Is this a low end guitar or a bass?

[SuzyCreamcheese]

Hi all,

Whislt browsing I fell upon this,
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What the hell is this? A guitar or a bass? Any experiences anyone?
And would this be more of a pick player bass?

 

[Darkstrike]

Bass.

 

[CHILDISHGAMBINO]

Search Bass VI there's a few guys here that have similar instruments. I've never played one but I would love to. I'm sure there are people who play finger of pick style. Looks a lot easier to go with a pick though.

 

[Baker69]

It looks like the sort of thing that Jet Harris played "Diamonds" on, but it might have simply been on a de-tuned Fender Jag.

 

[DeanT]

It's a six string bass. Jack Bruce and George Harrison have been known to play them on occasion.

 

[lowendgenerator]

I always considered the Bass VI a 'baritone guitar'. Very cool instrument.

 

[Showdown]

There is a club here for people that play this kind of bass:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=391343&highlight=short+scale+six

You can learn all you want about them there.

 

[bassteban]

Baritone guitar, tic-tac bass, Bass VI, short-scale bass. It was once common practice to record w/both DB & one of these; the upright provided the depth & the bari added attack & treble response.

 

[JimmyThunder]

Wow, years ago I saw a TV clip of Noel Redding playing one of those and I wondered why he was faking his basslines on something so obviously a guitar.

 

[ggunn]

It's a six string bass. Jack Bruce and George Harrison have been known to play them on occasion.

Lonesome Dave of Savoy Brown played one as well.

 

[Sneckumhaw]

It is mostly used by bassists that use picks, but Jack Bruce and I think Roy Babbington played with fingers.

 

[Bassplayer_479]

Its a bari guitar, not a so much a six string bass...

 

[EpicSoundtracks]

Its a bari guitar, not a so much a six string bass...

it's the *original* six-string bass. (OK, maybe Danos were the original original, but the Bass VI is absolutely a six-string bass.)

 

[savit260]

Its a bari guitar, not a so much a six string bass...

Baritone guitars are typicaly tuned A-A or B-B. The bass VI is a six string bass tuned E-E like a regular guitar, only an octave lower. The first four strings are tuned to the same pitch as any other standard 4 string bass.

It's a bass.

 

[lunarpollen]

Search Bass VI there's a few guys here that have similar instruments. I've never played one but I would love to. I'm sure there are people who play finger of pick style. Looks a lot easier to go with a pick though.

Unfortunately, the search feature isn't too helpful with common words like "bass" and anything three letters or shorter....

 

[Marcury]

Suzy Cream Cheese what's got into you? Don't you recognize a six string bass when you see one.

 

[Uncle Ernie]

Robert Smith from The Cure frequently plays one too...

 

[lunarpollen]

The easy way to tell a baritone guitar from a bass guitar can be broken down into two questions:

a) What is the scale length?
b) How low a pitch is it designed to be tuned to?

In this case, the answer to 'a' is 30.3” (767 mm), which is short-scale bass length. And the answer to 'b' is the same low E as a standard bass. So the answer to the question is BASS.

Of course there will be VERY rare exceptions, but 99% of the time, all you need is to know the answers to those two questions.

 

[bassteban]

I'd like to call it 'Loretta'.

 

[Bassman62]

Why do some people insist on calling the Fender Bass VI a Baritone Guitar it was designed as a true Bass and played as a Bass.

I played one of these in a Sheffield UK shop around 1963/4 but went for the Burns 6 string instead as it was much cheaper.

On page 7 of the 1965/6 Fender catalogue it clearly states "Tuned one octave below the standard guitar" which as far as I know is E to E, on page 25 of the early 70s fender catalogue it is still refered to as a 6 string Bass and not a Baritone.

So please it's a true Bass not a Baritone.