NBVID: Squier Bass VI...

avj · Post by **avj** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 6:03 pm

Thomas wrote:In related news when I was playing The Last Of us on ps3 I really loved the music, especially a very haunting guitar sound that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Skip to a week or so later and I was watching a making of for the game and in the soundtrack section there is the dude recording the music and the amazing sound was.... you guessed it, a bass VI.

I've searched high and low for a video showing the Bass VI in this and haven't found one, but I have now watched many Makings-Of videos for The Last Of Us and the soundtrack is amazing. That is definitely a Bass VI in the song from 00:00 - 1:40 of the video.

[youtube][/youtube]

Full soundtrack here (song in question from above video starts at 18:52):

► Show Spoiler

As far as string gauge goes, I would agree that the .084 low E shipping with the instrument isn't ideal, but not completely useless. It's definitely buzzy, but there's a nice sort of trashy sound that comes with it.

I have a set of La Bella flatwounds (not installed yet) from Elderly, which sold out very quickly after they received another shipment. Before I found those, I purchased a couple of the D'addario sets that I now realize are probably the exact strings that came stock. I wonder if the plan was to use a .025 - .095 set as the specs show but they were unable to source them before publishing and went with the XL156 sets instead.

Hopefully there will be more readily-available options for Bass VI sets other than La Bella and Circle K. As paul_ hinted, Fender would be stupid not to jump on this.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 6:21 pm

It's in the Revision 5 made feature legnth docu: GROUNDED: Making the Last of Us. You get it with the special edition (or you can download it via other means...)

avj · Post by **avj** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 3:37 pm

Thomas wrote:It's in the Revision 5 made feature legnth docu: GROUNDED: Making the Last of Us. You get it with the special edition (or you can download it via other means...)

Great, thanks! I did find it here:

Bass VI appearance around 52:40.

avj · Post by **avj** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 3:42 pm

I also put the La Bella flatwounds on my Bass VI a few days ago. They're fabulous.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 7:13 pm

The d'addarios are stupid. Why the fuck they ever went with a 84 for the low e is absolutely beyond me. Another option for Brits that I believe MAY fit are the pyramid Gretsch Bari strings from thomann for Â£30. Cheaper than the la bellas. They might be slightly too long, though... The earnie ball bass vi strings I bought are a little too short for by Gretsch. I'm happy to chuck them to any short scaler willing to cover the postage, though. They go down to a 90 on the low e.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 11:24 am

Are these tuned e > e and can you play chords on them? What's a good example of one of these being used in a song?

avj · Post by **avj** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 12:10 pm

dezb1 wrote:Are these tuned e > e and can you play chords on them? What's a good example of one of these being used in a song?

Typically tuned E-e, yes. The low E is the same as a bass, but with the pickup switching and strangle switch it has its own interesting timbre. Chords can be played.

Examples are Joe Perry on Aerosmiths's "Back in the Saddle" (main riff) and Lennon on The Beatles' "Helter Skelter". This dude does a great job covering the Bass VI part:

[youtube][/youtube]

I'm currently using mine with Roots and Ruins in place of a traditional bass. We're recording an EP now, and earlier in the thread I posted a quick one-take run with the Bass VI obnoxiously loud in the mix.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:41 pm

I'll post a link to a rough mix of one of my band's songs; I use it as a standard bass through most of it with some octaves, power chords and heavy overdrive in there too. Just on my phone now and can't nab the Soundcloud link

There are a couple songs where I use standard open chords and less common chords too... generally while providing a bass rather than lead role.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 9:37 pm

dez1b wrote:What's a good example of one of these being used in a song?

They were mostly used as basses over the years, the Aerosmith example is [depressingly] probably one of the best character-instrument examples in popular mainstream music. In addition to aforementioned use on Helter Skelter, Lennon played the Bass VI on all the songs McCartney played piano on for Let It Be as they tracked as much live as possible for the film. In the film you can see him playing it on Let It Be and Long and Winding Road.

Jack Bruce made heavy use of one purely for bass in the Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and early Cream before he got the EB0. His was the earlier 1962 design before they got the Jaguar pickups.

[youtube][/youtube]

Also:
[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead plays their basslines on a Teisco TB-64 which is the same thing, most of the time she plays guitar though

[youtube][/youtube]

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:17 am

I was watching the blonde redhead 4ad sessions on YouTube the other day and spotted the teisco and was wondering if it was a bass vi type or a weird baritone thing.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 2:53 pm

Here ya go - http://soundcloud.com/thehightide/88-m ... ough-mixes
As mentioned, it's Schecter Hellcat VI (with single coils), not a Squier/Fender VI, but... same idea

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 8:52 pm

just ordered mine, thomann have black ones in stock (but no other colours). everywhere else seemed to be guess-timating mid-late january (which is pretty fucking ridiculous- i can only imagine squier seriously underestimated the demand for these).

expecting to have to lay out for a staytrem bridge in the new year, and will need some heftier strings i reckon. looking at these, .26-.95: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/La-Bella-Fend ... 1251190421

expensive, but hopefully will do the job. need to get a tort guard too, like so:

George · Post by **George** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:45 pm

I wonder if this would be possible as a 12 string

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 10:20 pm

George; scratch-building a new neck? Anything's possible, multi-string basses exist.
You could add extra strings like on here.

Or, add Banjo tuners for the octave strings.
Or, use 6 strings tuned in octave pairs like half a 12 string; EE AA DD (maybe an open tuning, like DD GG DD?)

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 12:33 am

Doing something like this as a 12-string would pose some difficulties... I think it COULD be done, but it would be difficult to play and actually fret both strings in a course due to wildly different diameters. the nut width would likely be an issue too; they're mildly cramped as a 6, a 12 would be worse. The vibration width of the heavy strings may well not clear the lighter strings too.

But, as mentioned, 8 and 12 string (double and triple string courses) basses are on the market... but the necks tend to be kinda wide on them.

avj · Post by **avj** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 7:24 am

stewart wrote:expecting to have to lay out for a staytrem bridge in the new year, and will need some heftier strings i reckon. looking at these, .26-.95: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/La-Bella-Fend ... 1251190421

Those are precisely the ones I'm going to go for once the current set of La Bella flats are used up. Flats feel and sound great, but not the best fit for my current sound needs.

There's a dude from OSG named SneakyT (I think he poked into a VI thread here too) who makes excellent pickguards for both the Fender and Squier Bass VI; his work looks great. I really would love a vintage-looking red tort for mine, but after tossing out for the Staytrem and the flats, I figured I'd wait a bit. I think I'd rather spend a few bucks dicking around with pickup changes first.

avj · Post by **avj** » Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:05 pm

Here's a quick live recording from rehearsal last night, featuring the Squier Bass VI in the mid-right of the stereo field. I'm fairly certain I was on neck+middle pickups here -- my favorite.

Roots and Ruins - Small Fires

I'm using the effects chain from page 1 of this thread, but I swapped the nano Hot Tubes out for a SansAmp GT2, which I've used with great success on bass before. I also ditched the Dyna Comp for now, as the GT2 does enough to flatten things out in a musical way.

Amp-wise, the Orange AD30 hasn't been cutting it when used a the giant, boomy basement (no surprise there), so I switched to using one of the other guys' Ampeg SVT7PRO head into my Acoustic 4x10 cabinet.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:23 am

avj wrote:
stewart wrote:expecting to have to lay out for a staytrem bridge in the new year, and will need some heftier strings i reckon. looking at these, .26-.95: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/La-Bella-Fend ... 1251190421
Those are precisely the ones I'm going to go for once the current set of La Bella flats are used up. Flats feel and sound great, but not the best fit for my current sound needs.

There's a dude from OSG named SneakyT (I think he poked into a VI thread here too) who makes excellent pickguards for both the Fender and Squier Bass VI; his work looks great. I really would love a vintage-looking red tort for mine, but after tossing out for the Staytrem and the flats, I figured I'd wait a bit. I think I'd rather spend a few bucks dicking around with pickup changes first.

Yeah, there's a guy selling vintage tort ones on eBay, they're about $80/Â£50 though, compared to $50/Â£30 for black (or thereabouts). If I'm laying out Â£65 for a bridge and Â£36 for a set of strings I might have to live with the white guard for a bit. I also want/need a staytrem bridge and a replacement (locking) tailpiece for my VM Jag, which I've been putting off...

Anyway, the VI is currently out for delivery to my parents' house, so with a bit of luck I'll have my paws on it this evening.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:29 am

Track sounds good, I'd have just assumed that was an ordinary bass of some sort. I'm really looking forward to getting hold of this, it has the potential to be quite revolutionary for me.

Rushkoff · Post by **Rushkoff** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 11:00 pm

FAO Stewart : LANK

FURTHER LANK

Black and tort in person is extremely lovely and the guard has a nice quality to it! In love with this thing.