Bass VI

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vvv
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Bass VI

Post by vvv » Wed Feb 08, 2017 4:13 am

I've recorded it (Revelation RJT 60-B) now onna cuppla songs thru a little bass amp (Ampeg BA 108), mic'd with an SM7b (into a Brick then dbx160XT).

I'll be 'sperimenting, of course, but wonder has anyone had any particularly good results doing something odd in recording a VI?

So far I have used the onboard EQ and pups to get bass and heavy rhythm sounds thru the amp. I've yet to try a guitar amp, DI, or pedals ...

It's an interesting axe.
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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:05 am

Are you using it for bass or "low guitar" duties? I've only tracked the VI a few times but I've done lots and lots of sessions with baritone guitar. The Bass VI sits in a weird spot between being a real bass and a low guitar so depending on your use some bari guitar tricks will apply.
The biggest trick that I've found is to make it bright. It seems counter intuitive but using the bridge pick-up and solo/low cut switch and then high passing on the pre really helps the baritone sit in the mix. It's less an issue when the bari is covering the lows end but if there's also a bass in the mix you really need to clear out the lows so it doesn't clutter things up.
My best bari sound has been an old teisco hound dog taylor model through a Regal piggy back amp. The Regal is basically a deluxe with a 15" jensen. The bari works better with a big speaker even of you're cutting tons of lows.
When I use it to cover bass type duties I usually run it through a bass amp, usually a 60's Traynor with a 15 closed back cab. If the cab isn't playing nicely I'll use an amp DI like the Radial JDX.

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Post by Drone » Wed Feb 08, 2017 8:00 am

I don't have a Bass VI, I have an Epi baritone strung with Ernie Ball Bass VI strings, so I have two buckers rather than 3 single coils. I keep it open tuned mostly. Things I do:

1. Used it with a tiny Dano Honeytone amp which has a 6" speaker I think or maybe 8, mic'd close, turned down low, using a magic Russian Muff.

2. Use it thru a very shallow 15" with a bottom shelf, I picked up, bass sounds amazing using whatever amp I have. Mic'd normally (like 1-2" off the front)

3. Thru a pair of reggae scoops and an old 100W tube head. (using a generic kick mic about 12" back)

Sometimes I do it thru more than one of these combos at once. I find with the open tunings you sorta have to ear tune it to get the beat frequencies matching up best, often slightly off from what my tuner says.

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Post by vvv » Wed Feb 08, 2017 12:07 pm

Cute kid!

Thanx for the idears, gents.

I have so far used it as the sole instrument in one track where it is bass, slightly higher doubled bass, and heavy rhythm. The other songs I used it on as bass with chords, and a lead.

It's a fun thing, and I note that, as with the other Chinese guitars I have recently acquired (a Xaviere hollow-body Les Paul-style, and a Revelation Jazzmaster-style) the action is very low and fast. I also have a shite Tele, and a SX Custom Thinline Tele, where the action is average.
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Post by Drone » Wed Feb 08, 2017 12:24 pm

Didn't they used to call the Dano the Tic-Tac bass?

My overall feeling about action, is a low action is easy to play, but won't sustain for as long as a higher action. I played a Ripper or Grabber bass once, which had the worst action ever, but the sound was great, horrible to play for a long time though.

So if there's a fast punky song, I'll want an instrument with low action, if it's a slower more moody song, where you want it to ring, something awful with higher action is the ticket.

I even experimented building this 3 string bass out of a 1x4. It's great fun for playing, but I really need to sand that neck, as I got a nice big splinter out of it (it's just a piece of untreated lumber). Don't know if it will ever make it on to a recording, but it's fun.

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Post by kslight » Wed Feb 08, 2017 4:49 pm

I have been playing bass vi as my main axe for a several years, for everything...as a bass, as a low guitar, as a guitar...

Anything goes really, if you play it as a bass use a bass amp. If not, use a guitar amp...

Pickup settings are big...I like neck and middle for bass. Neck or middle for low guitar...bridge only is fairly guitar like.

I put Lace Alumitones in mine. Awesome.

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Post by vvv » Wed Feb 08, 2017 10:17 pm

One of the marketing points on these Revelation guitars is their Entwhistle pick-ups, which do sound great, like a smoother, hotter P-90 ...

Other things I look forward to trying on the VI is slide, and the Ebow ...

I'm a big Mark Sandman fan, so I like his "low guitar" stylings.

Drone: yes, re the tic-tac, but also the VI. As I understand the concept, it is played along with and doubling an upright ... I googled and found some cool, seemingly authentic, history and info, here.
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Post by Drone » Thu Feb 09, 2017 6:18 am

vvv wrote:One of the marketing points on these Revelation guitars is their Entwhistle pick-ups, which do sound great, like a smoother, hotter P-90 ...

Other things I look forward to trying on the VI is slide, and the Ebow ...

I'm a big Mark Sandman fan, so I like his "low guitar" stylings.
So you got a six string bass, so you can mimic the guy that played one with two strings? :mrgreen:

Waterstone do a Sandman bass, bit it's a 4 string with fancy pickups. Sandman was using two half P-Bass pickups to give him two pickups on his two strings, don't know if he serially wired them or in parallel. I think the key points are the fact the frets were worn down almost flat, he played it with a slide, and the action was high enough to get the doinging sound he got.

I've played regular bass with slide, and there's just too many overtones from the strings you aren't playing as you slide, if you don't minimize the number of strings, you'll need all your fingers for muting and then some :mrgreen:

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and none of that has anything to do with six strings, ooops.
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Post by vvv » Thu Feb 09, 2017 6:41 am

Nope, got a VI because it's another kind of bass. I also have a cuppla A/E's, including a fretless, a cuppla fretless, including a headless, actives, passives, full scale, short scale, 4 headless, and use wrapped, half and round and flat-wound strings, etc.

I've been looking for a cheap upright electric for a cuppla years, but people don't sell 'em used, or if the do don't reduce the prices on Ebay ...

I play bass in my current band (typically a hacked-up '63 P or Hohner headless), altho' I started as a guitar player, and I still play that frequently, as well as my latest love, keys.

I have been playing two string slide bass for years; I have a Cort headless, a bad Rickenbacker copy, and an Epi Gothic Firebird that I keep tuned that way.

A lot of The Hungry Drunx tunes are two-string, as are tunes I've done on my own and with various projects, many linked below.

I am about to record a tune with the Rickie this week ...

Yeah, I researched that years ago - he played a cheap Japanese bass; cool that someone's marketing a version!

Sandman tuned it C & G, I believe. I go between a fifth and a fourth interval, ex., A & D. (I know that's not a technically accurate description - "octave and a fourth", perhaps?)
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Post by Drone » Thu Feb 09, 2017 7:15 am

There was a sekova upright in GC a little while back, lemme check.

Damn it's gone.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Sekova ... ht-Bass.gc

You could look at Steve Wishnevsky for doing you an upright he does them now, he also does those upright tiki basses which look cool. Or same area, Kevin Reibold does his Twiggy basses which are EUB.

http://wishnevsky.com
http://wishbass.com
http://krappyguitars.com
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Post by vvv » Thu Feb 09, 2017 9:16 am

I've been looking for like, a Stagg or Dean, but I don't wanna pay US$450 for one. I can't imagine playing it all that often ...

Oh, I also have a U-bass, what is very cool.
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Post by Drone » Thu Feb 09, 2017 9:53 am

Maybe give Kevin a look then, depending on what you need to do, he'd pretty reasonable, I think under $450 covers pretty much everythign he does except the massive touchstyle things.

http://krappyguitars.com

From his pricing:
TWIGGY EUB (electric upright bass) Standard scale length of 34", 1 EMG style blade pickup, 1 vol. Adjustable height post and clamp block included.
3 string -- $200 plus shipping.
4 string -- $250 plus shipping.

NEW PRODUCT !!! NEW PRODUCT !!! NEW PRODUCT
StrapOn EUB (electric upright bass) Standard scale length of 34", 1 EMG style blade pickup, 1 vol. Strap buttons placed for vertical play
4 string -- $300 plus shipping.
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Post by vvv » Mon Feb 27, 2017 2:06 pm

Cool.

Inna meantime:

Bass VI:
Cry for Me
High Noon

3-string Slide bass:
The Clean up Man

2-string Slide bass:
Drinkin' Irish

Fretless:
Relevant

All on this record, here:
https://vlayman.bandcamp.com/album/rpm-2017

about what some stuff is funny (I think) you can read here:
https://vlayman.wordpress.com/2017/02/2 ... -amatuers/
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