Enlarge Photo Rees 5bass
5 string, 34 inch scale, bass guitar.
5 individual string bridges mounted on maple for long sustain and punchy rich woody tone.
5 in-line tuners
for easy access.
Humbucker (like Musicman); dual-coil (like Precision Bass); and single-coil (like Jazz Bass) voice modes.
Korina hardwood body for fine tone and long sustain.
Figured maple hardwood scratchplate for optimum tone.
Choice of wood colours, sunbursts, and fretboard woods.
This bass is big, but it is not heavy. It weighs 4.5 kg (10 lbs), which is less than most bass guitars, and less than some lead guitars (e.g. many Les Pauls). It hangs comfortably and balanced on a strap because the upper horn is long, and the rump is rounded for right forearm comfort.
The sound also is big, and very well balanced across all five strings. Yes, even the low B string (which is disappointingly dull on so many 5-string basses) has the same punchy full tone as all the strings. This has been achieved by using individual bridge pieces for each string, by having a very strong and stiff neck which does not damp low notes, and by using a new pickup set designed specifically for 5 string basses.
The five single string bridges are screwed right through the body from the back, providing solid strong connection between tonewood and each string. Each string can be mounted from the tail end of its bridge, or any string can be mounted by inserting it through the body from the back of the guitar. Through-body string mounting provides an alternative tone that is extra punchy and bright with aggressive sharp attack. Each string's bridge is adjustable for height and intonation.
The neck, made mostly of hard maple, has a double truss-rod and well as two internal steel reinforcement bars. This provides the strength and stiffness needed to get down to low notes without tone-killing neck wobble.
The matched pair of pickups are Seymour Duncan's new Passive Phase II NYC Soapbars. These are an original 5-string development, not an extended 4-string design. The two coils and ten poles of each pickup are designed to provide a wide range of voices without the inconvenience of unreliable batteries. Each pickup alone has a switched choice of a humbucker voice (like Musicman); or a dual-coil voice (like Precision Bass); or a single-coil voice (like Jazz Bass). Then you can use one, or the other, or both pickups to go from bright punchy bridge to full smooth neck pickups. . . . and if those nine voices are still not enough to satisfy your thirst for flexibility, then pull the out-of-phase switch to make a funky voice with both pickups, that is very good for multi-string bass chords without severe loudspeaker break-up and rattle.
Controls:
3-way pickup selector switch: bridge PU; both PUs; neck PU
Volume rotary knob
Tone rotary knob (with pull-out switch for out-of-phase voices)
Pickups voice rotary knob: single-coil; dual-coil; humbucker
Lorenzo De Feo playing his Rees 5bass:
Play these moderately loud through your Hi-Fi - wow!
| 5bass Voice | Single Coil | Dual Coil | Humbucker |
| Bridge Pickup |  Chord Ring |
PFloydish |
Jaco |
| Middle both Pickups | Calypso |
Classic 12 Bar |
Funk |
| Neck Pickup | Slow Dream |
Motown |
Meters |
| Middle Phased Pickups | Funk |
G Hip |
Smooth |
| Middle Slap Bass | Slap Bass |
