| Revision as of 13:27, 10 March 2006 editTheGZeus (talk | contribs)1 edit More similar to the Jaguar than Jazzmaster, Whammy was never removed as a stock option. The Jazzmaster and jaguar, while similar are not part of a 'line'. John 5 uses one..← Previous edit | Revision as of 10:50, 14 March 2006 edit undo82.153.238.181 (talk) →PlayersNext edit → | ||
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| Years later, the Fender VI was embraced by ] from ]. Originally a guitarist, Smith uses the Fender VI as a lead instrument, playing phrases and even chords on it. The Fender VI can be heard on songs such as "Pictures of You" and "Lullaby". | Years later, the Fender VI was embraced by ] from ]. Originally a guitarist, Smith uses the Fender VI as a lead instrument, playing phrases and even chords on it. The Fender VI can be heard on songs such as "Pictures of You" and "Lullaby". | ||
| It was also used by ] of the band ], as a lead instrument (visible in the concert video "Getting Away With It" on the |
It was also used by ] of the band ], as a lead instrument (visible in the concert video "Getting Away With It" on the songs "Someone's Got It In For Me," "Getting Away With It," and "Vervacious"), and ] of ] as a regular bass. | ||
| ] from ] also used a Fender VI on their untitled CD. | ] from ] also used a Fender VI on their untitled CD. | ||
| During the infamous "Dont' touch it" scene of ] Nigel's extremely special guitar is actually an original foam green Fender VI. | During the infamous "Dont' touch it" scene of ] Nigel's extremely special guitar is actually an original foam green Fender VI. | ||
| It is the only bass John 5 plays on his solo works(though guest musicians often play their own). | It is the only bass John 5 plays on his solo works(though guest musicians often play their own). | ||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| * - Manufacturer's official site. | * - Manufacturer's official site. | ||
Revision as of 10:50, 14 March 2006
The Fender Bass VI, originally known as the Fender VI, is a six-string electric bass by Fender.
Model history
The Fender VI was released in 1961, and followed the concept of the Danelectro 6-string bass released in 1956, having six strings tuned E-E, an octave below the spanish guitar. Its other ancestor was the Fender Jazzmaster, with which it shared many styling and technical details. Its body and electrics so closely matched those of the Fender Jaguar, released the following year, that in all but name the Fender VI was the first model of the Jaguar line released.
It departed from the concept of the Fender Precision Bass not only in having six strings, but also in having a shorter scale and thinner strings.
The original issue had similar body, electrics and whammy bar to the Jaguar (released in 1958), but three pickups as opposed to two for the Jaguar. The third pickup was accommodated by using three pickup on-off switches rather than the more conventional three-position switch. Later a fourth bass cut (strangle) switch was added.
Like the Jaguar, the Fender VI had a pronounced curve for such a wide fingerboard, which made them all tricky instruments to set up without buzzes, and required some adjustment of playing technique. The electrics and extra strings were ideal for a soloist, but in the 1960s few electric bass players played solos. The close string spacing and light strings might have made guitarists more comfortable, but were an annoyance to string bass players.
For whatever reason, the Bass VI never caught on to the extent that the four string Precision Bass and its derivatives did, even among surf music and country and western bands for which its tone colours would have seemed ideal.
The original Fender VI, along with the Jaguar and Jazzmaster, was discontinued in 1975.
In 2006, Fender reissued the original Bass VI as a custom-shop model. Based on the early-60s VI model, it has three single-coil pickups and identical electronics.
Related Instruments
In 2004, Fender issued the Fender Jaguar Baritone Custom (later renamed "Jaguar Bass VI Custom"), which is more or less a combination of the Bass VI and the Fender Jaguar. The Jaguar Baritone Custom uses the same string gauges and tuning as the Bass VI, but differs in that it has a Jaguar-shaped body, two pickups with Jaguar-style switching options, a fixed bridge, no whammy and a shorter 28.5" scale length.
Specifications
- Solid body (alder) fretted electric bass guitar, 6 strings in 6 courses tuned E-A-D-G-B-E an octave below the normal guitar tuning.
- Scale length 30” / 762 mm (as opposed to 34” / 864 mm for the Jazz and Precision basses)
- Curved fingerboard (rosewood), radius 7.25” / 184 mm, 21 frets
- Standard strings .095 .075 .055 .045 .035 .025 inches, Fender stainless steel, P/N 073-5350-000.
- Fender floating tremolo arm.
Electrics
All passive electrics, with three single pole magnetic pickups. There were two different types of pickups used on different models: Early models had three Stratocaster type pickups which were mounted in special chrome rings and were controled with three slider switches. Later, Jaguar type pickups were used, and a bass-cut switch was added to the controls.
- Three pickup on/off slider switches.
- Tone control slider switch (bass cutoff, also known as "strangle") (not on very early models).
- Volume control potentiometer.
- Tone control (treble cutoff) potentiometer.
Tremolo arm
The tremolo arm was the "floating" type with a locking device. This mechanism was developed for the Fender Jazzmaster, and also used on the Fender Jaguar. It was more elaborate than the synchronised tremolo of the earlier Fender Stratocaster, and was claimed by Fender to be superior, but it failed to achieve the same popularity. Unlike the synchronised tremolo, it was rarely copied by other makers, and disappeared from the Fender catalogue with the withdrawal of the Jaguar line in the 1970s. It has since appeared mainly on Fender reissues.
Players
The most famous exponent remains legendary bassist Jack Bruce of Cream. John Entwistle of The Who also played one briefly in the early '60's.
A Fender VI can also be seen on Beatles' videos for "Hey Jude", "Let it Be", and "The Long and Winding Road". It was played by both George Harrison ("Hey Jude"- though Paul McCartney played bass on the single version) and John Lennon ("Let It Be", "The Long and Winding Road") when the band's bass player, McCartney, played piano.
Peter Green made extensive use of the Fender VI as a solo instrument during his live performances of 'The Green Manalishi' with Fleetwood Mac from 1969-1970, and also as a session musician with Duster Bennett (AKA 'Peter Blue') and Peter Bardens, among others.
Years later, the Fender VI was embraced by Robert Smith from The Cure. Originally a guitarist, Smith uses the Fender VI as a lead instrument, playing phrases and even chords on it. The Fender VI can be heard on songs such as "Pictures of You" and "Lullaby".
It was also used by Saul Davies of the band James, as a lead instrument (visible in the concert video "Getting Away With It" on the songs "Someone's Got It In For Me," "Getting Away With It," and "Vervacious"), and Stefan Olsdal of Placebo as a regular bass. Mark Hoppus from blink-182 also used a Fender VI on their untitled CD. During the infamous "Dont' touch it" scene of Spinal Tap Nigel's extremely special guitar is actually an original foam green Fender VI.
It is the only bass John 5 plays on his solo works(though guest musicians often play their own).
External links
- Fender - Manufacturer's official site.
- History of the Jazzmaster and Jaguar lines, including the Fender VI.
- Unofficial Danelectro page, showing their 1957 model six-string bass.
- The Fender Discussion Page - An online community and information source.