What's the Best mid price 6 string bass???

[BassManGraham]

Am considering getting a 6 string bass. Have fairly small hands so have always prefered slimmer necks i.e. Jazz, T'Birds, MM Sterling, Ibanez etc

Was thinking about an Ibanez SR1206 (like the sound & look etc) but fellow Basschatters are reporting problems with quality control and build issues.

Budget up to £1000 new or preowned. Appreciate views?

[eude]

If you could stretch a few more hundred £'s you might be able to get a new custom bass made, given the nature of custom basses, the wait involved would allow you to save up the rest?
I, like you, have small hands and I've found going for 33" scale rather than 34" or up helps a lot, probably more than the neck depth or shape.
You also want to think about nut width. My first custom 6er had a 57mm nut, which was just a little too wide, I've now got a 6er with a 52mm nut, which is VERY comfortable.
String spacing at the bridge is another thing to think about, 16.5mm is very comfortable for little hands.

If you go down the non-custom route, both the Ibanez Soundgear and Warwick Basses, not the broad neck ones obviously, have similar measurements to what I've described above, but on a regular 34" scale.
You should be able to find a nice Ibanez for your budget and potentially a Warwick secondhand for a similar price.

If you have an questions about the custom route, feel free to PM me.

Eude

[andydye]

Speaking of custom made 6 strings...my ACG 6'er is for sale and isn't that far above your rough price guide...? If you're interested I could check the nut width and we could discuss numbers via pm

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1372858593' post='2130776']
Speaking of custom made 6 strings...my ACG 6'er is for sale and isn't that far above your rough price guide...? If you're interested I could check the nut width and we could discuss numbers via pm
[/quote]

I was just going to write hang on to your money and wait for a Shuker or ACG 6er to come up on the boards. You won't get better than that for the money!

[andydye]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1372858971' post='2130786']
I was just going to write hang on to your money and wait for a Shuker or ACG 6er to come up on the boards. You won't get better than that for the money!
[/quote]

[White Cloud]

[quote name='BassManGraham' timestamp='1372849596' post='2130590']
Am considering getting a 6 string bass. Have fairly small hands so have always prefered slimmer necks i.e. Jazz, T'Birds, MM Sterling, Ibanez etc

Was thinking about an Ibanez SR1206 (like the sound & look etc) but fellow Basschatters are reporting problems with quality control and build issues.

Budget up to £1000 new or preowned. Appreciate views?
[/quote]
Definitely Ibanez. I have heard negativity from a couple of players regarding the 1206 but I own the 1205 & it is bang on the money. Why not even look at the 506...played one once and was super impressed.

I also had hands on one of the new lower priced Gerald Veasley models lately...really great - but the neck pocket on that particular bass was a bit over sized for the neck heel, my pet hate. Disappointing as overall it was a killer bass.

Edited July 3, 2013 by White Cloud

[donkelley]

personally I have found very few build QA issues with ibanez mid priced items. the bargain basement stuff, maybe. but not their midrange stuff from korea or indonesia.

I chose and play an ibanez BTB 556 as my main 6 string bass. the feel, versatility, tone, and look is oustanding, as is the build quality. I prefer the string spacing and amazing long scale length tone to the SR series personally, the 6 string SRs feel too close together for my right hand. Even the BTB is a little closer together than I'd like, but it's the trade off of any 6 string bass.

the 5,6 and 7 hundred series of BTB is absolutely outstanding. The SR series midrange and upper range also is amazing, but it's a question of preference of feel and look, and to a certain degree tone since I find the tone different between all BTBs I've played and all SRs I've played, which is 3 btbs (I own 2 of them) and dozens of SRs. I still prefer every BTB to every SR, for my personal taste. But All of them, SR or BTB, are great basses.

All that being said, if I were you ideally I'd look for a used carvin 6 string LB series bass (LB76). but they can be hard to find... probably more so in europe. I think they're probably simpler to get a great sound out of and unarguably some of the best built instruments in the world, not to say Ibanez is poor, but absolutely not in the same "hand-built by luthiers" quality as are carvin instruments. and Carvin is stupidly cheap on the used market despite being entirely custom ordered hand built to spec american instruments.

Another option is Peavey - the cheap import Grind is very good for cheap, but the US made peaveys are insanely great, and a used Cirrus or millenium (USA models, not the import versions which are still good but not as insanely great) will not set you back as much as many other instruments.

PS - I'm clearly in north america, so maybe finding used USA made peaveys is, like with carvins, not as simple a task as it is here.

Edited July 3, 2013 by donkelley

[eude]

Here's a brand new Ibanez SR 1206 for under £1000 >> http://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_sr1206_vnf.htm
To be honest, if you're stuck to £1000 or under, I really don't think you can do any better given the constraints you've set.
If was in your position, I'd try and go custom if I could stretch to it, if not, go for that Ibanez.

Eude