BigRedX

What's the actual string spacing at the nut E-E? The Ibanez site only give the overall nut width which tells you little as IME the wider the nut on a bass VI the further from the edges the outer strings are.

On the Squier in particular I found that adding a bit more "drive" to the sound than I normally world did wonders for the sound. Also don't forget if you shim the neck and raise the bridge to get a better break angle over the bridge, you'll need to raise the pickups as well. For those who are interested all the bass and guitar parts on these recordings with the exception of the fretless bass in the breakdown section of "12 Long Years" were done on the Burns Barracuda Bass VI.

Many times. That thread is at least 3 different ones merged together.

The size of the speaker is only one component in how a cab sounds. There's all the other technical specifications for the speaker itself as well as the size and design of the cab the speaker(s) are mounted in. It always amazes me when people start threads about a specific speaker combination, as if they are going to be all pretty much the same. IME the only thing you can say about cabs with a particular speaker configuration is that they have the same number of speakers of a particular size. Everything else about them such as their size, weight and especially their sound will be different. Add to that the fact that unless you have no PA support for the bass guitar what the majority of your audience hear will have zero to do with what cabs you have in your rig.

IME if you want a Baritone Guitar get something with a 28" scale length and tune it B-B. This gives usable sounding chords with any of the standard guitar shapes all the way down to the nut and isn't too much of a stretch over a typical guitar.

As others have said getting to grips with the fanned frets is a matter of seconds once you pick one up so long as you don't want to play chords wit more than 2 notes. For me the important thing is the getting a good compromise between the scale length of the low and high strings to get the optimum feel and sound, and that's where all of them other than the Dingwall 5-string models fall down. IME there is no point in extending the low B scale unless you are going to go to at least 36". So for me the Dingwall 37"-34" B-G is about right. Everything else I have seen and tried the fanning simply isn't extreme enough to be worth the bother.

I think you mean heavier strings... 😉

As someone who plays Bass VIs exclusively in one of my bands (I own a Burns Barracuda and a Squier Bass VI) here's my take: The 30" scale models with 3 pickups tuned E-E (an octave below standard guitar tuning) are most definitely basses, but with an extended upper range. The voicing of the 3 pickups allows bass as well as guitar type sounds. Don't expect to be able to play full chords in the first (or second) position on one of these though, it's just an undefined bassy mess. However two or three note chords in the upper register can work well, if you pick your notes and pickup voicings and arrange the song for it. Bar chords are unplayable unless you a have a vice-like grip on your fretting hand. In my band I alternate between bass parts and mid-range melody lines, but we don't have a guitarist and live, the synth player takes over with a bass sound when I'm playing melodies on the Bass VI. As I said it's all about the arrangement. The Squier Bass VI can be a good starting point, but there are a number of things you need to take into consideration first. 1. The neck is very narrow even by guitar standards. Of all the Bass VIs currently available the Squier has by far the narrowest neck. Think 70s Fender Stratocaster width, which with the much thicker strings you need very Bass VI tuning doesn't make the string spacing low down on the neck very comfortable. If you are used to very narrow guitar necks then you might be OK. I play guitar as well but all my guitars have wider necks so I find the Squier a bit of a struggle hence it's been relegated to being my spare Bass VI for live work only. On the other hand the bridge spacing is much better (wider) than a lot of the competition. IMO you have to try them all, but you may well find like me that it is a compromise between narrow string spacing at the nut or narrow string spacing at the bridge. This is a function of many of the instruments using standard guitar parts when they should IMO really be using specialised ones to account for the thicker strings. 2. The supplied stings are too light for decent bass playing - especially low E and A. This problem affects all the Bass VIs I have tried. What you change them for will depend on the sound(s) you are after. 60s style bass VI and you'll probably want LaBella Bass VI Flats. If your inspiration is more late 70s post-punk (Cure, New Order) you'll want either LaBella Bass VI Rounds or Newtone Axion Bass VI strings. I like the Newtones - the lower strings are the same gauge and feel as standard short-scale bass round wounds but the G, B and high E are lighter for a more guitar-like feel. 3. On the Squier you will also need to shim the neck to get a better string break angle over the bridge. You might also want to change the bridge for a StayTrem model that doesn't rock back and forth on the posts. This is fine if you are playing MBV guitar parts, but doesn't really add anything to a Bass VI except more opportunities to go out of tune. You will also find once you have changed the strings that the vibrato mechanism now barely works with the increased tension of the heavier strings. Again this a compromise. You can have a working vibrato but only if your bass lines can cope with the sloppy sound of of the lighter gauge strings. 4. You'll need to think about your amplification if you want both bass and guitar-like sounds from one. I run mine into a Line 6 Helix multi-effects and then direct into the PA with an RCF745 FRFR powered speaker for on-stgae monitoring. Otherwise I'd need separate bass and guitar rigs to get the appropriate sound for the different parts. Again experimentation is the key to find what works best for you. Occasionally at multi-band gigs I've forced into using the bass rig for on-stage monitoring. In these cases I always find that the higher parts end up sounding like bad jazz guitar. I know it's going to sound fine FoH so I don't worry about it too much, however if you are a player who needs to be hearing the right sounds on stage to be able to get the best out of your playing, that is something to consider. Hope all of that helps.

We should be told what?

Unfortunately IME it doesn’t work as strings need to be matched to the bass. Just because a set sounds and feels good on one bass doesn’t mean they will sound and feel good on another. I currently have 5 basses. Alll of them are strung with different strings because that’s what works best for each bass for me.

Maybe, but there was nothing in the documentation that came with the bass that had Dunlop-style locks fitted to tell me this, so the first I knew was when the mechanism seized up at a just before going on stage and I had restrain my performance to prevent the bass falling of the strap mid-gig. Examining the mechanism after the gig, there did not appear to be any way to get it working again, so I ordered a set of Schallers to replace them. Conversely, other than fit them properly in the first place, I've never had to do any maintenance on Schallers - even the ones that are 35 years old.

The bridge conversion is a bit more involved than that, and Frettrax have already looked at my basses of choice and said that they can't be adapted to use their system. And the open strings are very important to my sound. A lot of the songs I play use open string drones alternating with the melody line played on one or more of the higher strings. Unless you have most phenomenal technique and a huge fretting hand stretch (I don't have either) I can't see any way they could be played without the use of open strings.

I think it depends what you want to get out of playing an instrument. For many the playing is the most important thing and learning as many different techniques as they can is what it is all about. For others, being able to play an instrument is means to an end - in my case to be able to compose music that I like, so I haven't bothered to learn techniques that aren't relevant to the music I want to create. For me the time would be much better spent writing more songs. Because of the way I write there's nothing potentially stopping me from learning a new technique if it become relevant, but unless I had an immediate and definite use for it, I find it a poor use of the limited time I have available for playing music.

That's not true. There's a spring-loaded ball-bearing mechanism that holds the two parts together. And that's what failed within 3 months on the only pair I've owned. On the other hand I have Schaller StrapLocks from the mid 80s that are still functioning perfectly. There is IME more room for user error with the Schaller StrapLocks, but once you have worked out what needs to be done to fit each part securely to the instrument and strap, they work perfectly. In the end it's each to their own. We stick with what we know and what works for us. None of the methods are 100% perfect or fool-proof. Having tried all the different methods, the Schallers work for me. I can appreciate that they are not for everyone.

But still no MIDI on open strings which is an important part of my playing style, and your bass needs to have a Fender-style (or similar) bridge which none of the basses I play do.

My two Originals were big and heavy (36" scale) but they balanced beautifully on the strap so that you never noticed the weight.

I just wish both of them would either offer some more interesting body shapes or license the technology to luthiers who do. I think that for every musician who welcomes the comfort of the familiar Strat/Tele/Jazz designs there are an equal number who want something more "out there" to go with the advanced capabilities these instruments bring. I know for a fact that I couldn't consider something like this with a Jazz Bass shape because I just don't find them comfortable to play.

I think it depends on the instrument, there's lots of different models and some are more interesting than others depending on your PoV. I used to own two 5-string Originals (the one with the part-Thunderbird shape) one of which was a historically important instrument being one of the earliest 5-string (low-B) basses made. Both sold for what I considered to be a fair price that covered the cost of buying them originally (second hand) and took into account how long I had owned each for and the amount of use I had got out of them. Some of the more conventional style Overwater basses might not attract so much interest.

Taking the neck off only works if your bass has a bolt-on neck. Not all of them do you know. I've travelled with a guitar in a gig bag that got put in the business class suit locker. However I was travelling business class and smartly dressed, plus I arrived at the check-in with moments to spare, so even if the cabin crew had wanted to put my guitar in the hold there wasn't really enough time and it was simpler for them to let me to bring it on board into the cabin. IMO that's too many variables, and I certainly wouldn't want to risk being able to do that again.

Somewhere between £5k and £6k depending on the exact specification I go for.

That's exactly what I was talking about a few posts up. Not completely sure about the pickup position - my favourite sounds on the Burns Barracuda all use the middle pickup either on its own or in combination with the neck or bridge pickups - but if the measurements I have been given by Eastwood are correct the string spacing problems I have been having should be sorted. I've got just over 6 weeks to make a decision.

Looks fantastic! Considering what I will most likely end up paying for a Gus Bass VI that is relatively affordable. However the pickup positing is very "Baritone Guitar" rather than Bass VI, so I'd need to try one both from a string spacing and tone PoV. I've sent an email to Gretsch asking for the string spacing measurements at the nut and bridge and if they know of any UK Gretsch dealers that have one in stock so I could go and try it. If I get any information I'll post it here. In other news I have just had a somewhat coy reply to the message I sent to Shergold. Reading between the lines, there are probably basses coming at some point, but it doesn't appear as though there are any plans yet for Marathon 6-String Bass. Given the difference in appearances between the 70s and current Masquerader guitars, it might be that even if they were to do one, the Eastwood version could well be closer to the original!

I've contacted them through their web site. However the indications are that the Eastwood version will be available some time in March, and who knows when Shergold will have any bass guitars available? I'll wait and see what I hear back...

An update to this thread prompted by the other one on Bass VIs... After 18 months of using the Burns Barracuda and slowly becoming acclimatised to the narrow string spacing at the bridge, as I've been using it exclusively with one of my bands - Hurtsfall: However over the new year a post popped up on my Facebook news feed about a proposed Eastwood version of Peter Hook's Shergold Marathon 6-String Bass. I'm in two minds about this, I'm not a big fan of Eastwood's "parts bin" approach to making instruments as using standard guitar and bass hardware tends to lose the features that made the instruments interesting in the first place and they tend to end up with guitars and basses that are essentially one of the standard Gibson or Fender models but with a weirdly shaped body. However this bass looks on paper at least to be pretty good. I've been in touch with Eastwood and the important specs (for me) are: nut width 50mm string spacing at the nut 40.5mm E-E (which isn't as wide as I would like but with an overall width of 50mm probably alterable with a new nut), String Spacing at the bridge: 65.5mm which is very good. All I have to do is decide which colour to go for...

That's interesting. So the overall width between the low E and high E at the bridge is about 55mm? That's very much like the Squier, and IMO quite comfortable. My vibrato-equipped Barracuda is only 50mm E-E and it's definitely on the tight side for me. What pickups are on yours - they look like Tri-Sonics? Here's mine: As you can see it's quite different even though they are supposed to be the same instrument!