Jz-6 baritone bass vi build

[Flynn.burgess]

Hi guys, bought a jz-6 baritone kit about a week ago (hasn’t come yet), I’m planning on doing a build of a Fender Bass Vi style thing, since the kit has a 30” scale length, same as the bass vi, so I’ll just put on the bass vi strings and tune it E to E.

I previously did a Tele build with a pitbull kit, and did a stain finish with angelus leather dye and tru oil. For this build, I’m planning on either a fiesta red or ice blue finish, with duplicolor spray cans. I’ll be using YouTube for most of my information on this. I’m honestly not that fussed on having a mirror clear coat, just trying not to spend too much money on it and make it look relatively decent.


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[Simon Barden]

Just some things to ponder first as it's not quite so straightforward as it may seem as simply changing the strings.

You'll need to be able to cut the nut for bass VI strings, which are normally 0.024"-0.084" or 0.026"-0.095" sets (thinner than standard 6-string bass sets) as finding an off-the shelf replacement may be hard. The larger slots can be done with a needle file, but you really need nut files for the thinner strings.

You'll also probably need to enlarge the holes in the bridge to fit the strings through. The strings will be under a lot more tension for a 0.024"-0.084" set than a normal set of baritone 0.013"s e.g. 73.04kg vs 62.95kg for D'Addarios, and I don't know how adjustable for tension that kit bridge is. It is probably the same bridge used for standard scale guitars so a normal baritone may be near the end of its adjustment capabilities. If so (as I don't know) you may have to keep it in the locked position.

With the thicker strings, I'm not sure if you'll have trouble with the kit tuner hole size. I see that all the Fender/Squier versions of the VI use the vintage-style slotted tuners, which are easier to fit thicker strings on.

So worth getting a set of the strings early on and seeing how well they fit the hardware.

[Flynn.burgess]

Just some things to ponder first as it's not quite so straightforward as it may seem as simply changing the strings.

You'll need to be able to cut the nut for bass VI strings, which are normally 0.024"-0.084" or 0.026"-0.095" sets (thinner than standard 6-string bass sets) as finding an off-the shelf replacement may be hard. The larger slots can be done with a needle file, but you really need nut files for the thinner strings.

You'll also probably need to enlarge the holes in the bridge to fit the strings through. The strings will be under a lot more tension for a 0.024"-0.084" set than a normal set of baritone 0.013"s e.g. 73.04kg vs 62.95kg for D'Addarios, and I don't know how adjustable for tension that kit bridge is. It is probably the same bridge used for standard scale guitars so a normal baritone may be near the end of its adjustment capabilities. If so (as I don't know) you may have to keep it in the locked position.

With the thicker strings, I'm not sure if you'll have trouble with the kit tuner hole size. I see that all the Fender/Squier versions of the VI use the vintage-style slotted tuners, which are easier to fit thicker strings on.

So worth getting a set of the strings early on and seeing how well they fit the hardware.

Thanks for your wisdom Simon!! I’ll take your advice. If it all ends up being too hard and goes pear shaped I’ll quite happily stick with a baritone


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[Dikkybee007]

I am going to do the same but I was going to do a through body bridge and use some Ernie Ball 6 String Bass guitar strings in the 20-90 gauge. I have just ordered the files I am missing to do the nut on this guitar and my Custom Telecaster Baritone as well as my AGB-30.
Of course this is after finishing off the 5 I already have.

[Flynn.burgess]

I am going to do the same but I was going to do a through body bridge and use some Ernie Ball 6 String Bass guitar strings in the 20-90 gauge. I have just ordered the files I am missing to do the nut on this guitar and my Custom Telecaster Baritone as well as my AGB-30.
Of course this is after finishing off the 5 I already have.

Sweet man, let me know how it goes


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[tommycarlos]

I keep looking for updates in all of these JZ-6 threads... I have one on the way I am hoping to do as a Bass VI... I really wanna hear / see some experiences from others

[Dikkybee007]

I have just ordered a custom JZ-6 with a blank body, so the only routing is for the neck but it wont be here until October. Have looked into what pickups were used and listened to other forums and they use a single coil pickup. Found a site that lists the specs on all brands of guitar pickups and found what they used and found a set of Tele pickups that are very close to what the original ones were and it fits into my through body setup I was going to use. Biggest problem was going to be the tuners but Kluson make a split end type that either will be OK or I can modify them to suit the thicker string. Biggest problem is finishing the other 5 guitars I have going as my funds only stretch so far. I maybe able to push this one through before the others, time will tell.

[Simon Barden]

Looking at pics on the web, all the strings on the Bass VI string sets reduce down at the tuner end to a width that will fit and wind round guitar-sized split-post tuners

[tommycarlos]

Flynn: Any updates?

[tommycarlos]

Some notes if anyone in this thread is a bit stuck... or reading it and wondering if it's possible...

For a Bass VI using Fender .024 - .100s, all I had to do was:

1. ever so slightly widen the hole in the tremolo where the low E string went through
2. widen (and deepen) the nut slots -- I literally just used the strings themselves for this as they were all wound, so they worked as files

If I was to do it over again, I would probably plug and re-drill the holes for the machine heads for two reasons:

1. moving the low E tuner a bit further from the nut would mean only the slimmer part of the string would be wound around the post
2. moving the low E tuner a bit further from the edge of the headstock would mean I could fit a set of vintage style (kluson) slotted tuners

But even without doing that, it plays really well as a Bass VI. Stays in tune, isn't buzzy, etc.

You could also try with .084s like what come default on the Squier VI's, but I think you'd have the same issues as the Squier does with those (floppy E).