6 Strings/Custom Builds - What did YOU take into account?

[BenTunnicliffe]

Aright guys and gals how we doing?

I'm deciding that I'm going to spend some time cluing myself up for taking an custom order over to have a 6 string made to order sometime next year.
I know the 6 string thing seems to divide a lot of bassists and all that but I'm set at really experimenting over the next year by getting my hands on as many decent designs as I can to see what variables definitely are or aren't to my liking.

My issue is that I've not dipped into the custom build world in the past and never pretend to have the slightest idea what woods and construction elements affect what parts of the sound seeing as to me a bass either sounds great or doesn't and I've come across complete opposite designs that have appealed to me in the same way.

If anyone has any experiences dealing with any of these design elements or went through the same decision making process I'd love to know how you managed to educate yourself in making the right choices!

What I DO want :
Tuning in 4ths from Bb - B (Standard 6 string tuning a semitone lower than usual)
Active p/ups
Ramp
24 frets

What I'm INTERESTED in/know nothing about:
Singlecut design
Scale length

What I'm USED to:
Overwater Perception 5, rosewood board, cocobolo top
35 scale
Bolt On Construction
standard gauge 45-125 strings
Using no EQ onboard the Bass or on the amp at all [except...]
Panning my pickups so the neck p'up is being used about 1/4 more

I'm not particularly getting a 6 string on the basis of wanting to play lead lines high in the register and by that I mean that there seems to be a tradition in 6 string custom build requests that people aim for a much shorter scale length, extensive cutaways etc to facilitate playing the instrument easier in that way. I am much more interested in a modern electric bass sound that is geared more towards a good place, enough dirt and a real presence to underpin the other instruments in any tune I'm playing. With that said I can imagine off the bat that Anthony Jackson's extreme approach to this with his no EQ, 36 scale Fodera with a chambered body is also not a model to bass my design on.

WIthout ranting any more you can probably see that my issue is that I love my current bass an extremely high amount but being that I don't know what in its construction has made me love it so much I can't properly comment on how to taylor a new bass perfectly to my tastes.

HELP!

Cheers,

B

[LukeFRC]

My initial thought reading through the post is - if your overwater gives you "your" tone - why not get them to do it? (except I guess with EMGs rather than their own pups)

[CamdenRob]

Well my experiance with having a custom sixer built is;

1) Decide on specs and get very excited...
2) Wait...
3) Wait some more...
4) Wait a bit longer...
5) Get excited as the delivery date approaches...
6) Get annoyed as it hasn't even started to get built yet...
7) Wait again...
8) Wait some more...
9) Still waiting....

It's an incredibly frustrating process that to be honest I wish I'd never started...

[Jellyfish]

I recently finished a custom build, of a 5-string though, so hopefully I can be of some sort of use.

I -thought- I had in mind what I wanted for my perfect custom bass, and it was fairly simple, but (depending on your budget) you might find yourself indulging quite a bit. There was a sound I was after though; something quite monstrous. The advantage of using Alpher Instruments as my builders was that they have custom pickup builders available and so they were made to spec. I haven't actually heard them yet, although the instrument is complete, but I've been assured that they're quite awesome.

If you know what you want in terms of dimensions, then there's not much other to decide other than materials and electronics. One piece of advice that helped me immensely when deciding on who was going to built my custom bass; [b]make sure you get on with the person who's building it[/b]. I'd spoken to a couple of builders and then got in touch with Alpher Instruments. They offered me a lot more advice and genuinely seemed more interested and made me consider things I hadn't even thought of.

[leschirons]

Not that I've ever had a custom build but if I were getting a 6er built, weight would be a factor. I've seen some beautiful basses in my time that have turned out to weigh an absolute ton. That makes them no-go areas for me.

[Bigwan]

Had a custom 6 built a few years back. Just be absolutely certain you a) want/need a 6 string and that the specs are exactly what you want now AND, as far as you can tell, will suit you in the future.

I'm a flighty git. I got exactly what I asked for, but by the time it arrived my tastes had somewhat changed (took almost a year from start to finish).

My advice would be to buy off the peg if at all possible, even if you can't get exactly what you're after you'll get close enough that a few modifications will get you all the way there. Live with that for a while to make absolutely sure a custom is what you're after. Think of it as an intermediate learning step.

[ambient]

The main thing to consider is the neck width and string spacing. My Yamaha has 19mm spacing at the bridge and the neck is quite wide. My other 6 has 17mm spacing, consequently the neck is a lot slimmer.

Both are very comfortable to play. The Yamaha actually requires a bit less thought when you play it, the tighter spacing on my other bass requires a lot more accuracy, especially If you're playing something requiring string skipping.

Why the unusual tuning ?

Personally I get annoyed when people ask why I've got a 6 string bass.

[chris_b]

In the summer I saw and played an Overwater custom 6,owned by a BCer. It felt so easy to play, a beautiful bass. I don't play above the 10th fret so the benefits of a 6 are largely lost on me but I could play that one all day long.

[BigRedX]

What you need to do is to go and play as many 6 string basses as you can get your hands on over the next few months to work out what you like and don't like and what is really important to you in terms of playability, sounds and looks. The get in touch with some luthiers who are already building instruments similar to what you are after and see what they say.

Don't worry about the woods. IMO this is the least important choice to make - construction and electronics count for far more. If the wood is going to be visible (not under a solid colour finish) then pick some that you think are nice looking. If your luthier thinks that the wood choices are important for more than cosmetic reasons then he should be making suggestions based on how you want the bass to sound and what weight and balance you are after. If they won't do this then they are probably not the right luthier for you.

Getting on with your luthier is probably the most important part of the build. If you can't agree and how the bass is going to develop than your are most unlikely to satisfied with the end result. A good luthier will guide you into making the choices that will result in the bass you want and is also going to be a practical instrument.

Good luck and don't forget to post the progress in a build thread.

[BenTunnicliffe]

All great insight guys and I agree with all the points.

Currently I've already thought that what Bigwan said is a good plan in that during the time I'm going to try and give the design some though I'm going to rinse the 'For Sale' section on here and just make a lot of no-loss buys and spend some time seeing what off-the-peg 6'ers appeal to me and try to find out why exactly I do like them before I approach Chris and everyone at Overwater to pay for the build.

In regards to finding someone I have a strong relationship with that I trust to really respect any suggestions I have I do stand by the fact that Overwater are those people to me. They've been astounding every time I've spoken to them about any kind of orders I've made (never custom basses although I did discuss a design with them a year or so ago!) and I've not played an instrument of theirs that didn't really appeal to me in one way or another.

I don't on a personal level seem to struggle too much when I play heavier instruments although I do completely appreciate that with a 6 this is a much more serious issue and that an instrument of this cost and boutique nature needs to be looked at as a long term investment and that I don't want to have back issues by the time I'm 30!!

I don't know the string spacing on my bass but be it that I do play all day every day, whenever I can, I think that I should try and maybe not have a different string spacing on my 6 so to avoid muscle memory issues moving between the two....

On the Singlecut point I do find that people who have used this design are often players who don't seem to be geared so much towards a low, gutteral, dare I say it 'groove' based instrument and more so towards enhancing the sustain etc to contribute towards their solo approaches. Anyone care to shed light on how they might have heard singlecuts being utilised outside of lets say the world of jazz soloists?

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Jellyfish' timestamp='1383552222' post='2265633']
I recently finished a custom build, of a 5-string though, so hopefully I can be of some sort of use.

I -thought- I had in mind what I wanted for my perfect custom bass, and it was fairly simple, but (depending on your budget) you might find yourself indulging quite a bit. There was a sound I was after though; something quite monstrous. The advantage of using Alpher Instruments as my builders was that they have custom pickup builders available and so they were made to spec. I haven't actually heard them yet, although the instrument is complete, but I've been assured that they're quite awesome.

If you know what you want in terms of dimensions, then there's not much other to decide other than materials and electronics. One piece of advice that helped me immensely when deciding on who was going to built my custom bass; [b]make sure you get on with the person who's building it[/b]. I'd spoken to a couple of builders and then got in touch with Alpher Instruments. They offered me a lot more advice and genuinely seemed more interested and made me consider things I hadn't even thought of.
[/quote] is your Alpher the one with the big humbuckers and narrow spacing.... it looks AMAZING
I've had work done by Alpher on my bass, and played their first 3 basses - If I were going custom I would trust them to get on with, coms, and so on - good prices too. Their custom strings are very very good too.

[eude]

One piece of advice that I think is VERY important, is to be sure you find a comfortable nut width.
I've had a few customs now, 2 of them 6 strings and I had to let the first go as the nut was a bit too wide for my small hands.
I went from 57mm to 52mm and I'm much much happier with it.
I believe Warwick 6 strings and Ibanez Soundgear 6ers both have 52mm nuts, so might be worth seeking one out to see how it suits.
I tend to play in lower register, around first position most of the time, more of a groove player than a soloist, so being comfy down there is VERY important.

A bolt-on single cut will likely give a more familiar tone than a set or through neck one, but no point getting into that discussion (argument) here, its been done to death a million times. Both my 6 string customs have been bolt-on single cuts. I have a bolt-on single cut 5 and a set neck single cut 5 too, and I certainly prefer the response of a bolt-on.
I'm not sure the single cut shape does anything special bar looking nice in my opinion, but a bolt-on single cut will have a slightly more compromised access to the upper register than a set/through neck, I prefer the sound though, and I'm not a solo player, so I'm happy to make the sacrifice.

All my custom basses have been/are 33" scale, again as it suits my small hands. Some players go for this as you say, for soloing etc.
I personally don't think 35" scale is worth it anymore, especially if you're bass is being made by an experienced luthier, but if I was a bigger chap, I'd probably have 34" basses, just to make life easier, the higher register is a little sweeter with the shorter scale though.

I would also make sure you give active preamps some thoughts, as with the extended range, it can be useful to help balance things out a little.
If you're going with Overwater, the SDS preamp made by John East is set up to be as transparent as possible, so that might be worth considering.

String spacing at the bridge, I'd just get something you're used to, but don't get too hung up on it. I've got a variety of basses, 16.5mm, 17mm, 18mm and I find I settle into whatever I'm playing quite quickly. I do find that my finger style playing is faster on the 16.5mm spacing though, especially when crossing strings, but its not a huge deal.

Wood choice, weight etc. Again, potentially an unending argument about this stuff, but bear in mind if you go for heavy woods you will end up with a VERY heavy bass as there's a bit more wood involved compared to a 4 string. Any good luthier will be able to advise you on choices, and there's methods they can use to negate the additional weight.

I don't think I have anything else to add, but feel free to shoot me a PM if I can help mate, and if you're ever in the South London area, you're welcome to have a shot of my ACG basses.

Eude

Edited November 4, 2013 by eude