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

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#681
MIJ-VI said:
Similar to the 'strangle switch' cap (.0033 mfd) in the Fender VI, the Ric 4001 has a .0047 cap (a high-pass filter) wired to its bridge pickup which makes it sound very treble-y (and weak).

I expect that this design was intended to accentuate the tonal difference between the 4001's neck and bridge pickups for use with 'Ric-O-Sound' (stereo output).
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I just started using it's "strangle switch" (2006 and later) which still has plenty of kick believe it or not! Sorry...another topic for another thread!
 
#682
guitfiddle0409 said:
Sometimes it freaks me out that that resurgence in the popularity of the instrument is due to one Mr. Smith. :mad::spit:
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Only speaking for myself, I wanted a 6-string bass as soon as I found out there was such a thing, probably around 1977, I didn't get my first one til 1990, which was still long before I ever knowingly heard a Cure song, and certainly longer still before I found out they used one.
And I'm sure at least one member here will remind us he got his in the early 60s! ;)
 
#684
I'm not sure if I'd necessary consider Robert Smith a key factor in its resurgence...I know plenty of people listen to The Cure that just think its a guitar...

I think it has to do more with the increasing popularity of drop-tunings/baritone guitars, people perhaps Googling baritone guitars and finding out about the Bass VI in the process by accident. I don't think that I can point to any artist as to how I found out about it...I'm not sure when I first heard about them but I know its been at least several years, and I had wanted one for the last few but didn't buy one until I found a purpose for it. I think I heard about it in the process of going through a guitar book from the 70's that I got from my dad.
 
#685
hellboy said:
Pretty sure they're in series. The untapped sound is hotter, darker, and thicker than the split sound. They're just very underwound for humbuckers. You could probably rewire them for parallel mode, but the output is already low enough that I don't know if it'd be worth it.

I'm really not sure why they chose mini-humbuckers in the first place (since AFAIK no other six-string bass uses them), except that they'd been using them on the 25.5" version of the Hellcat so it may have just been easier not to change them. Robert Smith seems to be experimenting with different pickups on his custom Schecter Ultra VI's (two full-size humbuckers or three Filter-Tron-style), so it's also possible that he's gone off the single coil sound (for noise reasons, maybe), but given that the Cure's sound has gone to **** lately IMO, I'm not inclined to go in that direction myself.
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This is what I suspected.

It might be possible to re-wire the Hellcat VI's pickups in parallel to bring it closer to the sparkle of a Fender VI while retaining the Hellcat's hum-cancelling ability.

The mini-humbuckers would sample a shorter length of string than full-sized HB p/u's would thus contributing to a more focused sound, which, based upon my experience with an MIJ Fender VI, is a good thing.
 
#686
kslight said:
I second that the pickups are noticeably quieter than my other humbucker equipped guitars...

I don't know that it explains the use of minis...but after talking to Seymour Duncan about replacement pickups apparently the "Duncan Designed" pickups used in the Hellcat VI were actually designed specifically for that guitar...I don't really buy that but they aren't all that bad really. They probably got a better price buying a lot of them for the regular Hellcat and figured they had to do something with the rest of them as the metal crowd wouldn't have much of a use for them. If I had to guess I would say they use minis to stand out from the crowd...most VI's (except the Gretsch 5265) that I am aware of don't use humbuckers, so they thought that for live players that would be seen as an advantage (either for first-time VI owners or established Fender VI owners buying the Schecter as an affordable second) in terms of cutting out noise. But they also are configured to approximate the VI sound if you were required to use the guitar to cut out hum...and the coil split mode is there if you aren't worried about hum, which to my ears improves the sound for certain things.

In my opinion they aren't bad enough to change out...then again I've never owned a guitar where I thought the pickups were the lowest common denominator in my sound.



BTW, 1) why is the Robert Smith signature guitar not a VI...always wondered that myself? 2) And why's he have to go off all cheeky-like and get his OWN VI based on his signature model that no one else can buy? Mighty sneaky of him... I'd totally buy a flat black 3-pickup Robert Smith VI... Can't say I'm all that big of a fan of The Cure's music of the last decade or so, but I do think his guitar looks nice.
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1) Guitars sell well, 'VI's don't... :spit:

2) Really?! Can you post a link?
 
#687
guitfiddle0409 said:
Sometimes it freaks me out that that resurgence in the popularity of the instrument is due to one Mr. Smith. :mad::spit:
Click to expand...

Credit where it's due though. If it weren't for Mr. Smith recognising the musical value of a Bass VI - as everyone in this thread does - and resurrecting its commercial profile to the point where Fender, Jerry Jones, Burns, Gretsch, and Schecter (and possibly other companies) restarted (or started) their manufacture, then a good number of us might have remained 'VI-less. :atoz:

I know I would've. There's no way in hell I can afford a 'collectors item'. :rollno:
 
#689
Last week I went into a local guitar shop. The owner is a real nice guy and has a great lineup of Fenders, even though it's a small town. I wanted to see if he could order a Hellcat VI, so I could give my business to his shop. He said he wasn't a Schecter dealer so he couldn't. He was interested in seeing if he could find something comparable from Fender, though, and offered to get me a Fender Baritone Special HH (which lists for $1210) for $850. The interesting thing is that all over the internet, the price is $970. This made me wonder 1) how much leeway dealers have (what kind of markup there is in retail) and 2) if I could find a comparable deal on a Hellcat VI. The best I can find a new one on the internet is $600. Does anybody know about a good deal on a Hellcat VI, like my local Fender dealer was willing to make? Maybe pass it along in a PM? BTW, I told him thanks, but I wanted a bass.
 
#690
hypercarrots said:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3407259&postcount=48
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Hmm... That reverse headstock would:

- Increase tension on the lower strings for a better bass tone.

- Make it MUCH easier to find lo E & A strings which would fit (opens the door to creating custom string sets).

- Reduce tension on the treble strings for easier note-bending.

--------

It seems that Mr. Smith is a fan of single-coil pickups on a 'VI.

This might explain the absence of a Hellcat VI on the Cure's stage...
 
#691
MIJ-VI said:
Hmm... That reverse headstock would:

- Increase tension on the lower strings for a better bass tone.

- Make it MUCH easier to find lo E & A strings which would fit (opens the door to creating custom string sets).

- Reduce tension on the treble strings for easier note-bending.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not a fan of reverse headstocks, but in this case there might be a good reason for it. Hmmm....

MIJ-VI said:
It seems that Mr. Smith is a fan of single-coil pickups on a 'VI.

This might explain the absence of a Hellcat VI on the Cure's stage...
Click to expand...

Except that he also has one with two humbuckers and one with three Filter-Trons (well, Duncan's version of them). Not sure if he's just trying out different options, or uses them for different reasons, or what.

Mr. Smith was definitely a big factor in my interest in the six-string bass, and is the reason I was able to buy my first one, but Mr. Hook was a much bigger factor, personally.
 
#695
Last week I went into a local guitar shop. The owner is a real nice guy and has a great lineup of Fenders, even though it's a small town. I wanted to see if he could order a Hellcat VI, so I could give my business to his shop. He said he wasn't a Schecter dealer so he couldn't. He was interested in seeing if he could find something comparable from Fender, though, and offered to get me a Fender Baritone Special HH (which lists for $1210) for $850. The interesting thing is that all over the internet, the price is $970. This made me wonder 1) how much leeway dealers have (what kind of markup there is in retail) and 2) if I could find a comparable deal on a Hellcat VI. The best I can find a new one on the internet is $600. Does anybody know about a good deal on a Hellcat VI, like my local Fender dealer was willing to make? Maybe pass it along in a PM? BTW, I told him thanks, but I wanted a bass.
Click to expand...


It took a lot of digging to find a Hellcat VI that was truly in stock when I was looking...though there are several websites that said they were...I would call them up and they'd tell me it was backordered...I actually had an order placed at one of these stores only to find out that they really didn't have it (what made me start calling first). I eventually came down to two stores...one that I talked down to $550 (free shipping), but it was a display model. Or another store that sold me one brand new in box for $580... I've seen how guitars on Guitar Center shelves look and I didn't want to take any chances...I'd rather pay a slight premium for the new one thanks. I might have been able to talk TheMadApe.com more (the guys I ordered from), but I was just thrilled to be able to get it that I didn't think it was worth losing it over a few bucks.

I know that The Mad Ape still sells the Hellcat VI for $580...I think they have a black one in stock last time I checked, if that isn't low enough then I'd see if they could sweeten the deal with free shipping or a discount on a case or something? Or take their price and give it to Musician's Friend, as they have a price guarantee...though that may not apply to a special order item (which they never have in stock...). But I'd rather pay more to support a smaller store...
 
#696
Does anyone know where reproduction '61 Fender VI pickup mounting rings (like those pictured below) can be found?

1961 Model Fender Bass VI.jpg
 
#698
Mudfuzz said:
I have a Dano...
l_63990b556bcf45b392c906f53da80a72.png

And... I have this thang I made
l_b974af4661d34bc38a81618c612db1ea.png
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Hi Mudfuzz.

Your Dano looks to be a re-issue of the first 'VI introduced in 1956. Is it?

Re the instrument that you made. What's its scale length? How is it strung and tuned? Is that a trem on a fretless guitar? :confused: Its tuner type and layout looks good. Bass tuners?

What were your goals in designing and crafting that instrument?
 
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