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What is the best 6 string bass?


petercullenbassist
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You what?
Seriously?

Speaking of rip offs, Fodera. I'm not on about the basses, I've never even seen one in the flesh let alone had the privilege to play one, so I have no idea whether they're worth the price tag (which now reach $24,000 for an 'off-the-shelf' model), but their extras, Jesus christ they rip you off. E.g:
To make the cavity cover panel match the back wood of the bass, $750 - for a 10 minute routing and stencil job!
Clear plastic pickguard, $500
Their top of the line pickup covers reach $1350
etc etc

Now I'm sorry, I don't care how good or how handmade, organic, kobe beef diet fed only your basses are (or perhaps that's the people on the production line), nothing justifies charging $750 for a 10 minute routing job, these guys should be ashamed of themselves!

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Knock down to $5k here: [url="http://www.interstatemusic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_900442986"]http://www.interstatemusic.com/webapp/wcs/...oduct_900442986[/url]
Bargain.

Seriously though, if they've sold any, I'll be amazed.

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[quote name='dc2009' post='1295544' date='Jul 7 2011, 01:15 AM']Knock down to $5k here: [url="http://www.interstatemusic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_900442986"]http://www.interstatemusic.com/webapp/wcs/...oduct_900442986[/url]
Bargain.

Seriously though, if they've sold any, I'll be amazed.[/quote]
Maybe that's the idea? Mr GV wants one unique to him but Ibanez have to offer them to the public, so to make it more likely to remain unique they come to an agreement to put a silly price tag on it.

Talking about silly price tags, IF I had a spare £10k I would be looking at this...

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As a fan of Ibanez basses, and as an owner of an SR1205, I hunted down an [url="http://ibanezregister.com/Gallery/basses/sr/gal-sr1206.htm"]SR1206[/url]. I put in EMG pickups, an EMG preamp and an ABM bridge. It is a wonder to behold - 16.5mm spacing, perfect balance, excellent feel.

I am so used to the SR1205, though, that I have a bit of hard time getting used to the SR1206. Still, I use it now and then and it gets a lot of play at home.

While I cannot say that it is the best 6 string bass, I can say that it is the best one I have played.

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Those ritters are lovely xgsjx, beautiful instruments and pieces of design. I quite like the custom jupiter someone did with a bass clef built into that bit at the base of the body. The other thing, other than the spectacular shapes is the finish, all of his basses look unbelievably good.

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I've tried a few 6ers. The Yamaha TRB6 is really nice, but for me, my Shuker is head and shoulders above everything else I've tried.

It's all down to personal taste of course, but if you have a custom made bass, made by someone like Jon Shuker, or Alan at ACG, you get to input all your own ideas and work with the builder to get a bass that fits you perfectly, rather than an off the shelf mass made one. That said, there's nothing at all wrong with Ibanez or Yamaha etc, far from it, I'm a big fan of both, and the Ibanez SRs are pretty light too, whereas my Shuker weighs about the same as a small car.
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The problem with a 6 is that it almost always has to be a custom job to work. I've owned and played dozens of 6-strings over the years - often several of the same model, and no one bass had everything. One soundedgreat but was uncomfortable, one played great but had terrible neck dive, one looked great but didn't quite sound right. I've tried everything from a £120 shine to a £15K Fodera Anthony Jackson and there are so many variables that it's almost impossible to choose the "best" one. If you do look at a custom bass you have to know exactly what you want down to the finest detail, and know that the combination of specs you choose will work together to give you what you need. It's also a peculiarity of 6+ strings that you can't really get away with a cheap off the peg model as the extended size and tonal range usually demands a higher quality of manufacture.

Having said that, of the 6-strings I've had the Warwick Streamer Stage 1 was very near the top, if not the top. Immense tone, perfect balance and totally even from bottom to top. I briefly had an Ibanez SR5006E but didn't like it - it suffers from a common 6-string issue in that the C string sounds totally different to the other 5. Other great sixes I've had were a Ken Smith BSR6EG (the best for soloing and jazz but has one tone you can't really get away from), MTD 635-24 with wenge neck and board (the most alive bass I've ever played, gutted to sell but needed the money), Modulus Quantum 6 with Zebrawood top (#11, wish I knew where it went!) and a Yamaha TRB6P-II. I've tried four Fodera sixes and although I love the design all were pretty ordinary tonally, much like a good old Fender I guess, in that you could quite easily sound like yourself.
If at all possible spend a bit as the quality shows. A few people here champion the Ibanez SR506 and it is very good value for money but if I wanted to move to a 6 it would put me off as it suffers badly from some fundamental design flaws and to my ears sounds thin and weak.

All the above strictly IMHO of course :)

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I've owned and loved a Yamaha RBXJM1 which was a truly wonderful sounding and lookinf thing, but the string spacing was slightly too big for me; and I also owned a Washburn XB-600 Bantam which was the perfect shape for me and the neck was perfect and the string spacing etc, but it didnt sound as full and rich as the Yamaha.
6ers are always a very personal thing. They have to be comfortable above all, but it's sometimes quite hard to marry the aesthetics, the ergonomics and the sound quality. You're always going to have to compromise somewhere.

Truckstop

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[quote name='fatgoogle' post='1296329' date='Jul 7 2011, 07:35 PM']For the price- Yamaha trb 1006 second hand. I got mine for £400. Couldnt be happier. :)[/quote]

used to have one of these, they're really nice

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[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='1296376' date='Jul 7 2011, 08:12 PM']Thanks to this thread you now know every single bass is the best 6 string bass! So basically take your pick.
Shep[/quote]

haha so ture, not really stuck for choise ey. i been looking at the Ibanez sr706 and cant find them for sale, how come you cant get them in the uk i wonder then? looking at putting new pickups and wireing in my 886 as well, cant wait for that! but im suprised no one has mentioned the 6 string steve harris fender jazz bass, has anyone played/seen/heard this bass? although, i couldnt bring myself to buy one as its a sig seres and just couldnt buy someone elses bass lol. also suprised to hear no one mention warwick, never played one myself, only a 4 string, all i know is they seem to be over priced. i had a peavey grind 6! loved it, was my very 1st 6 string bass, but wouldnt buy one again, just prefer the 34" scale now and couldnt bring my self to buy thesame bass twice. :)

pete XD

Edited by petercullenbassist
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[quote name='petercullenbassist' post='1296678' date='Jul 8 2011, 01:26 AM']im suprised no one has mentioned the 6 string steve harris fender jazz bass, has anyone played/seen/heard this bass. although, i couldnt bring myself to buy one as its a sig seres and just couldnt buy someine elses bass lol.[/quote]

That's because the Steve Harris bass in a 4 string Precision :) You mean the Steve Bailey model. Although he now plays
a signature Warwick.
Don't let the signature thing bother you too much...it's not like it has stupid graphics on it or anything.

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I played the Steve Bailey Fretless 6 at BassDirect. Weighed a ton! Tonally it wasn't very even, the E-G strings sounded solid, but the B was weak and the top end didn't suit the C. Neck was too chunky for my tastes too - but then I like a very slim 6er neck.

Can't of been that bad though as it seems Mark sold it - can't see it on the site now!

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[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1297940' date='Jul 9 2011, 03:44 AM']The best 6 strings in my views is one with one less string, the high C in this case. I could never get on with that so it's only fivers and 4's for me.[/quote]

i once met a guy that gigged with two basses, one tuned EADG and the other ADGC, cos he didnt like the 5 or 6 string basses. so can see your point.
but theres something about 6 string basses i just loooove! XD

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