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Anyone here play a Bass VI?
- Thread starter MajorTom
- Start date
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
The video I saw showed them in the studio, and he was playing the VI.
Oops, it was on Who Loves You
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Sorry, but I couldn't find any Fender VI covers of this:
I am sure with some practice some day you'll learn to master it yourself
On a more serrious note, of a song that isn't mentioned yet (has some of the Beatles songs been mentioned?), I know this though:
Also used by Roy Babbington from Soft Machine and Jack Bruce in Cream.
One was used by Blodwyn Pig on occasion too, and there is live footage. Blodwyn Pig I would classify as actually being music.
Ive tried a couple. The danelecto and the fender bass VI. They are fun to play. Some techniques are more difficult because of the tighter string spacing. Others, like tapping, are actually easier IMO because of the lighter strings. For me the biggest problem with them is not having a low B, and not really being able to set it up with a low b because of the shorter scale. But that's my personal situation. Most of my time playing these days is with my originals hard rock band. And the majority of our material requires a low b string as our guitarist uses baritone tunings. If I had time for a different project I'd get one.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I owned a Fender for a couple of years. My thoughts...
- You can play it finger style if you like, but it will not transition well from standard bass, nor back. It's kinda like playing an entirely different instrument.
- I myself am able to be a lot more expressive on a standard bass. I can play harder with no issues, and find it easier to navigate without worrying about other strings getting in the way (having to mute them, or having them bang into the strings I'm playing or stretching).
- When playing any material other than my own original material, the two extra strings serve no purpose. I could probably work them in somehow if I wanted, but they're not necessary.
- I would never EVER be able to get my VI to sound like a traditional electric. I think those Julie Slick videos make that apparent. They sound like guitars tuned down IME, not basses. Very thin sounding, and lacking in the punch and depth of other bass guitars.
Love Thee Oh Sees. That isn't a VI though. Petey plays a regular Jazzmaster.
I can't believe i watched part of that
Sorry, but I couldn't find any Fender VI covers of this
I am sure with some practice some day you'll learn to master it yourself
On a more serrious note, of a song that isn't mentioned yet (has some of the Beatles songs been mentioned?), I know this though:
Also used by Roy Babbington from Soft Machine and Jack Bruce in Cream.
Well not exactly my taste, although there's nothing wrong with the music as such.
To get back to Last Exit, I seriously mean, I do not understand people who can't see the musical qualities...
In many ways it is music in it's purest form, at least most primal.
And you can tell they definitely know their instruments.
That and I love seeing relatively old guys like that who haven't lost the capability to play for the sake of playing and just freaking out letting out it all without any restrains, something very reassuring about it.
I know I am going way off topic, sorry, but the best part of when I saw Niel Young and Crazy Horse perform some years ago at the big Danish festival in Roskilde was when they had their noise and feedback freakout.
A bass VI is definitely my next instrument. And precisely because it is a little different than a regular bass. I've only played one in GC, but I totally dug it. Gives a lot of options that don't exist on a regular bass.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
If you're anything like me, I'd suggest either buying one cheap enough to resell it without taking a hit, or going back to the store and playing it for a couple of hours. I felt the same way, and burnt all that excitement out within a day or two. Not saying I disagree about the instruments potential, but I realized I was going to have to commit to it in a way I wasn't willing to if I were going to make it really work for me. I'd have to not consider it a bass, but rather a whole new instrument. I'd rather put that extra time into guitar, keyboards, or... well, my bass
.
I've had my Squier VI for three years now and I play it regularly. I just use it as a bass, it fills that role perfectly. It's physical layout is very different from that of the traditional BG so you do have to adapt to it if a traditional BG is the only stringed instrument that you, like me, have ever played. I've got mine strung with LaBella rounds and tuned in fifths starting on C1. I love the sounds I can get out of it, I am still struggling to become completely at home with its layout, I am still learning to really use those two extra strings, but it is a bass that I can do anything with. When you tune in fifths the top B string is way into guitar territory, same as the B string on a normal guitar in fact. So I could even play rhythm guitar parts with it, assuming that some day I learn to play rhythm guitar! The whammy bar? Yeah, I only use it to amuse the other guitarists in the church band during rehearsals. I don't know if it has any real purpose on a bass but then whammy bars aren't used all that much in church music anyway. All it takes is a few washers, a screwdriver, and about 15 minutes to convert it to a hard tail if the whammy bar offends you.
A bass VI is not your father's bass guitar, not unless your father was Jack Bruce! It won't adapt to you, you will have to adapt to it. It is fun, it is challenging, and it will take you deep into unexplored territory if you are willing to invest some serious time with it. And if you are not, well there are so many other fine bass guitars out there that you could explore that I would not worry about not liking a bass VI.
A bass VI is not your father's bass guitar, not unless your father was Jack Bruce! It won't adapt to you, you will have to adapt to it. It is fun, it is challenging, and it will take you deep into unexplored territory if you are willing to invest some serious time with it. And if you are not, well there are so many other fine bass guitars out there that you could explore that I would not worry about not liking a bass VI.
So I'll admit straight up I'm a hack. I decided to just record this with two of my basses side by side.
Both are done through amplitube with a virtualized svt-4 pro. The amplifier settings were not changed from one instrument to another.
The Fender VI has La Bella stainless rounds. I solo'd the neck, rolled the volume up and the tone down.
The Jazz has Rotosound 55's. Again, I solo'd the neck, rolled the volume on that pickup up, and the tone down.
Aside from my terrible playing, please tell me whether it is the first or the second instrument that is not suitable for serving as a bass guitar.
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Both are done through amplitube with a virtualized svt-4 pro. The amplifier settings were not changed from one instrument to another.
The Fender VI has La Bella stainless rounds. I solo'd the neck, rolled the volume up and the tone down.
The Jazz has Rotosound 55's. Again, I solo'd the neck, rolled the volume on that pickup up, and the tone down.
Aside from my terrible playing, please tell me whether it is the first or the second instrument that is not suitable for serving as a bass guitar.
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My understanding is that NST was intended to be pure 5ths but that making the required top string is still beyond modern technology and so the top string is tuned lower. I tune in pure 5ths starting an octave lower than NST. The top B string is still a bit of an issue on a 30 inch scale but in the end it's feasible . NST probably should have started on the F below the C it does start on to avoid the issues with that high B string .
I had to look it up and your right. Always just assumed it was a VI. Good thing they switched to a
"regular" bass player now so I'm not confused.
