Squier Classic Vibe 70s Bass VI

lasermonkey

Maybe not that different from the Vintage Modified series, but worth mentioning. Certainly the bridge is different and the tort scratchplate looks considerably better.
And no apologies for posting in the guitar section, as very few people seem to use them as basses!

Gerz6558

I won't be selling my VM Bass VI just yet.  Early indications are that this CV line is just a rebadged VM line.

Octafish

Hmm I've often been tempted by one of these. Played one in a shop a few years ago and actually got on quite well with it, spent about 40 mins playing about on it. Obviously I was playing it as a guitar and with a pick. Having said that, I would probably be better off with the Squier Baritone (my mate has one in that lovely shit-burst finish) which is basically the same neck and body.

Henrytwang

Apart from the colour,(mine is white), it looks the same as my five year old Squier BassX11.

Funkfingers

Octafish said:

I would probably be better off with the Squier Baritone 

No vibrato headaches. Yay!

thegummy

Gerz6558 said:

I won't be selling my VM Bass VI just yet.  Early indications are that this CV line is just a rebadged VM line.

I think sadly this could be very true, would explain why they're cheaper too.

They could be taking advantage of the phenomenal reputation classic vibes have online by just using that name for more of their range.

mart

Henrytwang said:

Apart from the colour,(mine is white), it looks the same as my five year old Squier BassX11.

You have a Squier 12-string bass? From five years ago? Colour me intrigued.

Octafish

Funkfingers said:

Octafish said:

I would probably be better off with the Squier Baritone 

No vibrato headaches. Yay!

Yeah, I'm pretty 'vibrato tolerant' and use them a lot on both my Jazzmaster and Strats, but I've never got the point of the one on the Bass VI.

dazzajl

Octafish said:

Funkfingers said:

Octafish said:

I would probably be better off with the Squier Baritone 

No vibrato headaches. Yay!

Yeah, I'm pretty 'vibrato tolerant' and use them a lot on both my Jazzmaster and Strats, but I've never got the point of the one on the Bass VI.

I loved the trem on mine. Tuned A to A, or B to B and played as a baritone it added a gorgeous shimmer to those deeeeeeeep and rich chords

Henrytwang

mart said:

Henrytwang said:

Apart from the colour,(mine is white), it looks the same as my five year old Squier BassX11.

You have a Squier 12-string bass? From five years ago? Colour me intrigued.

Oh dear, senior moment. I obviously had too many sherries. Perhaps  a 12 string bass would be a great idea for next years new Fender range though.

Octafish

dazzajl said:

Octafish said:

Funkfingers said:

Octafish said:

I would probably be better off with the Squier Baritone 

No vibrato headaches. Yay!

Yeah, I'm pretty 'vibrato tolerant' and use them a lot on both my Jazzmaster and Strats, but I've never got the point of the one on the Bass VI.

I loved the trem on mine. Tuned A to A, or B to B and played as a baritone it added a gorgeous shimmer to those deeeeeeeep and rich chords

Yeah, I can imagine it being more effective on something tuned in baritone range, but not so when low E to E. I've played the Squier baritone (with fixed bridge) a bit, sounded great in A to A. Did you do any modifications (other than string change) to your Bass VI to go A-A/B-B?

dazzajl

It had the bridge replaced with one of the comion upgrades @Octafish but it’s just the lighter gauge strings for the tuning. 

I bought it a to a, thought I wanted it deeper so put it back to E tuning. Didn’t like that at all and went back to A. In E it felt neither one thing or the other to me, not nice to play as a bass and not able to make chords like a guitar. 

All depends on what you buy one for though. 

stimpsonslostson

“All depends on what you buy one for though” 
THAT’S the kicker with these things. I’ve bought and sold one twice. 
I couldn’t work out what it was FOR!
A proper set up and a set of specific LaBella VI strings made the world of difference to it- it felt good to play, but I couldn’t work out what to do with it. 

They’re great fun & I’d love to have one lying around just to mess around on, but it does occupy a weird space between my “real” bass and a “real” guitar. So it never got gigged. 

Octafish

dazzajl said:

It had the bridge replaced with one of the comion upgrades @Octafish but it’s just the lighter gauge strings for the tuning. 

I bought it a to a, thought I wanted it deeper so put it back to E tuning. Didn’t like that at all and went back to A. In E it felt neither one thing or the other to me, not nice to play as a bass and not able to make chords like a guitar. 

All depends on what you buy one for though. 

From playing the Bass VI and Baritone I definitely approach them as drop tuned guitars, so I guess the Squier Baritone would be a better bet. My mates baritone came from the shop tuned B-B, which I believe is wrong in terms of Squier's factory spec, should be A-A and ceratinly felt much more suited to that tuning. I can feel I'm slowly talking myself into buying one ...

dazzajl

Octafish said:

dazzajl said:

It had the bridge replaced with one of the comion upgrades @Octafish but it’s just the lighter gauge strings for the tuning. 

I bought it a to a, thought I wanted it deeper so put it back to E tuning. Didn’t like that at all and went back to A. In E it felt neither one thing or the other to me, not nice to play as a bass and not able to make chords like a guitar. 

All depends on what you buy one for though. 

From playing the Bass VI and Baritone I definitely approach them as drop tuned guitars, so I guess the Squier Baritone would be a better bet. My mates baritone came from the shop tuned B-B, which I believe is wrong in terms of Squier's factory spec, should be A-A and ceratinly felt much more suited to that tuning. I can feel I'm slowly talking myself into buying one ...

Unless you have a specific job for something in this vein, you’ll end up with a lovely toy. And pretty quickly you’ll know just why there are millions of guitars, hundreds of thousands of basses and just dozens of baritones. 

Don’t let that stop you of course. Buy used and buy sensibly and you’ll get to enjoy one for as long as you like without any cost and then pass it on to someone else to experience 

Octafish

dazzajl said:

Octafish said:

dazzajl said:

It had the bridge replaced with one of the comion upgrades @Octafish but it’s just the lighter gauge strings for the tuning. 

I bought it a to a, thought I wanted it deeper so put it back to E tuning. Didn’t like that at all and went back to A. In E it felt neither one thing or the other to me, not nice to play as a bass and not able to make chords like a guitar. 

All depends on what you buy one for though. 

From playing the Bass VI and Baritone I definitely approach them as drop tuned guitars, so I guess the Squier Baritone would be a better bet. My mates baritone came from the shop tuned B-B, which I believe is wrong in terms of Squier's factory spec, should be A-A and ceratinly felt much more suited to that tuning. I can feel I'm slowly talking myself into buying one ...

Unless you have a specific job for something in this vein, you’ll end up with a lovely toy. And pretty quickly you’ll know just why there are millions of guitars, hundreds of thousands of basses and just dozens of baritones. 

Don’t let that stop you of course. Buy used and buy sensibly and you’ll get to enjoy one for as long as you like without any cost and then pass it on to someone else to experience 

Yep, it would mainly be a toy and I can't see myself using one in my bands as I'm the main guitarist and we have bass players + I've got a P bass copy for demoing/home use and I'm most at home on a four string playing fingerstyle. I have to say I have found baritones can be quite inspiring song writing wise. As you say best to keep an eye out for something 2nd hand, although they don't often come up.

stimpsonslostson

Octafish said:

dazzajl said:

Octafish said:

dazzajl said:

It had the bridge replaced with one of the comion upgrades @Octafish but it’s just the lighter gauge strings for the tuning. 

I bought it a to a, thought I wanted it deeper so put it back to E tuning. Didn’t like that at all and went back to A. In E it felt neither one thing or the other to me, not nice to play as a bass and not able to make chords like a guitar. 

All depends on what you buy one for though. 

From playing the Bass VI and Baritone I definitely approach them as drop tuned guitars, so I guess the Squier Baritone would be a better bet. My mates baritone came from the shop tuned B-B, which I believe is wrong in terms of Squier's factory spec, should be A-A and ceratinly felt much more suited to that tuning. I can feel I'm slowly talking myself into buying one ...

Unless you have a specific job for something in this vein, you’ll end up with a lovely toy. And pretty quickly you’ll know just why there are millions of guitars, hundreds of thousands of basses and just dozens of baritones. 

Don’t let that stop you of course. Buy used and buy sensibly and you’ll get to enjoy one for as long as you like without any cost and then pass it on to someone else to experience 

Yep, it would mainly be a toy and I can't see myself using one in my bands as I'm the main guitarist and we have bass players + I've got a P bass copy for demoing/home use and I'm most at home on a four string playing fingerstyle. I have to say I have found baritones can be quite inspiring song writing wise. As you say best to keep an eye out for something 2nd hand, although they don’t often come up.

@redrighthand has one in the classifieds now, looks like he’s made some sensible mods too. 
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/147944/fs-ft-fender-ed-obrien-strat-670-cabronita-tele-350-upgraded-bass-vi-250-leeds#latest

£250 looks a bargain to me. 

Octafish

stimpsonslostson said:

Octafish said:

Yep, it would mainly be a toy and I can't see myself using one in my bands as I'm the main guitarist and we have bass players + I've got a P bass copy for demoing/home use and I'm most at home on a four string playing fingerstyle. I have to say I have found baritones can be quite inspiring song writing wise. As you say best to keep an eye out for something 2nd hand, although they don’t often come up.

@redrighthand has one in the classifieds now, looks like he’s made some sensible mods too. 
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/147944/fs-ft-fender-ed-obrien-strat-670-cabronita-tele-350-upgraded-bass-vi-250-leeds#latest

£250 looks a bargain to me. 

Hi, thanks for the heads up, that does look very nice although I think I'm erring more towards the Squier Baritone than Bass VI, plus I haven't got the funds yet.

Henrytwang

I believe that the late great Jack Bruce used one at one time. I’m basically a mediocre guitar player and use my Bass V1 to play bass lines . As received from the manufacturers I found that the low E string flapped about a bit in low E tuning, someone on a Fender forum recommend beefing up tthe low E slightly, I did this, ( can’t rember what gauge I used but it wasn’t that much thicker than the original), and it works fine.