Not a baritone, not a bass, and not even really a guitar, this 1965 Fender Bass VI is somehow all of those things at once, and more. Papa Shelby takes us through the history of this freaky Fender and outlines how it’s similar to other models, yet entirely its own. And he does a spot-on Carol Kaye.
The Fender VI was released in 1961 and followed the concept of the Danelectro six-string bass released in 1956, having six strings tuned E to E, an octave below the Spanish guitar. The Bass VI was closely related to the Fender Jaguar, with which it shared styling and technical details, notably the Fender floating tremolo. The VI had an offset body similar but not identical to that of the Jazzmaster/Jaguar.
It departed from the concept of the Fender Precision Bass in having six strings, a shorter scale and thinner strings, and a mechanical vibrato arm. The Bass VI never caught on to the extent that the four-string Precision Bass and its derivatives did. The model was discontinued in 1975 From 1995 through 1998, Fender Japan produced a vintage reissue featuring the 1963 model's Jaguar-style pickups and electronics.
In 2013, Fender released a Bass VI model as part of its Pawn Shop series. In line with the series' purpose to reconfigure classic Fender designs, this version of the Bass VI has a Jazzmaster-type humbucking bridge pickup and a Stratocaster-style five-position pickup selector, as opposed to separate switches.[3] There are three available colors: brown sunburst with a tortoiseshell pickguard, black with a tortoiseshell pickguard, and candy-apple red with a white pickguard and painted headstock.
Also in 2013, Squier released a Bass VI as part of the Vintage Modified series. This model was similar to the traditional Bass VI design with four switches (on/off for each pickup and a "strangle" (low-cut filter) switch) and a Jaguar-style control plate. It featured a synthetic bone nut, rosewood fingerboard until 2018, medium jumbo frets, chrome hardware, alnico custom single-coil Jaguar pickups with claw, and continued the trend set by the Squier Vintage Modified Jaguars and Jazzmasters of having a non-locking tremolo plate. It was available in three-color sunburst finish with 4-ply tortoiseshell pickguard, Olympic White with a brown tortoiseshell pickguard, and black with a white three-ply pickguard. In 2019, Squier released its Classic Vibe Bass VI, available in three-color sunburst and black, both with tortoiseshell pickguard. It has a slightly wider width at the nut than the Vintage Modified Bass VI (1.685" vs. 1.65"). The nut was upgraded to bone and the Indian laurel fretboard is equipped with narrow, tall frets. The pickup specs were changed to Fender-designed alnico single-coil pickups while retaining classic Jaguar claw shielding rings and the hardware was switched to nickel. The logo was also changed, from black to gold with black outline. Most of the other remaining features are similar to the Vintage Modified model.
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More Vintage Demos!
1956 Goldtop Gibson Les Paul: https://youtu.be/TwABcRi4spQ
1960 Sunburst Fender Telecaster Custom: https://youtu.be/huCF1rJJWG0
1964 Gretsch Country Gentleman: https://youtu.be/NhVBZGcaxhE
Gear used in this video:
- 1965 Fender Lake Placid Blue Bass VI
- 1968 Fender Super Reverb
- Strymon Riverside Multistage Drive
- Divine Noise Cables
Songs played in this video:
00:00 - 00:22: Back in the Saddle by Aerosmith
03:00 - 03:20: Pictures of You by the Cure
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