ShortScale.org

holy hell that bonobo has a massive sack.

I don't find the Stagg ugly at all but it's a very different thing to any of the other choices.

I'm definitely keeping an eye out for either the Rick or Guild. While I love the Jazzmaster VI idea I'm leaning towards it not being practical enough and a bit too risky.

Test out a Pawn Shop VI if you can find one; it'll give you someVI insight.

ZenJenga wrote:Those 4003s sound really good, but their necks are a strange shape. Very chunky even from the 1st fret. Also: stereo inputs.

I've read a few comments about the neck being parallel all the way down. I checked some specs and it has much less of a taper than a Fender. Slightly wider at the nut but much narrower at the 12th fret. It still gets wider as you go up the frets but by much less. That's one of the things I want to see how I get on with when I get to try one next but I'm fairly sure it will feel fine.

Ankhanu wrote:Another good option in the VI front is to go with a Schecter Hellcat VI

Ankhanu wrote:Test out a Pawn Shop VI if you can find one; it'll give you someVI insight.

Looking at it briefly the Hellcat is about £700 here which is close to the bottom end of building a Jazzmaster VI from parts. For some reason the Hellcats have never quite appealed to me. Maybe too much time looking at Fenders.

If I come across one of the Pawn Shop VIs I'll definitely try it. I loved fredo's Custom Shop VI enough to know that I'd enjoy having one so it'd be more of a refresher than anything else. I'd actually be hoping I didn't like a particular guitar enough to want to buy it because the 'pawn shop' changes are ridiculous.

cur wrote:would this thing fit your fretless neck? $35
gfs clearance

I think if I go for something in the typical Fender style I'd rather just buy a complete bass and swap the neck for my fretless one or buy a loaded body. There aren't a ton of parts to get and I'm sure it could be done fairly cheaply but if I'm going for the boring option I'd rather take the easy way out.

DGNR8 wrote:Does the VI have a trem? I guess the strings would snap like a suspension bridge cable. What about Mustang bass--too short?

I've never enjoyed playing any 30" scale basses. They seem fun for a couple of minutes and then I wish they were just regular scale. An original VI has a trem. I'm not sure if I'd actually want one but for string sourcing it's probably best to keep it close enough to the standard design.

i don't think ric basses are necessarily all they're cracked up to be. definitely play a couple, you might find you prefer the jazz.

James wrote:I've never enjoyed playing any 30" scale basses. They seem fun for a couple of minutes and then I wish they were just regular scale. An original VI has a trem. I'm not sure if I'd Actually want one but for string sourcing it's probably best to keep it close enough to the standard design.

A stoptail (like on the Schecters) is actually probably best for string sourcing. There are nickel, stainless and flatwound sets made by LaBella for the Schecters that are pretty available, and the cheapest VI strings available; ~$7/pk for nickel or stainless and $14/pk for flats.

Contrast that against the strings long enough to fit a VI with a trem in the same gauge; the LaBellas are $50, and with Fender having pulled their production of the 5350 set, there really aren't many other 0.25-0.95 sets on the market anymore.

0.84 sets can be had for about $10-15, but, IMO, the VI really benefits from having 0.95s.

That said, a trem on a VI is pretty groovy.

i played a pawnshop vi and it was fun as hell and sounded good to me

Pens wrote:Personally I think the Guild sounds like a great choice. It's a nice bass and cheaper than the Ric, and it looks fucking cool also.

This. Old Guild's are stellar quality, and in my experience some of the best bang-for-the-buck American made instruments out there. Plus, as you've stated, you'll have no problem selling it in the event that you just can't bond with it and wish you'd bought the Ric.

i have a musicamaster fretless bass neck that aen gave to me, if i was near it i would ship that lil fucker off to you with the batz bronco bronco i also got from aen for free. it wouldn't be exactly what you want but it would have alot of the basics covered.
fretless.
vintage fender
shortscale lurve.
actually, give me a few days to see if i can get someone over there to locate the bits and pieces to see if its still all there, if it is i will be more than glad to send it to you for the price of shipping. i wouldn't imagine it would be that much, but its been a long time since i have shipped to europe.

Rickenbacker, man. I don't even know how you can think of anything else.

honeyiscool wrote:Rickenbacker, man. I don't even know how you can think of anything else.

Probably does it like this:

HNNNGGGGGHH

If you have a fretless neck that you like, it seems a waste to me not to find a cheap body to stick it on so that that at least gives you something to play fretless on. A cheap, loaded Fenderey body can't be that hard to come across, even if it is an Encore or something that you can stick better pickups in and have a functional fretless.

A Bass VI would be a lovely thing to have, but I don't know what sort of a thing it is. If you find yourself playing more four string bass than guitar, might you not end up finding yourself playing more four string bass than Bass VI?

I quite like the Guild because it's cool and a wee bit odd. I have a bit of an aversion to Rickenbackers, maybe because I can pretty much assume that everyone else loves them, which maybe puts me off a bit. I dunno. They seem a bit ubiquitously desirable and I like liking odd things for odd reasons.

The upright seems like a nice idea, but again it sounds like what you want is a nice four string, fretted bass.

Having said all that, the Jazz Bass you have set up with fretless neck and zebra sticker looks the tits to me. I'd put that together and never play anything else ever again.

Also, give us a shout about the Matamp if you've more concrete thoughts on selling it. Might be able to sort something.

robert(original) wrote:actually, give me a few days to see if i can get someone over there to locate the bits and pieces to see if its still all there, if it is i will be more than glad to send it to you for the price of shipping.

Thanks for the offer, Robert, but I'll have to pass. I just gave Amanda a Hello Kitty Strat as part of the dividing of our stuff and although I've always loved the Maru bass it would remind me too much of that.

BacchusPaul wrote:Also, give us a shout about the Matamp if you've more concrete thoughts on selling it. Might be able to sort something.

Will do. I'll write up a bit about it in the next few days.