# MR's search for a five string bass is finally over! (pics inside)



## Mind Riot (Dec 19, 2005)

Well, some of you may remember a few of my threads about basses I brought home. I ended up not keeping them, and went through a few before I got the one I'm sticking with. I also tried over thirty basses in my search, from Ibanez, Yamaha, Warwick, Fender, and other brands. Hated every Ibanez bass I tried, which was disappointing to me because I like the looks of them and they seem very popular. But they all sounded horrible even though they played okay, but the necks were too thin. 

Anyway, here's a brief overview of my findings:

The first bass I got I posted here, a Schecter Stiletto Custom 5.






This was smooth playing bass. It was very comfortable to play and absolutely beautiful. I loved everything about it except the pickups. The stock EMG-HZ pickups in this bass suck tremendously. I was considering upgrading, but since I had a few days left on the GC thirty day return, I went back to see if there was anything I liked better for around the same price. I brought my PODxt and headphones with all my own patches to do some serious testing. After trying every five string bass under $1000 in the place, the only one I liked better was the next step up Schecter, the Elite 5. And I only liked it better because it was neck through and had a bit better fretwork. 

Schecter Stiletto Elite 5





This one, as I said, had a bit better frets, less wear and less buzz. The neck through joint was nice and comfortable, although there was no difference in sound. I A/Bed it with the Stiletto Custom 5 and they sounded completely and totally identical. 

I started looking into replacement pickups, figuring I would spend around $120, like I might with guitar pickups, for a pair. I then found that bass pickups for this bass were $100 a piece, and that replacing the preamp in the bass was also recommended. This would be another $100-$150. Having paid $500 for the bass, I balked at this. And after doing some research I realized that there were a lot of very nice options out there in five string basses for $700-$850. So I decided not to upgrade the Schecter and took it back. 

I tried more basses when I did this, and actually found a bit of a gem in the lower priced realm. 

OLP MM3





This, as you can tell, is an OLP copy of a Music Man Stingray 5. Interestingly enough, there was a REAL MM Stingray 5 at the GC, and I got to A/B them to see how the OLP stacked up. I was shocked to find that the $280 OLP sounded remarkably similar to the real deal. The core tone was almost identical, though the Stingray had much more tone variation due to it's preamp and pickup switching. The OLP was passive, with a volume for each coil of the pickup and a master tone control. 

I took the OLP home, dazzled by it's tone. But as you might expect with such a cheap bass, there were problems. The pots were noisy and crackly, the tuners were cheap and flimsy, and the fret work was horrid. There were uneven frets, sharp fret ends and file marks everywhere. I had the action ludicrously high to keep the buzzing at bay. 

I did some number crunching and found that the bass would need at least a couple hundred dollars in work before it would be up to snuff. I seriously considered doing this, but since I was at a point where I had some money set aside for my main bass, I decided to get something a bit nicer. HOWEVER, I have to give this little sub $300 bass a lot of credit. It really does have a balls to the wall Stingray tone to it, and if someone were willing to either fix one up or live with it's problems, they could seriously have a tone dog for not much green. 

I feel I should also mention that this was a slight step up model from the base MM3, which is something like $30 cheaper. There was one of the base black models there that I tested as well, and it didn't sound nearly as good. Personally, I'm not sure what to attribute this to, but I know the base model has a basswood body, rosewood fretboard, and thinner neck, whereas mine had an elm body with flame maple top, maple fretboard, and thicker neck. I don't know if these factors are what made the difference in tone, but I suspect they are, so someone considering one of these basses might do well to get the elm bodied one. Just my opinion. 


So! After all this, and playing over thirty basses at GC, I was out of local options. I did some research on some other five string basses in my price range, and came up with a few possibilities. 

Cort A-5. I actually played one of these once and loved it. If I hadn't gotten the bass I did, I would have gotten this. 
Lakland Skyline 55-01. Nice basses with Bartolini pickups. But the wide string spacing was a deal breaker for me. 
Cort Josh Paul signature five. I almost bought a used one of these from a nice fellow on harmonycentral.com, but I found out at the last minute that it also has the wide string spacing. I backed out, and thankfully there were no hard feelings. 

After some reading and research, and the fact that I was going to have to order a bass without having played it in any case, I decided to try one of these, a G&L Premium Tribute L-2500. I got it from a store in Oklahoma via an ebay auction for $589, about ten dollars less than most places. 





















I've always wanted a guitar or bass with a blueburst finish. The first thing I noticed about this bass, even unplugged, was it's resonance and sustain. It just sings and sings, even when playing softly. The finish was flawless as far as I could tell and the six bolt neck joint was tight and solid. The hardware is of high quality, the bridge is heavy and comfortable to play near. The bass as a whole is surprisingly lightweight. The maple board is a nice piece of wood. The fretwork, though needing a polish when I got it, is the best of any of the basses I've seen and tested so far under a $1000. Once polished, it struck me that this was the first bass I'd seen in my search with perfectly smooth, file mark free frets. They seriously look like a picture of new frets. 

It plays smoothly, has low action from the box. I had to loosen the trus rod, there was no relief in the neck when I got it. Any buzzing was gone after that. 

Now, to the meat of things. This bass, to be blunt, has the most frighteningly powerful, high output pickups I've ever come across in any bass. That in itself doesn't matter if they don't sound good, but thankfully they do. They sound FANTASTIC. (It is worth noting that they are the same pickups used in the US models of these basses, made in Fullerton, California.) Meaty and thick, very much like a Stingray (which is a very good thing for my tastes) with both pickups engaged. The bridge pickup itself gets a bit of a Jazz bass kind of sound and the neck pickup by itself sounds like a Precision bass on steroids. Personally, I'm not the kind of guy that cares that much about extreme versatility, give me one really good sound and I'll use it for pretty much everything, but the versatility of this bass is such that it deserves mention. There are a large number of sounds in this bass, and almost all of them are good. 

Electronics wise, it's an unusual but very effective setup. There is a master volume, PASSIVE bass and treble roll off, and three switches. One switch selects between bridge pickup, both pickups, and neck pickup, another switches between series and parallel wiring, and the third switches between passive, active, and active with treble boost modes. My personal favorite all around sound is both pickups on in parallel in active mode. It is the most aggressive, MONSTROUS DAMNED SOUND I'VE EVER HEARD. I freaking love it. Passive mode is a bit warmer and better for vintage sounds, and active is ballsier and punchier. The only thing I don't really see myself using is the active with treble boost, but I'm not a slapper. 

Whereas with all the other basses, the longer I've had them the more I've seen flaws that annoyed me. With this bass, the longer I have it and the more I play it, the more things I like about it. It looks great, plays great, and sounds great. 

My personal search is over, this is the five string bass I'm going to keep. I may get some other ones, like a fretless somewhere down the road, but for a workhorse fiver this is the one for me. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a bass that can do anything for around $600. The Schecters were quite lovely, and with a pickup upgrade would be a fully professional bass, but this bass has the most immaculate quality I found in my search, and it needs no upgrades or repairs. I've run across some guys who own the US made non Tribute models of these basses, and they all say the Tribute models are honestly just as good as their US models. Flippin' sweet.


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## Leon (Dec 19, 2005)

i'd never have thought of a G&L bass as being that great. great review!


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## Mind Riot (Dec 19, 2005)

Yeah, look them up in reviews, or do a search on bass forums and such. They are a real sleeper bass, but everyone that has them loves them.


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## eleven59 (Dec 19, 2005)

Damn, I'll have to check out G&L if I'm ever going for another bass (for now I'm in love with my MIM Fender Jazz V)


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## darren (Dec 19, 2005)

Great review... thanks! I've looked at a lot of those basses myself, and it looks like you came across a winner!


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