Fender Pawn Shop VI 6-String Electric Bass, Rosewood Fingerboard with Gig Bag

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Years in the remaking, the six-string 2013 Fender Pawn Shop VI bass brings modern features to the original Fender Bass VI, a classic baritone guitar.

What's special about this item?

Feature: What it does:
Alder body Light weight with a wide tonal range
C-shaped neck profile Comfortable, rounded oval shape
Special Design Hot Jaguar pickups High-output single-coils with warmth and bite
JZHB humbucking pickup Thick overdriven tones with warm & clean overtones

Fender's Pawn Shop series is known for breeding eccentric, vintage-inspired axes, but with the Pawn Shop Bass VI, they've reached a new low. That's a good thing, however, because this updated version of a rare classic Fender uses bass strings and a longer neck scale for incredible low-end range.

Learn more with this zZounds exclusive video:


Big Body, Heavy Sounds

If you feel confused upon first seeing or playing the Bass VI, that's O.K. -- the guitar's alder body combines elements of a Jazzmaster and Stratocaster, but produces sounds neither model can. That's because attached to the body is a 30" scale maple neck cut in a "C" profile and topped with a rosewood fretboard. That added length comes in handy, because the guitar is strung with bass strings -- stock strings are .24-.84 gauge. This hybrid bass/baritone design makes for a guitar that can be played like a traditional six-string, but with a much more prominent low end and greater range of sounds available.

Pickups Made for Fuzz

Alt-rockers will delight upon noticing the pickup array on the Bass VI. It features two Special Design Hot Jaguar single-coil pickups in the middle and neck positions and a JZHB humbucker in the bridge -- an excellent combination for fuzzed-out, high gain tones.

When you want a clean sound, the single-coils offer the famous Fender bell-like tone while still maintaining clarity even through the deepest lows. Strat-style five-way switching is used to select between pickups and master read more volume and tone controls enable you to cut through the mix or stay in the background.

Tremolo Lets You Really Rumble

Adding to the Bass VI's vintage charm is its adjustable six-saddle bridge with floating vibrato tailpiece. You can create truly growling sounds by pulling up or down on the tremolo bar -- with a little chorus and a lot of gain, you may be inspired to start a shoegaze band of your own!

Features:

- Alder body
- 30" maple neck in "C" profile
- Rosewood fretboard
- Extra-thick strings (.24-.84 gauge)
- JHZB humbucker pickup (bridge)
- Special Design Hot Jaguar single coil pickups in neck and middle positions
- Five-way Strat-style pickup switching
- Master volume and master tone controls
- Vintage-style adjustable six-saddle bridge with floating tremolo
- Vintage-style tuners
- Deluxe gig bag included

Go deeper with the Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.
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- Series: Pawn Shop
- Body Material: Alder
- Body Finish: Polyester
- Neck: Maple, "C"-Shape
- Neck Finish: Urethane
- Fingerboard: Rosewood, 9.5" (24.1 cm) Radius
- Frets: 21, Medium Jumbo
- Scale Length: 30" (76.2 cm)
- Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)
- String Nut: Synthetic Bone
- Pickups: JZHB Humbucking (Bridge)
- Special Design Hot Jaguar Single-Coil (Middle and Neck)
- Pickup Configuration: H/S/S
- Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup, Position 3. Middle Pickup, Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup, Position 5. Neck Pickup
- Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone
- Control Knobs: Jazz Bass
- Bridge: Vintage-Style Adjustable 6-Saddle Bridge with "Floating" Tremolo Tailpiece
- Hardware: Nickel/Chrome
- Strings: D'Addario XL156 Nickel-Plated Steel, (.024, .034, .044, .056, .072, .084, Gauges)
- Tuning Machines: Vintage-Style
- Case/Gig Bag: Deluxe Gig Bag
- Pickguard: 3-Ply Parchment
- Other Features: Matching Painted Headstock

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-488-1818

Fender Pawn Shop VI 6-String Bass

Players continue to praise the Pawn Shop Series for evoking the more eccentric Fender creations of the mid-'60s to mid-'70s while delivering thoroughly modern sound and quality with a wealth of various Fender elements. The Pawn Shop Series introduces yet another pleasingly unconventional assortment of "guitars that never were but should have been," in which models take the stage and long-vanished classics return in modern form.

The Pawn Shop Bass VI marks the revamped return of a historic Fender instrument, the seldom-seen Fender Bass Guitar (also known as the Bass VI) of 1961-1975. This updated version of the baritone classic features the traditional short scale (30 inches) and is armed with Special Design Hot Jaguar single-coil neck and middle pickups and a powerful JZHB humbucking bridge pickup.

Other features include a "C"-shaped maple neck with 9.5 inch-radius rosewood fingerboard and 21 medium jumbo frets, five-way pickup switching, three-ply parchment pickguard two Jazz Bass control knobs (master volume, master tone), vintage-style adjustable six-saddle bridge with "floating" tremolo tailpiece, and vintage-style tuners.

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. (8 ratings)
Submitted February 19, 2013 by Cody Y in West Sacramento, CA

"If you need a VI, this is THE bass to get!"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
I've been looking for a Fender Bass VI for years. Living in a not-so-populated city, music shops never had one. I eventually resigned myself to buying a Schecter VI guitar when I finally heard Fender was reissuing these gems. I was FLIPPING OUT. I got the only one in the store here in town, and online orders are backed up like crazy. I spent all the time leading up to the purchase reading others' reviews, and I'm going to address some of the main issues people have with the Pawn Shop rendition of the Fender VI. The 5 position switch: This is a replacement for the individual pickup on/off switches that are on the original Fender VI and Fender Jaguar. While I do like this classic feature, the loss of the individual switches isn't so bad. All you're missing is the neck/bridge combination, and all 3 pickups at once. Honestly, yeah, I'd prefer the individual switches, but it's no deal breaker. The humbucking bridge pickup: The JZHB humbucker in the bridge looks seriously out of place. It's ugly, to put it gently. Not a fan of that looks. As for the sound... I honestly love it. It's kinda "honky", but it handles overdrive and distortion like a pro. In that regard, I love it! Also, if you roll off the tone knob and play with your fingers, using just the bridge pickup, you can get some decent bass tones that you'd expect from typical 4-string basses. Not bad. Ugly as sin, but sounds good to me. I'm not saying it'd be bad to replace it with a single coil to match the rest of the pickups, read more but only go to this effort if you HATE the tone you get from this pickup. Smaller string gauges: I never played an original Fender VI, nor have I ever played any other copies of this 6 string, 30" scale bass. That said, I've read that the Fender VI originally had significantly thicker E and A strings, with moderately thicker D-e strings. After playing the 84-26 set on this guitar (the D'addario set), I can say that I don't mind the change at all. I still get good bass response for my ears, and if you're using this bass for Robert Smith styled techniques (ambient chord fingerpicking), you're not going to be disappointed in the slightest. If you're using it as a bass like me, yeah, the bigger strings wouldn't hurt at all. But again, unless this is really a deal breaker to you, it's not worth upgrading the strings to a thicker gauge. Jazzmaster Vibrato: Just going to point this out really quick. The vibrato on the pawn Shop Fender VI is a locking vibrato. As in, it holds tune MUCH better than the original vibrato units used on the Fender VI. Yes, Fender forgot to use the most effective bridge piece, but the Jazzmaster vibrato and bridge unit are nice, and I actually like mine quite a bit. Intonation: It's TOUGH to make this thing intonate properly if you're not willing to the extra mile. But I have no doubts that it's possible. Mine is pretty dang close... Just got it recently, so I'm gonna work more on it later on. But yeah, it's a pain. Other misc. notes I can think of: -As far as how it feels, guitar vs bass.... it feels like a guitar. It's hard to adjust to thinking bass while playing it because it feels so much like a guitar. -This thing is heavy. Heavier than my Jazz Bass for sure. However, it balances nicely with a strap, no dive at all. -The only hum-cancelling positions are 1 (bridge only) and 4 (neck/middle). -If you're going to get thicker string gauges, you're going to have to work on the nut, due to the significant difference between the D'addario and Fender/La Bella string sizes. All in all, I'd recommend this guitar/bass highly. If you get a chance, TRY IT. If you can afford it, GET IT. Yeah, Schecter makes some nice Fender VI style copies, but this is as close to a real Fender VI as you'll get without paying well over $1,000. It's tricky, but once you tame this beast, it'll become your new best friend. Guitarists, consider this is you want to play bass or lower end material. Bassists, consider this if you want to play with more treble, or want to add that ambient, mysterious low-end chording to your mix. All in all, very happy customer right here. Can't wait to get off the computer and play this thing even more.

Musical Background:
Hobbyist, casual; rhythm guitar and bass

Musical Style:
rock, blues, indie, alternative, funk
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