Last November, my daughter finished her PhD in Vancouver, so naturally it was an excuse to go to some local music shops. This beautiful beast followed me home. It’s a one-off instrument named a Volcan-5 made by Meaulnes Laberge who’s worked with several music manufacturers. The EMG pickups are different for the neck and bridge and have individual volume control into a shared EQ, and the low-B sounds gorgeous and sweet. It’s on the heavy side - mahogany back with maple top and neck. Walnut-oiled rosewood fretboard. It’s already turned into my go-to 5.
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Very cool and unique!
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That is way cool looking!
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I absolutely love it. Best looking design I have seen in a while. Very cool and unique.
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Very nice !
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Wow! What a looker! 
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it IS cool, but one of those basses that i could really only see in a full on metal band.
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That’s really hot. How does the raised part of the body - the part directly above the space between the bridge and neck pickups - feel against your body? It looks to have a bit of a very defined angle, there, that seems like it would poke you right in the ribs.
Or a prog band.
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Or my band 
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Or, in my hands would be the best thing
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So i meant to get this done yesterday, but sleep turned out to be more important. My schedule these days isn’t real rest friendly, so i gotta capitalize when i can.
I had gotten the ray 5 from @PamPurrs here a few days ago. I’ve still not played on it much, but I’ve a few initial impressions on it
To say the condition is mint is a little bit disingenuous-this bass looks like it’s never been played. If it’s got 150 hours on it, that would be a real stretch. The plastic is still in the Bolt-on plate. Like not scratched up still on. Zero buckle rash here.
In fact, the string that held the brag cards was still tied into the b string tuner.
Playability-I’m just starting my 5 string journey, so i can’t give much insight. What i can say is it played like butter. It plays as nice as my schecter custom 4, and that thing is a breeze.
Build quality- impressive! No gaps, no blemishes, everything feels like it’s a really, really high qualityi nstrument. I was playing a 2300 dollar sadowsky at the store, and this feels like it’s built comparably.
Sound-it didn’t have any output out of the box, so one new 9 volt later we are in business-and Man, oh man! This thing has real output. Like aggressive output. People, that single coil is angry!
Overall, I’m fully impressed with this rig. It’s built Like a tank, weighs almost as much and ready to hurt something.
Once again, a huge thanks to @PamPurrs for a great bass! It well be kept happy and safe here in Indiana.
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Nice bass. I have the Ray34 and played the EBMM version literally side by side. Aside from a touch more contouring and being ever so slightly lighter, the build was very comparable. The tuners did feel cheaper but still totally usable. No down side to paying less to get a bass of this quality. I hope it gives you all you want in a 5 string bass.
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I believe it’s actually a ceramic humbucker.
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The rose makes the bass! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. Enjoy your new beautiful bass!
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I’m glad you like it, and I’m sure you will become fast friends. I’m really happy that beauty ended up in the hands of a Buzzer.
As I told you in our private messaging, I bought that bass early last year, and right after I got it was when the cancer pain started to peak, and I completely lost interest in playing. That bass has been sitting in a case for practically a year, after only having been played for a total of a couple of hours. Yes, you basically got a brand-new bass for the price of a used one.
Enjoy!
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Congrats @autumnsdad1990 !
I have this bass’ 4-string cousin, but not with the @PamPurrs pedigree.
There are great pickup upgrade options (Aguilar / Seymour Duncan, etc) if you ever want to change the tone.
I bastardized the hell out of my 4-string as a ‘test bed bass’ and put in SIMs quad coils and a Glockenklang preamp. They are built really well for their pricepoint and I just packed mine up to take with me on my work travels this week as I have been playing it all week.
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He really nailed it on the position. It tucks in perfectly and you don’t feel the little bumps. The bump is also pretty smooth, so I don’t feel it at all. Definitely a nice look!
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It is. I was meaning a single pickup.
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I posted a picture of this in the GAS thread a few weeks ago when I ordered it, but don’t think I posted any pictures after I received it. It’s a Paul Lairat Sirya. The bass is 32" scale and build quality is exceptional. I just spent a few hours playing it and figured I would take some pictures while it was out of it’s case. It is so much fun to play.
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