OK, sounds like you dig the visual spectrogram comparison vibes. What else do you want to see?

@gregpepper6053

6 ай бұрын

Love to see how drums and bass mix together before and after guitar and or keys are mixed in!

@MartinMCade

6 ай бұрын

I'd like to see this applied to different pickups, wood types, bolt-on vs. set neck vs. neck-through, and any other things that guitarists (and bassists) argue about where their "tone" comes form.

@RyanIsche

6 ай бұрын

I'd like to see this kind of analysis with how a bass fits in with the whole band.

@BrickDavis

6 ай бұрын

I kinda want to see like a breakdown of a segment of a song, like the chords makeup with the melody and baselines and how all that is working with the undertones.

@sync1216

4 ай бұрын

I would love to see a comparison between different plucking positions on the same bass, with some kind of distortion after. To see just which overtones make the differences that I hear and what I can do with an eq before distortion.

Cure’s in between days Is a great example of a bass and bass vi having their own space.

The bass VI champion has been and still is Robert Smith of The Cure. In some of their songs there are two bass VI’s plus a regular bass playing at the same time. Not only in studio recordings but live in concert too. They are currently playing shows in Latin America.

@WilDBeestMF

4 ай бұрын

I love how the VI is used in Fascination street. What a brutal tone, it's killer.

@eboethrasher

2 ай бұрын

@@WilDBeestMF Funny thing is, it isn't. Just in the video, for looks. It's all guitars in that song, and a standard bass. If you listen to the individual tracks, you can hear that Simon's using the MusicMan in the studio like he was until that point.

@WilDBeestMF

2 ай бұрын

@@eboethrasher ??? Check it, man. It's double tracked.

@zoeherriot

2 ай бұрын

The other band that used it a lot is “The Church” of under the Milky Way fame. Their album Priest=Aura it’s the main bass on the album. Also Horsegirl - which is new 3 piece made up of 3 girls doing early 2000’s style indie guitar rock use it as the main bass too.

This is amazing! I’d love to see other spectral comparisons. Round vs flat vs tapes, pbass muted vs unmuted, jbass with fingers at neck vs bridge pickup… wow!

@ArleyMcBlain

6 ай бұрын

one more: four G on the same neck; 15th fret of E string, 10 on A, 5 on D, and open, what does that different timbre look like!?

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Yeah man! I think I’m going to use the spectogram comparison a lot more. Such a fun way to see sounds. Glad you dig it!

@Hayden_Walchshauser

6 ай бұрын

@@philipconradmusichow about some stingray action too?

@brunocyclist

6 ай бұрын

@@philipconradmusic please please please do single coil P vs split coil P!

@martinheath5947

6 ай бұрын

​@@brunocyclistGreat suggestion I'd love to hear a 'forensic' A/B analysis of the differences

The low E on an electric bass is actually 41hz and the first interval is an octave, its hard for pickups to accurately pick up (if you will...) those sub frequencies which is why you see the peak at 82hz (first order harmonic) of what you are playing. Thanks for covering the Bass VI as it is a weird forgotten about piece of history!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

You would know this! Thanks dude. Glad to see you on the channel. Hope the gig went well! ⚡️

@eboethrasher

2 ай бұрын

Cure fans never forget about the Bass VI ;)

I would recommend adjusting the tone knob in conjunction with the strangle circuit. Fender doesn't tell you this in the specs, but the strangle circuit actually inverts the tone knob, making it more effective at cutting bass frequencies.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Nice!

@jdjk7

4 ай бұрын

I also think the strangle switch works well with bass EQ on amps. Engaging the strangle switch and then boosting the bass at the amp gives you a different, tighter sound than normal.

@trevorjalla

4 ай бұрын

@@jdjk7 I'd wager that'd be because the amps preamp can't generate as much low mid harmonics (since you've shelved the low fundamental early in the signal chain). Subsequently raising lows via amp EQ only boosts the note fundamental - far less low harmonics to clutter the tone.

This was super cool man. Love this. Cool to see the colors and to hear the isolated overtones. Really appreciate how you break it down and explain things too!

Super quality content as always. Inspiring a crowd of smooth bass enjoyers to expand their knowledge evermore. Keep up with the vibes.

Thoughtful and insightful. Thanks for the always great content. These are such cool instruments and seeing/hearing the spectral analysis comparison with the other basses was a real treat!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much!

I love how you nerded out on the science of the fundamental timbre of each bass. Actually a super cool demonstration and I totally agree with the mustang, I feel like all short scales kind have that HUGE attack and just a slow fade to that fundamental note. I get something similar with a Squier Bronco with a Curtis Novak Music Master pickup in it. It's so cool

Super interesting, I always look forward to your videos. I love how you've added a visual aspect to the way we describe basses. "fuller, thinner, meatier etc...'' now has a visual description. That's awesome

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much!

Been waiting to hear your opinions on the bass VI! this video is so cool with all the science of the overtone science. so cool, man!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thank you!!

I really enjoy all of your videos but this one was especially great! Learned a lot from the frequency/amplitude visualization breakdown.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! It was a joy making this one.

I've been curious about the Bass VI for a while now, and this video has convinced me to pick one up.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Awesome! I hope you enjoy it

Great content as usual. I have a Classic vibe bass VI and I love the inspiration it gives to play different things.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Nice! The Classic Vibe series is pretty killer!

Really interesting, I especially enjoyed your analysis with the spectrogram.

@philipconradmusic

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

This is top notch info...the spectral analysis is the kind of info that really brings home the differences between the instruments. The visual with the audible makes everything clear!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks man! Glad you dig it. Thanks for watching!

Fascinating! I recall seeing Cream on tv doing Strange Brew and Jack was playing a Fender 6. This is all in the 60s. In my naïveté I thought it was an in-joke within the band, him playing a ‘guitar’. Basically, I do want a Fender 6 … as predominantly a guitar -player it just makes sense to me. Loving the spectral stuff, Philip.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks Johnny! That’s cool you got to see Cream on TV. Glad to have you here!

@enriqueoyola528

6 ай бұрын

Jack Bruce use the Fender 6 on Born on the a bad sign, beautiful.

@alisterfolson

5 ай бұрын

I've seen the Strange Brew video and thought the same as well. I know they were probably lip-synching that performance but still,,,!

Thank you for this video. This is literally the most informative and interesting music video I've watched over the past 6 months. Do you have other videos that convey information about the ranges of sound?

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! This is my first video to use the spectrogram, but a lot of my videos use visual info to help show sound characterizes. Check out my compression video if you are interested. So glad to have you here!

The analysis of the way the Vl couples with a standard bass explains the raison d’être for Vl perfectly for me. Nice one, Philip.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thank you! 🙏🏻

Super cool video man! What shocked me was how different the Mustang was on the spectrogram from all the others. Much more fundamental than even the p bass which was surprising.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Same! Part of why I love the Mustang sound. It cuts then sits so nice. Thanks for watching! ⚡️

Soooo cool! From the thousand videos like “P bass vs J Bass” type this is the best one!!!

Excellent information. Thanks! Fender also developed and sold at least two other basses. Neither caught on. A "Bass V" 5 string bass with a high C string in the '60s. Also a "Performer Bass" 4 string instrument in the '80s.

The best explanation I've heard about this amazing instrument. Just wish we could see it more frequently

@philipconradmusic

4 ай бұрын

Thank you. I wish that too! ⚡️

Good description on the different basses, I like the mustang of all , since I have a 1966 Epiphone hollow body bass

Cool. Love the spectrum analysis!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching!

You articulated a lot of thoughts that I've been mulling over for awhile now - I'm fascinated with the idea of a "secondary bass" instrument in arranging, and I think the concept is criminally underutilized. As a bass player, I've personally been pushing lower and lower into the zero octave and finding some really fun applications for that super-deep rumble. But I often find that the low-end extension comes at the cost of losing the low-midrange character of the bass guitar in the mix, and so it needs some other instrument to fill that hole between sub-bass and the rest of the arrangement. A Bass VI seems like a really good solution, slotting perfectly into that baritone range that's deeper than keyboards and guitars, but higher than the kick drum and low bass.

Thank you, very interesting, love hou you present the sound of those basses next to each other! Another interesting instrument in this spectrum is the “ jaguar bass” which has a different recognizable timbre again!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Yes! Perhaps it deserves its own video…

VERY INFORMATIVE PHILLIP

Great video! I’ve been wanting a bass VI for awhile. The Cure has some great examples of bass VI tones over the years in more of a rock context

@zoeherriot

2 ай бұрын

I recommend listening to The Church’s album Priest=Aura (it’s got Cure vibes - bit psychedelic and dark). Steve Kilbey uses the Bass VI as the only bass on the album, so every song features it. It’s great.

Would absolutely love to see yiu do this overtone comparison with other basses/pickups like Semi hollows, MM, HH

phil always with the killer vids

Very impressive and instructionnal video ! Thank you !

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Thank you for showing the work. You got a sub

I own a Bass VI (and a precision bass). This video made me want a Mustang bass.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Get one! Check out the video I did a few weeks ago to help you choose.

@mikedradio

3 ай бұрын

I have a p bass and mustang and yet… here we are 😅👍

I love your passion for the science in our art!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks! I love that intersection! ⚡️

I actually love playing my Bass VI live for this reason. I love to EQ like a four string and get it to sound like a regular bass, then I have the strangle switch for chimey guitar parts.

@zoeherriot

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, I was watching how Robert Smith of The Cure gets that chimey sound in Pictures of You, and he uses the strangle switch with the neck pickup.

Very informative thanks

I just found out you had a KZread and your videos are looking amazing. Keep it up man, I also have wanted a bass 6 since I saw one because of my baby hands 😂

@philipconradmusic

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching! Glad to have you here.

Guitar? Bass? My experience over the last 30 years owning a VI is, that it depends a lot on what strings you use! With flats it sounds much more like a bass! I play my VI in an acoustic trio because the lows don’t disturb the guitar sound compared to a normal bass guitar.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Great insight! Would love to play it with flats.

I wish people would use the spectrogram when comparing/demoing literally everything. Guitars, amps, pedals, basses, pickups, whatever! I just got a Bass VI and I love the thing. I'm so happy Fender brought it back in the Vintera II series.

So cool, thanks Philip!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thank you!

To go to your players in the 60s. In the U.K. our bass 6 pioneers were Jet Harris ex Shadows and Eric Haydock of The Hollies.

You mentioned The Beatles already but what's interesting in that is that it was John and George who used it when Paul wasn't on bass and it makes so much sense considering it is more familiar to them, just fits in to this unique role you are talking about!

i learned so much from this video, but mostly that your mustang bass is really really great

Very informative thank you I have a short scale 6string bass tuned to to E. Not at all marketed as a bass vi, but that how I use it.

Great video! Would love to see this using flats and rounds on the same bass

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

I probably should!

Good video. Need to talk more about pickup selection/balance and what eas used. Particularly with multi pickup instruments.

That’s super cool. I teach HS physics and we do sound and waves, and I’m going to show some of this to help illustrate how music is mixed to blend frequencies from the different instruments. Very nice demo!

@BossDD3

6 ай бұрын

Respect

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

I would be deeply honored! Thanks for doing what you do.

@GregsBassWorld

6 ай бұрын

I'd recommend Donald Duck In Mathmagic Land if you haven't seen it. Among other things, it shows how the golden ratio relates to string length & harmonic frequencies. Cool stuff.

this is one of the coolest videos on the internet....but like nerdy too. I love being into this stuff

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

I love this stuff too. Thanks for watching!

This was excellent 👏🏿

I have a Squier Bass VI from years back (before the Classic Vibes, sadly). Even with the quirks of the model and this line in particular, I just love this thing. So weird and fun.

@philipconradmusic

4 ай бұрын

They are super cool!

Seeing the differences in the Jazz Bass and Fender VI tones, really contextualizes why the Beatles experimented with layering them on top of one another during the White Album. Most notably in Back In The U.S.S.R. and While My Guitar Gently Weeps (mostly during the bridge sections + the Guild Starfire 12-string). It gets such a uniquely textured bass sound that kind of has a modern sound for the 60s, before roundwound bass strings became the norm. It had a very aggressive and thick tonal range.

This is such a cool bass!! I like the detailed history on it!! If you ask me my favorite recording of one is joe Perry of Aerosmith using it on the song back in the saddle while the main bassist in the band is playing a 4 string!! I also like that it was also on the song let it be

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Nice!

That mustang is so 60s sounding! Love it!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

I love mustangs too. Thanks for watching!

I wish you were a guitar player...I experienced this "frequency exception" in a band in the early 2K's. We had the song writer playing a Strat and I played a hollow bodied (solid block) D'Armond (poor man's Guild...both owned by Fender since the 90's). There is a similar way to approach guitar frequencies. I own a Squirer Bass VII as well as a Jazz....I choose my weapons well. Thanks for enlightening us.

Really useful insights! 👍

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

🙏🏻

Great video!

@philipconradmusic

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Fricken phenomenal video!!!

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thank you!!!

Really great video 🙏

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thank you 🙌

Not a bass vi but same philosophy: I’ve been double tracking my 5 string bass with a baritone guitar tuned BEADF#b with pretty awesome results. I put effects like delay, reverb, trem, and OD on the bari and run the 5-string DI’d in and it’s been a ton of fun.

I thought the Jazz came close to the VI in sound character but there is something magical about the VI sound. The Mustang was a surprise, a very woody sound. Adding a VI and a Mustang to your collection would be a good idea.

I don't have the Fender, but a Schecter that's also a Bass VI and it's one of the coolest guitars I have due to its versatility. It'll do everything from baselines to djent riffs. Just don't expect to play a lot of chords unless you have some huge hands

Interesting, I've never heard of the Fender Jagwire. I may get one of these things.

holy shit that natural finish P bass is a BEAUTY

Being a big Beatles fan for years, and now a big Cream fan, I've always admired Bass VI's, even if from afar. I knew that getting one would be a pipe dream, mainly due to no lefty versions offered, aside from rare custom shop models. But now that I've found the Eastwood TB64, hope still exists!

@BathedInMilk

6 ай бұрын

There's a lefty VI?

@riogrande163

6 ай бұрын

​@BathedInMilk Not exactly, to my knowledge neither Squier nor Fender offers a lefty Bass VI, but Eastwood Guitars offers a similar instrument in lefty form, the TB64.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

u make great vids thank you

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much!

Thanks for doing this! I have some q’s that I’m hoping you can address in a future video. Which pickup did you use to record the BassVI, JBass and Mustang? I’m just curious since the PBass only has a single option, VI has THREE pickups, and the others have two. How did you decide which pickups to use? Likewise, how did you set any tone/volume knobs switches? Did you go by ear to make them sound as even-keeled as possible? Did you set everything to ten, lol? Just curious how you made those decisions to set up this comparison. Maybe you can talk more about that in the future. Would also be cool if you found a BassVI type guitar with humbuckers. What would that do as compared to single coils - like would it beef up the overtones to be more similar to a JBass and bridge the gap even more? I’m sure there’s a brand out there that makes a version with humbuckers or that someone has converted a single coil BVI to humbuckers. Using a humbucker might beef up those overtones to sound more similar to a JBass, I’d imagine. This was really cool. I’d love for you to dive deeper, as others suggested! It’s funny, as a guitar player, I preferred the BassVI tone - but each one of these basses has its place. And I agree that a BassVI is a bass guitar. It’s not the number of strings that defines the instrument (such as excessive multiscale guitars with like 30 different strings . . . show offs, loll). 😊

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

You asked some great questions. If I remember correctly, all basses were all pickups full volume, full tone. So all three wide open on the Bass VI. You are quite right to bring this up, as there are a lot of varieties of tone in these instruments, but I didn’t want this video to get too long. I plan to do a lot more similar analysis in the future comparing instruments. As far as humbuckers go, I’m not sure what is available for the bass VI. Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and ask thoughtful questions. Glad to have you here!

Fantastic content. I wonder where a baritone guitar fits? A Bass VI is its own instrument and is almost always listed as such.

Man I gotta try me one of these. Such a cool tone, random question but what’s your thoughts on ric’s? I’d be interested to hear your opinion on them.

been waiting for this video for weeks lol,

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

😂 Thanks for being patient!

That was interesting! Would love to know what my bass looks like. Sire M7.

great video

@philipconradmusic

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Fender Worked around the Floppy Low E String problem by bumping up the gauges of the 3 Lowest strings a little bit so now we have a 24-100 Gauge set.

@zoeherriot

2 ай бұрын

That’s funny, when the Cure recorded Primary (which is just two P-basses and drums) - Robert Smith said he tried to record it on a Bass VI (the song was written on it) - but he said the bottom strings were too floppy and would buzz, so they used the two P basses.

This video is so awesome. I think you accidentally cut out part of the beginning though

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

What a great video

that was cool man,

how did you have the Bass VI set up (and I guess the other basses too)? Which strings, and which set of pickups/low cut switch configuration as well as the tone knob settings? It has such a cool set of ways to tweak the tone and that should be reflected in the spectrogram. I think that would be a cool video (though probably of interest to a tiny number of Bass VI/baritone geeks)

I always see the bass 6 as a guitar instead of the bass, while yes, it is tuned to the same range as a 4 string bass, but it sounds way better thru a guitar amp filling out a different sonic space than a standard guitar or bass, i want one so bad ever since i played a squire bass 6 thru a vox with some tremolo... its so stunning sounding!

7:46 *Plays Open E* "It's beautiful" This is how we know Philip is a bona fide bass player.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

🥲

Nice work did you use a capture to another computer or just one computer

Super cool and fascinating deep dive on what makes a bass sound like a bass. I want to see someone put lighter strings on the Bass VI and get into some chuggy high gain drop A or drop G riffs.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

That would be sick!

The Bass VI for me sits exactly how described; Between the guitar and the bass, meaning you can sit it in a mix by having it play the same notes as the bass, and sometimes doubling the guitar.

This is a great video. I'm a bass player, but i have recently started trying to play guitar. Having issues with the smaller scale and playing chords. I have considered a baritone guitar, but many people are saying it's not much better and i should stick with the guitar. You said this is for guitar curious bass players, but still only played it like a bass. I would assume that it's tuned like a guitar so that guitar players would have an easier time, but is it meant for chord playing as well? Could this be played that way? Should it? A 6 string bass is tuned only in 4ths without the weird 5th string deal, but this has it. Very curious to me.

Very interesting video-I learned a lot. I don’t own any bass guitars. I’ve been interested in getting a Bass IV to use for both guitar and for occasional bass parts. Still not sure if that is a good idea for me. Can you use standard guitar amps with the Bass IV? Alternatively, I could get a P bass and a bass amp.

@philipconradmusic

2 ай бұрын

You could but you wouldn’t have that deep low power to hang with a drummer depending on what rig you get. If you want to sound like a bass I’d get a bass amp.

Good stuff Philip, worth its place in history just for Wichita Lineman if nothing else. Gud Vid

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

One of my all time favorites!

Would love to see different based on the spectral stuff. Rickenbacker please. Lol Also like someone mentioned flats and rounds

Oddly, the most common genre I’ve seen it in is darker music - The Cure, The Church, Horse Girl. So much so that the Fender website actually list the Cure and The Church as some of the biggest users of the Bass VI. And it if you listen to The Church’s album Priest=Aura, it’s on every song as the main bass. If you listen to The Cure’s Disintegration, it’s on Lullaby and Pictures of You playing the lead melodies. It’s really versatile.

Nice, merci.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

The series/parallel mod from the neck+middle pickups makes a huge difference.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Nice!

@rjbrando9616

6 ай бұрын

​@@philipconradmusicfantastic video and breakdown of the frequencies! I'd be interested to do an analysis of my bass vi with the mod and see how much additional information is added. I can feel the difference, but to see it is something else

@cyberprimate

6 ай бұрын

How would you describe that tonal difference?

@rjbrando9616

6 ай бұрын

@@cyberprimate "thicker" , more full. It essentially makes them a humbucker.

Fantastic video! How is the VI different than a baritone guitar?

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Fantastic question. Tuning and scale length. Baritone is more in between bass and guitar in terms of range. Shorter scale. Bass VI is lower and bigger. There is certainly some overlap in their attributes. Thanks for watching!

Awesome videoi

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Jack Bruce played one fingerstyle on Creams first album, 😉. 🖖

Bill Laswell _in "Last Exit" - plays one of this, he made sounds/things very similar to those that can be heard later in "Primus" (Les Claypol)

Since I've built a bass VI with a luthier, it has been the staple sound of my band. We have an electric guitar, acoustic, drums and vocals. The benefit of stepping through the limits of bass to baritone lets the band sound different, compose different. Neck and bridge position on, no strangle, sounds like a piano in the top GBE string territory. Going back to your spectrum analysis, the lack of lows or p-bass sound attribute is a thing, but nothing that a EQ-compression-drive pedal can't help. EDIT: I use the Badwater from Walrus Audio and it does wonders

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@i.duhourq2519

6 ай бұрын

@@philipconradmusicThanks to you, excellent video Phil

I think what makes it a Bass, or what makes it "not" a bass, is intent. The band Failure has used it (One Fender, one other) both live and in recordings as either a lead instrument or as a bass. In fact, in 1 song, both players are using a like instrument to great effect. One as a bass and the other as the melody / lead instrument. The band Quicksand uses it as the bass in their current recordings and live. It's an instrument with great range.

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

Well said!

Imagine all the things you could do with one of those! Wanna play a guitar solo? Sure Wanna play big chords? Sure Wanna play the guitar part of Ano Bando but likes bass more? Go on! That thing is amazing

You should check out the album Voyage Out by Floatie. Bass player plays a Bass 6 and gets goos use of the instrument. Videos of them are on here too.

The Beatles used a Bass VI in their last records. You can hear the distinctive tone. Pickups look like those on a Jaguar. I wonder what the difference between it and a Baritone (such as the Danelectro) is.

@elliotvernon7971

6 ай бұрын

For starters, a baritone is usually tuned a 4th down from a guitar(i.e. B-b), whereas a Bass VI is tuned an octave below like an electric bass, but E-e.

@vayabroder729

6 ай бұрын

@@elliotvernon7971 Thank you!

I only have a Squier jazz bass, and have always wanted a Fender P bass, now I want one even more!! 😕

@philipconradmusic

6 ай бұрын

One of the best things money can buy 🤷‍♂️

@joewehner9837

6 ай бұрын

Someday 🤞