Grateful Dead Music Forum

I was wondering if anyone on here had any reviews, or could compare the TBX to a regular Q6 before I engage in any purchases! Thanks!

Zambiliand owns a TBX6. I have a Q6 for sale over at Talkbass if you decide to go that way. here is a link. Its dead mint and absolutely the best 6-string bass I have ever played.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f126/fs-f ... d-1027295/

Bassman wrote:Zambiliand owns a TBX6. I have a Q6 for sale over at Talkbass if you decide to go that way. here is a link. Its dead mint and absolutely the best 6-string bass I have ever played.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f126/fs-f ... d-1027295/

That is one sweet bass! I'm so sorry you have to sell it. I'm also waiting on some SGD pickups, but it's taking forf%^kingever.

I have both a Q6 and a Q6 TBX, a 1990 and 1991 respectively. Both are great basses. The difference is that the TBX speaks differently. The low end is much bigger and it seems to have a bit more scooped mids. The neck joint adds in some midrange barkiness, I think. For the Phil thing, I think the TBX wins, but what do I know? Everytime I bring out the Modulus, even though I think it sounds great and the bombs it drops are, well, the bomb, everyone clamors for the Starfire, so that's where I live these days.

A sale is probably imminent for one of my Q6s as life has thrown some slings and arrows in my direction (medical stuff around the birth of my son. Luckily, he's escaped a myriad of issues from his hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, essentially his lungs shredded from aspirated miconium and collapsed, leading to two heart stoppages which kept O2 from reaching his brain, from epilepsy to cerebral palsy to cognitive deficits. I still have many moments of panic where I'm brought back to that moment in the hospital.... The impact on both income and expenditures has been brutal. All worth it, Xander's an amazing 16 month old who has some skills of a 2-3 year old. He also knows bass when he hears one and will announce "That's the bass!" Pretty advanced for such a little boy! Sorry for the digression.)

But it still sucks to have to face selling gear. I'm not sure which one. The regular Q6 is a frankenstein bass with a Q6 neck added to a Q5 body. It has the best playing neck of any bass I've ever played. There are a few minor issues with the body, but it's essentially fine. The TBX has the pickups closer to the bridge than I would prefer and the neck likes slightly heavier strings than I would choose (I like light strings) to keep the neck straight, but it can be fixed by Jerry Dorsch for a couple hundred bucks (deal of the century! All new frets and planing the board). I also upgraded the preamp to a 3 band which meant I had to drill a whole and the placement choices were not the best. But it works. I'm thinking about adding in an ACG preamp I have lying around, but I want the pickups to get here first. I just can't make a decision about which one to let go. I don't know that I'd have access to a TBX again. So, the regular Q6 is perfect for what it is, while the TBX is basically a cooler bass, but has some things about its design that makes it not the best TBX for me.

OK, I'm rambling, but I've been facing this dilemma for a while now and am a bit stuck. What would you do?

Hey Zambiland,
Eventually you will get the SGD's, I waited over a year for mine(custom). I liked them so much that I ordered a set of SGD Neodymium Powered
Series 3 Bass Pickups. He promised them to me in 1-2 weeks because of the repeat business. Ended up taking 5 weeks, I was sweating the entire time, thinking, oh no here we go again.
Xander is in my prayers brother, I wish you and your family health and peace!!!!
Yes, the Q6 I am selling is amazing. Unfortunately, after several tries and much frustration with my left pinky(arthritis), I am going to a 4 or 5 string Alembic. Wondering how that will sound with an Eden head and a Fearless cab.
Good luck on your pursuit Phil Lesh 101.

Bassman wrote: Yes, the Q6 I am selling is amazing. Unfortunately, after several tries and much frustration with my left pinky(arthritis), I am going to a 4 or 5 string Alembic. Wondering how that will sound with an Eden head and a Fearless cab.
Good luck on your pursuit Phil Lesh 101.

An Alembic will sound amazing with an Eden head and fEARless. I used a Series I shorty with a WP100/Crest or QSC and a 15/6/1 fEARful. A great sound. Not quite up to the Starfire but really, really good. I would love to get a medium scale cocobolo 5 string Series II some day. That's my dream Alembic.

zambiland wrote:

Bassman wrote: Yes, the Q6 I am selling is amazing. Unfortunately, after several tries and much frustration with my left pinky(arthritis), I am going to a 4 or 5 string Alembic. Wondering how that will sound with an Eden head and a Fearless cab.
Good luck on your pursuit Phil Lesh 101.

An Alembic will sound amazing with an Eden head and fEARless. I used a Series I shorty with a WP100/Crest or QSC and a 15/6/1 fEARful. A great sound. Not quite up to the Starfire but really, really good. I would love to get a medium scale cocobolo 5 string Series II some day. That's my dream Alembic.

Yeah that is one of my dream basses too brother. I dig Jimmy Johnson's bass as well!!!!

Thanks for enlightening me!

I have had mine since '91..
No complaints here..

My Q6 is now refurbished with the SGD pickups and ACG preamp. I haven't had a chance to gig it yet, but it sounds great. I also reshimmed the neck to get the action under control. It's always been a bit high. I should have done it years ago!

I decided to upgrade the regular Q6 instead of the TBX. I love the TBX, it's got a great sound and plays very well, but I have been playing the Q6 for so long that it just feels more like home. So, I might offer up the TBX. I'm still on the fence about needing both of them. The TBX does have a more solid fundamental. Something about the neck through basses creates a really deep tone that I've not heard out of any other bass. It seems like the only real way to get the true 80s/90s Phil bombs. Playing down low on the E and B strings gets the whole bass going, whereas I think the Q6 loses something in the bolt on configuration.

Most of my Phil playing is done with the Starfire anyway.