Update! Squier Bass VI string - options?

jellybelly

Hi guys, just bought a second hand Bass VI to use in the studio and maybe taking bass duties on occasion. It's great to start with but as seems to be the issue many have had, the E and A strings aren't particularly useable. The consensus seems to be La Bellas (and I would tend toward round wounds for riffier, more guitary stuff - I imagine turning down the tone would get me a flatter, bass-like sound) but is there anything that will cost me less than £50 for a set? I appreciate that they'll last longer than a set for guitar but it's a big outlay for an instrument that cost me £200! All the other Bass Vi sets seem to be 24-84 or around that, which I think the squier has stock, but would they have the same problem? Any thoughts or experiences please advise. Cheers!

Moe_Zambeek

Put La Bellas on mine (currently for sale!) and they are much better. 40 quid on Amazon...

UnclePsychosis

Guys at basschat have had success ordering custom sets direct from labella at a lot less than the retail sets cost here.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/225750-strings-for-squier-bass-vi/

Good luck!

ICBM

It's not a big outlay when you consider the quality of instrument you end up with for under £250.

jellybelly

ICBM;721036" said:

It's not a big outlay when you consider the quality of instrument you end up with for under £250.

This is a very good point - I prioritised mods for it in my head last night - I've not had a right good go at intonating it but if last night's band practice is anything to go off, it needs it! Coped ok playing lead stuff but chords were off and those bottom two strings were all over the place!

So strings first, then maybe a Stay Trem bridge if intonating is a problem. Pickups surprisingly good, electronics all seem sound, so could have a very decent instrument for just over £300 - I'd be happy with that! Cheers guys!

jellybelly

Hi guys, thought I'd give a quick update on my Squier VI. I went travelling for a few weeks and when I came back I had a wide StayTrem bridge and set if La Bella round wound strings waiting. I took the advice from the BassChat forum above and got a set delivered from over the pond for less than $32, about £23? I'd be surprised if you could get standard bass strings for that!

Bridge on and stung up, it's a different instrument. The bottom two strings are definitely 'bass' and should be played as such. The four higher strings have some proper fender 'twang' to them if you want it, but you have to either get the action quite high or pick with a little less vigour. Some beautiful thick-sounding guitar tones, arpeggios and three-note chords. I'm going to fine tune the intonation once it's 'settled' and I might put a small shim to help get the action down while maintaining the break angle.

The electronics all seem sound - not ground-breaking but lots of options that's for sure! I will probably keep an eye out for cheap jaguar pickups and get some if I see a good deal - a seymour duncan quarter pounder would rock in the bridge for example!

The spark of inspiration for getting one was the bassist playing with Sun Kil Moon when I saw them a couple of months ago - really understated performance by the whole band but that guy truly used it as a mix of guitar and bass depending on the song. Going to keep playing but don't like risking my amps speaker - I'm rocking an MJW bassman/jtm style amp so I think hooking that up to a bass cab is the way to go!

Will post some pics if I get chance - thanks again for those who offered advice!