BassAgent

Isn't it great to have a child's toy that sounds thát good?😎

I wouldn't count on it. Fender hasn't even officially announced it.

Looks like a spam bot?

I'm not surprised.

So apparently, Fender is going to announce a new Vintera series later this year. With this time: -Competition stripe Mustangs -LPB Jazz -Telecaster Bass -VI And: the reintroduction of rosewood instead of pao ferro. https://guitarbomb.com/2023/07/22/leak-fender-vintera-ii-series-is-back-with-rosewood-fretboards/

That is absolutely one hundred percent Hal Blaine.

Nijmegen, so if you start driving now you might make it😁

Quite bodyshaming that.

Alright let's not derail this thread any further (although I really enjoy all the VI talk). I'm going to take the 1970 Jazz to a gig tomorrow and the 1966 Jazz as a backup. I've never taken two vintage Jazzes to a gig (because I've always only had one) so I feel pretty fortunate.

Actually pretty surprised that many here seem to think it's a surprise that a guitar player plays bass now and then. Really, is it surprising that Hendrix or Page played bass? Now, this was a surprise to me a few years back. Adele plays bass!

I just had a visit from the owner of the VI. He told me the instrument probably hasn't had any strings since about 1985, so I was the first person to play and hear it in almost 40 years🤩 His face when I played it was absolutely priceless. He ultimately wants to sell it, so I'll be selling it in a while, he's waiting with it for a bit due to personal circumstances. But man, was he happy. And so am I.

Yeah but "Entwistle had one too" is a phrase you can use with practically any bass.😎

Yes, the VI. It's literally a bass guitar: tuned like a guitar (EADGBE) but an octave lower. You can still buy a Squier reissue model of this instrument, Fender also made a Japanese reissue and a Pawn Shop version (with a Jazzmaster pickup in the bridge position). The Beatles used a late 60's VI on the Let It Be sessions:

It's finally finished. The early 1963 VI I've been restoring for the last few months. It belonged to the owner's father and had been in the owner's attic in this crappy old gigbag for the last 20 years or so, with no strings. The bridge had disappeared, the foam on the mute had perished and I had no idea if the neck was still okay and if the electronics were still working. The body also looks like it had been suffering some mild moisture damage, so I was wondering if it had affected the hardware. So at first I cleaned it, bought a bridge and strung it up; very carefully, because I didn't know what the neck would behave like after such a long time without any strings. Would it warp? Become a bow and arrow? No idea, so I gradually applied tension to it, a little bit extra every day for about a week. And lo and behold: the neck held perfectly fine. The tremolo works. Two out of three pickups worked. The pots and switches are fine. Only thing that didn't work is the neck pickup, which had to be rewound. And last week, it was finally finished. Well, almost. I haven't bought the foam for the mute yet; it's pretty hard to come by here in NL and I'm paying half of the purchase price in shipping if I get it from Germany. The owner is coming by tonight to see it in the shape it is now. He hasn't seen it since november so I'm very curious about his reaction. And now: photos of this very special instrument!

Eight!

It most definitely is!

This is absolutely perfect. The checking, the colour, the birdseye in the neck, everything.

Of course, same goes for the Dutch flag. But this particular flag was carried by a nation that specifically fought for the rights of slave owners, and against the freedom of enslaved people. Also, today it's being carried by multiple groups on the far right.

Oh yeah totally agreed, a new set of strings is standard, on any bass (except brand new). The bridge sucks because it has the wrong screws and tie saddles are not tightly secured enough (they're movable). My repair guy already straightened out the neck so the alignment issue is gone I might still install a threaded saddle bridge to make the alignment even better, though.

It plays okay but I've had a chat with a few fellow bass players and well seated frets really enhance the sound.

Well, that turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment: I just took the bass to my regular repair guy to have the grounding issue fixed; he looked over the bass and found a few minor issues (the bridge sucks, I already knew that, the strings are two separate sets, I knew that, the neck needs a shim, didn't know that but no biggie) and one major one: the frets need replacement. There is, as he put it, "air under the frets". I've contacted the seller about this but he's not willing to compensate me in any way. I already paid quite a high price for this bass but now I know this I'm actually pretty bummed out.

Yeah that's what I thought when I hit "Submit" so I edited it into another snarky comment

Well, if that was true, me being a Dutchie probably wouldn't care too much either.

Well, at the end of the day a paint scheme would dictate my ability to take a bass on stage and enjoy it to the fullest. Plus, with a paintjob like that, I think it's just as important that other people, whose family or other people they know have been affected by the politics behind this particular flag, are bothered by these looks.

Yeah I feel the same and probably wouldn't have bought it because of that. Are you planning on having it refinished?