Snagged myself a ~2012-2014 Made in Japan Fender VI :D (based on the JDxxxxxxxx S/N)

When I got it less than a week ago, it was unplayable, and still nowhere near where I want it to be. I believe I got pretty damn lucky considering what I paid (1900 cad), and I only realized how much these MIJ VI's go for after I took her home. It even came with a really interesting royal purple interior Ess & Ess vintage 70's Bass case, which I can't seem to find any information on...

The old guy I got it from sold it to me from his collection, and unfortunately it didn't come with anything it would have come with originally (case, tools, etc). He had the completely wrong strings on it when I first played it. La Bella's 105ga flats or something.

It felt so bad I almost turned it down but I had a feeling with some TLC and a proper set up, and a boatload of high end mods ofc lol, this thing was going to be so much fun to play.

He said he had posted it at 2700 but was tired of dealing with local ppl so he let me take it home for 1900. It seemed really fishy at first, and he didnt know the age of it even. Turns out its a late Made in Japan model and these things seem to fetch absurdly high prices on ebay and reverb, as high as 3000-4500 usd...

I guess these late year MIJ VI's are somewhat of a rarity and very well crafed. I tried a Squire CV and a Fender Ventura II VI, and they both felt horrible in comparison to how this MIJ one feels currentlly, and all I did was swap the bad string gauge choice to some La Bella VI 26-95 SS roundwound.

I've ordered some new tuning machines (Vintage style Gotoh's) and some gold hardware and neck plate for now.
Does anyone have suggestions for how the heck I can find pickups for this thing? the lack of information on how to mod this thing is baffling. Does it use strat pickups? tele? jazzmaster, mustang? jaguar? all of the above? Why do zero of the parts sites specify that it also fits a bass VI? it seems ive fallen into a rabbit hole of suddenly needing to learn all this stuff about guitars that I've never had any interest in lol...
Context: I've been a bass player for 23 years, and never really cared much for guitar, let alone elec guitars, so i have a feeling modding this thing is going to be hair pulling arrrgh

https://preview.redd.it/u2mfxodpzk4e1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87c39dcd4855fe193d47f996a6f3d4d1972b048e

Maw Maw - Going Down

I purchased a Bass VI (squier classic vibe) last year and it has really unlocked a certain sound for my trio. We recently released our full-length debut record which uses the Bass VI almost exclusively as the bass element on the tracks.

This song does a good job showing the way I use it most: Finger picked only (played like a bass) but with some extra chordal or color elements from the higher strings. The repeating little lick in each turnaround, for instance, is up on the top two strings while I'm able to stay rooted at the A (on the low E) position and keep my fingers nice and comfy. Love this instrument!

So I just got a gear4music 638 baritone 30”. Wondering who else out there has gotten one and what mods you would recommend to make on it? What strings are good? Locking tuners you used, etc. it came setup pretty well tbh but if I can make it play and sound even better I’d love to

For those of you that like country baritone guitar solos, here's another video of me playing one on my Gretsch (tuned like a Bass VI). https://youtu.be/vhir8_qK1Qw

Hey guys, here's a question: I don't like to have a thousand guitars for every different situation, I prefer to have one for every occasion. So I've been playing synth and midi guitars for quite a long time, now I realise that it's better to use audio signals. I also play in a cover band where we sing pop songs, but my personal project is something like metal EDM, so I need to be able to play both guitar and bass at the same time. The question is, what would you recommend? An Ibanez bass vi multi scale or a 9-string?

Hey all,

New Squire VI owner here :) I've long wanted one and they aren't super common in my country so when one turn up recently I decided it was time to press the button on it.

I'm mainly a traditional guitarist, have an old Korean Epiphone LP , modded to the moon n back - always tuned to C. I have a PRS Silver Sky, an acoustic bass and a couple of other guitars floating around too with a ton of pedals, laney aor50 and a sovtek mig100.

With the Squire VI, I've found an australian band that is a 2-piece (with drummer) and the sound/seem like a whole lotta fun. The VI signal is split and managed via an ABY setup and from what i can tell, the guitar side has a POG, possibly a harmonizer, fuzz and and EQ - and they bass side, im not 100% sure of.

Here's a couple of links to the sound im looking to deep dive into so any input around setup/config would be super appreciated. IT just works so well and sounds beautiful!

the band is called Roxferry.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xElauS1n0Ps

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/u3QRnnrOllI

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7o92AHxMvsQ

Just put them on my VI. Completely see what the hype is all about. A little less volume regarding output but the feel completely makes up for it.

I'm seeking humbucker pickups in a single-coil size. I'm coming across various names from tele-size to strat-size, and I'm wondering if anything will fit into my Classic Vibe Vi so long as it's "single-coil size". Thanks in advance.

Also curious if anyone has experience with the knockoff brand pickups. Those prices are tempting

I'm in a position where I can finally look towards buying a baritone guitar. I don't have enough experience of playing one to justify quite a big spend on a Squier or suchlike but have been looking at reviews of the G4M and Harley Benton JA.

In the UK they are both reasonably priced between £150 and £200

I'm just thinking of getting one to bingle about on for a couple of years to see if a more expensive one would be good for me to invest more money in.

Does anyone have either any experience or advice? I've thought long and hard as much as you can by watching reviews on YouTube and am leaning towards the HB JA.

Any input would be very welcome 😁

Anybody have an recommendations for bass pickups that will fit into the humbucker spacing on the Subzero Bass vi ??

I've got a 10-ish year old Mexican Fender VI, and I've ALWAYS had trouble with the intonation, is this just a part of the deal with the weird scale length? or can i do something about it?

its to the point where i don't even play it anymore because the low e string gets over a semitone out by the time i get to the 12th fret. I've tried fixing it but it seems i couldn't make it much better :\

I'm interested in buying the G4M 638 which is a 30" scale however I'm allergic to nickel, are there stainless strings I can buy that will fit this guitar?

Hey guys, I have some Bass VI parts for sale after deciding to go the route I did. All brand new.

WD Music custom Black Abalone Pickguard fitted for strat pickups w/ copper shielding.

Lace Sensor R/B/S single coils

Bridge stabilizer bushings, brass

1m pots

Knobs.

Take all of it, $225.

Free shipping

I know most guitar pedals awful on regular bass, sucking out the low end and all that. But I know bass vi’s have a bass cut switch, can I use guitar pedals on it with the bass cut? Do I even need to cut the bass at all?

https://soundcloud.com/x0777/dirty-room

A very rough (as in SM58 on a desk chair doing the recording) of a Squier Bass VI Classic Vibe into the following

OBNE Beam Splitter (three outputs)

1- OBNE Pardner with Death By Audio Space Bender in the Lasso (FX loop) [Pardner into Lasso] into a Boss Katana 112

2 - Way Huge Swollen Pickle into Boss Katana Artist 100, Afterneath in FX loop

3- OBNE Screen Violence (two outputs)

a- Caroline Hawaiian Pizza into OBNE Dark Star (crush setting)

b- DOD Gonkulator into OBNE Sunlight (comb setting)

I've noticed a ton of feedback when I use fuzz pedals. Granted, I'm playing in a tiny corner of my apartment, but it's not too much smaller than most practice rooms I've seen. You can hear it toward the end of the clip very clearly. Any good way to tame this?

As for the pedalboard, there is a lot of upheaval at the moment, and nothing's bolted down. I will say, though, in person, this sounds absolutely massive.

Hi everyone,

I've just bought a Squier VI and have already fallen in love with it - I'm a guitar player, but have always loved picking up a bass and melting into the heavy tones that a regular guitar just can't quite reach.

Out of interest, how do you guys fit a VI into your live band or recording set-up. Specifically, how do you adjust for the VI competing for the 'regular' bass player/ bass instrument.

To be specific, as an example, if I was to use the VI alongside my bass player's regular bass - that's gonna be a lotta bass. Very muddy I'd presume - or is it?

With recording, obviously a lot more lenience in separation of tones can be achieved compared to a live setting - but are most of you replacing the traditional 4-string bass with someone on a VI, or have you a clever way to have a four-string bass plus the VI in a live setting without shearing off the audience's epidermis?

Hi guys,

I was finally able to install the Guyker roller bridge into the Squier VI.

A few things you should know:

The action will be higher. To combat this, You will need a .50 Bass neck shim from Stewmac, as the 1 degree is too much of an angle. You don't need to use a shim if you like a high action. The shim will also fit the entire neck pocket, just trim the sides with scissors to fit.

Intonation of low E is fixed due to the increased range of the saddle and the increase in break angle.

The bridge pins actually fit securely inside of the couplings, no need to install the bridge couplings that come with it.

I have yet to actually change the stock strings to my LaBella Flatwound 26-95 strings. The tension is so much better, no more floppy strings, along with tuning stability.

The tremolo function is not affected negatively in any way.

Raise your pickup heights as well.

You won't regret it.

I apologize as I know this horse has been beat to death time and time again, but I need clarification. I just purchased a Squire Classic Vibe Bass VI off offerup for about $300 after pining for one the last two years! This thing is in pristine condition but absolutely needs to be set up and have some things changed out as others have stated.

It definitely needs a new bridge but I don’t have the money for a Staytrem or Mastery like most suggest. So I’m looking at the Mustang or American pro JM/Jag bridge instead. Anyone else do this with success? I’d like to still be able to use the trem as well but if I have to lose it so be it. Not sure if this will affect that (I’m a noobie with guitsr mods of any kind).

I’ve got a lot of buzz and unusable frets from around the 14th fret and up. I’m hoping a bridge, new strings, and then a setup will solve this.

So I've done a little bit of research into the base VI's, and from what little I've gathered, supposedly some of the best iterations of these types of Bass', were made in the 90s.

That brings me to a base I came across locally. It's in mint condition apparently, and it looks as such from the photos I've seen. I'm not entirely sure how the serial numbers on these things work yet or their designations or models, etc., but this one is an MIJ Fender VI from the late 90s in immaculate condition. From what I've read, this version of the Fender VI has very good build quality and especially so in terms of the neck and its general playability.

Any opinions out there on this?

Tomorrow I'll be checking it out 12 PM Eastern time. He was asking for $2100 originally, and I thought about it for a few days after speaking with him online, and I even saw it today at the $2100 price tag, when suddenly in the late afternoon it switched to $2700... I can only presume that this person increased the price tag even though it has been listed for already a month, in a weird attempt to make people feel better about potentially talking him down to like $2100-$2200? I've definitely seen this tactic for anybody who knows what these things actually go for I wouldn't really fall for this. Especially when it comes to vintage instruments with these high (relatively) price tag tags.

Anyways that aside, would a 90s MIJ fender and near perfect condition command anything over $2100 (CAD FYI, so $1450-1500 USD-ish)?

Thanks all.

Just looking for inspiration to explore this instrument a little bit more. I currently play through a Laney Solid State Amp (the glowing red one with 2 channels) through a Harley Benton cab. Sounds good with regular guitars but not amazing with the rogue VI.

Any suggestions are welcome. Cheers

So the Hellcat comes with Ernie Ball Hellcat VI Custom Strings (90-75-56-44-34-24) which are not made anymore.

I was recommended using La Bella 767 6N, which have some strings a bit heavier (95-75-56-44-35-26), but they are difficult to find where I live, and I'd rather not risk tuning the instrument to a string gauge I might never be able to buy again in the future.

So I was thinking on mixing the Daddario EXL156 (84-72-56-44-34-24) with Ernie Ball 2837 (90-74-54-42-30-20). I would use low E and A from Ernie Ball and the rest from D'addario. I would only have the A string a tiny bit thinner.

My doubt is: is mixing strings not recommended?

Or on the other hand: would Ernie ball strings alone be good for this instrument?

Hello all, my band is going to be going from seven string guitars to 30in scale baritones. This isn't too bad for us considering we play Drop G (we play riffs like As I Lay Dying and Bleeding Through) and I already have a bass vi. My issue is that I don't really want that airy single coil sound and would much rather have humbuckers. Is there a spot where you can get humbucker conversion pickguards? I tried Obscura MFG and they were out of the double humbuckers