The Short-Scale Six-String Club—for the original six-string basses!

[Showdown]

Awesome bass!

 

[iamthebassman]

Since the audience will probably not be aware that it was Lennon playing a Bass VI on the song, it probably won't matter much if you use one of your regular basses for it. For the record, I have two Fender Bass VI's so as you can tell, I'm being pretty objective.

You'd be surprised how knowledgeable of instruments Beatle freaks are, but thanks GF for the one response.

I kinda expected more from this club. Oh well.

 

[Jjango]

You'd be surprised how knowledgeable of instruments Beatle freaks are, but thanks GF for the one response.

I kinda expected more from this club. Oh well.

I think most people considered it an obvious answer (audience members who can pick out a Bass VI probably number in the tenths, or hundredths, of one percent), and once guitfiddle responded, there was very little left to say.

BTW, George can be seen playing the Bass VI here on Hey Jude:

 

[lousybassist]

Awesome bass!

Thanks! I've been looking for a Bass VI for years, and hence couldn't resist this one when I saw it (though the timing wasn't all that good for me). And, luckily, it turned out to be an excellent bass guitar.

 

[Tony In Philly]

You'd be surprised how knowledgeable of instruments Beatle freaks are, but thanks GF for the one response.

So, just out of curiosity what bass did you actually use for "Let it Be"?

 

[eboe]

I don't even touch my Hellcat VI at all anymore; I just keep it as a backup for the Barracuda...

And this is exactly why you should sell me your Hellcat for, oh, say, $300?

 

[tombowlus]

Hey guys, I recently picked up a Danelectro Baritone, and my hope was to tune it like a guitar, either at the appropriate octave, or an octave lower. One of my goals with this instrument is to be able to play it as I would a standard guitar, but with more room for my meat sticks (fingers). If the timbre is a bit lower, I would be okay with that, but the closer I can get to a 'rhythm guitar' sound, the better.

So, my question is, what brand/length/gauge strings would be the best to try?

Thanks, Tom.

 

[eboe]

to the best of my knowledge, Jerry Jones makes strings that are for a six-string bass tuned e-e. I think the low E usually ends up being near .90 - The D'addario strings - Link Removed for the jerry jones six string bass (Gauges 24-34-44-56-72-84), which is modeled after the dano longhorn six-string bass. Also available for those of you who have Bass VIs but don't like to pay for fender strings are: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...6_xl_6string_guitarbass_string_set?sku=100340 (Gauges 24-34-44-56-72-84)
Both of these sets are $11.99. I imagine the only difference might be overall string length, as the trem unit on the Bass VI means you need longer strings, and it's possible that the ball ends on the first set are not as big as they are on the Bass VI set, even though the gauges are the same.

Fender sets run Gauges 25-35-45-55-75-95 and are $22.99 - http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-5350-Bass-VI-Stainless-6string-Bass-Strings?sku=101288

for those of us with an OLP MM5, we can use these: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...te-6String-ShortScale-Bass-Strings?sku=100613 and they are only $9.99. (Gauges 20w-30-42-54-74-90) They might work on the Dano too, but I'm not sure of the total length of the DANO. But unless it has a trem unit on it, they SHOULD work, but you could spend $2 more and get the d'addarios and be certain. However they are better for the OLP than the Bass VI strings as they have the smaller ball ends that will fit in our grommets on the back of our string-through bodies... and they are what I am currently using on my blue sparkle baby...

Maybe this post should be framed as the best guide to buying strings for a six-string bass...

 

[tombowlus]

to the best of my knowledge, Jerry Jones makes strings that are for a six-string bass tuned e-e. I think the low E usually ends up being near .90 - The D'addario strings - Link Removed for the jerry jones six string bass (Gauges 24-34-44-56-72-84), which is modeled after the dano longhorn six-string bass. Also available for those of you who have Bass VIs but don't like to pay for fender strings are: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...6_xl_6string_guitarbass_string_set?sku=100340 (Gauges 24-34-44-56-72-84)
Both of these sets are $11.99. I imagine the only difference might be overall string length, as the trem unit on the Bass VI means you need longer strings, and it's possible that the ball ends on the first set are not as big as they are on the Bass VI set, even though the gauges are the same.

Fender sets run Gauges 25-35-45-55-75-95 and are $22.99 - http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-5350-Bass-VI-Stainless-6string-Bass-Strings?sku=101288

for those of us with an OLP MM5, we can use these: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...te-6String-ShortScale-Bass-Strings?sku=100613 and they are only $9.99. (Gauges 20w-30-42-54-74-90) They might work on the Dano too, but I'm not sure of the total length of the DANO. But unless it has a trem unit on it, they SHOULD work, but you could spend $2 more and get the d'addarios and be certain. However they are better for the OLP than the Bass VI strings as they have the smaller ball ends that will fit in our grommets on the back of our string-through bodies... and they are what I am currently using on my blue sparkle baby...

Maybe this post should be framed as the best guide to buying strings for a six-string bass...

Printing and framing now.

Thanks!

Tom.

 

[XsoGol]

What are these six-string basses' bridges like? Are they standard guitar saddle size or a bit beefier? Thanks!

I'm still hankering to build myself a 30" scale fretless six string...

 

[jakrees747]

im hoping to join this little club soon

just as soon as i can find a stinkin uk online dealer that can get it in in less than 12 freakin months!!!

 

[lunarpollen]

A few pics of my Barracuda

 

[Tony In Philly]

The Burns definitely "looks the part" for the post-punk style as shown in the previous post. It looks like it would be well at home in any surf music, rockabilly, mid-sixties music, or eighties music (influenced by sixties music) setting.

 

[jakrees747]

im looking for the burns myself. its a crying shame they dont do it in blue or black anymore....are those flatwounds?

 

[Guedzilla]

Hello everyone. This is my first post and I'm glad I found this forum. For a few years now I've been trying to find information about the VI basses, but couldn't find much. I'm a guitar player, and I'm planning on aquiring a VI bass (Hellcat probably), to play it kinda inbetween bass and guitar.. a bit like that The Cure stuf.. maybe in solo-club acts, I'm not sure yet. I was wondering, can it be played through a guitar combo? I own a 30-watt 2x12 valve-powered guitar combo, and I'm not planning on using it as a regular bass, but I'll probably end up using the lower notes.

 

[lunarpollen]

Hello everyone. This is my first post and I'm glad I found this forum. For a few years now I've been trying to find information about the VI basses, but couldn't find much. I'm a guitar player, and I'm planning on aquiring a VI bass (Hellcat probably), to play it kinda inbetween bass and guitar.. a bit like that The Cure stuf.. maybe in solo-club acts, I'm not sure yet. I was wondering, can it be played through a guitar combo? I own a 30-watt 2x12 valve-powered guitar combo, and I'm not planning on using it as a regular bass, but I'll probably end up using the lower notes.

It probably won't sound great for lower notes beyond a certain point... Such a combo can't reproduce the lower-frequency harmonics let alone the fundamentals of the lower notes.... If you wanna try it out, just grab any short scale bass and give it a spin....

You'd have much better luck with a 100-watt head + a 4x12 cabinet...

 

[motel_asimov]

Hi to all!

I've been visiting this forum to collect information on Short Scale Basses.

I've been thinking about buying a Fender VI or buy one from Christophe Huort...

Unfortunately now buying this instrument is out of my budget... so... I decided to build one with all the information I collected from the internet.

I got a short scale bass neck (30" 20 frets) from ebay and started to build the fender VI.

So far I have all the fender jaguar aftermarket parts...

Yesterday I set together some parts along with the body to have an idea how it will look when finished and I decided to post it here.

I was wondering if I can become a member even though I haven't finished yet.

The body and the peghead have Purpleheart wood and rum rum wood...

Here's the link so you can see how it looks like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27935349@N04/2605799046/

 

[lunarpollen]

just make sure the bridge is positioned correctly for the scale length and I think you will have a fun instrument when you are done....

 

[Guedzilla]

It probably won't sound great for lower notes beyond a certain point... Such a combo can't reproduce the lower-frequency harmonics let alone the fundamentals of the lower notes.... If you wanna try it out, just grab any short scale bass and give it a spin....

You'd have much better luck with a 100-watt head + a 4x12 cabinet...

I see. I wonder if it's going to blow the speakers on the combo, or do any damage to it. I don't think I know anyone around that has a short-scale bass for me to try it out.

By the way, there used to be a forum somewhere in the internet dedicated to the VIs, probably around the time the Hellcat got released. It was called The Order of the Big Cat or something... I don't know if it's still around.

 

[lunarpollen]

I don't think it would do any damage to the amp, I think it would just sound really boxy and the lower notes would sound weak and farty...

The Loyal Order of the Big Cat was named for the Jaguar VI
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