Fender Bass VI [Archive]

ghoti

11-24-2007, 10:27 PM

Never played one (closest I got was playing around on Jaguar bass, which isn't quite the same).

They sure are nice-looking though. With that scale length, you can probably put some thinner strings on it and play it like a baritone if you don't like how it sounds a full octave lower than a normal guitar.

Antero

11-24-2007, 10:30 PM

I have a copy.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/ChuckieAnvil/Things/BassVI.jpg

It's insanely useful. Biggest sound ever - guitar-range power chords sound massive. Remember that you can't play it exactly like a guitar. It's a different animal. I've been playing mine in a friends band with a drummer and a clean guitar, filling out the whole lower midrange.

getbent

11-24-2007, 10:35 PM

way cool. use tremelo/vibrato make cool sounds.

wingwalker

11-25-2007, 06:27 AM

I've wanted one for a very long time but never gotten the chance to play one so I've never pulled the trigger...

Cool score!

wingwalker

11-25-2007, 07:23 AM

The Golden Boy

11-25-2007, 08:10 AM

I was just messing with one of the reissues the other day.

Kinda neat, but I really am more of a 4 string kind of guy.

ricoh

11-25-2007, 08:27 AM

Go to youtube and check out ..The Lonely Surfer and Wichita Lineman for some stuff it was used on. George used it on the film Let It Be at some point as a bass too. They are neat and can be used to good effect for recording. I wish I had one!!!!!

decay-o-caster

11-25-2007, 02:47 PM

I just spent some quality time with it - it's definitely lots of fun and it seems like a very useful tool. I am trying to decide whether to leave it set up as an octave-low bass or whether to try it tuned up as an A or B-tuned baritone. It seems like the bari would be the most useful. But I really like how you can play guitaristic bass on it as set up now, then play a chord fragment and wiggle the stick to totally freak out the listeners' expectations.

Mine's a refinned though otherwise all-original and beautifully maintained '63 - this is sorely testing my prejudice against vintage gear...

Antero

11-25-2007, 02:55 PM

Whats the deal wiht tha one...DIY???I bought it from some guy off of Craigslist, who said his college roommate's brother made it. I wish I knew who this brother was, because if he kept building he's probably someone with a name by now... The middle pickup is broken or super-weak, and the neck seems to be solid rosewood. :confused: It sounds incredible.

tkozal

11-25-2007, 06:54 PM

what was it? is it? the japanese copy, the reissue, or the real deal...?

I lusted after one of these for years, almost buying some 60's vintage one, but after buying the Jaguar Baritone sixer from a few years ago, my desire for such suchness went away..

They usually have a couple of 60's vintages at 30th st in NYC...

Ohh and if you are really a guitar player, not a bass player, the essential listening is Peter Greens solo on "the Green Manalishi" from the live stuff. (thats Fleetwood Mac)

wingwalker

11-26-2007, 03:38 AM

How are those Jaguar Baritones??

Brett Valentine

11-26-2007, 07:43 AM

Great instrument! Tried it out in the store (playing it like a cross between a guitar and bass) and it was the funkiest thing around, different from bass. Took it home and changed it to a B Baritone. Definitely sounds like a Strat's "big brother." Had to replace the last 2 tuners with locking tuners to be able to string it up with guitar strings (even the Fender G and B strings were just a bit too short). The 5th and 6th strings are bass strings from a 6 string set. You can get a deep throaty Strat type tone, or a warm, round "upper strings" type Jazz bass tone on the same instrument.

Oh, and another trick I saw was to tune it to 4ths across the board and play it like an "octave up" contra bass.

tkozal

11-26-2007, 08:16 AM

as the poster above says, it seems to work best as a true baritone..mine was the one that came strung as a Bass VI - E-e. The low E really doesn't work that well. Its a pick machine, hard to use your fingers.

Antero

11-26-2007, 12:31 PM

The usefulness of the low E string depends entirely on how you're using it. I wouldn't hit the open low E without muting, but I've run stereo with a bass amp and a guitar amp and it put out plenty of low end to be quite useful.

Brett Valentine

11-26-2007, 05:59 PM

tkozal's right. The spacing is really too tight to use fingers practicaly. The string spacing seems to be that of a Strat, and too tight to fit strings closer to bass guage.

Impulse 101

11-26-2007, 09:16 PM

No one has mentioned The Cure yet. They use it all the time.

JT

Ed Packer

11-27-2007, 04:21 AM

I've got a new custom-shop one, after jonesing for one for years. It's awesome! due to the string spacing, you have to use more small chord patterns, then add some bass lines and passing tones - you'll sound like a whole band (well almost). I just used mine on a recording we did - incredible deep, clear tone (including the open E string). I love it.

tkozal

11-27-2007, 06:04 AM

It's interesting reading the posts above, because bass players (like me) approach this instrument in one way, while guitar players seem to approach it in another way....my original desire for one was motivated by my old Jack Bruce fanaticism years ago, and only in the last 10 years did I become aware of its non traditional, non bass usages, such the Cure and Peter Green. I gather there are also a bunch of yout bands that play true baritones now also...but I have no clue who they are...

decay-o-caster

11-27-2007, 08:22 AM

I think if I had a sense of rhythm I'd try to approach it like a bass player. Sadly, after... the accident... (the screams of the dying, the waters rushing higher and higher...) I can't make a groove happen to save my life. So I am going to be approaching it as a new guitar tool. I like the big-ness of the octave low thing, but I suspect it will be more useful to me as a baritone.

It was fun playing the rhythm changes on it the other evening octave low, though!

Brett Valentine

11-27-2007, 11:06 AM

It's funny that guitarists and bassists each approach it differently. I find I view it more as a bridge between the two, especially tuned B to B. I also have a 6 string bass (started out on bass) and find I can cover some bass duties as well as some guitar parts simultaneously. I find I like it more in that role as opposed to a "deep" guitar.

I also have a nice travel electric that I have strung up an octave above the bari, and recording with the bass, bari, and the high strung really gives the bari freedom to stretch out harmonicaly since it overlaps the ranges of the bass and high strung but also has its own range as well, and the bass cut switch really allows it to fit in well with either.

snarkle

11-27-2007, 11:34 AM

I've been using my Bass VI as a six-string bass, but now I'm interested in trying it out as a B-to-B baritone.

What string gauges are people using in this configuration?

Brett Valentine

11-27-2007, 12:36 PM

I've been using strings from Fender 10-46(?) sets as they are mostly long enough (the G and B strings might require locking tiuners). I use the A,D,G, and B strings. the 5th and 6th strings are from a 6 string bass set (the G and C strings).

That ends up being 2 bass strings, 2 wound guitar strings, and 2 plain strings. That combination works for me. The 2 bass strings give you enough bottom end to cover some bass parts, the 2 wound strings give you a deeper strat tone, and the 2 plain strings give you a clear top. I first went with heavier strings (3 bass strings, and a wound G string for the "F#") but the wound F# sounded very strident and was very stiff.

The above set is only slightly stiffer than an Strat with the 10-46 set, so the tension is similar and string bending is still possible.