| Reviewer | Dan Basica (too many years to remember!) |
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Model | Bass VI (1965) |
| Price | Too much |
| Neck Type | Maple bolt-on |
| Fingerboard | Rosewood, clay dots |
| Body Type | solid body, looks like a Fender Jaguar |
| Finish | Candy Apple Red, with matching headstock |
| Pickup(s) | 3 passive single coils |
| Controls | Master vol and tone, switch for each pickup, overall tone switch |
I lusted after one of these for a long time. Had a reissue for a while, but it had many quirks (that's another story). This is a really unique instrument; you can use it as a bass or a guitar or both. I like to use it to play bass lines with the occasional chord or harmonic fill. The floating tremelo adds to the effect (think Twin Peaks).
I experimented with different strings to get a good low E sound, and ended up with an Alembic compression wound 105. The rest are the D'Addario set specifically for the Bass VI (though I'm planning on changing the top 3 string to a lighter guage).
There are many usable tones, though I like the middle and bridge pickup combined the best. Adding the neck pickup boosts the low end but kills the harmonics, which IMHO ruins the effects you can do with this bass.
This is certainly not an instrument that you'd use on every song, but for those special songs it works great. This is a bass I'll keep and pass on to my kids.
| Construction | 80% | 
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| Playability | 75% |
|
| (action is high, I need to have it worked on) | ||
| Appearance | 90% |
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| Sound | 95% |
|
| (when used appropriately) | ||
| Value | 60% |
|
| (originals are pricey, but reissues don't cut it) | ||
| Overall | 90% |
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