Bass VI Appreciation Society (and other short scale 6 string basses of a similar concept)

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

 

33 minutes ago, Jono Bolton said:

I do like both the Lake Placid Blue and Walnut versions from CME:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChpYdezO8ua/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Great! Now I want a LPB one more than I wanted a purple one, and they're also exclusive to Andertons in addition to CME: https://www.andertons.co.uk/squier-fsr-classic-vibe-bass-vi-lake-placid-blue

 

[Jono Bolton]

1 hour ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

 

Great! Now I want a LPB one more than I wanted a purple one, and they're also exclusive to Andertons in addition to CME: https://www.andertons.co.uk/squier-fsr-classic-vibe-bass-vi-lake-placid-blue

 

I assumed they'd come to Anderson's at some point. I'd need to see it in the flesh, but there's something off about the LPB colour for me. I had a Chinese Squier CV 60s FSR Strat that was the right shade of blue for my liking; somewhere between LPB and Ice Blue Metallic. I think I actually prefer the Walnut out of the two, and I say that as someone who hates black blocks and binding on a maple neck. I wonder if these will be like the Shell Pink ones that were on pre order for the best part of a year before they reached the shops.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Jono Bolton

[Jono Bolton]

My Bass VI. I'm torn between having the headstock painted black, or just selling it because it's not getting used. The Staytrem bridge and trem arm/collet make a huge difference in the way the trem functions. The pickups sound really nice as well; they got a lot of compliments from the staff in the shop when I took it in for a set up.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Jono Bolton

[BassAgent]

I'm looking for a bridge for a vintage VI I'm going to restore. Any help would be greatly appreciated, topic here

[Cat Burrito]

I decided to upgrade my Burns SSJ and just picked up this Squier Bass VI. As you can see I have already swapped out the pickguard and I have some flats en route in the post as I can see. The Squier set up is much better and my early impression is that this bass is a killer.

 

[msb]

I found the heavier FenderVI string set made a big difference. 

[BigRedX]

@Cat Burrito That's a lovely looking Bass VI.

 

If they made that with Shergold Marathon 6-string Bass string spacing rather than that ridiculous skinny neck I would be ordering one now!

[Cat Burrito]

12 hours ago, BigRedX said:

@Cat Burrito That's a lovely looking Bass VI.

 

If they made that with Shergold Marathon 6-string Bass string spacing rather than that ridiculous skinny neck I would be ordering one now!

I'd love a Shegold Marathon. The neck is slim so the spacing is a bit of a challenge but it is perfectly serviceable for my needs.

[Woodinblack]

Has anyone tried the SubZero Rogue VI - got a spam from G4M today with them reduced to £200. They look ok although I know the subzero stuff is pretty cheap

[BigRedX]

Pickup position and type will probably make it more suitable as an A-A baritone guitar than an E-E Bass VI.

 

And looking at the specs if you want to use it as a Bass VI you'll need to swap the supplied strings for LaBella's or Newtone Axions.

 

 

 

[crazycloud]

On 25/11/2022 at 01:42, BigRedX said:

Pickup position and type will probably make it more suitable as an A-A baritone guitar than an E-E Bass VI.

Curious as to why you believe that.

[BigRedX]

On 26/11/2022 at 09:51, crazycloud said:

Curious as to why you believe that.

 

Guitar type humbuckers without coil taps in the typical guitar bridge and neck positions.

 

All the "popular" Bass VIs tend to follow the Fender model of having 3 single coils and although they include a "bridge" and "neck" pickup they tend to be set in slightly from where they would be on a guitar. Also all the best "bass" sounds use the centre pickup either on its own or in conjunction with one of the others.

 

You can get a decent bass sound out of pickups in the typical guitar bridge and neck positions but they need to be single coil (or with coil taps) and be capable of being wired in series when both are on. This instrument appears to offer none of those options. It is simply a standard parts bin guitar with a long neck.

[crazycloud]

On 28/11/2022 at 20:07, BigRedX said:

Also all the best "bass" sounds use the centre pickup either on its own or in conjunction with one of the others.

 

You can get a decent bass sound out of pickups in the typical guitar bridge and neck positions but they need to be single coil (or with coil taps) and be capable of being wired in series when both are on.

Let's just say. I don't agree at all.

[Cato]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a vi for years.

 

Came very close to buying a Burns Barracuda vi a few years back but they ran out of stock and never got anymore in.

 

Anyway as soon as I set eyes on these at Andertons a few weeks back it was pretty much the end of all resistance.

 

 

 

 

First impressions mostly favourable, not found any finishing or fret issues and the elctronics seem to work as they should.

 

Only slight niggle is that it was shipped with the strings completely slack and at the moment it's almost impossible to keep in tune.

 

I'll keep tensioning the strings every hour or so and hopefully it'll settle down pretty soon .

 

One thinh I was quite suprised at was for the brief periods I've had it in tune the low E feels and sounds OK. I ordered some Newtone Axion at the same time as the guitar, but I'm not sure I'm going to need them.

 

I put it through my Katana guitar amp and when it's in tune it sounds great, especially with a bit of reverb, I'll try it through the Hartke rig later.

 

Assuming the tuning issues sort themselves out I think I'm going to very happy with this one.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Cato

[BigRedX]

That is very nice looking. It's probably just as well I find the neck way too narrow or I'd have got one too!

[bartelby]

6 minutes ago, Cato said:

 

 

Only slight niggle is that it was shipped with the strings completely slack and at the moment it's almost impossible to keep in tune.

 

 

My Squier Super-Sonic came from Anderson's like that and had the same problem. I gave up in the end and changed the strings, which is a lot cheaper to do on a skinny stringer.

[BigRedX]

49 minutes ago, Cato said:

Only slight niggle is that it was shipped with the strings completely slack and at the moment it's almost impossible to keep in tune.

 

I don't know why anyone would do that. If you slacken off the strings for transit then really you need to slacken off the truss rod by an equivalent amount so the neck remains in equilibrium. I'm pretty certain that they don't come from Squier like that (my Bass VI certainly didn't and IIRC was almost perfectly in tune when it arrived despite having been shipped from mainland Europe).

[Cato]

1 minute ago, BigRedX said:

 

I don't know why anyone would do that. If you slacken off the strings for transit then really you need to slacken off the truss rod by an equivalent amount so the neck remains in equilibrium. I'm pretty certain that they don't come from Squier like that (my Bass VI certainly didn't and IIRC was almost perfectly in tune when it arrived despite having been shipped from mainland Europe).

 

It's impossible to be 100% ,but the way it was packaged and sealed in the box was pristine, right down to the foam bag thingy around the instrument.

 

My guess is it came from the factory like that and that Andertons never had it out of the box between it arriving with them and sending it to me.

 

It's definitely started to settle now. The first couple of times I tuned the E went down to around C flat within about 5 minutes. Just now it had slipped from E to Eflatish in about hour.

 

I reckon by tomorrow it will hopefully be fine, then I'll have a proper look at the neck relief and whether the truss rod needs a tweak.

[Woodinblack]

I was so tempted to get a Bass VI when it was in shell pink, but I didn't, and now there aren't any anywhere. Probably as well, I have had 2 bass VIs before and I sold both of them!

[Maude]

One of the purple ones sold on eBay a couple of days ago. They look fantastic but I've got a sunburst one that I'll probably sell soon, so no point drooling over the purple ones. 

[Cato]

I read this article a couple of weeks ago.

 

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/reverb-best-selling-bass-guitars-2022

 

I'm not sure I buy the idea that the Squier Bass VI being the best selling bass on Reverb of 2022 is really down to a Beatles documentary, but what ever the reason I'd be very surprised if we don't see more special editions from Squier and probably Fender themselves incorporating it into their own ranges, for a while at least, over the next couple of years.

 

I'm sure we'll see more bass vi types from other manufacturers too.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Cato

[Woodinblack]

32 minutes ago, Cato said:

I'm not sure I buy the idea that the Squire Bass VI being the best selling bass on Reverb of 2022 is really down to a Beatles documentary

 

Well the ones I bought had nothing to do with any group!

[Jono Bolton]

I decided to keep my Bass VI and had the headstock painted black to match the body. I also had a custom decal made, based on the 60s 'Fender VI' logo, but using the original Squier JV logo. It's not 100% right - 'Electric Bass Guitar' should be a touch longer and the Pat numbers below should be indented, but it's close enough. David Wilson did a cracking job on the headstock and the turnaround was only a week. The stand is angled so the light catching the headstock makes it look a different colour to the body, but they match!

 

It's got a Staytrem bridge and trem arm, Gotoh tuners, and La Bella flats. I might upgrade the wiring at some point and maybe add a Fender trem, but neither are priorities just now.

Edited December 8, 2022 by Jono Bolton

[Jono Bolton]

[Woodinblack]

Looks much nicer than the default unfinished ones!