Talk:Fender Bass VI

Removed text
its range was limited

which is just plain wrong. My Fender VI (MIJ 2005) has 21 frets for a range of more than three octaves E-C#, almost four octaves in fact and a semitone larger than many guitars. My 1960s Guild also has 21 frets but only four strings for a range of exactly three octaves E-E. The relatively large range of the original Fender VI was one of its advantages when compared to other basses of its time. Drop heads to take the E string down to a D, and 5-string basses with a B string below the E string of the classic P bass, both came much later. Andrewa 03:56, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Jet Harris
I removed this from the article:

" [NB: This is DEFINITELY incorrect - Jet used the Jaguar tuned down a tone on "Diamonds" and probably on "Scarlett O'Hara" - but "Main Title Theme" and "Besame Mucho" were CERTAINLY played on a Fender Bass VI - trust me.]"

If the person who added it is correct and a source can be found, incorporate it back in an encyclopedic manner. --Varco 00:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Spinal Tap
I'm 98% certain that scene in Spinal Tap where Nigel says "Don't look at it!" It was a light blue Fender Jaguar and definitely not a Fender VI. Being as they don't show the entire instrument (and only the neck) this could be a toss up. Just given the year this film came out 83'? I think the Jag is your best bet. thanks, Delirium63.251.31.10 15:51, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Nope, it's a bass VI. You can clearly see that there are three pickups and that the shape of the pickguard is like on a bass VI.85.226.39.105 (talk) 15:18, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

Agreed - it is a Bass VI, the actual instrument was recently listed on eBay by the same company that provided all the guitars for the movie. From Guitar World (issue unknown - it has Spinal Tap on the cover): "Immortalized in the famous guitar-room sequence of This Is Spinal Tap, Nigel Tufnel's foam-green Fender 6-string bass remains yet to be played. Vintage expert Norm Harris, of Norm's Rare Guitars, determines from the instrument's serial number that it was made in 1966. He adds that, "It's an odd one, because it has clay dot markers."" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.32.229 (talk) 22:49, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Mademoiselle Nobs
Roger Waters never played the Bass VI on this song and it's clearly visible he's playing David Gilmour's black strat on the live at pompeii vid. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.56.186.69 (talk) 15:31, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

John Barry / James Bond
How can there be no mention of the theme music of all the James Bond movies? John Barry composed for the Bass VI, I'm not sure who the player was. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.160.197.95 (talk) 05:01, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Shorter scale and thinner strings?
Unless physics has changed since I learned it, it is impossible for an instrument in the same tuning to have both a shorter scale and thinner strings. The extra two strings would be thinner, but given the scale and the tuning (E-E) the usual four would in fact have to be fatter than usual.121.44.111.12 (talk) 12:20, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

Physics (not really my field) mandates mass, not necessarily thickness, be higher for a string to be tuned to the same pitch as another but in a shorter scale instrument, given the same tension (which is not necessarily the case). The thing is, as far as I know, original six-string basses have special-made strings in which a denser core (also proportionally thicker within the total diameter of the wound string) compensates for 1) the shorter scale length and 2) the thinness of the total string, and this with some help from a lower tension (when compared to common 34" or thick-stringed, Gibson style 30" basses). 151.66.229.104 (talk) 21:56, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

The fallacy is assuming that the string tension is the same. It's not. Similarly, I have a Fender Jaguar Baritone Custom which uses the same strings as the Bass VI, and the same tuning, but it has a shorter scale length. Very simple: The string tension is a little less. Andrewa (talk) 05:55, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Proposed merge
The Bass VI and the Jaguar Baritone Custom are different instruments, but obviously related. Basically, the Bari is a "retro" instrument that recalls a past that never actually happened. The Bass VI is what happened. A few later Baries were called Fender Jaguar Bass VI Custom which is a far more accurate description. See http://tunings.pbworks.com/w/page/22530564/about-Fender-and-names for more on this (scroll down to the last section). Andrewa (talk) 05:55, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

FWIW I'm against merging those 2 entries, theres enough confusion between Baritones and 6 string basses already, merging them would undo everyones good work Tim Bucknall 8/3/12 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.69.227.86 (talk) 17:34, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes, agree. This merge proposal is a silly idea, and I'm finally going to remove the templates from both articles. These two instruments have different bodies, different necks and different electrics. Ummm, what's left? The machine heads and strings. Only! And I guess they look and sound a bit the same... if you're far enough away...! Why not just merge all six-string basses into one article while we're at it? (-> Andrewa (talk) 01:19, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Pickups
OHO!

I have always assumed that the Jaguar pickups appeared first on the Bass VI, as the Bass VI (1961) appeared before the Jaguar (1962) ( http://www.fenderjaguar.net/vintage.htm but which contradicts the current infobox date). But the current article also reads in part ''There were two different types of pickups used on different models: Early models had three Stratocaster type pickups which were mounted in special chrome rings and were controlled with three slider switches. Later, Jaguar type pickups were used, and a bass-cut switch was added to the controls.'' So it's possible that the Jaguar pickup appeared first on the Jaguar (tada) and was then used on the Bass VI too.

At the risk of WP:OR I had a quick look at some body shapes. Note that the scale of these photos varies... it's just the body shape they illustrate. And I've left out the Telecaster (1950) which doesn't seem relevant shapewise, and many other Fender models of course.

The Bass VI looks at least as much like a Strat as a Jag, while the Barri is very much a Jag. The P and J basses are even more Strats than the Bass VI is, and notably the Bass VI is more of a Jazzmaster than the J bass is. And the Bass VI originally had Strat pickups, and no strangle switch, and never anything like the Jazzmaster electrics, including but not only pickups.

In fact electrically, the Jaguar combines the Bass VI and Jazzmaster electrics. They both came first.

AFAIK the Bass VI always had the Jazzmaster/Jaguar floating tremolo.

And fascinatingly, I don't know when the Jag style strangle switch and Jag style pickups were added to the Bass VI, or even whether those two mods happened at the same time. Andrewa (talk) 22:03, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

sorry to nit-pick, & so long after your original post, but the telecaster is '51-'52, strictly speaking, & that precision is the '57 shape.

duncanrmi (talk) 15:16, 4 September 2021 (UTC)

Scott Lee Andrews
[https//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fender_Bass_VI&diff=prev&oldid=573168436 This] does appear to be a legitimate addition to the article despite it being immediately followed by an edit from the same IP which another IP then reverted  as a joke. No other conributions from either IP to date.

See http://www.fender.com/en-AU/artists/profile/exitinternational/ which gives both Andrews and Exit international some cred and identifies the band as a Bass VI user.

See also http://themmp.tv/features/april-feature-exit-international/ which identifies Andrews and Fudge Wilson as the two bass players, with Adam Thomas on drums rounding out the trio, noise, synth and percussion thrown in by everyone doubling up, and vocals from Andrews and Wilson - and no guitarist. Andrewa (talk) 19:17, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

See also Exit International, an unrelated article. Currently we don't have articles on Exit international (the band) or on Scott Lee Andrews. Both seem to me to at least scrape through the GNG, but probably under Notability (music) (see the note at the bottom) the Andrews title should be a redirect to the band article. Andrewa (talk) 18:16, 22 September 2013 (UTC)