9 posts
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Post by heymrbassman on Apr 5, 2017 8:02:13 GMT
First time poster so apologies if I've done anything wrong. I was wondering whether anyone had any thoughts about the GuitarBass VS? A review or demo would be great. Many thanks
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Post by JAC on Apr 12, 2017 22:21:15 GMT
Hi heymrbassman, sorry I can't be of any help on the VS, but I will say that you haven't done anything wrong and thanks for joining!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2017 22:35:10 GMT
If I'm not mistaken our member Cory is planning on making a you tube review on that one. I might be wrong though ...
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tcss
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by tcss on Apr 23, 2017 11:57:48 GMT
Here is Cory's demo:
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9 posts
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Post by heymrbassman on Apr 27, 2017 6:45:30 GMT
Hello again. Thank you for your replies. I have since seen taken a punt and ordered one and also watched Cory's demo and review. It has cost a little more than I hoped to ship it out to the Antipodes but I still think it's a good deal. I hope Cory's fingerboard/neck concerns are an anomaly but those notwithstanding, it seemed to play well and sound good. I come from a bass background but I am intrigued by its possibilities - I guess it's like a baritone on steroids!
I will let you know what I think after I receive it and have a play.
Thanks again.
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8 posts
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Post by nuwisha on Apr 28, 2017 8:42:41 GMT
If you put a 0.095 low e it solves the floppiness problem. And that keeps it in "bass" territory. Or dadario xl 157 strings (13-68?) fit if you want to use it as baritone for easier cords(I've got mine setup like that at moment but did try the 0.095 and either works fine. Note: Just make sure its a short scale 0.095 or you'll to clip and unwind it a bit or it's to long and to much winding round the tunners).
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Post by JAC on Apr 28, 2017 11:46:41 GMT
Hello again. Thank you for your replies. I have since seen taken a punt and ordered one and also watched Cory's demo and review. It has cost a little more than I hoped to ship it out to the Antipodes but I still think it's a good deal. I hope Cory's fingerboard/neck concerns are an anomaly but those notwithstanding, it seemed to play well and sound good. I come from a bass background but I am intrigued by its possibilities - I guess it's like a baritone on steroids! I will let you know what I think after I receive it and have a play. Thanks again. Looking forward to you reporting back
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9 posts
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Post by heymrbassman on May 3, 2017 7:51:59 GMT
So, the HB GuitarBass turned up in Australia on 1 May, which is good because that's where I live!
First impressions: it's lovely. I have no complaints about the way it looks or feels. I take Cory's point about the frets - they are a little sharp on the bottom edge of the fingerboard but I haven't noticed any problems when playing normally.
I haven't taken it for a full drive yet - I have a fairly modest Peavey combo and Trace Elliott practice amp but the eletctronics seem to work fine, at least for my purposes. I am actually getting back into my playing after a bit of a hiatus so I'm slowly getting everything working again - I'd be curious to see how it would go in a band setting.
Out of the box, the setup seems pretty good. I think the intonation on the low E is a bit off. I'm no expert but I think it's the saddle rather than the neck - the other strings seem well intonated and there seems to be no fret buzz or dead notes. I might get my local shop to have a look - I don't want to stuff anything up and they worked wonders with my old Aria four-string recently. If anyone has any tips about Tune O Matic bridges, I might be tempted to tinker myself.
My early take on these GuitarBass/Bass VI style instruments is that one should treat them like a guitar. I have been trying to play it like a bass but it lends itself more to a guitar. The problem is, at least, in the short-term, I don't play guitar. However, I relish the opportunity to broaden my range as a musician and start thinking more in terms of full chords.
In short, I am very happy with this purchase. I had to pay more in shipping than I had hoped but for about AUD$250 for the instrument itself, I think it is excellent. If I can get it passed the Big Boss, I would definitely buy more HB instruments. (Indeed, if the new batch has a fingerboard made out of something other than Rosewood, my next bass may be the Fender-like fretless.)
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8 posts
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Post by nuwisha on May 3, 2017 18:09:00 GMT
Out of the box, the setup seems pretty good. I think the intonation on the low E is a bit off. I'm no expert but I think it's the saddle rather than the neck - the other strings seem well intonated and there seems to be no fret buzz or dead notes. I might get my local shop to have a look - I don't want to stuff anything up and they worked wonders with my old Aria four-string recently. If anyone has any tips about Tune O Matic bridges, I might be tempted to tinker myself. The E string that comes with it is a 0.084 (at least thats what came on mine). Stick a 0.095 on there and that sorts out the low e problem. I had same problem (intonation and floppyness) and that sorted it. Wouldn´t go larger than 0.095 cus then you´d need to change other strings to sort out tension over neck (and a bit of change of tone), but with the string set that comes with it a 0.095 fits nut and no need to change other strings.
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9 posts
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Post by heymrbassman on May 16, 2017 6:39:00 GMT
Thanks for the advice, Nuwisha. I was just wondering what strings you went with. I've seen that La Bella makes strings for the bass vi but they might prove a little hard to source in Australia. They also seem to say that the 95 is a B - will that prove a problem for the nut? I guess not from your experience. I see Fender and D'addario make strings for the bass vi but they look to be 84 as well. Anyway, any brands you can recommend would be greatly appreciated; I will try to buy them online - perhaps with Thomann with a larger, future order. Thanks again.
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8 posts
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Post by nuwisha on May 20, 2017 18:20:58 GMT
I´ve got mine set up as baritone (b-b tuning,with dadario xl157. 0.014-0.068). Neck holds tesion and intonation fine. I use mine more os a guitar than a bass set up like this though.
When I had it as standard "VI bass"(e-e tuning) I found an ernie ball nickel wound steel 0.095 single (had to unwind and clip as it was long scale, but same as nickel wound fender vi strings. A 95 fits ok. Perhaps a 100 would as well, but don´t think wouldnt go to 105 or larger without needing to file a bit) for low e and standard Fender 250B6 String Set for the rest of the strings. So strings for bass would be 024,034,044,056,072(fender set),095(ernie ball). That also was fine for neck tension, intonation,etc.
You can mix and match to make up your own set though (check out kalium range for tension ideas so you don´t mess neck up with to much tension). Pesonally I like all strings to be the "same" (i.e. if one is nickel plated steel, than the others are. Or all cobalt. Or all flatwounds. Or all roundwounds. Don´t like the diffence in "tone/feel" from string to string) but that could just be me. Take into account that because our model has a tune-o-matic style brigde (not a trem like origional) your going to be able find many more strings fit it than original (trem needs longer strings).
If you go with either the fender or dadario bass vi sets they´re both with 084 low E, so your gonna have to switch low e for larger (or shim neck, or live with "floppy e"...). The la bella bass vi (and hellcat) sets are .026, .035, .044, .056, .075, .095 (not that different than fender/dadario sets with different lower e...). I´d love to try Kalim strings (they´ve get everything from from 12-53 to 35-150. All the options xd),but shipping to europe...ufffff.
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Post by kodiakblair on May 21, 2017 10:26:19 GMT
nuwishaWhy are you suggesting a neck shim to help with floppy E ? It'll give a lower action but have zero effect on the tension of low E.Heavier strings doesn't always help either. The .175 low F# set up I had felt bloody awful. For better tension,La Bella flatwound would take care of any floppiness. heymrbassmanWhat's the low E intonation trouble ? Is it flat or sharp ? You only get minimal adjustment on Tune-o-matic bridges. If it's flat and I hope it is, try raising the action for low E,when you fret a note the string travels more so will naturally sharpen a small amount.
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DefJef
THBC Moderator
Due to musical differences I've decided I can't work with myself any more.
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Post by DefJef on May 21, 2017 10:52:16 GMT
nuwisha Why are you suggesting a neck shim to help with floppy E ? It'll give a lower action but have zero effect on the tension of low E.Heavier strings doesn't always help either. The .175 low F# set up I had felt bloody awful. For better tension,La Bella flatwound would take care of any floppiness. heymrbassman What's the low E intonation trouble ? Is it flat or sharp ? You only get minimal adjustment on Tune-o-matic bridges. If it's flat and I hope it is, try raising the action for low E,when you fret a note the string travels more so will naturally sharpen a small amount. Depends which end of the pocket you shim for action kb but, yeah, I'm curious about the intonation and where on the neck it is a problem.
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