For anyone thinking about a VF, there's a great clip showing a VF4-70s tone:
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- Apr 29, 2003
- 9,074
- 9,790
- Disclosures
- Contributor- Bass Musician Magazine | Marketing Manager- Trickfish Amplification
Not sure, I suspect the hum cancelling pickups were a part of it.
Edit: To me the 70's fender sound is all in the upper mids and I didn't hear that in mine at least.
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Good point about the pups being longer past the strings, I usually rest my thumb on the B string and only use the pup as thumbrest when I play the B so no big deal, but those who use it all the time would have to stretch more especially when playing the G string.
Well I've spent enough time drooling that it's time to buy. I've started the process to order a BN6.
Just a basic one for now, but the one thing I'm hung up on is the finish.
Apologies if this has been answered before, but there's so many posts here that it's tough to search.
I'm going with Brown Burst, not "NPF". I'm trying to decide on gloss vs satin. I love the look of satin, but I'm concerned that it will look a lot worse in a few years than gloss will. Can anyone fill me in?
Can satin be cleaned as easily as gloss?
Thanks!
Just a basic one for now, but the one thing I'm hung up on is the finish.
Apologies if this has been answered before, but there's so many posts here that it's tough to search.
I'm going with Brown Burst, not "NPF". I'm trying to decide on gloss vs satin. I love the look of satin, but I'm concerned that it will look a lot worse in a few years than gloss will. Can anyone fill me in?
Can satin be cleaned as easily as gloss?
Thanks!
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
I haven't had any issues cleaning my satin BN5, not that it really gets dirty... But over time where you play it will start to gloss up. My red BN5 has a slight shine around the volume knob (mine is volume/blend) and I have worn some gloss between the strings on the bridge pickup and on the face of the bass below the G-string between the neck and the neck pickup where my fingers rub when I pretend I can slap.
Love my brown burst (gloss) VF5!
What I wouldn't give for that Blue one lol.
Thanks Gnal, that's sorta what I expected. How long have you had it, and do you have any pics?
Gloss will highlight the sculpt of the body much better.
Why not contact your dealer or F Bass directly for an approximate price? Never know. It may not be as expensive as you imagine. Plus, Canada's dollar reduced back to its previous value again. Sure a few years ago, while our dollar values were at par, it was probably expensive for you.
The bass was made in January 2013. I purchased it used in August 2014. As I recall, the gloss around the volume knob was there when I received the bass, but it was otherwise totally Satin. I've used it as my main bass for practice at home as well as at rehearsals and church services. I learned how to "slap" on this bass (still awful though) but mostly play finger style over the bridge pickup so the roundover where the forearm rests, the bridge pickup (between the strings), and the place where the fingers would pop on the G are glossed up now as well.
This is not the best pic as the lightsource is projecting mostly over/across the upper horn, but it gives an idea of what the wear can look like. The places mentioned above are glossed so the red looks a little deeper/richer that is also a way to tell since the picc isnt great. Its all honest wear so it doesn't bother be in the slightest; in fact, I like how as I use the bass it shows over time. When this pic was taken I had just installed some Labella Flats and the Charcoal Burst was a recent purchase (gotta have rounds available
). The Charcoal Bust is brand new made in January 2016 and has not any wear yet so its gives a good idea of what 2-3 years of use could do to the finish. Hope this helps.
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I'm inching closer to pulling the trigger. Now I'm all anxious that I'm forgetting some detail I'll regret later.
Any advice? I'm pretty tall and large, so while I thought about requesting a "light" body, I don't think I need it. And perhaps some of the BN magic comes from the heavier body?
Any advice? I'm pretty tall and large, so while I thought about requesting a "light" body, I don't think I need it. And perhaps some of the BN magic comes from the heavier body?
I think it does. My BN5 is 10+ lbs, and it has "it".
George has a target weight for a reason.
For a six, it would probably be better to stay with the standard weight. I owned a lighter body BN5 and boy did it sound punchy, but I had to replace the machines with Gotoh Resolites to bring the balance back to normal.
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Also, I saw where you mentioned the b string being a bit floppy...I prefer normal full wrap steels on BNs. My experience was that even though the overall tone was fantastic, the exposed core strings were affecting the sound in a not very good way, especially further up the neck. Anyway, don't be afraid to experiment with different types of strings.
