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suggestions on new 6 string

L

ludwig109

Oct 24, 2005
353
0
38
ireland, waterford
#1
ok. came into a bit of money and thinking of buying a new bass around january. only thing im definate about is that it should be a six string.

2000euro or around there would be my limit

ive always wanted a warwick thumb bolt on but ive never gotten to play one but every video ive seen of people playing them have made me want one. are they worth the money?

any other basses that would be around that price, better, similar or different but good that you can suggest would be appreciated.

for reference i have a sr506 ibanez six string and a 4string SUB these sound great to me especially the SUB so use that for comparison.
 
#2
I had a Warwick Thumb BO-4; LOVED the sound, had a bit of neck-dive. Sold it as I wasn't using it enough. Also had a few Thumb BO-5s; all had fairly bad neck-dive & were VERY heavy(especially the wide-neck one I had for awhile). I have to imagine the short upper horn & more massive neck(+another tuner)of the 6 would make for even worse balance issues. I also imagine at least one guy will come tell me I'm nuts. :rolleyes:
I have played Ibanez 6s & very much liked the feel; IMO a more ergonomic bass(this coming from an admitted bass snob :cool:).
I guess my advice would be to be careful not to dive(no pun intended)into the Thumb 6w/o playing one; you might love it but if not it might be difficult to move.
A bolt-on Ken Smith would almost definitely be over 2000 but IMO well worth it in terms of quality. Feel is more up to you, of course.
 
#3
Warwick with ovangkol necks suck.
If you like MUSIC MAN and WARWICK buy SPECTOR euro 6.
I can get almost music man sound from the rebop 5 string with EMG DC and EMG preamp in it
Take a look on this page and listen to the SPECTOR:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#4
check Clover basses if you are in europe

also Sandberg


friend of mine who has toured with dokken, schenker, yngwie etc uses Carvin, they don't have a lot of vibe but they perform well
 
#9
about the neck dive with the 6 thumb, i dont mind heavy in general, havent ever noticed neck dive before mayb ive been lucky but never had to deal with it.. is it fixable in any way? any way that can be fixed? weights in the body of the bass or anything?

problem with trying out any of these is i live where all they have in music shops is squire and fender etc. theres only one place in the country where they sell warwicks and i doubt they have 6 strings so think ill end up buying without playing.

"Warwick with ovangkol necks suck." how different are they?.. soundclips?
thinking of the bongo now looks like a toilet seat but like the sound, never condidered them before
 
#10
I understand about not having access to instruments that you'd like to purchase, its the story of my life.

I have only extensively tried a neck through thumb six string. I did like the tone (very warwick tone) but the neck is seriously chunky (although you may not mind that), it is very heavy and it does neck dive. No dispute with the quality though.
 
#11
Your story is not mine. My six sting was built by one of the best luthiers from Europe. Wengé/ovangkol neck, quilted sapele body, Aguilar Obp3 preamp, Kent Armstrong pups.........................

Me and my feshly built bass, builder standing in background.

Link Removed
In reality the body wood is more red.
 
#15
but are they better than a warwick or even my sr506?.. cause i want something better

bassteban said:
The 4 wasn't bad, the(regular-spaced)5 was worse & the wide 5 was unbearable after awhile.
Click to expand...

was yours before or after they change the woods... does it make much a difference? mayb you dont have experience with both but might aswell ask.
also is the neck dive fixable like i said in the previous post? cause i dont mind heavy, but neeck dive might put me off
 
#16
ludwig109 said:
but are they better than a warwick or even my sr506?.. cause i want something better



was yours before or after they change the woods... does it make much a difference? mayb you dont have experience with both but might aswell ask.
also is the neck dive fixable like i said in the previous post? cause i dont mind heavy, but neeck dive might put me off
Click to expand...

If you have to "fix" a bass that's brand new, then it's not worth having- just get one without the issues. The neck dive on a Thumb comes mostly from the tiny upper horn (which also makes the balance of the bass so the nut further away from the body, so it feels like a longer reach to first position), so added weights to the body may not make a difference, and Thumbs are usually heavy basses to start with. The heavy neck on the six would add to the neck dive though. I'd personally not get a Thumb six for the same reason- the fives I've tried had enough neck dive to make me never want to try a six.

A lot more issues come into play when getting a six- neck dive/balance being one. You have a lot more strings and movement to concentrate on with a six, so the last thing you want is a bass that you have to fight with. You said you have a 506 and like it- have you tried any of the Ibanez Prestige sixes? Some of them are actually very nice. You haven't mentioned what sort of string spacing/scale length you prefer- that will help with suggestions.
 
#20
I would look to get a used Peavy or Carvin to see if you like a 6 or if it fits with your music/band. I found the upper string is just not used that much in regular grove oriented music. More progressive music it's good for soloing & chordal work. I found it not as satisfying as a four or 5 string.


Just my opinion
 

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