True, the MIJ are $1400ish. But the Pawnshop (MIM) are $800 estimated, so for someone serious about it, it's not that massive of a difference. Still, I agree, it's a bit much, but that seems due to overall Fender price hikes.
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New Pawn Shop Bass VI
- Thread starter sigmafloyd
- Start date
True, the MIJ are $1400ish. But the Pawnshop (MIM) are $800 estimated, so for someone serious about it, it's not that massive of a difference. Still, I agree, it's a bit much, but that seems due to overall Fender price hikes.
Always have.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] (installed factory on the new Fender Bass VI)
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Pick your tuning, there's probably a string set for it.
Curious to see how much these will cost in Europe. Usually, they just replace the $ sign by a sign...
Anyway, I don't think I ever get the chance to compare a MIM Bass VI to a MIJ Bass VI or - behold! - a vintage one. Would be nice to actually 'feel' why the later are more expensive.
Just curious - obviously no one has one of these pawn shop series basses yet, but has anyone really done a comparison of the Fender bass VI's with a Schecter Hellcat VI or the Argus bass VI's that Rondo sells?
We can quibble about scale length but not tuning. If it is tuned like a bass VI then it is a bass VI. Baritones are tuned higher. Certainly 30 inches is a widely accepted scale length for a short scale bass. And there are bass guitars that no one would call baritones with shorter scale lengths. At the end of the day the taxonomy of baritone vs bass VI vs 6 string short scale bass could get quite complex so all I will really insist on is that this bass VI certainly qualifies as a bass! Unless you tune it like a baritone....
Ken
I also own a Schecter Hellcat. It's one heavy chunk of arsenal, I can tell you that. Rock solid guitar/bass. Three "trisonic" style mini-humbucker pickups, five-position switching (other versions have three on/off switches), volume and push-pull tone pot for coil splitting. Versatile tone pallette. I suspect it could make a great metal baritone tuned guitar, but it has awesome bass tones. It came strung with a heavier gauge (.95) and seems to do better with that. I left it Bass VI tuning.
Unfortunately, I have not yet had a chance to spend much quality time with any of the various Fender Bass VI's. Wish I could, now that they are re-issuing them.
We can quibble about scale length but not tuning. If it is tuned like a bass VI then it is a bass VI. Baritones are tuned higher. Certainly 30 inches is a widely accepted scale length for a short scale bass. And there are bass guitars that no one would call baritones with shorter scale lengths. At the end of the day the taxonomy of baritone vs bass VI vs 6 string short scale bass could get quite complex so all I will really insist on is that this bass VI certainly qualifies as a bass! Unless you tune it like a baritone....
Ken
Agreed.
I was only trying to inject that the scale length of a baritone (or any other label) is not in stone. Saying that a "baritone falls somewhere between a guitar and bass in scale" was inaccurate.
The rest of your post regarding how string gauge and tuning are the determining factors is spot-on, and that's what I was trying to emphasise.
Looks like someone had their first impressions:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/sh...tring-basses-854327/index11.html#post13693054
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/sh...tring-basses-854327/index11.html#post13693054
Agreed.
I was only trying to inject that the scale length of a baritone (or any other label) is not in stone. Saying that a "baritone falls somewhere between a guitar and bass in scale" was inaccurate.
The rest of your post regarding how string gauge and tuning are the determining factors is spot-on, and that's what I was trying to emphasise.
Would it be right to say then, a stringed instrument is then defined by the tuning and gauge that allows said fundamental tuning?
The scale thing definately isn't part of the mix, I have a 34" scale bass, two 30.5" and recently got a 25" scale bass, pretty tiny, but it's a bass, even if it's smaller than a standard Tele or strat (trying to find strings is a nightmare).
Those fender 6er's are great for tic tac bass, and I'm sure sound amazing with flats, fuzz and tubes.
- Mar 9, 2001
- 963
- 92
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Accugroove Cabinets & MJC Ironworks Strings
Does anyone know the string spacing? I looked through the thread and the specs at the Fender site and didn't see it.
Wally
Wally
(7mm I guess)
Spot on. That's what Ken pointed out, basses go all the way down to 28" or less sometimes. The scale length isn't the primary determining factor for the tuning or the label you put on your stringed instrument.
And yes, there are parameters of acceptable scales for any given tuning. Go too long or too short, you run into problems with tension, tone, etc. But the 28"-30" scale range lends itself nicely to standard bass tunings, Bass VI tunings, and baritone tunings, depending on string gauge and set up.
The Dano Longhorns in the pic above started as four-string basses. They were modified to accept six strings, and I can go back and forth between Bass VI and baritone strings/tunings. It's the same for nearly all guitars in this scale range, including the Fender Bass VI.
Good question. It would make for an interesting experiment. I imagine you'd have to get a nice thick healthy string, and if you can get the tuner and bridge holes to accept it, it's worth a shot.
