Tell me about fender/ squier bass VI please

[Cato]

17 hours ago, rmorris said:

I love the idea and look of the Bass VI and copies of but I can't see the tight string spacing at the nut with beefy strings working for me.

Maybe just as well as have run out of bass space 🤣

 

I'd say, using a pick, that it's no more difficult or fiddly to play than a standard solid body electric guitar, anyone who plays  even a little bit of guitar as well as bass should be able to pick a VI up and hit the ground running.

Edited April 27 by Cato

[Rosie C]

On 17/04/2024 at 10:12, police squad said:

I'm thinking about a bass vi for a bit of fun.

What are the thoughts of the BC  massive.

 

 

I'd not heard of this creation and it has me confused. Is a regular bass guitar 2 octaves below a regular 6-string, and the VI sits in between?

 

[Cato]

11 minutes ago, Rosie C said:

 

I'd not heard of this creation and it has me confused. Is a regular bass guitar 2 octaves below a regular 6-string, and the VI sits in between?

 

 

Esentially it was designed as a guitar to be tuned one octave below standard.

 

It can sound either more or less identical to a standard bass guitar on the bottom 4 strings or like a baritone guitar depending on how you employ the pickup selector and and the bass cut switch.

Edited April 27 by Cato

[Cosmo Valdemar]

15 minutes ago, Rosie C said:

 

I'd not heard of this creation and it has me confused. Is a regular bass guitar 2 octaves below a regular 6-string, and the VI sits in between?

 

The lowest 4 strings on the VI are the same tuning as a standard bass.

[Baloney Balderdash]

5 hours ago, Rosie C said:

 

I'd not heard of this creation and it has me confused. Is a regular bass guitar 2 octaves below a regular 6-string, and the VI sits in between?

 

As already said the 4 lower strings are tuned exactly like a standard 4 string bass, and it features a 30" scale length, so same as a standard short scale bass, but with 6 strings, tuned like a guitar, only an octave lower, and with narrow string spacing like a guitar as well.

 

The Beatles used it as a regular bass on quite a few tunes, whenever John Lennon or George Harrison had bass duties, instead of Paul.

 

"Helter Skelter", just to mention one, is an often used example of this.

 

And The Cure used it on most of their songs really, played by Robert Smith, but more as a melodic instrument. 

 

You can see him play it on pretty much any live shot of The Cure, or in the music video for "Pictures of You".

 

Edited April 27 by Baloney Balderdash

[rmorris]

On 27/04/2024 at 12:34, Cato said:

 

I'd say, using a pick, that it's no more difficult or fiddly to play than a standard solid body electric guitar, anyone who plays  even a little bit of guitar as well as bass should be able to pick a VI up and hit the ground running.

 

Depends on the individual obviously. But I do think heavier gauge strings are easier with a bit more spacing. fwiw I'm not really a fan of wide string spacings in general eh prefer 19mm Vs 20mm @ bridge. It may work out better as a baritone.

Edited April 29 by rmorris
spelling and typo

[ASW]

I had this Bass VI for a couple of years. I probably played it half a dozen times. I had good intentions to do something interesting with it in a band, but it never came to fruition. I have recorded with it though doing a baritone riff and it sounded great.

 

I echo other's feelings that the string spacing is too tight to be used easily as a main instrument fingerstyle if you are used to more typical spacing.

 

I have since purchased a 'proper' 6 string bass that is more like a standard bass guitar string spacing, but with an added lower and higher string. Much easier to play despite the wide neck (especially if you are used to 5 strings). So much so that it's my main player now.

 

It really depends what you want out of the instrument and your expectations as to whether a Bass VI will be any good.

[police squad]

29 minutes ago, ASW said:

I had this Bass VI for a couple of years. I probably played it half a dozen times. I had good intentions to do something interesting with it in a band, but it never came to fruition. I have recorded with it though doing a baritone riff and it sounded great.

 

I echo other's feelings that the string spacing is too tight to be used easily as a main instrument fingerstyle if you are used to more typical spacing.

 

I have since purchased a 'proper' 6 string bass that is more like a standard bass guitar string spacing, but with an added lower and higher string. Much easier to play despite the wide neck (especially if you are used to 5 strings). So much so that it's my main player now.

 

It really depends what you want out of the instrument and your expectations as to whether a Bass VI will be any good.

wow a custom shop one, bet that was a few quid!!

 

I would play it it with a pick probably, if I go that way

[Owen]

Still no sign of the silver sparkle, but this looks like fun

 

https://www.hotroxuk.com/revelation-rvjtb-metalic-purple-6-string-bass.html?utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=organic&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpNuyBhCuARIsANJqL9MssKjo5mQ_J--v2drFCAdfQF2N4u8PY9m7oAIkLXXHnUKNaKReTucaAkGXEALw_wcB

[msb]

On 26/04/2024 at 06:47, MartinB said:

If you're in the market for a VI, there is rumoured to be a 🤩 silver sparkle ✨ one on the way later this year

 

Holy sweet lord lifting Jesus. 

I picked up a lightly used Squier VI and have spent much more time goofing around on it than I ever expected. I found the stock strings lacking and put on the heavier set Fender make. I had to re-intonate , and file the nut. All good. It did become a little more expensive than I expected. First was a Fender TreVerb pedal , and then decided some gain might be useful. Than echo , chorus , and octaver … and then picked up a Gretsch baritone.

Be careful.

[msb]

On 26/04/2024 at 06:47, MartinB said:

 

 

 

Edited May 29 by msb
Duplicate

[msb]

On 26/04/2024 at 06:47, MartinB said:

 

Edited May 29 by msb
Duplicate

[msb]

On 26/04/2024 at 06:47, MartinB said:

 

 

 

Edited May 29 by msb
Duplicate

[MartinB]

Silver sparkle listing has appeared on the Thomann website: https://www.thomann.de/gb/squier_ltd_cv_bass_vi_lrl_ssp.htm

[Owen]

There is one less in their incoming stock now.

[Cato]

Looks like there's an Olive one coming in at about the same time.

 

 

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/squier_ltd_cv_bass_vi_lrl_olv.htm

 

 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

18 minutes ago, Cato said:

Looks like there's an Olive one coming in at about the same time.

 

 

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/squier_ltd_cv_bass_vi_lrl_olv.htm

 

 

That's just... no, no.

[Cato]

4 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

That's just... no, no.

 

That was my first reaction but now I'm starting to quite like it.

 

Although to be honest if I was in the market for another VI at this moment I'd get the silver.

[MartinB]

I'm not convinced that tortoiseshell works with olive. It'd look better with a black pickguard and pickup covers. Or off-white.

[Musicman666]

20 hours ago, Cato said:

 

That was my first reaction but now I'm starting to quite like it.

 

 

i could see this being used in a dads army scenario..

Edited June 7 by Musicman666

[MartinB]

£499 at Andertons! 💸

 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/Squier-FSR-Classic-Vibe-Bass-VI-in-SSP/

[Owen]

On 06/06/2024 at 11:22, Owen said:

There is one less in their incoming stock now.

Now there is one less in their actual stock. 

[Happy Jack]

On 17/04/2024 at 18:52, Sibob said:

What I’d be interested to know, without derailing the thread, is how it compares to the Harley Benton Bass VI.

 

I've not played both so can't really compare for you, but I followed this thread with interest. I got very close to pressing the button on the Squier VI until I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole of just how dreadful the bridge is and the amount of work needed to make a brand new instrument playable.

 

So last week I bought https://www.thomann.co.uk/harley_benton_guitarbass_vs_vintage_series.htm

 

It arrived yesterday and the first thing I needed to do was to tune it. Then ... well, I played it. That was it. Straight out of the box it was exactly what you want from a new instrument, everything as it should be, set-up perfect, intonation perfect, no dodgy fretwork or crackly pots, very nice sunburst and very nice tort for the p/g.

 

It feels light (actually 7.5 lbs but it feels lighter somehow), hangs well on a strap, and in the hands of a good player - not me, the guy in my soul band played it all last night - it's a very competent bass as well as an excellent baritone guitar thingy with all due allowance for the tuning options.

 

And it cost

 

£185

 

 

[crazycloud]

22 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

And it cost

 

£185

If I lived on that side of the world, I'd probably have popped for one of these by now, even though I can't stand bursts and tort. And I have SRC6s.

The HB looks really awesome.

[Owen]

So, I have had this for a couple of weeks. I played it in Church this morning. I like the string spacing. I have tuned the top two strings to C and F so that my head does not have to do that mental shift like I do on a guitar. I like the whole thing BUT it turns out that playing with a plectrum over an extended period makes me aware of the encroaching arthritis which I am in denial about in my RH index finger. So it is going back to the big German toy store.