My Stage & Studio Jack of All Trades

While more recently wideley accepted as a "Deluxe Bass" - it seems in the years prior to the past few, this bass was a "whatchamacallit" - is it a Baritone? A Bass? Both? The answer is Yes.

I sold my Fender Mustang guitar and Bass and replaced it with this after seeing Phil-X demo a few vintage ones on Youtube, and at the time, on a huge B-52's kick - I started looking more and more at this as a possible solution to try some "Ricky Wilson-Esque" things out along with the alternate tuned guitars thing I was already latching onto. In the end, I found a shocking jack of all Trades.

The Bass VI is a 30" Scale Six String Bass with a timbre more like a guitar thanks to a trio of Alnico V magnet 6.4K Ohm Fender Jaguar pickups in all three positions. With a skinny fast neck, split shaft tuners, and a Jaguar-like circuit, a Jag-a-holic like me could not resist. Anyting that can lay down some bass tracks, go battle the Rock Lobster, and then go hang around in Korn-ville like a 7-string can with some creativity and extra tightness makes it now my current go-to bass - and with 3 pickups and rather responsive volume and tone controls, it can emulate just about everything else - this bass basically replaced 4 bass guitars in my collection.

Prior to this bass, I used a 1987 B.C. Rich Ironbird NJ, a 1986 Segovia Bass Guitar, a 2009 Fender MIJ Mustang Bass, and a 2008 Epiphone EB-0 bass - out of all those, the Mustang was my favorite but it just did not have the "kick in the ass" of the B.C. Rich or the Segovia, and the EB-0 was just an awful piece of crap that would not stay in tune and was really just a one-trick pony - and it's rare I'll trash a Bass or guitar, but the EB-0 I feel is deserving of it.

The Bass VI can be like a Danelectro longhorn bass in the bridge, a Jazz Bass with both bridge and middle on, does a fairly interesting P-Bass rendition in the middle somewhere between a P-Bass and A Mustang or Musicmaster Bass, and the neck position has all the tonal character I did sort of like in the EB-0, but this one actually stays in tune and is not a one-trick pony due to an overbearing 32K ohm mudbucker in the neck. As a bass, very versitile, I find my Segovia does not get played much anymore because the VI does a tighter version of that sound with careful EQ.

As a baritone, this thing nails that Ricky Wilson "Rock Lobster" tone in the bridge position like a champ. Apply distortion and it can range from being the sonic version of a concrete drill, to being able to roam around in Nu-Metal/Death Metal/Doom & Gloom sludge lands with ease, and enough frets (21) are there to get up in the Guitar range for some decent soloing - and on top of it, it has a decent tremolo bar!

I mostly play lead guitar and I have used this thing on several recordings.since 2014, including Zombie Jihad's "You Will See Demons" and my own Mad-Mike stuff on Soundcloud. It's also going to be playing an expanded role in a future metal project of mine. I've been considering now doing some arrangements using 2 Bass VI's where they interleave between bass and guitar ranges. It's just been quite a catalyst for creativity because it's an instrument that is so undefined on a specific role or pigeonholed by a specific artist, leaving an open door for all sorts of interpretations on how to play it creatively.

From Gear Setup

Others have already figured it out, these are very cool but the finished product is not very good.

I'm not the first to explain this, people have already commented on this very page as well as plenty other gear pages (shout-outs to Mike & Mike's guitar bar!) These are a super cool idea but the finished product is not well designed, there are noticeable issues if you purchase one of these completely stock. The bodies are perfectly fine and the necks are the best part as far as stock condition goes: the necks are smooth and comfortable to play, they also look fantastic with the pearl block inlays! The electronics are fine but a three-way toggle switch would have been MUCH more ideal and practical, the whole in-and-out of phase bullshit just seems completely unnecessary and pointless (my opinion and nothing more). The weakest link is the bridge/ tailpiece set up: NOT. GOOD. The bridge & tailpiece setup is so bad that it effects the overall play-ability of the instrument significantly. There is hardly any break angle which results in very poor string tension, the strings constantly pop out of place. Allegedly, the stock string gauge is far too small (.24-.84). The gauge is supposed to be closer to (.26-.95). These are very unique and cool sounding instruments, unfortunately owning one of these necessitates a hefty amount of parts-swapping and modifications.

Bass VI for Cheap Cheap Cheap

A Fender BASS VI is so ridiculously expensive it's not even funny. Especially since it's such a specialized instrument that most people won't drag out for every song.

This is not super great out of the box. That's an understatement. It's nearly unplayable. But it's soo dirt cheap it's worth it.

After some upgrades and a good pro setup it can be a completely servicable instrument. I swapped out the bridge, upgraded the pickups and have it playing and sounding pretty nice.

Add chorus and sound just like an english fellow that wants to fight Morrissey.

After upgrades I give it 4 stars, out of the box I give it 1 star. I gave it 3 stars here because it felt good.

Get the right strings

For years I have been sitting around tinkering with this bass trying to get it to feel right and sound right. I eventually found out about Kallium strings and ordered the set that had the E 102 string. Suddenly all of the issues I had with this bass are gone. The bridge doesn't rock around anymore. The strings don't slip off of the saddles. Intonation and tone are better than ever. I wish I knew it was Fenders strings that were holding this instrument back for all of these years.

Six String Bass at affordably price!

Couple months ago I tried one of those at my local Guitar Center. Honestly, it brings you to the idyllic time of 60's band from California: Offset body in sunburst, tremolo bar, many switches that make it look way more expansive that it really was, Blonde Bassman or Tweed Fender Amp and imagination takes care of the actual sunny August in California.

I am primary a lead guitar player, but this thing would make me to become a bass player. And if you are looking for a sound how to spice your solos as guitarist, without using Octave pedal or detune your Jaguar, this is the real deal. Great thing without musical education you know that you can play 12th fret and higher to get your "regular guitar" sound, and above to get the balls in your solo, riff or improvisation, or just when you want to play bass, baritone and tenor at the same time !

Cool guitar, but hard to find a use for it.

This guitar is somewhere between a guitar and a bass. It's tuned E-E but is an octave lower than a bass, and an octave higher than a guitar. I haven't used this much though, since it doesn't have as great of a tone as a guitar, and isn't as bassy and punchy as a bass.

Awesome Bass

I guess this thing is technically a baritone guitar, but I love this thing for songs that are dark and ominous. Also a great guitar to have with you in the studio. Wish I could afford the Fender Bass VI though.

A very versatile Bass

I had to put heavier string on and a new bridge that I could actually intonate the strings, but for the price I got it for, I knew I was going to be tinkering with it to my personal preferences. I think I screwed up the whammy bar settings, but that's okay - I don't use it.

Some upgrades

The stock upgrades for the Bass VI are a Staytrem bridge and La Bella flat wounds which I have done.

I recently changed the collet on my Jaguar and realised that the trem arm could be tightened up if I gently squeezed the collet together where it is grooved.

Now I have a trem arm that stays in place without paying to upgrade the trem or collet.

Great bass/guitar

Some of these have slight intention issues but its easily fixable. I had mine set up by a tech and its right on the money! It plays great! Has lots of options for pickup selection and 30'' scale. LOve this thing!