Just ordered an Eastwood Hooky Pro 6 string

[miles'tone]

Yep. After reading a lot on here about Bass VI's, the more they began to make sense to me.

I don't play in bands anymore and don't intend to either (family situation makes it impossible time-wise) and I love to play yet find it hard to enjoy playing bass at home as for me, bass playing is a social sport and my buzz mainly came from making others, good players, sound great if that makes sense?

On my own, not so much.

 

After going down the Bass VI rabbit hole it was only the Hooky 6 that really added up to something I could get into, to expand my creative horizons somewhat. A bass vi made for bassists with a size and string spacing that I feel I could realistically get on with (I'm 6'1" with massive hands. Hands that don't get on with guitars at all 😄)

So, I've paid the preorder deposit for a nice black one. The next batch of black Hookys won't be arriving until December which is fine as I'll have time to save up the rest.

I've got a good looper pedal and effects already. Should be fun!

Any other Hooky 6 players here? How are you getting on with yours and what kind of things are you getting out of it?

[AndyTravis]

I know @BigRedX speaks very highly of these.

 

I played an original shergold, but it was fretless…

 

found it more intuitive as a bass player than the fender vi.

[BigRedX]

For me the Eastwood Hooky is the end of a long search to find a Bass VI that I actually found playable.

 

I started with an impulse buy of a Squier Bass VI when I had no real need for one, but found that I liked the concept even if the neck was ridiculously narrow even by guitar standards. Then the guitarist from one of the bands I play in decide to leave, I suggested that we try with me playing Bass VI and the synth moving from mainly textures to actual tunes, and we found that it worked perfectly. Having an actual use for the instrument meant that I was more aware than ever that the neck was simply too narrow for me. At the time I was expecting that I would end up with something custom made, as I found the next best thing - a Burns Barracuda - was only slightly more playable for me. Then Eastwood announced the Hooky and I immediately put down my deposit. I'd briefly played an original Shergold Marathon 6-String Bass in the early 80s as someone I knew had one, so I could recall the neck being significantly wider. The first batch coincided with Covid and took about 10 months from my initial order to actually getting the bass in my hands, but straight away I could tell it was worth it. Songs that were always a struggle to play live because I kept tripping up over the tight string spacing for chunky bass strings were now as effortless as they should be.

 

I play mine direct into a Helix, and then straight into either the PA or an FRFR cab, which is absolutely necessary for me as I tend to switch between "bass" and "guitar" parts on the Bass VI. One new song has sections where I change every two bars! My band Hurtsfall have a new single "Tilting" out on Friday 21st July which really shows off what can be done with the Eastwood Hooky - there's bass parts, guitar parts, harmonic chords (I have mine tuned EADGCE) and a big "bass solo" in the middle. I'll stick some links up when it's been released.

 

In the mean time here a shot of me playing it from when Hurtsfall supported Skeletal Family at the lending Room in Leeds last year:

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by BigRedX

[Waddo Soqable]

Good that these are being made again.. I remember the original Shergolds when they came out, I had a try of one at some musical instrument industry show / fair thing at the time. Thought they were a cool idea at the time, though beyond my budget or I'd likely have got one. 

Same applies now really, I've got a couple of bass Vl types which I'm very happy with, but I would absolutely get a Hooky if they were in the 500 quid kinda price range, unfortunately they're way more than I could spend on another bass  

[miles'tone]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

For me the Eastwood Hooky is the end of a long search to find a Bass VI that I actually found playable.

 

I started with an impulse buy of a Squier Bass VI when I had no real need for one, but found that I liked the concept even if the neck was ridiculously narrow even by guitar standards. Then the guitarist from one of the bands I play in decide to leave, I suggested that we try with me playing Bass VI and the synth moving from mainly textures to actual tunes, and we found that it worked perfectly. Having an actual use for the instrument meant that I was more aware than ever that the neck was simply too narrow for me. At the time I was expecting that I would end up with something custom made, as I found the next best thing - a Burns Barracuda - was only slightly more playable for me. Then Eastwood announced the Hooky and I immediately put down my deposit. I'd briefly played an original Shergold Marathon 6-String Bass in the early 80s as someone I knew had one, so I could recall the neck being significantly wider. The first batch coincided with Covid and took about 10 months from my initial order to actually getting the bass in my hands, but straight away I could tell it was worth it. Songs that were always a struggle to play live because I kept tripping up over the tight string spacing for chunky bass strings were now as effortless as they should be.

 

I play mine direct into a Helix, and then straight into either the PA or an FRFR cab, which is absolutely necessary for me as I tend to switch between "bass" and "guitar" parts on the Bass VI. One new song has sections where I change every two bars! My band Hurtsfall have a new single "Tilting" out on Friday 21st July which really shows off what can be done with the Eastwood Hooky - there's bass parts, guitar parts, harmonic chords (I have mine tuned EADGCE) and a big "bass solo" in the middle. I'll stick some links up when it's been released.

 

In the mean time here a shot of me playing it from when Hurtsfall supported Skeletal Family at the lending Room in Leeds last year:

 

Awesome! Thanks for the info mate. Looking forward to hearing your single on Friday and mucho respect for being able to do all that live! 👏

[BigRedX]

And our new single "Tilting" is out now!

 

 

All the guitar and bass pats (except the very obvious sequenced synth bass) are done one the Hooky and except where the guitar and bass double up for the very last chorus they are done as we play this live - running the Hooky through a Line6 Helix to allow very different tones for the different parts is a must for this.

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

Congratulations. 

 

I would definitely get one of these could I afford it.

 

Seems like an amazing instrument.

 

I do own a Harley Benton GuitarBass (take on the Fender Bass VI), but as BigRedX mentions the string spacing is a bit tight.

 

That said there's just something about just having 4 strings to deal with that really appeals to me, it forces you to think differently when using it like this, that is as mainly a melodic/solo instrument, sort of both covering the role of what a guitar and bass otherwise would.

 

So I use my 4 string Ibanez Mikro Bass like this, which has a scale length of just 28.6", which I have tuned to F# (that is 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning) for this. 

 

Having composed a number of songs using that bass for a sort of stoner/doom rock project I call "all I nil" (6 regular songs, some quite traditional, other less, more alternative, takes on the stoner/doom rock genre, and then 3 instrumentals with more of a folky vibe to them), where I plan the main foundational instrumentation of the songs to be just bass, drums and then vocals, but then adding some more sparingly, more sort of flavor oriented, other instrumentation as well (still need to record the songs properly, but all the bass parts and the basic form of the songs are already in place, and I have tested it out playing with a drummer friend of mine, and it actually work really well as far as I am concerned). 

 

My point with this being, that if you think out of the box, and neither treat your bass as you traditionally would a bass or as a low tuned guitar lacking 2 strings, it is absolutely possible to successfully get away with and have fun playing and composing on a 4 string bass solo.

 

As said though if I had the money to spare I would absolutely get an Eastwood Hooky Pro 6 Bass, however even so I think I'd likely still predominantly play and compose on my 4 string.

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[miles'tone]

On 21/07/2023 at 08:16, BigRedX said:

And our new single "Tilting" is out now!

 

 

All the guitar and bass pats (except the very obvious sequenced synth bass) are done one the Hooky and except where the guitar and bass double up for the very last chorus they are done as we play this live - running the Hooky through a Line6 Helix to allow very different tones for the different parts is a must for this.

 

I will be giving it my full attention this evening! Thanks for the reminder. 

I did check out some of Hurtsfall's live vids on youtube earlier in the week, I think you guys are great. Great songs and sound. I really like your singer too. He has the raw power that I go for. I believe him.

[crazycloud]

Congrats on the new bass, I hope you love it.

 

As you can see from my avatar, I have an SRC6, but agree the spacing can be a little close at times. The Hooky dimensions are going to be the inspiration for a new (DIY) custom, but their aesthetics aren't my thing. However, if someone were to give me one...

[dmz]

I used to have a red Shergold fretless back in the day (early to mid 90’s) - tuned it BEADGC - loved the neck.

 

Hope you have fun with your new instrument.

 

I see that Burns have “bass 6” style guitar out atm - green burst is £299 ☺️ Powder blue is £349.

 

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/200630359817025--burns-short-scale-jazz-six-bass-green-burst

[miles'tone]

4 hours ago, dmz said:

I used to have a red Shergold fretless back in the day (early to mid 90’s) - tuned it BEADGC - loved the neck.

 

Hope you have fun with your new instrument.

 

I see that Burns have “bass 6” style guitar out atm - green burst is £299 ☺️ Powder blue is £349.

 

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/200630359817025--burns-short-scale-jazz-six-bass-green-burst

Thanks, yes I've seen the Burns VI (and every other VI available down the current rabbit hole 😄) but it's only the Hooky that has the right nut width and string spacing for me. 

It's a lot more expensive than most of the others available but I'm hoping that, by not buying and flipping my way through the others out there, it'll be cost effective in the long run. 🤞

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, miles'tone said:

Thanks, yes I've seen the Burns VI (and every other VI available down the current rabbit hole 😄) but it's only the Hooky that has the right nut width and string spacing for me. 

It's a lot more expensive than most of the others available but I'm hoping that, by not buying and flipping my way through the others out there, it'll be cost effective in the long run. 🤞

 

I spent over 2 years from when I first started using by Squier Bass VI seriously until I received my Eastwood Hooky from the first batch they made trying every Bass VI style instrument  I could get my hands on, and none of them came even remotely close to the playability of the Hooky for what I wanted to do with the instrument. 

 

There's a whole thread documenting my search here. What I found, was that most Bass VIs are essentially guitars with 30" necks and occasionally (but by no mean always) pickups positioned in suitable places for getting bass-type sounds out of them. The Squier had a very uncomfortably narrow neck - the guitars I use have wider necks by comparison - and while most alternatives were better none were a massive improvement. I used a Burns Barracuda for a while which was easier to play but I still found myself plucking the wrong strings especially when I was swaping between sections that involved up and down plucking of multiple strings to all down strokes on a single string and back again.

 

Until Eastwood announced the Hooky, I was seriously considering getting something custom-made using classical guitar string spacing (which was still just a guess), but now I know that the significantly wider string spacing of the Hooky is just right for what I want, and if I was still to go custom, I'd be getting them the copy the dimensions of the Hooky neck.