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Gecko Custom Bass VI - Based on '62 Fender® Bass VI
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Fender® Bass VI Background |
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The Fender® Bass VI is sometimes referred to as a baritone guitar and sometimes as a six string bass guitar. It is fairly rare - 700-800 were made from 1961 to the early '70's. It is claimed that Leo Fender intended the Bass VI to be a bass and, with its extended upper range, a baritone guitar as well. Japanese reissues became available for a short while in the early 90s. Rumor has it that the Japanese broke the tooling for the original Bass VI bridge, which unlike the 1/2 inch saddle travel of the Jazzmaster bridge travel, has 1 full inch. Substance to the rumor is given by the Fender® Custom Shop's use of a Jazzmaster® bridge in their current run. Original tuners were also much more robust than those of any other Kluson type tuners used by Fender®, past or present. They lack the little indentation on the shaft, the shafts were thicker and the slot cut into the top was not there. Current Custom Shop models are using standard Kluson style tuners and there. Due to the way Fender lists the Bass VI on its website as a 30.3 scale guitar, there is a dispute as to whether it actually has the original 30.0 inch scale or the 30.3 inch scale used by the Japanese models. Originals necks had a 7.5 inch radius, with vintage (small) frets. With the prices of original Bass VIs through the roof, Japanese Reissues and the current Fender Custom Shop model are out of reach for most players. So, I decided to make one. I was lucky enough to get the 4-switch plate and the volume/tone/jack plate on eBay, but for quite a premium. This isn't going to be cheap, but much cheaper than a real one. Plus I get the fun of building something unique. November 25, 2007 Specs
The Beatles and the Bass VI. The Beatles Album, Let it Be, has both John and George playing the Bass VI at various points of the album.
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