Bass VI options on the cheap?

[HarlowTheFish]

The TB64 body is literally a direct copy of the Bass VI body with a hole through it, so it’s not much of a stretch if you like VIs.

It also means it is possible to pick up the guitar. How would anyone pick up a guitar without a handle?

Steve Vai is that you?

They do mosrite style and a couple more too i think this isnt even the cheapest. Probably most similar, it even has a Jag style rhythm circuit but no controls so not sure how that works.
Hear the pickups might just be "ok nothing special" but whether you could fit other ones inside those covers idk - its likely they are just jag-like underneath.

Yeah my thing is I've played a half-dozen or so Eastwoods and they've all felt kinda cheap and sticky -- like I can't move around on the neck properly and when I'm trying to pick I can feel the finish grip my picking arm. Just playability-wise and reliability-wise (with tuning stability, feel of the pots/switches, etc), I'm not a huge fan.

[HNB]

I like the Schecter Hellcat. I had a Bass VI and sold it. I like the Schecter more.

20170407_143555 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170407_143405 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

[jorri]

The TB64 body is literally a direct copy of the Bass VI body with a hole through it, so it’s not much of a stretch if you like VIs.

It also means it is possible to pick up the guitar. How would anyone pick up a guitar without a handle?

Steve Vai is that you?

They do mosrite style and a couple more too i think this isnt even the cheapest. Probably most similar, it even has a Jag style rhythm circuit but no controls so not sure how that works.
Hear the pickups might just be "ok nothing special" but whether you could fit other ones inside those covers idk - its likely they are just jag-like underneath.

Yeah my thing is I've played a half-dozen or so Eastwoods and they've all felt kinda cheap and sticky -- like I can't move around on the neck properly and when I'm trying to pick I can feel the finish grip my picking arm. Just playability-wise and reliability-wise (with tuning stability, feel of the pots/switches, etc), I'm not a huge fan.

I see mixed reviews for sure. But i wonder if the price point i can say that same thing about squiers?

Its the perfect anti-Vai guitar for the handle though. Or maybe what he uses when playing in his secret indie garage band, where his bandmates have tought him how to unlearn and play loose, no solos, only two note chords.

[MattK]

Just to illustrate the Teisco body thing - here is a VI (Fender Japan 2012), a Teisco TG-64 (guitar version of the TB-64) and Teisco NB-4 (4 string but same body shape as TB-64). Only the upper horn and the cutout are different.

[jorri]

Thanks for the comparison.

The handle and pickguard change its style wildly, like an optical illusion.

Have to say i do prefer the eastwood pickguard. The teiscos had these pyjama-stripe guards i find strange.

[burpgun]

I like the Schecter Hellcat. I had a Bass VI and sold it. I like the Schecter more.

20170407_143555 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170407_143405 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

Hellcats are definitely no longer a low cost alternative. New ones cost a grand and Schecter appears to found a way to produce enough that used ones are much harder to find. I just looked on Reverb and there were zero used for sale.

[HNB]

Dang that sucks.

[Zork]

Inspired by this thread I just bought a pitbull 30" neck and a Musima bass body (for 30€...) to put together another Frankenstein. I'll let you know about the neck when it arrives.

[Lost In Autumn]

Yeah my thing is I've played a half-dozen or so Eastwoods and they've all felt kinda cheap and sticky -- like I can't move around on the neck properly and when I'm trying to pick I can feel the finish grip my picking arm. Just playability-wise and reliability-wise (with tuning stability, feel of the pots/switches, etc), I'm not a huge fan.

+1. I have an Airline Tuxedo that a friend sort of gave to me. For a guitar that lists for a grand, is's a serious piece of junk: korean Artec pickups, cheap hardware and loose frets. It totally feels like the pawnshop guitar it was modeled after in every aspect. It's easily the worst guitar I own and that includes a 2000 Squier Standard Stratocaster that I bought for $100 and a 1988 Stage CS 327 stratocaster copy with a plywood body. Based on my experience with the Tuxedo, I'd hesitate to buy anything from Eastwood, no matter how much I'd really love to have a Mosrite style guitar- I just don't trust their quality control.

[dezb1]

Went to see the Cure in Glasgow last year and after witnessing the glorious Bass VI sound live I bought on of those Gear 4 music Subzero Rogues



a year on I still think its an awesome instrument.

[kgbAttack]

Went to see the Cure in Glasgow last year and after witnessing the glorious Bass VI sound live I bought on of those Gear 4 music Subzero Rogues



a year on I still think its an awesome instrument.

I went to the same concert good times when we could still travel to see gigs heh

[FIREBOT]

danelectro "baritone" is a great option. they are bass vi being marketed as baritones. slap some bass vi strings on and set it up. they are hands down my favourite bass vi option.
also the strings i would recommend for the dano are the ernie ball 2837. i hate ernie ball strings but for some reason that string/guitar combo is magical. plus they are pretty much the cheapest bass vi strings you can find.

I'm iffy on the Danos, I had a buddy in high school who owned like 5 and none of them ever really clicked for me. It's not a bad option (and that semi-hollow bari looks sweet); I guess I'm just a bit biased that it's not gonna do what I want. How does it sound in doing bass lines and chordal stuff in a punky-proggy-rock context?

In defense of Danelectros... they have had several owners since the 60’s, with several sources of manufacturing. The current Korean Danelectros are really nice. I bought a 59 NOS+ on a whim because a combination of a sale and a gift card made it super-cheap, and was caught off-guard with the quality. I bought a Fender AR XII, love it except it’s weight. They are heavy guitars. I took a chance on a Danelectro XII, since I like the 59 so much. I couldn’t love it more. I haven’t played the Fender since the Danelectro showed up. I ‘ve never played their baritone though...

[Lost In Autumn]

It also means it is possible to pick up the guitar. How would anyone pick up a guitar without a handle?

Steve Vai is that you?

They do mosrite style and a couple more too i think this isnt even the cheapest. Probably most similar, it even has a Jag style rhythm circuit but no controls so not sure how that works.
Hear the pickups might just be "ok nothing special" but whether you could fit other ones inside those covers idk - its likely they are just jag-like underneath.

Yeah my thing is I've played a half-dozen or so Eastwoods and they've all felt kinda cheap and sticky -- like I can't move around on the neck properly and when I'm trying to pick I can feel the finish grip my picking arm. Just playability-wise and reliability-wise (with tuning stability, feel of the pots/switches, etc), I'm not a huge fan.

I see mixed reviews for sure. But i wonder if the price point i can say that same thing about squiers?

Its the perfect anti-Vai guitar for the handle though. Or maybe what he uses when playing in his secret indie garage band, where his bandmates have tought him how to unlearn and play loose, no solos, only two note chords.

I was given an Eastwood Airline Tuxedo by a friend- they currently retail for $999.99. They are in no way comparable to Squier Guitars, the Squires, with the possible exception of the Affinity Series, are superior in nearly every conceivable way, from the hardware, to the woods and finishes. My tuxedo is a piece of junk, with crap tuners, pickups and the like, with loose frets and endless buzzing. it plays like the $100 pawn shop special it was modeled after, only at 10 times the price.

[jorri]

Steve Vai is that you?

Yeah my thing is I've played a half-dozen or so Eastwoods and they've all felt kinda cheap and sticky -- like I can't move around on the neck properly and when I'm trying to pick I can feel the finish grip my picking arm. Just playability-wise and reliability-wise (with tuning stability, feel of the pots/switches, etc), I'm not a huge fan.

I see mixed reviews for sure. But i wonder if the price point i can say that same thing about squiers?

Its the perfect anti-Vai guitar for the handle though. Or maybe what he uses when playing in his secret indie garage band, where his bandmates have tought him how to unlearn and play loose, no solos, only two note chords.

I was given an Eastwood Airline Tuxedo by a friend- they currently retail for $999.99. They are in no way comparable to Squier Guitars, the Squires, with the possible exception of the Affinity Series, are superior in nearly every conceivable way, from the hardware, to the woods and finishes. My tuxedo is a piece of junk, with crap tuners, pickups and the like, with loose frets and endless buzzing. it plays like the $100 pawn shop special it was modeled after, only at 10 times the price.

This is good to know. I do wonder, since many cool shapes.
There is a brand called Italia offering similar models (at least weird Italian models, perhaps not the Japanese) that seem better.

[Lost In Autumn]

I see mixed reviews for sure. But i wonder if the price point i can say that same thing about squiers?

Its the perfect anti-Vai guitar for the handle though. Or maybe what he uses when playing in his secret indie garage band, where his bandmates have tought him how to unlearn and play loose, no solos, only two note chords.

I was given an Eastwood Airline Tuxedo by a friend- they currently retail for $999.99. They are in no way comparable to Squier Guitars, the Squires, with the possible exception of the Affinity Series, are superior in nearly every conceivable way, from the hardware, to the woods and finishes. My tuxedo is a piece of junk, with crap tuners, pickups and the like, with loose frets and endless buzzing. it plays like the $100 pawn shop special it was modeled after, only at 10 times the price.

This is good to know. I do wonder, since many cool shapes.
There is a brand called Italia offering similar models (at least weird Italian models, perhaps not the Japanese) that seem better.

I'll give Mike credit though: I more or less quit playing at 28, in 1998; I stopped playing altogether in 2012, when I moved to the midwest, then back to Philadelphia 6 weeks later, with just a bicycle, 2 suitcases of clothing, my laptop and camera, leaving everything else behind, including my guitar, bass and amps. Somehow, I ended up on the Eastwood/MyRareGuitars email list and their funky designs captured my imagination. I eventually got back to playing a couple years ago, and I have to give them and their excellent marketing content credit for stoking that desire, although ultimately, it was cutting off the distal phlange of my middle finger on my fret hand that made me obsess about playing so much that I bought a guitar, New Years Day, 2019. (i now have 17)