I'm having problems with my Hellraiser not Hellcat but I suppose they're similar designed so I can apply what you've explained. I tried adjusting the saddle but problem remains. It really looks like I'm going to have to go to the heavier string set
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Sounds like your neck relief is set too flat. Most necks need a tiny bit of forward bow. When holding any string down at the 1st fret and 15th (wherever the neck meets the body by the upper horn), you should have a gap between the string and the frets midway between the ones you're holding down.
I'll probably adjust the neck first but if that fails I may just live with it. It's only doing it on the low E and the other strings sound fabulous. Also, so far for the application I have in mind for the guitar it's going to work pretty good as it is. I'm using very heavy distortion with a dark glass bk7 ultra and ironically I think the buzz is helping with the gnarley effect I'm trying to achieve; otherwise I just have to make adjustments when playing in more clean mode and treat the low E cautiously which will be kind of annoying but maybe ok for now. But maybe the neck adjustment will do the trick. Thx for the advice
Growing accustomed to the buzz on the low E with regard to my recently obtained Schecter Hellraiser bass vi. Still thinking about having the neck adjustment later and possibly even going to a thicker gauge but I believe I've found the holy grail with pickup selection, tone settings and winding the gain and distortion(drive)up on both the Darkglass BK7 ultra and bass amp. This nasty sound is bringing me so much delight now I wouldn't change a thing.
Just looking for some insight from folks that have experience with these instruments - I am building an explorer-style bass vi and I'm thinking about the bridge and tuners. I'd like to do a 3x3 tuner set up and I would prefer to do a hardtail-style bridge relative to a tune-o-matic or fender bass vi style bridge.
Does anyone have insights or recommendations for hardware for this type of build/these instruments? I'm thinking barriers will include finding items that will accommodate the larger strings. Thanks in advance
Does anyone have insights or recommendations for hardware for this type of build/these instruments? I'm thinking barriers will include finding items that will accommodate the larger strings. Thanks in advance
The 3x3 headstock is smart thinking (normal guitar strings are long enough to be used as trebles if need be).
Assuming you're OK with standard guitar spacing at the bridge, the biggest hurdle seems to be the stopbar, and at least this one
GE101Z-T - G-GOTOH
has .118" wide holes, so it would work. (I mean, ball ends may not sit perfectly in their sockets depending on specific size, but the "problem" would be only cosmetic.)
What I would do, in order not to be married to the not spectacular variety of available bass VI sets, is
- place the stopbar at the right length for usual VI sets (whose length is actually in the "medium-scale" bass string ballpark);
- drill string-through holes directly under it, which would allow you to use long-scale sets (which are waay more widely available).
In addition to that, I would consider a wraparound bridge with adjustable saddles instead of a regular TOM. They have a wider intonating range (saddle travel + "pylon" screws). Heck, I'd even look into whether they have holes wide enough for bass strings: if so, one could even throw in a short-scale string set on short notice!
[Easier than the above would be a short bridge to bar distance, and an inline but reverse headstock: short, medium and long scale strings would all fit no problem.]
This is a great point. I love the feel of my Danelectro 63ri baritone that I converted to a Bass Six. But finding an E string that will fit in a guitar tuner is difficult. Everyone makes a standard length Fender Bass VI set though. I just don't like how far forward the bridge is. Thru-body stringing would probably fix it.
Get detailed measurements for the Fender Bass VI as far as how long the strings need to be, that way you can just order those.
I suggest a Gotoh Nashville saddle because it has longer range of adjustment for intonation. You can carefully drill most stop tail pieces to fit bigger ball ends.
Drill baby, drill. Had to drill my stop when I went to the Fender 24-100 strings. Also had to file nut, not to mention unwind wraps on the E string to fit tuners.
Takes some work to sort these things out, but worth it!
Takes some work to sort these things out, but worth it!
Thanks for the advice all. Anyone have any thoughts on 3x3 tuner sets for a bass vi? That's the part that's throwing me off currently. Im somewhat considering doing a 4x2 and using some stuff I have (I have a 2x2 sperzel bass set and some Hipshot bass tuners) I could do the E and A with standard bass tuners like a Ibanez src6 and the rest the smaller size, but I'm not sure I'm clever enough to make the design not look odd...
For a Bass VI-style instrument you won't need regular bass-sized tuning machines. Because of the tighter string spacing, regular bass strings are too big. A nice robust set of standard guitar tuners will do fine, though you may need to ream out the low E capstan for the larger strings in the range for this application. Bass tuners will be way too big for the rest of the strings.
Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. I was also thinking the smaller sperzel tuners for the smaller 4 strings might make the headstock look less massive. I actually bought a tight end bridge like these have to try out for this build.
Don't bother with using bass tuners, they actually won't work as well for the high E and B if you end up using plain (not wound) strings for those. They'll work for tuning, but stringing plain strings on bass tuners is more difficult because they tend to slide out of the slot in the post, as compared to using guitar tuners that have the hole through the post that allow you to pass the string through twice to create a basic 'knot.'
I recommend locking tuners as well.
You could either use a stop tail piece or just do through-body string ferrules to anchor the strings. If you use a bass string ferrule for the E, you could measure where it goes on the body to allow you to use a regular long scale low E string such that the full width of the string doesn't wind onto the tuning key. I say a bass ferrule because the ball end for a bass string won't fit into a guitar string ferrule.
You could even go really wild and put a couple of ferrules in a row so you can use different length low E strings.
Whatever you do, I would consider getting as many options as possible into the build that will allow the VI to be as flexible as it can be. A TOM bridge saddle and through-body-stringing will be the most flexible bridge option. Guitar tuners come in many more varieties, weigh less, and cost less than bass tuners.
Pardon the ASCII illustration to show what I'm trying to say about multiple (or staggered) string-through ferrules
O======O TOM bridge saddle
.oooooo String ferrules
.OOoooo E & A only ferrules for bass strings
.Oxxxxx E only ferrule for bass string
I replaced the stock tuners on my Dano Bass Six with non-locking Hipshot 3+3 guitar tuners. You can see them, and the Jeff Senn bridge, in this pic.
I wish Longhorn and DC VIs were more common from Danelectro, I'd love to have one in my collection. I suppose one could swap necks and bridge on any 30" Dano instruments, but it would be much easier just to buy one off the rack.
Yeah, they only make baritones sometimes, in certain styles. It's an easy conversion to a bass six if you have the right strings.
This Ibanez SRC6 of mine came with regular bass tuners (though I upgraded them, but still with bass tuners). The strings are La Bella HC6-F:
My 6 and 7 string basses are strung with .032 high-C and even as light as .018p high-F using the same kind of tuners. So, regular bass tuners aren't too big for any Bass VI strings.
View attachment 4860864
This Ibanez SRC6 of mine came with regular bass tuners (though I upgraded them, but still with bass tuners). The strings are La Bella HC6-F:
My 6 and 7 string basses are strung with .032 high-C and even as light as .018p high-F using the same kind of tuners. So, regular bass tuners aren't too big for any Bass VI strings.
Unfortunately, LaBella no longer offers these strings. If they did, I would buy them today.
Had I had the knowledge La Bella would stop producing the Hellcat series, I'd buy some, particularly the -S (stainless steel roundwound) and the -N (nickel plated steel roundwound) sets. Fortunately, I got the -F set, thus I don't have to change them till they are broken.
