Patrick, one of the things I love most about this channel is the bass lines you write. I get so tired of watching demos where people play cheesy and generic riffs. Or they play the same riff over and over for 10 minutes in every single video. I really appreciate your attempts to inject some variety and interest into what you're playing. Lots of interesting note choices, rhythms, etc.
I just love how huge this bass somehow sounds, especially when the Beatles used one of these from time to time, it always sounded amazing and in the get back documentary it sounds even more huge
He uses extensively on the best album in history, Disintegration. Just listen to Pictures of you, that main riff is the most beautiful use of the Bass vi.
the second guitarist, reeves gabrels, brings it out during live shows on certain songs. so unfortunate that robert is signed to schecter, he had a great and unique guitar collection 💔
And that explains why growing up listening to them I would get confused as to whether I was hearing Simon play the bass or Robert play the guitar. Learning that Robert was playing a Bass IV explains everything! Fascinating.
I found tuning stability improved A LOT with lubricating the saddles and nut with something like the Big Bends Nut Sauce. A new bridge will help more, but it's a cheap solution if for whatever reason you can't replace the bridge.
I have an Eastwood Baritone guitar. About a month after I bought it and started playing it - one night after practice one of my guitar cables got caught around the neck and tossed it hard off it's guitar stand and right onto a carpet floor. Right after that my precious Eastwood started developing tuning peg problems. Anyone know how to fix it?
Great vid showing the versatility of this Bass VI. That piece you played at around 10:30 was killer, and totally sold me on needing to get one of these. Thanks for taking the time to post this.
Maybe you should consider checking out the Schecter Hellcat VI, also a bass VI style guitar with 3 stacked single coils + coil split for each pickup, also a 5-way pickup selector.
I got one of these to do the Loathe thing a few months ago and I love it! It's certainly not perfect out of the box (the pickups are a bit microphonic, the trem is pretty much useless, and the tuners feel a bit iffy even though they are perfectly functional) and I've got a list of upgrades planned for it, but for ~$500 you really can't beat it!
@@h4ndrix not yet, although I did finally get new tuners ordered for it. Gonna put them on and maybe do some wiring changes next string change! I still want to put 3 Fralin noiseless P90s in it someday but that pickup set is gonna cost more than the instrument itself so it's gonna have to wait
Great review. I have one, and here are the mods I made: - Lollar Jaguar pickups - Mastery Industries bridge and vibrato - 250K CTS control pots with 0.047 uF Orange Drop -Switchcraft switches (I removed the bass cut and made it a treble cut-mid boost switch instead) -Axemasters compensated bone nut - LaBella flatwounds *Stock tuners work great w the Mastery Bridge, i.e. no intonation/tuning issues.
I've had mine for about 10 years now... I have no problem with the tuners, and all I had to do was switch my bridge 180° for it to intonate perfectly. I did shim my neck and raised up the bridge overall for a steeper break angle. For strings, I highly recommend the Kalium .106 set. I did not even have to modify my nut or tuners to accommodate these strings, and they really hold up as proper bass strings!
Additionally, my trem never throws me out of tune at all, and I attribute this to making sure the bridge posts are free floating in the body. They're meant to rock back and forth with the whammy bar, rather than the strings sliding through the bridge. My two cents lol
I got one of these last year as it finally went in stock and was able to get one and I love it! I’ve had no problems with the the tuners and staying in tune or the strings since I’ve had it and they sound great even now! I usually change strings immediately once I get a new bass, but these felt really good actually just from an out of box experience. Really glad a professional like you made this video though cause there aren’t that many or even people who know what this bass is!
Big fun! I love the way John & George used to use the Fender VI and have often wondered about grabbing one of these. I am a guitarist but (of course) I have a Rickenbacker, Hofner 60's Re-Issue (use flatwounds on both) and an old Ibanez Fretless so I reckon one of these is now a necessity! Great demo, cheers!
Ibanez makes a version like this as well. Has their classic sound gear body. I've always wanted to get my hands on one of them. They no longer produce the original, but they recently started production a multiscale src6ms. Pretty bad ass. Should review it bro
@@matthewcurtiss7557 Indeed. I've been following a number of guitar luthiers on here who pretty much universally agree. If you're having intonation issues, the two best things you can do are: 1) a high-quality nut replacement (TUSQ or real bone) and 2) stretch your strings - a lot.
This video was more informative than I'd expected. I have one of these basses that I bought because it was the first one I've ever seen. I definitely need to swap out the bridge, but you gave me some ideas that I'd never thought to do with the bass.
Its so cool to see im not the only one obsessed with these. As someone who plays both bass and guitar, ive never had so much fun. They have it in antigua now and i am scooping that up on friday. I haven't even tried it with a pick yet. If you use fingers be delicate with it. That took some getting used to. And the inlay work is spot on. It doesn't feel like a squire lol.
I've got a SubZero Rogue VI that I didn't really vibe with until I swapped the tuners for some Tone Ninja baritone locking tuners. I also changed the tuning to an all-fifths tuning (FCGDAE) using a custom StringJoy set basically getting the range of an 8 string guitar. It became a whole other instrument after that and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'm considering modding the tone pot to roll off bass frequencies because the pickups are kind of muddy and I plan to use it as a baritone guitar (got my Yamaha BB 5 string and Harley Benton B-650FL 6 string fretless for bass duties)
I think the biggest issue with this bass is not having a hardtail bridge option, which would probably help with stability and tension, I had one years ago and sold it but have been wanting one again
Mastery makes a drop in replacement bridge. I personally have had no problems with tuning or intonation. Your intonation will improve if you use the flatwounds since they always tend to Intonate easier. Personally, the sound of the Bass VI is made by flat-wound strings. If you want to Djent then look at Ibanez or Shecter.
As much as you adore this thing, you should check out the Ibanez SRC6MS! It's a modern retake on the SRC6, their old answer to the Bass VI, already aimed at a more modern design, now with a 30-28" multiscale to lessen the tension on those high strings
Squier is Coming out with a 6 String Affinity Jazz Bass Guitar and What do you think of a 6 String Jazz Bass??? I would never Play a 6 String Bass Guitar Awesome Video of the Squier Classic Vibe Bass 6 💯💯💯💯💯💯❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥💥💥💥
I've had one of these for a while I've never been able to comfortably play it as a bass, so I recently bought some baritone strings and slapped em on there Now it's my baritone guitar!
I am mainly a guitar player, who plays baseboards when recording. I didn’t even know about these things. Just came across them and caught your review, excellent job by the way, it makes total sense. Why haven’t these been made like this since the beginning? I will definitely be checking out more of your content. I appreciate it. Well done. have you tried the Harley Benton with the standard tail piece? Seems to me that would take care of some tuning issues and intonation hopefully.
Had mine for 24 hours. Before it arrived I saw a lot of comment on poor intonation, particularly on str 6, but the whole guitar is stable so far and intonation is good out of the box with plenty of travel left on all saddles. (I haven't fitted the whammy!) I understand this may be because Fender has changed the standard string gauges from .024 to .084 to .024 to .100, and I'm sure mine are the latter. I am though now waiting for delivery of La Bella flats, .026 to .095.
I've been curious to see what your opinion on Squier's Bass VI would be ever since I watched your review of Harley Benton's. So glad to see this pop up in my recommendations.
I have this same model, you are spot on on the tuners and bridge, I may have to order a replacement bridge next. Also thinking about taking off the finish on the body and doing a seafoam green paint job for a surfcaster vibe.
1) Love the shirt! 2) That opening jam was tasty!! & 3) I'm on the fence for a VI, I really want one. As a guitarist that loves picking up the bassist bass and noddle'ling like it was a guitar, I think this would be a perfect middle ground for what I'm comfortable with.
I feel like the low strings are kinda floppy on it. they give off a pretty substantial buzz. thank for making this video because I'm thinking of doing some upgrades. I love the idea of this octave guitar. for bass players who play guitar it really is a good fit. I got the squire used for 425$, which is such a nice price to pay these expensive days we're living in.
Hey, awesome video. I am about to purchase a bass vi and I'm wondering, if you had to do that much work to the Squire to get it ready to play, would you rather have gotten the Harley Benton? And if so, would you do anything to that to get it ready to play or was it n better shape out of the box? Yu mentioned you had tried both so I'm curious which you preferred. Thanks!
Young Bruce Springsteen played one of those early Fenders in late 1960's with normal guitar strings, without a clue what his pawnshop "guitar" actually was.
What I would like to know is if there is any difference between the Classic Vibe version demonstrated here and the Vintage Modified version which I’ve got one of. They appear to be identical in their construction. However, something which a few owners of the Vintage Modified Bass Six mentioned that I have learned myself is that the output from the pickups could stand be increased. It hasn’t got the same outfit as most run-of-the-mill models. I should think that was one of the cons.
I've been considering getting one for some time, but leaning towards the Fender instead of the Squier. Do you think the standard tuners and bridge on the Fender model would have the same issues?
I am currently trying to fit La Bella Bass VI strings to it, but the thick e-string won't fit through that bridges' hole... Any ideas that don't invole a drill?
If you must have tubes you should get the Fender TR but I'd go solid state- Roland Jazz Chorus 120. I've owned a Fender DeVille and now I have the best Amp ever made. Roland JC 120
Thank you for the informative review. Found one for $310 at a pawnshop (this exact black model) but with its cons, I will have to pass. Your video saved me money and influenced my purchasing decision.
12:35 Gold 40th Anniversary ...p days? V days? Anyone mother tongue can help with it? Which model is he talking about? In general or he's talking about another model of Fender baritone? Thanks
This is perfect for a Bass Guitarist that is also a Lead Guitarist the transition will be automatic. I found one for $420 online and want to get a set of Rottosound roundwounds for it
9:34 Did you order the 52 mm StayTrem bridge? I think that’s the correct size for the Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI, right? I’m considering buying one of these guitars and definitely want to replace parts to make it optimal to play and enjoy.
Thinking about buying this Beauty but can you please tell me what strings I have to buy for this guitar? Do you need a standard set of 6 string bass strings? Or do I need some special strings for this?
This is basically a "project" guitar. You'd need to replace the tuners, nut, pickups, bridge, tremolo and electronics. The good news is that Staytrem is shipping outside the UK now. Don't get the Mastery bridge!
What clef is used to notate a bass vi? Since guitar is already an octave down treble clef, it seems outrageous to sound two octaves down from a treble clef part, yet, for a guitarist that's what would make the most sense.
@@skrillah6259 Is it, though? The ordinary guitar could be written in bass clef as its lowest note is only a third (or a second in dropped D tuning) above that of the cello, which is most often written in bass clef. The guitar is usually written in treble clef down an octave because that balances the use of ledger lines between the highest and lowest notes. I would argue that exactly the same argument could be made for the bass vi using treble clef two octaves down. The key may be to switch between bass clef when the instrument is being used as a bass (bass lines almost exclusively on the lowest four strings), and treble clef sounding two octaves down when it is being used as a guitar (chords, melodies, and bass lines using the full range of the instrument).
@@patrickhunter for old classic 60’s “tictac” sounds…like Wichita Lineman…my guess is they ran that through a guitar amp, in order to get that classic spring reverb tone. For more modern aggressive and distorted settings…perhaps a bass cabinet is better for the job…?
