New Pawn Shop Bass VI

Sweet, it's got 30" scale too.

 

Could be strung and tuned baritone too.

Very nice. Too bad I already have Bass VI and Baritone territory covered, I'd be all over one of these.

 

Want. Getting.

 

Anyone know what the street price on these is yet?

 

With a MSRP of $1079.99 street should be in the $750-800 range.

 

Between this and the new LPB '63 Jazz RI, my bank account is probably taking a major hit soon.

Guess it's time to start a couple For Sale threads in the classifieds.

 

I'm super excited about this. Especially in sunburst.

I plan on either getting this or the Reverse Jag bass by year end.

 

I have zero desire to buy one but hot dang have I always wanted to play one. I pray somebody orders one and doesn't buy it because otherwise I won't see one at my local shop.

 

I just watched the video. The guy playing it is playing it like a guitar. It doesn't really show off what it can do used as a bass.

 

This is gonna be cool! I wish one of them was seafoam green.

 

"As a bass" isn't really its forte.

That being said, I think modern amps will have no trouble turning one into a quite usable bass. The hot Jazzmaster humbucker at the bridge won't hurt either!

 

In Bass VI tuning (E to e), it can be played like a bass guitar, same tuning. Beatles, Jack Bruce, several others used it this way. The strings are like an extra-light gauge bass set on the bottom four, so you do get a "bass like" tone. Then you have the extended range and six-string guitar tuning if you want to do guitar chords and melody lines.

Tuned with a thinner gauge and up a couple of steps gets it to baritone range. It's still tuned in fourths and can be played like a low-tuned guitar. Baritone tunings were used back in the early days of recording to bring out the attack of the bass line, since upright basses were still the norm. These days, they are catching on with hardcore and metal bands.

If you know how to use them, they can be versatile, productive instruments.

 

Don't say that, the VI is amazing for bass!

 

Check out "Helter Skelter" and "Oh Darling" to hear the Bass VI being used as a bass.

 

I think there has been a misunderstanding. I'm well aware of the Beatles and Cream tracks using the Fender VI (I'm not sure Oh! Darling was - I always heard it was Paul on the Jazz Bass). I definitely want the instrument for that reason.

I wasn't saying it could not be used as a bass - but that the video demo of that particular model on Fender's website was not being used that way. The musician demoing it was playing it in a more guitar-styled fashion. I felt it didn't really capture the purpose of the instrument very well, as it was one sided.

On the same note, I felt the Reverse Jag Bass video demo wasn't too good either (well, the first part anyway).

 

This is not a bass.

 

Disagree.

 

+1. It's a VI - "Electric Bass Guitar".

 

that string spacing - haha, I can't see playing that fingerstyle effectively.

30" scale is fine but that floating trem and string spacing, I bet the nut couldn't handle a 6-string set of bass strings...it's a baritone guitar...IMO