• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Six strings basses - are you spaced out?

"Six strings basses - are you spaced out?"

No, I'm just interested in real six string basses at the moment.
Bass VI 'EADGBE' to me is a Guitar at a lower octave. A 6 string bass, regardless of scale, with BEADGC is a real six string bass and not a guitar tuned an octave lower. This is sometimes referred to as a Contra Bass.
Going from G to B and then E on a Bass VI just isn't for me. No offense meant to you. Good luck on your quest.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Les Fret
Which Modulus six string is that exactly? I thought the GVB36 was the only non custom six string bass with 14mm there is.

That's kind of a trick question, since many (most?) early Modulus Basses were at least "semi-custom" but I've got a Quantum-6 SPX from 1988 with super-narrow 13.92mm spacing, and a neck-thru from that same era had even narrower spacing. Any 6-string bass that uses the Kahler fixed bridge can get down to >14mm spacing.
 
Thanks Bob. Seems to me this may be another solution i.e. to replace the bridge with something like a Kahler. Worth looking into. Although one of the 'USPs' of the Ibby are it's single bridge pieces - maybe a case of finding another single bridge 6 string and replacing the bridge with a Kahler fixed bridge.

Just checked the numbers on my Ibby SR1206 and does indeed seem to be 16.5mm string spacing at the bridge narrowing to just 8.8mm at the nut i.e. almost a halving of the string spacing across the length of the strings.
 
Which Modulus six string is that exactly? I thought the GVB36 was the only non custom six string bass with 14mm there is.
Yup, that was my question exactly!
[...] I've got a Quantum-6 SPX from 1988 with super-narrow 13.92mm spacing, and a neck-thru from that same era had even narrower spacing.

I'm still carrying the torch for @bassbenj's TBX (11.5mm):
Knobs are standard acitve: volume, bass, treble.

Switches originally were just on-off for each pickup. I've modded them so that now each switch has 3 positions. Center position is off. One way places pickup in series and other way places it in parallel. Hence you can go from no pickups to all three in series or parallel and all kinds of combos in between. I posted the circuit in TB some time back.

String spacing is EXTREMELY narrow! 42.3 mm at nut and 57.3 mm at bridge (roughly 11.5 mm string spacing) Narrow string spacing doesn't bother me, but you ain't gonna be slapping this bass. I don't slap my 6 string basses anyway. Guitar players (like my cousin) absolutely LOVE the narrow spacing on this bass!
The narrow spacing does at times have it's own appeal, though it probably would be better were it a bit wider. My Modulus Q6 has 16.5mm string spacing which is the "standard" "narrow" spacing. Almost all my other 6 string basses are 16 or 16.5 mm spacing.

The original TBX (which this is one) were made this way. They made 4 string versions, and 5 string versions with a slightly wider neck and they made 6 string versions which as near as I can tell they used the same 5 string neck and just changed the headstock tuners. These were made under Jeff Gould's supervision when he was still with Modulus. According to people selling a 4 string version there were 90 6ers made, 85 5 string and only 11 4 string of these basses. They were supposedly handmade by a special team and never put into full production because of costs. Anyway that was the story by the other seller. Unlike the Q6, the TBX is neck-thru.

Note that I do have a junk Chinese "Harmonia" acoustic 6 string fretless bass that has 12.5 mm spacing. I wish it were a higher quality instrument because I really love the concept of that one!

Re: the Harmonia, here's the dedicated thread - poster @Jim H also got one recently:
Harmonia Six String Acoustic Bass
 
The one above looks very nice!!

Too bad they discontinued the GVB36. I wonder if Ibanez will come with a new six string with 14mm? That spacing is just right for me. I don't like 19mm spaced six strings. They are too bulky for me. More companies should make 14mm ones. I think more and more people like smaller spacings these days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Al Krow
my string spacing at the bridge is 62mm (12.4mm individual)
5FC9F721-F236-4254-912E-67142EFAD6C3.jpeg


most fender VI style basses use guitar bridges so your squier is exactly the same spacing as a guitar.
 
After my trip to Wunjos in London and the shock news (ok that's by first world bass player standards!) that the GVB36s have been discontinued, I had a quite a bit of a trawl to see if I could flush one out.

Turns out there were a just a final couple of new ones available in Europe and I've managed to source one from a German retailer at a very decent end-of-line price, significantly better than the RRP still being quoted by a couple of others (including that one above on reverb - but do appreciate you digging that one out for me!). Order placed and really looking forward to it! Fingers crossed it doesn't get lost in the ether or turn out never to have been available in the first place!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Les Fret
After my trip to Wunjos in London and the shock news (ok that's by first world bass player standards!) that the GVB36s have been discontinued, I had a quite a bit of a trawl to see if I could flush one out.

Turns out there were a just a final couple of new ones available in Europe and I've managed to source one from a German retailer at a very decent end-of-line price, significantly better than the RRP still being quoted by a couple of others (including that one above on reverb - but do appreciate you digging that one out for me!). Order placed and really looking forward to it! Fingers crossed it doesn't get lost in the ether or turn out never to have been available in the first place!

Ok great! Is it a new one from 2018 or 2019? Let me know if the neck is stable. Can you post a picture when you have it? Just be aware that they don't come with a rosewood board anymore. Instead they have a lighter color wood now.
 
Last edited:
Ok great! Is it a new one from 2018 or 2019. Let me know if the neck is stable. Can you post a picture when you have it? Just be aware that they don't come with a rosewood board anymore. Instead they have a lighter color wood now.

Yes, with pleasure - could be a few weeks before it lands.

I did enquire about the neck stability point with a UK bass mate of mine who previously owned one and he said he'd had absolutely no issues on that score, so you may just have been a bit unlucky with yours.

Interestingly I asked the retailer about the year of manufacture (not least given the other thread I recently started on that very point!) and he informed that they wouldn't be able to let me know before it shipped and that it was last one available in Europe according to Ibanez. Given the end of line discount on offer, there wasn't too much room left for negotiation - it was very much going to be take it or leave it!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Les Fret
Yes, with pleasure - could be a few weeks before it lands.

I did enquire about the neck stability point with a UK bass mate of mine who previously owned one and he said he'd had absolutely no issues on that score, so you may just have been a bit unlucky with yours.

Interestingly I asked the retailer about the year of manufacture (not least given the other thread I recently started on that very point!) and he informed that they wouldn't be able to let me know before it shipped and that it was last one available in Europe according to Ibanez. Given the end of line discount on offer, there wasn't too much room left for negotiation - it was very much going to be take it or leave it!

serial number should be on the box
 
I promised to post some pics when this arrived. Well it arrived safely from Germany yesterday and here it is!

View attachment 3547756 View attachment 3547757

Ok looks great! Your fretboard seems darker than mine so I guess yours is older than mine and still has the rosewood board? From which year is it? Could also be the picture though. How do you like the bass so far?
 
Guys,

I'm looking for a quality six string bass that could double up as a Bass VI for playing chords and which I will be stringing E to E.

I found my Squier Bass VI too narrowly string spaced, it felt closer to a normal 6 string guitar, but finding my Ibby SR 1206 too widely spaced.

What are you guys playing that may be in between in terms of either a:

- normal six string bass with narrow string spacing, or

- a bass VI with wider (by bass VI standards) spacing.

Relatively flexible on budget i.e. I'm fine with paying a bit more for the right bass, if need be.

Cheers, AK

I don't have 6's but I do have bass guitars with different string spacing, and it was really just a matter of getting used to it. Now I can move between either without it bothering me. (realizing I responded to an OP from 20 days ago after the fact)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nashrakh
Ok looks great! Your fretboard seems darker than mine so I guess yours is older than mine and still has the rosewood board? From which year is it? Could also be the picture though. How do you like the bass so far?

Thanks!

Mine has a manufacture date is July 2017. What about yours? First impressions very positive - oozes the usual Ibanez SR Premium quality. Will report back in more detail when I've got it restrung E to E, which is what I am looking to use it for.
 
I don't have 6's but I do have bass guitars with different string spacing, and it was really just a matter of getting used to it. Now I can move between either without it bothering me. (realizing I responded to an OP from 20 days ago after the fact)

So I have 4, mostly 5 and have had a couple of 6 strings (just this 6 string now). I think whilst it is certainly possible to get used to different string spacing it's a case of horses for courses. Most of us find a spacing we are very comftorable with and stick with it - maybe +/- 1mm.

The overall impact of an 18mm string spacing is very different to an 11mm spacing on a 6 string bass.

I'm hoping that chordal pattern playing will be significantly easier on the Ibby GVB36 with its unique 14mm string spacing than I found on my Ibby SR1206.
 
Last edited: