The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: hieronymous on January 24, 2014, 12:19:37 AM
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30" scale, tuned E-E like the classic Fender Bass VI:
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eb_page14.php?year=2014&cat_id=2&series_id=51&data_id=88&color=CL01 (http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eb_page14.php?year=2014&cat_id=2&series_id=51&data_id=88&color=CL01)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img268/327/ylvl.jpg)
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That's one of those things that when you see it, it is so obvious that you wonder why they hadn't thought of it before. The baritone guitar market HAS to be bigger than the 6-string bass market.
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That's pretty cool looking. Only thing is, I could so very easily just pass it off as a "normal" 6 string bass at a glance.
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That's pretty cool looking. Only thing is, I could so very easily just pass it off as a "normal" 6 string bass at a glance.
And I would think it could be tuned as such. Possibly with some floppiness on the low end, and we all hate it when our low end gets floppy.
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And I would think it could be tuned as such. Possibly with some floppiness on the low end, and we all hate it when our low end gets floppy.
My Alembic Stanley Clarke 5-string was originally tuned BEADG - it's 30" scale, and the owner had problems with the low B - so much so that Alembic strongly discourages it. I restrung it EADGC so no problems for me.
I kind of like this new Ibanez. I have one of the mid-'90s MIJ Bass VI reissues - still haven't really come to grips with it, it sounded great when I used it in rehearsal (using it as a "normal" bass, playing with fingers) but I usually opted for "regular" 4-strings.
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The problem with a 30" scale B is that in order to get enough tension, the string diameter has to be so large that it becomes noticeably out of tune with itself on that scale length (inharmonicity). Rick Turner had a good explanation of this somewhere.