EssentialTension

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1438605750' post='2835703'] I must be thinking of a different one [/quote] Maybe the custom shop version.

£691 at GAK. Is that staggering?

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1438492146' post='2834846'] +1 it looks good - but with a Bass VI style headstock I think it'd be even nicer ... [/quote] Yes, Bass VI body already.

Very good and Spain good too.

[quote name='M-Bass-M' timestamp='1438257063' post='2832950'] Huh, even more versatile than I first imagined! Really curious to try a short-scale bass now. Wonder how it would look with a slightly smaller headstock...looks a bit out of scale with the body. [/quote] The headstock looks like a Coronado headstock, which is also a 30" scale, so maybe they are using the same neck.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1438257339' post='2832957'] That's a somewhat non-standard bridge! [/quote] Guild harp bridge in style at least.

I have a 2008 Lakland Skyline Decade and it's perfect in every way

Most often no amplification. Or Phil Jones Bass Buddy plus Beyer DT250 headphones and iPod goes through that too. Or, with others, Phil Jones Bass Briefcase which is 100watt 2x5".

The Ranelagh is a nice gig, but the stage is ... well ... not there really. I'd come down but I'll be in Spain.

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1438180699' post='2832333'] ET, I thank you for that. [/quote] You're welcome, it's a cracker.

She is Sam and I am Dave. [media]http://youtu.be/WxQM7GXA8Tc[/media]

[quote name='Ruiner' timestamp='1438171875' post='2832219'] Obviously the antigua finish is an acquired taste ... [/quote] It certainly is. I really like it .... sometimes. The Squier looks more of a brown Antigua than a green Antigua.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1438167089' post='2832176'] Yep, I play rudimentary guitar when I have my songwriter hat on. I struggle with a plectrum, so my strumming technique uses the index finger and thumb nails: my right hand is as if I'm holding a plectrum (very loosely), so on downstrokes I hit the strings with my index fingernail and on upstrokes with the thumbnail. (There's probably a name for this technique!) [/quote] That's fair enough but I was more meaning for example ... [media]http://youtu.be/z_NVSTzrBbo[/media]

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1438159413' post='2832079'] ... I should also say that I don't/can't use a plectrum on bass so that's going to be a big thing I need to practice! [/quote] I'm not saying don't learn to use a plectrum but it is not essential. Two of the guitarists I regularly play with never use a plectrum - fingerstyle all the way.

[quote name='Ruiner' timestamp='1438165558' post='2832156'] The Squier jazzmaster baritone (antigua) is 30" scale length (same necks as the Squier VI's) and that comes tuned A-A as standard. [/quote]

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1438163587' post='2832136'] thanks - backbow was the wording i was looking for!! I can loosen the truss rod to its max and it doesnt seem to be doing much... Don't know if there's any "help" the neck needs to settle. I would guess string tension, so can put an old set of strings on once the bass bridge arrives! [/quote] You need to stop adjusting the truss rod until you've got some strings on.

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1438113011' post='2831806'] At the risk of derailing the thread with a potentially stupid question: could one string these with lighter strings and turn it into one of these elusive baritone guitars one occasionally hears about? I.e., stringing it BEADF#B (or even ADGCEA, I guess), but with the longer scale length giving better tension that one might get by doing the same to a normal six-string guitar? [/quote] If you chose the right gauges then A-A or B-B tuning are both possible. A-A would roughly mean moving all strings over one and finding an appropriate high A string

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1438104914' post='2831709'] ... how to get the best out of the thing? [/quote] Here's Ed Friedland showing what the Eastwood version of a VI can do .... [media]http://youtu.be/mqaotuJ9ZiQ[/media]

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1438104914' post='2831709'] Totally agree, mine just hangs on the wall whilst I try and work out exactly what I can use it for, I did a recording with it recently and it sat in the mix ok but it was more a case of getting use out of it rather than the track really needing it...so anyone want to enlighten us as to how to get the best out of the thing? [/quote] If you're interested in whether a Bass VI can do normal bass duties ... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/252406-fendersquier-bass-vi-instead-of-a-regular-bass"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/252406-fendersquier-bass-vi-instead-of-a-regular-bass[/url] ... but it's just another instrument in its own right too. Good for melodic soloing, surf type sounds, tictac bass, etc etc; works well with tremolo, reverb, chorus, and other similar effects.

Stringbusters Lord of the Strings Thomann

[quote name='Jimryan' timestamp='1438085450' post='2831479'] Wow! That's nice. Don't know that about the stay-trem/mute sizes, so thank you. Where did you get your locking trem and scratchplate from? [/quote] Pickguard from this guy ... [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Squier-VM-Bass-VI-Pickguard-3-ply-Black-/221832352253?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a63d11fd"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item33a63d11fd[/url] The locking trem is ordinary Jaguar reissue, fits fine. This thread at Offset Guitars is a mine of information ... [url="http://offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=71490&sid=ad14bdcaa49b0ecbc80a54673fa1a154"]http://offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=71490&sid=ad14bdcaa49b0ecbc80a54673fa1a154[/url]

[quote name='Jimryan' timestamp='1438031495' post='2831116'] ... the stay-trem bridges which I'd like to get hold of and I also really like the idea of the Jaguar bridge mute assembly ... [/quote] If you want to fit a Jaguar mute then you will need the narrower Jaguar Staytrem. I believe the Jaguar mute will not work with the wider BassVI Staytrem. [quote name='Jimryan' timestamp='1438031495' post='2831116'] ... What interests me is changing the tuners, adding a de tuner (if I can find out which one will fit, if one does) ... [/quote] I don't know about that. [quote name='Jimryan' timestamp='1438031495' post='2831116'] ... and possibly swapping out the pickups (was thinking either Seymour Duncan Quarter pounders or the vintage jag ones). [/quote] If I was going to change the pickups it would probably be Curtis Novak.