#mb-5

Martin-Baker MB5 (1944). Its Griffon 83 engine was equipped with a six blade contra-rotating propeller. sadly never made it into Combat production.

Before they made ejection seats…….

Martin Baker MB-5 Acknowledged as one of best aerobatic pilots in UK, S/L Janusz Żurakowski from A&AEE gave spectacular display at Farnborough Air Show in June 1946, an aircraft considered superlative and better in many ways than the Spitfire.

The Fender MB-5.  Released originally in 1994, MB stands for "Modern Bass".  However, if this was ever a modern bass, I want a time machine to 1964.

In the video above, you can hear me demo the MB-5.  It is a five-string bass, built appearingly to resemble the Ibanez basses that were popular at the time, with an Ibanez-looking head stock and body shape.  However, the hardware and woods they used on this bass are far superior to any Ibanez I've picked up... and I've picked up several (and hated almost all of them).

For years and years, knock-off companies have spent tons of effort copying FENDER's original models (the precision, jazz, etc.).  And in 1994, Fender chose to turn around and copy THEM??  Ibanez basses make great firewood, but I unfortunately have found no other use for them, yet.  

The standard copies the shiny new thing.  Unbelievable.  

I like to call this bass "Fender's Mistake".  Even FENDER seems to be ashamed of them... because in 1996, only two years after releasing this bass, the MB-5 as well as the MB-4 were discontinued!!  Later, in 2001, Squier came out with an Indonesian-built MB-4 and MB-5, which did slightly better... but given the fact that I do not like the sound of the Fender model, I'm not sure if Squier made much of an improvement (though I do endorse some Squier basses).

Furthermore, I think Fender is ashamed of this bass because I can't find anything about it on their website (which lists a large host of instruments they've made), other than a mention in an article called "'OTHER' Fender Basses, Part III", which you can see here.  I also cannot find any known endorsers of this bass.

Pros... I do like the woods they used. The strings are all a bit close together, but if you're not playing slap stuff, it seems like a comfortable 5-string. And I think it's interesting that they chose a rolling knob for exchange between the two special designed jazz-style pickups.

However, while demoing the bass, I found that I got a bit of electrical buzz when panning to the pickups separately.  Using both pickups, though, the buzz was eliminated, and the sound was much nicer.  It could just be an issue with this particular bass.

I also noticed that it was hard to do any slap-style playing, and that the strings had a generally deadened feeling, that I have also discovered with 99% of all Ibanez basses I've ever picked up.

None the less, Fender set the standard for bass guitars and electric guitars alike, and I am glad that the modern thing is to go a more "vintage" route, striving to get as close to the older Precision and Jazz models as possible.  However, I'd say that a Fender Bass won't ever let you down... except for maybe this one... and a couple Mexican-made basses I've played.

The MB-5 was the bass I started on in high school, playing at church and in bands, as well as on my own recordings.  It did serve me well, though I knew nothing about the instrument and hardly ever used the fifth string.  It was only later, when I became a bass guitar connoisseur, that I decided to take a look at this bass for what it is... a failed experiment that makes a good collectors item.