Ridiculous NBD- What do I do with a 6 string????

[amper]

String it EADGCF and play the crap out of it.

Seriously, though, I've often considered a 6-string for other things than Rock. I've been looking around to play as a sidegirl to maybe an intimate Americana -type performer. My fretless 4 will do for now, but everytime I see a Warwick Streamer LX or Corvette 6, the little brain gears start turning in my head.

 

[retslock]

Nice bass, Ibanez makes em’ right, except for that crap finish. It can be sanded off pretty easily and just go with Tru Oil if you can be bothered to refinish. Might be best as a pick bass, I have little toothpick fingers, so I’d probably like it, but that bass is not built for the ham-fisted.

I started out on guitar and still play a fair bit so I’d be tempted to tune with the two highest strings as F# and B so I could play all the chord shapes I’m used to. Who knows what that would bring out. It might be too weird playing an E chord where I would normally play an A but I’ve never owned a 6 so that’s just my crazy idea. Has anybody ever done that?

 

[retslock]

I know that I would have wanted to explore 6 string and through that day would be some time in the future. Never thought that it would be this soon! As a rule I would have been looking for a "better" bass and generally would turn my nose up at a Gio level bass. But this one, electronics aside, seems to be on a different quality level. I've played SR505's at the $650 price level that (again, electronics aside) this bass quality might be comparable with. Usually I'd expect sharp fret ends, unlevel frets, high action. But no. This one has no setup or playing issues. I did come with the traditional body scrapes that you see on the 505's. But my dad had a furniture store and I'm no stranger to touching up furniture and this is no different. Below is a pic of the major boo-boo. I've already got it partially camouflaged it with Old English scratch cover. I'll keep working it until you can barely see it and perhaps go over it with paste wax to even out the surface finish. Not sure yet. The (new) SR505 they had hanging in the store was in much worse shape!

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Just over a year ago I bought an SR655 in that stupid “Antique” finish - you can’t buy the raw finish in Australia??? I was always gonna strip it and oil it as soon as the warranty expired. I’ve just finished and I like it a whole lot more now. It wasn’t so hard and your bass would look a lot better oiled.

 

[Microbass]

So what do I do with a six string now that I have one?????

View attachment 3095420

I recommend learning Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal.

Great score

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

So what do I do with a six string now that I have one?????

View attachment 3095420

You search for Anthony Jackson on YT, and then you spend the next five years practicing.

 

[bholder]

I recommend learning Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal.

Great score

Honestly, the Bach cello prelude would be a lot easier to start on.

 

[Watchootognbout]

I like the upper range for tapping and chords.

And being able to reach two octaves up without reaching five frets up the fingerboard.
I am able to do this.....
Instead of doing this...

 

[bholder]

I like the upper range for tapping and chords.
View attachment 3096276 View attachment 3096277

View attachment 3096272

And being able to reach two octaves up without reaching five frets up the fingerboard.
I am able to do this..... View attachment 3096273
Instead of doing this... View attachment 3096274

That Tune still kills me, going to find one for myself some day.

 

[40Hz]

Seems like a pretty sweet deal. If it plays well, then the less than great electronics it has isn’t an issue. Put an inexpensive but good sounding 4-band Audere preamp and a new set of strings on it and you’re ready for anything.

Call yourself a lucky guy - assuming you can get comfortable playing a sixer.

Play it well!

 

[Algo]

Ah well, now I gotta find a way to get back my b206sm I traded, or something less thin and trebly.

I wouldn't generally get a GIO but that specific new model I found was an improvement to the old ones so good deal

 

[40Hz]

That Tune still kills me, going to find one for myself some day.

Yeah. I’m thinking me too.

I already do so much with alternate tunings to get certain voicings that my guitarist GF finally asked me why I don’t just get a seven or eight string guitar and a six string bass, tune them both once, and be done with it.

I thought about how I might work it. And now I’m thinking she could be right.

 

[Watchootognbout]

That Tune still kills me, going to find one for myself some day.

VSN Canada is a good bet.
A whole lot of them on Ebay and Reverb.
But bear in mind.
The prices have shot up!

 

[Ric5]

Walking through GC today and saw this 6er. Felt pretty good. Tagged at $179. I made a ridiculous offer and they took it. The sales guy said it came with a bag, so he brings out this Gator bag but I have no idea which model this is (the bag is heavy!).

Action is low, no buzz. Fret ends are round and smooth. Strings are old and electronics aren't the best. But it plays easily. Again, the deal was ridiculous.

So what do I do with a six string now that I have one?????

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I played a bass like that at music go round a few years ago and it had an amazing neck

 

[vindibona1]

Awesome! I would of bought it too. In fact in the last couple of years bought 5 basses, 4 amps and 3 acoustic guitars. That's why the tree hugger's post it note 'don't buy what you don't need' made me laugh. Do we need this stuff haha???

I recently sold off some guitar gear, particularly two Strats and an amp and ended up with more money than I paid for each. Financed a lot of bass gear . I used to collect used trumpets and financed most of my guitar gear with the profits from the trumpets. You can buy stuff you don't "need" if you know the market and can quickly appraise gear. If you think about it, how much interest do you get on your bank statement? My PROFESSIONAL INVESTMENT ADVISOR is getting me less than 6% a year on my cash. I seem to be doing better than that with gear swaps. While gear isn't an "investment" one can use it as a CURRENCY HEDGE, as the value of any currency is no more solid than jello.

Funny you say this. I also had major difficulty getting accustomed to having a low-B string when I bought my first 5-string in the early 90s. I ended up selling the bass out of frustration. I bought a different 5-string in the early 2000's; same thing. I just couldn't get the hang of that low B-string. I sold that bass too...I eventually went to playing my 6-string as my primary instrument for better than a year. I stumbled onto a killer deal on a 5-string and bought it. This time, the low B-string was no longer a mystery.

I'll never say the 4-string is obsolete....If you're a fingerstyle player, and assuming you aren't already using the "Floating Thumb" technique, you might want to investigate it. I stumbled across it, out of necessity to mute the strings not being played in the moment. It's not hard to learn this technique, and IMO it really helps.

Getting used to a 5er was a bit of a challenge. I've only been playing a 5 since March. I still have finger-farts from time to time, especially when reading and can't look at the fingerboard. But it's gotten a lot better. For some reason the high C isn't as much a stumbling block as the low B was. Some fellow was claiming that most people orient from the high string down. Not this fellow. Adding the high C seems much easier than adding a low B. And yes... I am a fingerstyle guitar player so never anchored my thumb anywhere on bass and have naturally adopted the floating thumb.

Just over a year ago I bought an SR655 in that stupid “Antique” finish - you can’t buy the raw finish in Australia??? I was always gonna strip it and oil it as soon as the warranty expired. I’ve just finished and I like it a whole lot more now. It wasn’t so hard and your bass would look a lot better oiled.

I like the upper range for tapping and chords.
View attachment 3096276 View attachment 3096277

View attachment 3096272

And being able to reach two octaves up without reaching five frets up the fingerboard.
I am able to do this..... View attachment 3096273
Instead of doing this... View attachment 3096274

Thanks for posting the links. Lots of new stuff to learn.

Seems like a pretty sweet deal. If it plays well, then the less than great electronics it has isn’t an issue. Put an inexpensive but good sounding 4-band Audere preamp and a new set of strings on it and you’re ready for anything.

Call yourself a lucky guy - assuming you can get comfortable playing a sixer.

Play it well!

So here's the thing... I bought a cheap Chinese 3 band pre-amp for a Jaguar that I thought *might* need it. The Jaguar just needed a new pickup, so I fixed that bass up and sold it and still have the preamp, never having used it. For convenience I mounted the pots to an Altoids lid thinking I might create an external preamp, but gave up on the idea. Do you think this 3 band might be a good replacement for the existing preamp? I have an Audere in my Jazz 5er, but an Audere would cost me as much or more than I paid for the bass itself... and I already have the Chinese one. I'd have to drill one more hole to accommodate the extra pot. What do you think?

 

[Ironbar]

So what do I do with a six string now that I have one?????

Clean it up and sell it on Craigslist for $200.00 of course.

 

[Thumpin6string]

You finally got a "real" bass! Time to sell all of those 4 or 5 string so called basses.

 

[singlemalt]

If ever there was a bass to play around with mods, this is it. If you can fit a pre into an Altoids lid, you can certainly pull off a preamp transplant.

I’d also suggest the lightest gauge DR Pure Blues six string set. Bassstringsonline.com.

 

[Element Zero]

What do you do with a 6 string? Sell it and buy a 5er.

Great score by the way.

 

[D.A.R.K.]

Play it to piss off people who think it has too many strings.

 

[vindibona1]

Clean it up and sell it on Craigslist for $200.00 of course.

I'm probably going to play it for awhile. Who knows, maybe a 6er is my thing and I'll want a better one?

Thanks for getting me thinking... I don't want to pop for new strings just yet, so I think I'm going to boil these and try to bring some life back...

Ok... So I boiled the strings and OMG... a different bass entirely! I cleaned up the guitar while the strings were off. A ton of spooge came off the fingerboard and I rubbed in a little bore oil to put back the moisture that the Dunlop 01 cleaner took out. Got in the crevasses with Q tip. Aside from a bit more blending the boo-boos on the body this thing is starting to impress me. I never ever expected a "Gio class" bass to be this good. The fret finishing is as good as I've ever had on any guitar or bass. I never expected the fret ends to be round and smooth and flat. Action is about 5/64th's at the 16th fret with very little relief and still no buzz anywhere!

I found that if I back off the neck pickup just a touch it's got plenty of crispness. While it's got a bass boost control I've found very little if any bass boost is needed.

I'm thinking I'm going to be hanging onto this bass for awhile. While I could sell it for a small profit, what could I possibly buy that would be better that wouldn't cost me an additional $500 or more?