LeftyBassist.com

I stopped into the local GC this week and they had a lefty Brownsville 6 string bass there (As well as the new lefty Squire Vintage Modified J). The bass wasn't half bad, but I was actually surprised how quick I was able to pick it up and get around on it. A few years ago I tried noodling on a lefty 5 string Stingray, and found it difficult to wrap myself around, but for some reason the 6 string was easier for me, neck width and an extra string aside. Perhaps because I play guitar as well?

Anyway, I'm entertaining picking up a super el cheapo 6 string to dabble with and see if I take to the idea. Does anyone have any experience with the Douglas or Brice 6 strings? You can pick one up for under $200, though the 35" scale Brice is about $289. The one spec I think I am interested in it having is tighter string spacing, as I'm less interested in the extended range of single notes as I am in doing chordal stuff. I may even forego the low B anyway and string it up EADGBE like a guitar (thoguh an octave lower obviously). Any suggestions?

I don't have any experience with those brands. However, in yesterday's weekly email from Rondo they had a sweet looking 6 banger:
http://www.rondomusic.com/product2886.html
$459 bucks for an alder neck-thru ain't a bad price at all in my book. Heck, you could pay more for dinner for four at a nice restaurant!

that thing looks sick, would be very intrested to hear how it sounded, even if the electronics left something to be desired it would be a fairly guilt free mod investment wise for new pick ups and a preamp, though if that were the case the coil tap and pick up switch would have to stay purely for aesthetic reasons

That bass does look awesome, though it's passive. Surprising that their passive bass is costlier than their active basses.

probably something to do with the fact that most of the active ones are 34" scale and i dont know, no matter the quality of the instrument for 4.50 or less i would not trust their electronics, a friends little brother has a 5er that was active and he says the preamp is almost completely non responsive though the pickups are decent , i need to ask him which model its either a douglas or a brice

I dunno, if it's a nice piece of wood, and they usually are, upgrading the electronics would probably be worth it.

One thing to watch out for tho is the size of the routes for the pots and pups. I had to enlarge the pot holes (pun intended) on my Elitist Les Paul when I put in the RS Guitarworks ( shameless plug ) pot kit because the shafts were drilled to accomodate the metric sized pots.

there are plenty of good reviews on these basses from Rondo over in the talkbass forums. Brice seems to get the nod for being a better bass, and that's why they cost more as well.