# Fender bass vi for metal?



## MoNsTaR (Sep 21, 2009)

hey guys.
the other night i saw a fender bass vi and it got me thinking, could you use it for metal or would it be too muddy?

for people who dont know, its pretty much a 30" jaguar tuned like a bass, so its an octave lower.


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## leftyguitarjoe (Sep 21, 2009)

If you get the right strings it should sound fine. I tuned my RG to drop B (5 string bass low B) with octave4plus strings and it sounded great.


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## XeoFLCL (Sep 21, 2009)

Those are great for tuning to like F# and for covering meshuggah songs, with the correct pickup swap of course


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## signalgrey (Sep 21, 2009)

i use a Burns Barracuda. Same basic design. I actually really like the tonal difference, its great for layering tracks.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Sep 22, 2009)

I've wanted one of these for some time, for that very reason.


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## signalgrey (Sep 22, 2009)

its really bright and twangy and sounds like a James Bond theme song on its own, which is pretty cool, BUT layered with crunch humbucker stuff it sounds awesome. great tonal balance.


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## Variant (Sep 22, 2009)

I don't think the Bass VIs or the Hellcats have the bridge pup close enough to the bridge for decent articulation. The new seven string 30 1/3" Ibby SR on the other hand...


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## Tom Drinkwater (Sep 22, 2009)

I have played a Danelectro 6 string bass for around 12 years now and while I can't make it sound great for metal my brother in law sure can. He is a savage riffer. He actually played the guitar through a 75 watt Fender Jam amp and a Boss Metal Zone and it sounded like the baddest guitar ever. I can imagine that a Bass VI would sound at least as good but it will depend almost completely on your technique/approach. I wouldn't mess with pickups until you get familiar with the instrument. If you are trying to get a bigger bass sound out of it try different amps, my Behringer 300 watt keyboard amp (15" speaker) makes it sound huge with stock pickups. Look at the Shadow outboard preamp too. That will give it more tonal flexability.


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## amassivetree (Sep 22, 2009)

I've wanted one of those for years. Sometimes I want to build a metal version : same 30" scale, Kahler instead of the fender trem, and EMGs instead of the single coils. But practically, since I've switched to eight strings, there is probably not much of a point, although this would be a badass guitar if someone put it together.


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## vampiregenocide (Sep 22, 2009)

I tried a Hellcat once, sounded great clean I imagine it'd be killer for jazz, as for metal I don't know.


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## MoNsTaR (Sep 22, 2009)

thanks for the replys.

I've been thinking about building a 7 string, 28 or 30" scale and doing it an octive lower. 

that way i can set the pups closer to the bridge and have humbuckers XD


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## InCasinoOut (Sep 22, 2009)

Ernie Ball Music Man Silhouette Bass Guitar Guitar

Have you checked out the Music Man Silhouette bass guitar before? Seems like it would be more suitable for metal than a Fender bass vi..


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