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The Short-Scale Six-String Club Part 4 - for the original six-string basses!

#421
Does anyone have experience with G&L MFD pickups in their basses? Specifically, I'm thinking of replacing the pickups with the jumbo MFDs that G&L put in their ASAT Special. My Squier Bass VI doesn't have enough output to really drive my pedals like the rest of my basses do, and it seems that MFDs are considered by many to be some of the hotter single coil pickups on the market, excluding 'metal' pickups.
 
#422
birdman14 said:
Does anyone have experience with G&L MFD pickups in their basses? Specifically, I'm thinking of replacing the pickups with the jumbo MFDs that G&L put in their ASAT Special. My Squier Bass VI doesn't have enough output to really drive my pedals like the rest of my basses do, and it seems that MFDs are considered by many to be some of the hotter single coil pickups on the market, excluding 'metal' pickups.
Click to expand...

Why not try a simple clean boost pedal first?
 
#424
birdman14 said:
Does anyone have experience with G&L MFD pickups in their basses? Specifically, I'm thinking of replacing the pickups with the jumbo MFDs that G&L put in their ASAT Special. My Squier Bass VI doesn't have enough output to really drive my pedals like the rest of my basses do, and it seems that MFDs are considered by many to be some of the hotter single coil pickups on the market, excluding 'metal' pickups.
Click to expand...
- A series re-wire will get you a much hotter (and fatter) signal... think big, fat 3-bucker.
 
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#425
birdman14 said:
Does anyone have experience with G&L MFD pickups in their basses? Specifically, I'm thinking of replacing the pickups with the jumbo MFDs that G&L put in their ASAT Special. My Squier Bass VI doesn't have enough output to really drive my pedals like the rest of my basses do, and it seems that MFDs are considered by many to be some of the hotter single coil pickups on the market, excluding 'metal' pickups.
Click to expand...


I love the MFDs and have used them in the parts basses I assembled since G&L started selling them separately. Fell in love with them after getting my SB1. They blow away every other P-Bass sounding pickup I've ever heard live and give a more aggressive, but still P-bassy tone. This is going against mainly the Seymour-Duncan Quarter Pounders. The only other pickup in the running from what I've heard is the Geezer Butler EMG (passive), but that's still not quite as middy or punchy as the MFD. I haven't used any of the other MFDs but I can't see where they would be much different. I bet they would make a Squire Bass VI sound great. My 2 cents, hope it helps
 
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#426
What's are people's thoughts re. the VM Bass VI vs the VM Jazzmaster Bari as an E-e bass? I use an L2K and a US Sterling as my main basses. Will the Jazzmaster be a higher output with a thicker sound? I think that the Bass VI may be more versatile, but the Jazzmaster might play better with my other basses. A Jazzmaster has come up on my local CL so that has got me thinking.
 
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#427
FullSizeRender.jpg
Hi all,
Last year I picked up a Schecter Hellcat VI so I'd like to join the club :)
The action was a bit off when purchased but she's been into Mike Lull custom guitars near Seattle to be pleked and fitted with a set of La Bella Hellcat round wounds and I couldn't be happier.
I play a lot of Cure and Peter Hook riffs so this is just what I needed.
 
#431
It looks like Fender has released it's Squier Vintage Modified Baritone Jazzmaster in black. I cannot see it on Fender website, but I see it in stock in some European websites.

Does anybody knows if it will be available at some point in North America? With proper strings (it is a 30" scale) that could be a nice bass IV alternative, and it is not Antigua anymore :)

Invalid Link Removed

Squier Vintage Modified Baritone Jazzmaster Black Guitar - Guitar.co.uk

Invalid Link Removed
 
#433
Hello, my name is Greg Zane and I am a definite newbie here. What an absolute treat to find such an active forum about original-style 6 string basses! I am considering "going down the modding rabbit hole", though that Harley Benton does have me reconsidering......... I am thinking of converting a Applause AE-40 acoustic/electric bass to 5 or 6 string configuration (5 string only because a highly-respected luthier suggested it as an option). The Applause isn't much as an acoustic/electric. I don't play it a lot. But it does have a very nice 30"-scale neck on it, so I thought it might make a good customizing platform. Part of my research was to find the nut and saddle widths for the Silvertone 1373, Fender VI, and Gibson EB6. Of all that, I've only found the nut width of the Fender Squier VI, 42mm (which just happens to be the nut width of the Applause). Does anyone here have those other specifications? I'd sure appreciate the information if you do. The luthier I mentioned earlier is not only a superb instrument repairer/restorer, he's one of those guys who plays damn near anything with strings on it. His concern, and the reason for his 5 string suggestion, was crowded strings, 6 on a 42mm nut. I'd like opinions about that idea too, if y'all don't mind. I'm trying to decide if it is at all realistic to dive into this project. Thank y'all for your time. I think I'm going to enjoy it here. I know I'm going to learn a lot.
Greg
P.S. I had reason to contact Thomann UK (Harley Benton is their house brand) about shipping to the US. They were very willing and their rates were attractive.
 
#434
The Jazzmaster baritone in black is up on the Squier site now and you can add it to your shopping cart so I would say that it is available in North America! It looks like they left wisps of the peel off pickguard protector around the knobs when they took the photos which is odd but any color beside Antigua should help sales.
 
#435
GZboat said:
I am thinking of converting a Applause AE-40 acoustic/electric bass to 5 or 6 string configuration (5 string only because a highly-respected luthier suggested it as an option). The Applause isn't much as an acoustic/electric. I don't play it a lot. But it does have a very nice 30"-scale neck on it, so I thought it might make a good customizing platform. Part of my research was to find the nut and saddle widths for the Silvertone 1373, Fender VI, and Gibson EB6. Of all that, I've only found the nut width of the Fender Squier VI, 42mm (which just happens to be the nut width of the Applause). Does anyone here have those other specifications? I'd sure appreciate the information if you do. The luthier I mentioned earlier is not only a superb instrument repairer/restorer, he's one of those guys who plays damn near anything with strings on it. His concern, and the reason for his 5 string suggestion, was crowded strings, 6 on a 42mm nut.
Click to expand...
Re the nut width, my OLP MM5 Baritone also is 42mm. Guitar (string center-to-center) spacing at the nut, same as or comparable to every VI out there. Mine is currently wearing .105 .085 and so on. It is crowded but, again, that's the way it is. Has your luthier ever spent some time with one? If spacing is a concern of yours, going for a 5-stringer would certainly be a solution; final specs wouldn't be that out of the bass ordinary, considering how 30" and even 28.5" 5-string basses exist, as do fivers with 43" nuts or less:
List of widths at nut.
As a (campfire-grade) amateur guitarist, I know I would miss the high E. If you too play the guitar, it's something to take into account.
 
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#436
Also related to the width at nut issue...

Hey! Since when has Burns of London reissued the Barracuda?!?!
barracuda.jpg

Barracuda Guitars London
Barracuda Special Guitars London

700 euros plus some tenners depending on your location:
Thomann - Welcome Home!

And (@GZboat and just for the record) their neck width at the nut is wider than most VI, namely 45mm; just as I remembered about the originals, but omitted in my post above because they were produced in very low numbers and you were unlikely to bump into one in real life. It seems like chances are a little higher now...
 
#437
HaphAsSard, thanks for the information, especially the list of nut widths. That really does give me a good idea of the size range. 42mm is right at the very bottom of the 6-string range, isn't it. I usually have difficulty cleanly playing instruments with relatively skinny necks. That, and issues with the Ovation/Applause structure (for a conversion, it's fine as is), make this an unlikely project. But that was the point of doing some research, deciding if this conversion made sense. Thanks again for the help and information.
Greg
 
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#440
GZboat said:
HaphAsSard, thanks for the information, especially the list of nut widths. That really does give me a good idea of the size range. 42mm is right at the very bottom of the 6-string range, isn't it. I usually have difficulty cleanly playing instruments with relatively skinny necks. That, and issues with the Ovation/Applause structure (for a conversion, it's fine as is), make this an unlikely project. But that was the point of doing some research, deciding if this conversion made sense. Thanks again for the help and information.
Greg
Click to expand...
My pleasure.
If you really don't have a need for the acoustic, and don't have an urgent need to flip it, keep the 5 string EADGC (or B) conversion option open, give it some more thought.

One last bit of info re: VIs and nut widths: the Ernie Ball Music Man Silhouette Bass Guitar is the instrument my OLP is an authorised copy of, but the latter is not only stripped down but also has different specs. The scale, for example, is a standard 30" vs. the 29-5/8" of the EBMM; also, the Silo's neck width at the nut is actually 44.5mm unlike mine's 42mm, more common for the class of instruments as mentioned. (Talking traditional short scale E-to-E instruments this thread covers: conventional long-scale sixes usually have 55 52mm or wider as that thread shows.)


NINJA EDIT -
@hypercarrots: HA! There you go, exactly what I was posting! :D
I seem to remember the Marathon has 48mm, non? Even rarer than the Barracuda, I think.
 
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