
This is not a cheap bass by most standards, though. As a result, it has become an instant classic and packs all of the ingredients it needs to be fantastic. That’s because it was designed by some of the industry’s best engineers and luthiers. The brand new Sterling Ray 5-string bass by Music Man (the specific RAY25CA model) is the best 5-string bass you can buy right now. Top Pick: Sterling by Music Man StingRay 25CA 5-String Bass Guitar The best 5-string basses pack the most value for the money. That said, prepare yourself for some really fine options. It means most 5-string basses are geared towards metal and rock music…why else would you need the extra lower B note? The most common characteristic of the best 5-string basses is a pair of active humbucker pickups. Some of these are going to be familiar as they have their 4-string brothers.

My selection features a couple of budget options, various mid-level top value alternatives, as well as the premium choices you can get if you’ve got some power in your wallet. Here are our reviews of the best 5-string bass you can buy right now. You can further down-tune the lower B string for even deeper sounds. The wrong 5-string bass is muddy at the low-end the right one is fat, beefy, and clear enough even as you slap on that lower b. The addition of that extra string offers you a lot more in terms of tonal range and fatness, increased maneuvering space, and the ability to go to places you simply can’t get to with a standard 4-string bass.Īnd because the 5th string is the lowest note, we need a bass with just enough clarity to make the extra string worth it. Are you confused? Check this bassline guide! Why? Because it puts too much pressure on the bridge and the tuners, especially on budget basses.Ī 5-string bass gives you those 2 extra lower notes, which means you could play songs with the B, C, and D root notes with the extra power and thickness only the low root notes can give. Naturally, this gives you more options in terms of tonal range, as well as extra maneuver space, and the ability to play the deep notes you simply wouldn’t get on the standard 4-string bass.įor example, no one recommends detuning a bass lower than the lower D (D-A-D-B). The 5th string is the low B, which means your new standard tuning would look like this: B E A D B, whereas the Low B is the natural root note. What you need to know is having an extra string allows you to play your bass lower, and this is a bass we’re talking about, right? What to Look for in a five-string Bass guitar?.Squier Contemporary Active Jazz Bass HH V 5-String Bass Guitar.


