Ibanez needs to make a new Fender Bass VI inspired short scale 6 string bass!

[Baloney Balderdash]

Ibanez needs to make a new Fender Bass VI inspired short scale 6 string bass, that is a 30" short scale 6 string bass, meant to be tuned like a guitar, just 1 octave lower, and with narrow guitar like string spacing.

 

Like the discontinued Ibanez SRC6, but with a bit wider nut, for not quite as tight string spacing at the head end of the fretboard, just like on their only current baritone guitar offering, that got a 45mm wide nut.

 

Here's a random Google photo of the Ibanez SRC6, that was a more modern and a bit more bass focused take on the Fender Bass VI concept, released in 2014 and discontinued in 2020:

 

My recently acquired Harley Benton GuitarBass, which is a much more traditional take on the Fender Bass VI concept, really had got me regretting that I didn't get an Ibanez SRC6 while they were still in production, as it is now they are not too common to find used and when there is one for sale it typically goes for prices near double of what they originally costed from new.

 

I did ponder on getting one even back then, but wasn't 100% convinced that the concept would be the right for me, even if intrigued by it, however I love my Harley Benton GuitarBass, and if Ibanez ever takes up the idea again, even if just an identical reissue of the SRC6, without the slightly wider nut that I would love to see, I will make 100% sure to get one. 

 

I guess it is a niche product though, and the market is somewhat limited, which is likely why it got discontinued.

 

Still with 6 years actually in production it must still have generated some worthwhile sales statistics, and perhaps with a slightly wider 45mm nut, compared to the original SRC6's 42 mm nut (identical to the nut width of the original Fender Bass VI), perhaps it would draw more attention from bass players (maybe especially with how short scale basses have become in recent years, and the extremely limited options on the market for 6 string short scale basses), since the SRC6 also seemed to actually be a bit more oriented towards bass players than Bass VI type instruments traditionally have been, though I guess the reasoning behind sticking to the 42mm nut of the original Bass VI instruments must have been to get the attention of guitar players.

 

Who's with me?

 

Ibanez product chief manager (or whatever the correct tittle of whoever's in charge of deciding which products are to be released, and which are to be booted, is) are you tapping this line?

 

If you are we want a revisited version of the SRC6, or at least just a reissue!

 

Also now we are at it, personally beside the wider 45mm nut, I would actually prefer a revisited model to just feature one single middle humbucker pickup, like placed pretty much just right in between where the neck and bridge pickup of the original are located.

 

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[crazycloud]

On 19/05/2022 at 03:12, Baloney Balderdash said:

Still with 6 years actually in production it must still have generated some worthwhile sales statistics,

I wouldn't count on it. It was a Workshop line instrument and as such were made in limited runs, not continuous production according to the distributor here. From guys on the various forums, I only know of a few others apart from mine, and it won't be going anywhere soon. The probability is that it won't be reintroduced anytime soon, so you might have to start saving for a S/H one, or get a custom made.

 

Changing the PUs to proper EMG DCs makes a nice improvement.