and which should I go for? Don't mind purchasing through ebay- seems cheapest for these type of things.

On a side note can I wire a bass guitar through my soundcard (Terratec DMX6fire with breakout box). It has a quarter inch input at the front but it is marked mic...

Cheers
 
Rory. A lot of Music/instrument stores will have some part ex'd/sh equipment. Might be worth checking some out if you'd rather try before buying.
 
I'd always say Yamaha on a budget as you get much better quality than you do with the cheaper Squiers.

Somthing like this would do the trick I would have thought (it's active too).

yamrbx375.jpg.asp


http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product~name~Yamaha-RBX375,-Black~ID~3440.asp

Matt.
 
cant go wrong with fender. Almost every guitarist AND bassist I ever met learned on one!

This one is a Mexican Fender 5 string bass. Strangely, Fender guitars and basses cost different amounts depending on the country they are made in! - they were hit by the cheap copies from the east that we are seeing with valve amps right now, and strangely they decided the way to fight it was to copy their own instruments - with differing prices and standards depending on the country of manufacture! (weird huh?). Being patriotic the USA models are the dearest, but mexican ones are quite high up the hierachy.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4713&item=7317890229&rd=1

Washburn, Ibanez both worth a gander at the price point.

I am a guitarist not a bassist though, so you definately need more opinions!
 
a bit like active vs passive pre-amps.

basically the active pickups have batteries to power them.

you get a louder sound, which helps through long cables, gives a bit more punch (with active).

The batteries are cheap, and last for ages. If you dont remember to change them before an important gig, possible egg-in-face moment mid song!

some of the best guitars and basses still use passive pickups, so its a case of different instead of better/worse

yamaha are a good make too. make some great budget guitars, so Im not suprised they're reccomended for budget basses too.

nb
got a bass amp yet?
spending money on a decent head/cab with a cheaper bass guitar will give you pound for pound better sound than a more expensive bass with a small integrated practice amp IME.

good luck with learning. its great fun :)
 
Damn I thought this was a thread where you get a free bass!
If its any help I bought all my guitars from ebay, much bargains to be had on there generally if you avoid the 'obvious' stuff i.e. go for the less popular finishes etc. -none of them look bad anyway.
 
Active guitars should also be less affected by interefence, which is far worse on stage than at home due to high powered dimmer circuits. A 5 string bass goes very low [B - 33Hz] and would need a serious amp to do it justice
 
Damn right - serious bass amps only :)

I need to get off my ass and start practising on my 4-string; Yamahas are LURVELY and very good VFM, but you might also want to check out second hand Aria Pro stuff (I think they did a 5 string). You could go totally crazy and go for the Les Claypole school and get a 6 string, but I bet his amps have to be nuclear powered ;)
 
bit of a bump- hopefully going to buy one of these tomorrow for £160 including really good quality case :) It has only been lightly used
http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/products/stockDetails.asp?cID=63&sID=1521

i think its active as theres a panel at the back that looks as if its designed to be removable with two screws. It sounded nice through a Carlsbro amp with 12" driver

Anyone reckon that it may not be upto scratch- Tanglewood were always a fairly good brand ime
 
Tanglewood are an OK budget make..
But just out of interest, why did you want a 5 string bass?
I've never got on with them, but probably because I learned on a 4 string - what's good enough for Bootsy and Stanley Clarke is good enough for me!

BTW, if you want what is probably the best, especially for slap, get one of THESE though they're not cheap!
I've got a Wal, which I bought for £400 in 1988.. Still going strong and will probably outlive me!
 
i wanted a 5 string for the lower end flexibility basically, if you'll pardon the pun.

I remember seeing one soundcard (Creative Live drive iirc) that had a joint mic/guitar input at the front. Is there any reason why i couldn't connect the bass to the mic input on the front of my Terratec DMX6fire live drive patch bay type thing? Theres no mention of it on the terratec website
 
If it's a standard 1/4" mono jack input, and it's labelled "mic/guitar" it should be fine..
It'll even work if it's a stereo one..
Dedicated bass amp will still be better - if you only want to plug it into the computer use the pre out on your bass amp (if it has one); my bass always sounds better from the bass amp rather than through my stereo (unless it's a recording) simply because the dedicated amp is designed for that purpose alone..
 
You need to be careful doing that, bass output is hotter than guitar- you can damage guitar amps by putting bass through them. Think it ought to be ok at line level though I'm not sure what sort of output a bass can reach.
 
I just play my bass through my computer into my Hi-Fi, it works great! I can use 'Trash' to add any number of guitar amp sounds too it if I like. Obviously you need bass capable speakers though.

I play a Cort G series bass. It wasn't my choice as my friend got it, but it is very good. It has a huge range of sound but is very hard to play. An Ibanez, although common, is a nice bass to play.
 
lordsummit said:
Be warned 5 strings often have thicker necks. they're not good if you're smaller of hand
Click to expand...

Bloody hell - I have HUGE hands and even I find a normal 4 string a bit hard further up the neck...

BTW - forgot to say I got another Aria Pro II (just like my old one from the mid 90s) off Ebay about 8 months ago - me being lazy, I've still not played it much (and am well out of practice) but the action's still there - they're really nice basses to play.

Those Warwick basses are lurvely too - and Tanglewoods are supposed to be pretty decent from what I know.

Is that true re guitar amps? I'm using a crappy little one just to jam through (and have a redundant Squire Strat downstairs that I DEFINITELY can't play - he he!) - I suspect the reason I'm not playing too much is down to the amp. I had a Carlsbro before I sold all my old gear, but think I'll aim for a Trace Elliot or similar when I decide to properly get back into it.
 
Rory, I am using a Edirol FA-101 soundcard. It has two inputs on the front that can be switched from line / mic setting to 'HiZ' for guitars. Guitars need a high impedance input. Most soundcards wont have them, but you can get something called a 'DI box' for about £40 which will do the job.
 

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