Best bang for your buck five string basses.

#41
Used Carvins. I can vouch for B25, B50, SB5000. All excellent
Used Laklands (if you like 35")
I gotta put the Squier VM Jazz in there. Killer bass for ~$400 new.
I have heard great things about Sore, but have neither seen nor played one.
Find what scale and string spacing you like, then focus in on those. Lots of great options in that price range
 
#42
There's a Stingray 5 for sale in a facebook group i'm in for $850, can give you the link if you want.

If you're looking new I would say the Sterling by Music Man series. Either the Ray35 or the older SUB Ray 5
 
#43
Danny McGinn said:
I like how theyre installing the tuners offset now on the Mexicans. The straight I'm a row ones always detoured me from them.
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The (older) one I tried was honestly meh. The neck was also a baseball bat. I found the dimension to have a tighter B string and have way better sounding pickups. Just can't get past the looks.

My vote is a Tobias growler 5 in translucent green (when I finally sell mine ;)
 
#44
If you're going closer to a grand than cheaper, the Sterling Ray 35. It's a very faithful re-creation of the MusicMan StingRay Five, to me the 'Ford Pickup' of bass guitars and the first five-string that worked with no compromises. Closer to the low end of the price range, the Vint Mod five-string Squiers are handy in that you have all kinds of Fender-style aftermarket items available should you want to update with few issues.
 
#45
Ibanez BTB1240 Electric Bass Guitar

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almost any BTB really, take your pick
 
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#48
I agree with the Sire V7 - I just bought one in natural - Awesome instrument. I've owned a Lakland 55-01 - Not really my cup of tea - even when it was set up all nice and stuff it still felt like a struggle to play it - Can't really put a finger on why. built like a tank though! I'm sure I could wear it instead of a bullet proof vest if needed...
I wasn't completely happy with the sound either - I tried switching out the PUs (to fatstacks) and the preamp (to an audere 3zb) - but ended up selling it. The buyer was in heaven though so maybe it just wasn't for me. the 19 mm string spacing and 35" neck also made it hard to play for me. Right now I own 2 5 string basses - an ibanez SR1205 ( my main) and the Sire V7 - with the latter being the latest purchased bass, I feel more at home on the Ibby but I needed a back up (in case a string breaks mid set or something) and wanted something that sounded different. Both definitely worth the money! I tried the ray 35 and the sub ray 5 as well, and I really digged ( or dug?) the sound but the fretwork and setup was terrible. Maybe it was just these two but playability was really bad. one had string buzz and the other was set WAY too high.

BTW I tried the M7 from sire too - Seems like quality control was way off - the jack input didn't fit the body and the was huge gaps (1-2 mm ) in the neck pocket. Colour and design looked nice though. I never got to plug it in - the neck not sitting right and the input jack really put me off.
 
#50
skeeler said:
I love my Ibanez BTB33, but it's probably not the kind of 5-string you mean. Here are some 1000-dollar options from Ibanez:
  • Single-cut: SRSC805 or BTB845SC.
  • Fretless: SRF705.
  • Fanned: SRFF805.
  • 35-inch: BTB845SC or BTB845.
  • Semi-hollow: SRH505 or SR30th5.
  • Semi-hollow fretless: SRH505F.
  • High C: BTB33.
  • 33-inch: BTB33.
  • Plain-old 5-string bass: SR755 OR SR805.
I've also heard good things about the Sires, and I'm looking into them for myself.
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I just got me the b.t.b 845 and I must say it's superb
 
#51
lowfreek said:
This. The G&L L2500 will make you very happy. And the tribute series are nothing to sneeze at. If you're lucky (like I was years ago) you could score a used US model for under a grand. Just gotta have the feelers out, and look everywhere.
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I helped a friend track down a 2500 recently, and he's really happy with it, but there weren't a whole lot out there, and the used ones were mostly almost as much as new.
 
#52
For a decent chunk of money, which IMO is well worth the consideration, and well worth the money is the Reverend Mercalli 4 or 5 string bass. Although not bottom price bass, you get a lot of high end custom, botique style bass with some exotic woods, and all the modern features that have evolved over the decades.
 
#54
For G&L Tribute, make sure to check out the newer M-2500 basses, not just L-2500 that everybody seems to mean in this thread. They're active only (although probably moddable for passive mode) and have the more traditional 3-band EQ config with a balance pot. I've only seen a review for the US counterpart (made me an instant fan), but the electronics in Tributes is essentially the same. More great tones that are actually usable compared to L-2500 that I also like.
 
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