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

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#501
HenfieldJ said:
I really want to join this club, as I have always wanted a Fender Bass VI. Sadly, I do not think that I will be able to afford the MIJ version (not that you see too many of them for sale). I have been looking at the various 6's and I have made the following observations: 1) the Danelectro models seem to be too short to go E to E, 2) The baritone neck conversion for a strat or tele looks enticing, but I haven't seen where anyone has tuned them E to E to know how it performs. 3) I have narrowed my search to the Hellcat, Gretsch Jet Star, and the Jaguar Baritone Custom. What do people think of these models? Alternatively, how much does it cost (with hardware) to go the USACG route?

Any replies are greatly appreciated!

Henfield..................
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The Danelectro I have is 30" scale and works great E-E. I don't know if they made some that are shorter or not, but just look for one that is 30".
 
#502
i'm going to get the hellcat because of its affordability and the variety of tones the pickups have to offer over the gretsch. the fenders are nice but more expensive. i started adding up the neck and body for the usacg route but as it neared $1000 i stopped counting. a fender bass VI reissue just sold on ebay for $1300.
 
#503
HenfieldJ said:
I really want to join this club, as I have always wanted a Fender Bass VI. Sadly, I do not think that I will be able to afford the MIJ version (not that you see too many of them for sale). I have been looking at the various 6's and I have made the following observations: 1) the Danelectro models seem to be too short to go E to E, 2) The baritone neck conversion for a strat or tele looks enticing, but I haven't seen where anyone has tuned them E to E to know how it performs. 3) I have narrowed my search to the Hellcat, Gretsch Jet Star, and the Jaguar Baritone Custom. What do people think of these models? Alternatively, how much does it cost (with hardware) to go the USACG route?

Any replies are greatly appreciated!

Henfield..................
Click to expand...

I've never played one of these, but I've heard they sound great -- The Jerry Jones Original Longhorn Bass6


Invalid Link Removed
 
#504
Here are mine (delayed entry):

Modded Epi LP

Gothic1.gif



Crappy custom painted Ibanez RG something (I don't remember anymore, haven't played in it a looong time)

Ibanez.gif



And my Cort EVL Z6 (along with a small orange amp and some pedals I already sold :D )


cort.gif




Sorry for the crappy pics, but that's all I can do without a camera.
 
#506
lunarpollen said:
Wow are those all tuned to standard Bass VI tuning?
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Once upon a time... :(

The Epi's neck suffered a major warp (almost broke) with that tuning and those heavy strings (even with a pro setup), and since then I retuned them all. Epi is in drop C, the Cort is in D and the ibanez is just unusable. I have to record the guitars for my band for now, so I have to keep them like that. I just like to post them pics! :D
 
#507
Does anyone have any experience with the Sidjack Baritone Guitar from Eastwood guitars? http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/ It is a 28" scale 6 string that is available with a bridge / stop tailpiece or a bridge / Fender Bass VI style trem. It comes with 0.62 to 0.13 strings and is tuned B to B from the factory. It looks like one of the old Moserite "Ventures" model guitars. I guess that I am most interested due to the trem, which is one of the reasons that I would really like a Bass VI.

Has anyone seen these or tried one?

Thanks,

Henfield....................
 
#508
I think maybe it's time for a baritone guitar thread to be started in the Miscellaneous forum to avoid this thread from straying too far off topic. As much as I love baritone guitars, and as well as the bass VI-type instruments can function in the baritone guitar role, this thread's dedicated to the short-scale six-string bass guitars meant to be tuned down to low E.
 
#509
lunarpollen said:
I think maybe it's time for a baritone guitar thread to be started in the Miscellaneous forum to avoid this thread from straying too far off topic. As much as I love baritone guitars, and as well as the bass VI-type instruments can function in the baritone guitar role, this thread's dedicated to the short-scale six-string bass guitars meant to be tuned down to low E.
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I agree. We've had a number of true baritone guitars posted here. They are in fact great instruments and sometimes Bass VI-type instruments have also been used strictly as baritones. At times they even get a reputation as being nothing but baritones (thanks a lot Mr. Smith!). In fact, this line of thinking hasn't been helped by some manufacturers either. I remember back in the 70's my first 6-string bass was made by a small company known as Microfrets and they called their model "the Baritone". I believe USACG uses the same misnomer as well. The point is that the E-e 6-string bass types are bass range instruments that can also, of course be used as baritone guitars. True baritone guitars tuned around B-b or A-a are simply baritones and not of much use a bass even though most of them sound incredible at what they do.

Ugh...my head is hurting from my own verbiage; I gotta go plunk on one of my 4-strings...:D
 
#510
I'll bet that when lunarpollen started this thread he had no idea it would blossom into a 26 page discussion! I think this shows that there is far more interest in the Bass VI style instruments than previously acknowledged, something that I'm glad to see.

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For the people who have been asking about shorter-than-30" scales: 28" and shorter scales are generally considered to be less than ideal for Bass VI (E-e) style instruments. From personal experience, I can say that anything much shorter than 30" tends to result in a too-floppy low E-string; I've also heard that the shorter-than-30"s can be impossible to intonate correctly on the low E, mostly due to the design and/or positioning of their respective bridges.
 
#511
Jjango said:
I'll bet that when lunarpollen started this thread he had no idea it would blossom into a 26 page discussion! I think this shows that there is far more interest in the Bass VI style instruments than previously acknowledged, something that I'm glad to see.
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Very true! I am glad to see this thread flourish though!

Jjango said:
For the people who have been asking about shorter-than-30" scales: 28" and shorter scales are generally considered to be less than ideal for Bass VI (E-e) style instruments. From personal experience, I can say that anything much shorter than 30" tends to result in a too-floppy low E-string; I've also heard that the shorter-than-30"s can be impossible to intonate correctly on the low E, mostly due to the design and/or positioning of their respective bridges.
Click to expand...

I think there may only be a couple of shorter-than-30" that sound fine as basses (e.g, Bassman62's super-short-scale Burns). There's something magical about the 30" scale that is impossible to identify... It's just feels so right and natural! haha
 
#512
Jjango said:
I'll bet that when lunarpollen started this thread he had no idea it would blossom into a 26 page discussion! I think this shows that there is far more interest in the Bass VI style instruments than previously acknowledged, something that I'm glad to see.

–––––––––––

For the people who have been asking about shorter-than-30" scales: 28" and shorter scales are generally considered to be less than ideal for Bass VI (E-e) style instruments. From personal experience, I can say that anything much shorter than 30" tends to result in a too-floppy low E-string; I've also heard that the shorter-than-30"s can be impossible to intonate correctly on the low E, mostly due to the design and/or positioning of their respective bridges.
Click to expand...

I would agree, but for some reason they never quite succeed in the marketplace. I reall wonder if Fender actually understands the potential of the instrument enough to market it properly. I sometimes get the feeling that they have no idea why anyone would want one.

Ditto on the 30" minimum length. The Jaguar Bari, at 28.5" is just too short for a good, strong low E.
 
#513
For the benefit of any Fender VI/MIJ VI players who are contemplating installing rails-type Strat pickups and are wondering about the fit...

A Jaguar (which uses the same p/u's as a 'VI) with Strat pickups.
 
#519
Jjango said:
Several companies make extra–long baritone necks to put on guitars, but all of them seem to be 28 5/8", not 30".

For examples of these 28 5/8" necks, see here (scroll down): http://www.marksguitars.com/10 cool_customs.htm

...and for Warmoth's offering (also 28-5/8") see here: Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

One more thing! I need to know what kind of top loading bridge is on here. I am building a bass vi out of a tele and i need a top loading bridge to save me some time and money. Let me know if ya know where i can get one!
 
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