Fender Bass VI

[Coutts_is_god]

How much you think this would cost?

JB75-90US
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[Macbeth56]

Circus
Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 203


Apparently Mark Hoppus used a Fender Bass VI on the new Blink album. If you read the little tidbits of info they put in the book that comes with the cd.
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i didnt nreally wnat to learn how to do the new quote thing, but thats exactly what i was going to say. and someone said how robert smith was the legendary one to use this and stuff.
and blink has him in one of their new songs, to me, its probably one of the best songs they have wrote. if you read all those things, they talk about the cure a lot, and you can tell they took a lot from the cure in their new cd.

 

[hieronymous]

Finally put up a pic of the Bottom Master!!!

http://www.talkbass.com/photopost/s...ea691dfc9858092ce8b6d8b&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

Not such a great pic, might put up another one taken with better light...

Thanks to everyone that helped me while I was trying to figure out scale lengths, pickups, etc.

 

[bassmantele]

Rondo has a 30 in. Essex Jazz for $99. I'm thinking of buying it just for the body and neck and mod it to a six string.

 

[Blazer]

One name: Jack Bruce

One album title: Fresh Cream.

One bass: a fender Bass VI

Before he had it painted by the hippy artist team "The Fool" Jack Bruce used a fender Bass VI as his main stage instrument with a Danelectro longhorn as backup.

Bruce amplified his fender through Marshall 100 watt plexy guitar amps and 4x12 cabs resulting in that raw Bumblebee drone he's known for

Afterwards, he used Gibson basses the EB0 and the EB3

 

[hieronymous]

One name: Jack Bruce

One album title: Fresh Cream.

One bass: a fender Bass VI

Yes! Thanks, I forgot to mention Jack Bruce, and you did better than I could have.

Here are some comments by Jack Bruce in the British "Bass Guitar Magazine" (Issue 7):

You sometimes played a Fender VI.
"Yes. I started playing that with Graham Bond, because when John McLauglin left it meant that I could do little guitar-type solos and stuff. It wasn't really a very playable instrument because the strings were very close together for a bass and the scale was too big for a guitarist. It was a kind of hybrid. I enjoyed it for a while, it was fun."

If you look at pictures you can see that he's playing it with his fingers, not a pick, and originally played upright, which would explain his comment about the strings being close together...

QUESTION: any idea what bass/basses he's using on the various recordings on the recent Cream: BBC Sessions album?

 

[BigMcLargehuge]

My boss had me toss together a 30 inch scale six string from parts he bought from a company called USA custom guitars for display purposes in his shop. It looks just like a mid 60's fender bass VI, complete with that annoying vibrato system and super tight string spacing. All the components combined cost a fair bit less than 1000 dollars, and would probably be at or around 1000 after factoring in finishing. If the lack of a brand name on the headstock and a little work don't bug you, its a good route to go.

 

[arsen]

Hello to all of U @ Talkbass
I am new in here and desperatelly try to find a Fender Bass VI...
but that's not the point, I have a question for U hieronymous:
can you play real bass with yr Bottom Master, I mean, like if you
were playing a Bass VI ???
How is the sound... I might plan to buy one, i am a real fan of
jaguar and jazzmasters types of guitars and this one seem to be a nice
compromise ....
thanks for you forthcoming answer


me and my jaguar
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[freshmeat1989]

Do you strum it like a guitar or pluck it like a bass? I dont understand. Can someone recommend me some songs it was used on?

 

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

Can someone recommend me some songs it was used on?

The Cure- "to wish impossible things" I think the opening riff is 2 Bass VI's, as seen in the live "Show" video.
"Pictures of you"
"High"

Placebo-
"you don't care about us"


for use of the Shergold Modulator 6-
New order- "dreams never end"
"blue monday"

 

[paniak17]

i read in a fender bass history book that it was used in some metallica song (if that helps lol)

 

[arsen]

The Cure
'faith' (solo notes)
'primary' (riff)
'push' (riff)
almost on all songs on the disintegration album,
bloodflowers album... In fact for the cure,
whenever you hear these solo notes that sound
like they've played on the bigger strings of a guitar,
it is the fender bass VI

Placebo
'36 degrees' (live versions)
'I know' (live versions)
'you don't care about us' (main riff)
'the crawl' (you can't miss it)
'burger queen' (main riff)
'pure morning' (harmonics)
'slave to the wage' (used as bass)
'commercial for levi' (main riff)
'narcoleptic' (used as bass)
' I'll be yours' (main riff)

You can either plug it into a guitar or bass amp.
play it as bass... riff guitar... as you like...

I hope that the bottom sounds close to the bass VI !!!!

 

[arsen]

also a band called
blonde redhead since their third album
'fake can be just as good'
has used a Teisco Bass VI

you can hear it on most of their songs

 

[hieronymous]

Hello to all of U @ Talkbass
I am new in here and desperatelly try to find a Fender Bass VI...
but that's not the point, I have a question for U hieronymous:
can you play real bass with yr Bottom Master, I mean, like if you
were playing a Bass VI ???
How is the sound... I might plan to buy one, i am a real fan of
jaguar and jazzmasters types of guitars and this one seem to be a nice
compromise ....
thanks for you forthcoming answer

hey, first of all, cool pic.

second, sorry to resond so late! the main reason is because I can't answer your question. I'm not in a band right now, so I haven't had a chance to put it through its paces as a bass guitar per se. but I never planned to use it that way when I bought it - instead, I planned on using it as something in between a bass and a guitar - I consider myself a bassist, though I can also play the regular 6-string. but "guitarists" are a dime a dozen, and I wanted to explore the limits of the bass guitar. right now, I don't have a "normal" bass in my collection (at least not here in Japan) - an 8-string, a 36" fretless, and the bottom-master 6 string.

also, as far as I know they're not available outside of Japan. I keep hearing that you can order overseas from Ishibashi or something like that, but I've never actually seen something from anyone who did...

oh yeah, and I feel you on the Bass VI search desperation. that's where I was too - like I probably mentioned before, the cheapest I found was $3000.00, the other one I found here in Kyoto was $7000.00!!! and I've never seen one of the '90s Fender Japan reissues, though I've heard of a couple of people that've got 'em.

 

[Coutts_is_god]

It's just a tuned down guitar.

 

[hieronymous]

It's just a tuned down guitar.

no it's not

or

yes it is, and so is a "regular" 4-string bass guitar

 

[Frank Martin]

no it's not

or

yes it is, and so is a "regular" 4-string bass guitar

No its a tuned down guitar, because it goes EADGBE, so to say quarts for the first four strings, then a major third and then again a quart. that major third is intended for ease of playing/fretting when playing chords - and thats guitarist stuff, right?

 

[embellisher]

No its a tuned down guitar, because it goes EADGBE, so to say quarts for the first four strings, then a major third and then again a quart. that major third is intended for ease of playing/fretting when playing chords - and thats guitarist stuff, right?

It is a bass guitar. Lots of 7 and 8 string bass players use the major third tuning thing on their extended range monsters.