MODDING The Most Affordable Bass VI For METAL

Alright, you asked for it - my Harley Benton GuitarBass VS, in its entirety. This mod project has been a tonne of work to get it to where it is, so join me in dissecting everything that went into it!
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0:00 bwommmmmmm
0:05 Intro
0:19 Full Mix Demo
2:07 Why I Bought It
2:32 Sound Clip #1: Mooer Preamp X2 - Eagle FB
2:55 How Much Did I Spend?
3:11 Why Did I Mod It?
3:22 Sound Clip #2: ML Sound Lab Amped Stevie T - Shredeemer
3:44 All Mods
5:16 Sound Clip #3: Mooer Preamp X2 - EV5050
5:50 All Mods (continued)
7:07 Sound Clip #4: ML Sound Lab Amped Stevie T - Calalalean
7:40 Is It A Guitar, Or A Bass?
8:17 What Went Wrong?
9:30 Sound Clip #5: ML Sound Lab Amped Flagship - Brownie Lead
10:01 Conclusion
Mooer Preamp X2 Demo: • DEEP DIVE on the Mooer...

[@nicolasaraistrujak208]

I would put a bass pickup in the middle position and make it a separate circuit for it with a 2nd output jack, so you can put it in estereo and doubletrack as a Bass/ add different effect (like fuzz)

[@KaiDown]

That would be pretty killer actually, definitely something I can consider

[@_r4venvlv712]

P-bass! It must be p-bass pickup. ;)

[@kamikaze829]

and add the ability to turn off the signal from the first three strings

[@kevinmyles6369]

Gotta admit, love the effort putting into it...good to experiment and improve, Kai 👍👍

[@KaiDown]

Thank you Kevin!! 💪

[@bucketsmith]

Thanks for the rundown! Fantastic job! Looked like a doable, affordable and enjoyable project. I praise that you're also noting on downsides and mistakes. I now have a good idea about this instrument and the capabilities when it comes to modding it, thanks to your vid.

[@bucketsmith]

It is a passive instrument, right? Do you think there is space for a battery compartment somewhere?

[@KaiDown]

Thank you so much for the kind words! It's totally passive, but if you're routing it out for a humbucker anyway, I'd say you could pretty easily route in a battery compartment around the dead space between the original 5-way switch placement and the knobs

[@bucketsmith]

@@KaiDown Ah, thank you. I was thinking of doing something crazy like rail humbuckers in singlecoil size, or an EMG SLVX set. Those wouldn't require any routing to be done. If I went railbuckers, I would love if I could do some crazy coilsplitting with a dedicated switch, I suppose. That would mean I'd still have to find space for the battery. I just like tinkering! There isn't a lot of videos on either this instrument nor the SLVX set, sadly. So glad you made this one!

[@nordstrandmusicinternation9518]

This is actually awesome bro. Im about to buy this guitar, for the obvious reason of its scale length, and was wondering what I could do to jazz it up a bit, and this is perfect. Great video man ! and playing !

[@kieranlochran1843]

Just as long as you like it, and it sounds cool AF, that's all that matters at the end of the day 😁

[@lawrencegrindstaff5037]

Honestly one of the coolest mod guitars I've ever seen

[@KaiDown]

I'm glad you dig it! 💪

[@acidwizzardbastard]

I know it's been a year, but if you want to get the action a bit lower, it's probably best to shim the neck. I've done that on mine, and I've managed to get my action down comfortably with the same type of bridge. It's currently just some pieces of card that I've torn up and put right inside the neck pocket, but in the future I'll likely get a StewMac shim, since those fill the neck pocket nicely. Shimming the neck will also mean raising your pickups, so you'll have to check if you'll be able to get your bridge pickup high enough, but yeah.

[@KaiDown]

I've been meaning to try shimming the neck, seems like it would solve my problems - I shimmed a Jazzmaster neck with one of those StewMac shims and it worked really well

[@coryroberts7519]

Right on man, I've been mulling it over myself. I'd really like to make something similar so I'm glad to have run across this video. Great tone and playing you have there, even if you need to trim those finger nails! XD Teasing (kinda lol) Thanks for the video!

[@KaiDown]

Thank you for checking it out, and I apologise for the hideous nails! Glad you enjoyed the video regardless

[@vince8081]

Great work, love the finish.

[@materedai4158]

Really like the caption at 0:00

[@neurocosm]

Great tone and mods! Subbed. My only issue with Bass VI's is the string spacing is not wider like you might expect from a bass in general. Not much different than a baritone guitar. Any opinions?

[@KaiDown]

Pretty much exactly as you’d put it - feels more like a baritone guitar, which is perfect for voicing chords

[@gabrielshepard]

Definitely got me thinking about getting one for sure.... always been up in the air on a baratone or one of these.... or a custom 6 string bass with near a guitars taper to the neck Think you've helped me finger this out

[@gabrielshepard]

Such a cool fuckin guitar!!!

[@KaiDown]

Thank you so much! I really love this thing, it's so much fun to mod it since you can really get it to be just how you want it. Have fun!

[@andropolisstudiomusic]

Cool video. Inspiring!

[@TheLowest]

Turned out beautifully, have you thought about adding a high pass switch like on a fender jaguar? Heard the fender bass vi had it and thought it sounded like a perfect idea for high gain on low tuning. Also good take on the bass or guitar, never thought of it like that but it makes sense to classify it by the way it's played. Great vid

[@KaiDown]

Thank you so much for the comment! High pass switch is a really good idea, I might implement that next time I open it up. Cheers!

[@michaelsnydermusic]

Well done. The definition is great. Usually, it’s just a lot of mud. Interesting idea of going up to drop E. I have mine in standard tuning but I’ll have to try that. Again, we’ll done.

[@rogelioybarra4068]

Wat single coil pick will fit for the bridge pick up also wat string gages

[@horse_dog]

i’m thinking of getting a squier bass vi to use as a super low baritone in drop f/f#. this video is giving me possible mod ideas…

[@KaiDown]

Squier Bass VIs are sick too, make sure you grab the CV one and not the VM. You can hardtail them super easily too, there's a small spring in the bridge that you can remove.

[@MonsieurVersatile]

Hey, great video. I've just got one of these and the stock tuners are pretty terrible aren't they. Did you keep the Wilkinson split post ones or go for the lockable? What size are the original holes/bushings? Wilkinsons seem to come in 9 and 10mm sizes? Thanks a lot!

[@shawnhuff3920]

I have an amazing schecter demon-7 seven string guitar strung with an eight string guitar strings 74-13 E.A.D.G.B.E.A. hevey and fun

[@KaiDown]

That sounds neat! I've not really properly tried a 7 string before, I'm all-in on 6 string baritones 😄

[@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875]

It's crazy how just a few bands tuning lower can make people go crazy for stupid long baritone 6 string guitars. I'm not complaining though

[@yona9798]

The world needs more rhythm-bass.

[@ibanezrg7421]

Hey! I just ordered mine and I was wondering if the Wilkinson bridge was a direct drop in. If you had a link that would be amazing! Thank you for this video!!!

[@KaiDown]

It was a direct drop in, it should be this one: northwestguitars.co.uk/products/roller-saddle-tune-o-matic-bridge-with-fully-adjustable-saddles

[@TheLowest]

Does that empty middle pickup work as a sound hole? Lol also i would leave the neck pickup in just for the sake of having a bass tone there.

[@KaiDown]

You know, I haven't though about it.. But you might be right 😂 given that I'm using considerably lighter strings than most basses (currently strung up with an 80), that low E doesn't have the same power that my actual basses offer

[@monolithicsounds5979]

Those 15-80 strings holding up okay? No issues with intonation at all?

[@KaiDown]

You've got to be cautious of your fretting pressure, but it's able to intonate without issues

[@llewellynjefferson3068]

Instant sub braa

[@MaxSxB]

Hey man nice mod ! I'm looking to by this guit.. err bass. Or whatever it is :D How is the routing under the pickguard ? Did you have to enlarge the bridge pickup cavity to fit the humbucker ? Or is it a "void" underneath that goes from the bridge to the neck ?

[@KaiDown]

Routing is SSS unfortunately 😔 gotta route it out if you're going humbuckers!

[@MaxSxB]

@@KaiDown Thx ! I might wanna go for a P90, to sound closer to a Squier VM Baritone Jazzmaster. Time to learn some woodworking then

[@MaxSxB]

@@KaiDown Oh I missed the part with the photo without the pickguard sorry !

[@KaiDown]

@@MaxSxB Afaik, the squier VM Baritone doesn't have P90s - they're standard jazzmaster pickups, which are actually closer to single coils. You might find that you can make the stock pickups work, and failing that, a decent set of single coils might do the trick. That said, it would also be unbelievably cool to route it out for jazzmaster pickups

[@MaxSxB]

@@KaiDown Yup indeed I looked it up, it has "full body single coil pickups". No woodworking to learn then !

[@ChrisBrown-oo4bf]

Do you what type of pots that you used to replace the stock ones?

[@dylanhoward718]

Are the pickups mounted to the pick guard?

[@KaiDown]

They are, I had some issues with the screw hole on the bridge pickup caving in so I’ve since added a pickup ring over the guard

[@balares]

Hi great video! I am thinking about buying this intrument and want to change the bridge pickup. I'm thinking about a hotrail like you initially installed, how was your experience with that and why did you eventually switch?

[@KaiDown]

It went flawlessly, it's just a difficult instrument to pair the right pickup with due to the scale and tuning. I mainly switched because it was disassembled for repainting anyway, and the humbucker routing opens up a lot more options (humbucker sized single coils, P90, single coil conversion rings), and I had a few decent humbuckers lying around to choose from

[@balares]

@@KaiDown Thanks for the reply! Ye fair enough, I was kinda thinking that i want to keep the wood volume and style intact but then slap on a dimarzio super distortion or SD hotrail which would push the gain, cut noise and crisp up the bass tone a bit for the drop D i'm planning for this bad boy

[@justinjackson661]

How's the intonation with that bridge vs the stock bridge? I'm looking to upgrade my HBVS and have been chasing down that problem.

[@KaiDown]

It’s got a little extra room to it, I’d say if you’re struggling with the stock bridge then this might give you the extra space you need

[@danielcalvillo5056]

Is there the possibility to tune it as a guitar? Use guitar strings, etc… like to get to drop D, C?

[@KaiDown]

You could do Drop C with some super-light strings, but I don't believe it would be able to to Drop D (at least, not at a guitar octave)

[@MannyMo_]

I don’t know if you’re joking or not fam, but why would you buy a bass guitar and tune to D or C? Just buy a regular scale length guitar then.

[@Durkhead]

You would just use the higher strings their the same as a regular guitar

[@oceanwolfwon9393]

Yes it Djent's 🤘😜🤘

[@puredragonn]

what was the single coil sized hum you used?

[@KaiDown]

IronGear Jailhouse Rail II

[@alexanderbrobston1590]

Links to the mods please.

[@paradoxofepicurus]

Al Gore Rhythm

[@shirok3284]

Aren't you in the Agu server?

[@KaiDown]

I am!

[@shirok3284]

@@KaiDown nice lol, I'm thinking about getting one of these, haven't decided yet

[@buhimoth]

LOVLEY GUITAR KAI GOBBLESS

[@KaiDown]

GOBBLESS YOU TOBY

[@buhimoth]

@@KaiDown GOBBLESS YOU KAI

[@MoreanMan]

CRANK IT HOSS

[@thefallingdream]

Hey Kai... it looks like you have an AliExpress style roller bridge..not the OG bridge .. lemme ask.. did you have any trouble seating the strings? I just got 2 more bass vi clones and want to add black hardware to both..I was looking at that EXACT bridge in AliEx...did you have to file it and was the pole spacing and string spacing and angle sit all ok?

[@KaiDown]

This one was from Wilkinson, but I had no issues with seating the strings at all - it doesn't quite go low enough to get a low action though. Strings sit in there pretty comfortably, with the right spacing