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OK, dudes. Just came into possession of an old (Hondo?) Rickenbacker bass copy that I'm going to try and refinish. It was partially modded as a six-string but apparently never completed. Holes for tuning machines have been filled + redrilled, A six-string nut + tailpiece are attached. My idea is to refinish it myself, procure the missing parts, and then have a local dude I trust actually assemble the thing. But I'm playing more baritone than bass now, was curious about the possibility of setting it up as a baritone (B-B). Can a 33.5" scale bass work as a(n even-remotely-usable) baritone? I mean, I'll proceed with the refinishing project either way, just hoping this might be a cheap(er) way to quiet my "new baritone??" urges (for a while)...

You miiiight be able to do it? Might have to tweak the bridge a little bit but hey, I'm really curious about this!

skullservant wrote:You miiiight be able to do it? Might have to tweak the bridge a little bit but hey, I'm really curious about this!

Cool! I'm open to moving the bridge. Assuming I don't fuck up with the finish before getting to that point (which I'd put at like 50/50), I'll report back. If nothing else, I'd be happy to end up with something good for open drones or something. We'll see!

EhhhhhhhhIIIIIIIIIdunno if you can do that without getting a different neck.
But...you could have a cool six string bass.

using a 33.5 scale for a bari would be a stretch...they typically run more like 27-28". it could work with very careful string selection, but a six-string bass seems much more doable.

E to E six string bass! B O O M !

kosta wrote:E to E six string bass! B O O M !

yep

and here is inspiration

RIC 4005/6

HOMINA HOMINA HOMINA

My two cents is that even if you can find baritone strings long enough, a 33.5" scale baritone would be a bitch to play chords on.
A Bass VI could be done....but even then you'd need to make sure someone makes long scale bass VI strings.
I am only aware of 30" scale bass VI strings.
I'd suggest getting the string details figured out first and then proceeding. It would suck to oay someone to finish the mod only to find it can't be fuctional.

Nelson Instruments wrote: I am only aware of 30" scale bass VI strings.

If you are resourceful that is not much of a hurtle these days with all the extended range instruments about. You can get long scale strings all the up to .007. And again if dudes can play chords on the damned 7+ string basses... and as the pict I posted 33.5 is what Ric did, granted no idea if anyone ever actually liked the things as there are so few. Personally I like 30" for bari-s and bass VIs But I'll also be the last person to say the idea is silly because you never know

Nelson Instruments wrote:My two cents is that even if you can find baritone strings long enough, a 33.5" scale baritone would be a bitch to play chords on.

How come?

too much space between the frets. a first-position chord would require hands the size of your head.

nah...

well, i have tiny mandolin-player hands

TheStevenLasombras wrote:OK, dudes. Just came into possession of an old (Hondo?) Rickenbacker bass copy that I'm going to try and refinish. It was partially modded as a six-string but apparently never completed. Holes for tuning machines have been filled + redrilled, A six-string nut + tailpiece are attached. My idea is to refinish it myself, procure the missing parts, and then have a local dude I trust actually assemble the thing. But I'm playing more baritone than bass now, was curious about the possibility of setting it up as a baritone (B-B). Can a 33.5" scale bass work as a(n even-remotely-usable) baritone? I mean, I'll proceed with the refinishing project either way, just hoping this might be a cheap(er) way to quiet my "new baritone??" urges (for a while)...

With that scale length the G-G tuning seems more realistic, provided you can find strings long enough. I have a few packets of Ernie Ball 13-72, I can measure them tomorrow if you'd like.