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Heartfield


paul h
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I remember them and thought they looked cool - wasn't that Fender's first unofficial 6 string bass or did they just do a 5?

There was a review in Guitarist that must've been about 1988. i think I still have it. I kept a small selection of the first ones I bought in a Guitarist binder

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've got a Heartfield DR5 and if I could lay my hands on another one I'd have it as a back up acn't give a better recommendation than that

Great balance, good heft and huge sustain (I have to stop them ringing on)

Pick ups are a little quiet and battery life is appalling (1 duracell per gig)

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I can tell you Heartfield started as a Fujigen Gakki R&D project, it wasn't initially anything to do with Fender. However, Fender's attempts to introduce more modern instruments under their own name had failed consistently, so they subsequently adopted the Heartfield brand (designed in partnership with & built by Fujigen) as a vehicle for bringing less traditional designs to market.

Dunno owt about Heartfield basses though. Anything interesting?

Jon.

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[quote name='Delberthot' post='1090609' date='Jan 15 2011, 04:39 PM']There was a review in Guitarist that must've been about 1988. i think I still have it. I kept a small selection of the first ones I bought in a Guitarist binder[/quote]

If that was a guitar, I may have reviewed it. Single slanted humbucker, pushbutton distortion. I enjoyed it. It was like a nu-metal LP Jr. The basses didn't leave much of an impression on me... lightweight Ibanez-styled stuff.

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[quote name='gafbass02' post='1109013' date='Jan 31 2011, 07:51 AM']How funny. I was going to start the exact same thread yesterday afternoon but got sidetracked?!!? WTF is that all about. ?!
Musta been something on tv or something subliminal :0)[/quote]

Great minds and all that. I have no idea why I thought of them either. As you say I must have been watching a program about field based heart surgery or something.

:)

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[quote name='Bassassin' post='1109250' date='Jan 31 2011, 11:47 AM']The basses look quite generic early 90s Japanese - very Ibby Soundgear/Tune Bass Maniac-esque.[/quote]
Not even taken the time to look at the site, but seem to remember the designs were ripoffs of the Yamaha TRB (with a nod to Ken Smith) and RBX (with a nod to Guild's Pilot).

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  • 3 years later...

There was some Fender involvement although I understand they all came out of the heartfeld factory in Japan, there was a 3 or 4 year run in the 90's with Fender Labelling. I have such a one.

It's a Fender Prophecy III bubinga wood and Maple skunk stripe through-neck. It feels amazing with a nice slender Jazz neck, it looks very ninties mainly due to the heartfeld shaped 2 and 2 headstock. It sounds exactly like a nineties active Fender PJ Special, because that's what the Electronics are. So that makes it a little drivey and crystaline and glassy sounding for most Fender fans.

So overall I think it's NOT a bad bass, but it's definitely not a vintage sounding thing. Maybe better for Pop, Metal, and Contemporary Jazz.

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  • 7 years later...

Here is mine.

 

The DR-6C (custom version, their deluxe model).  
 

7A4B9D82-5A62-44DC-A73B-0D99C02BA5E9.thumb.jpeg.e3a19f922cada7920a48e7cef97df5aa.jpeg
 

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The actual last one they made in 1992.
 

They were made with and without the Fender logo (that was located between the tuners) at the same time. 
 

The Fender logo ones being quite rare according to Steve Bailey (the fretless DR-6 was his main bass until he signed with  Aria).

 

They were released in 1988, just before the TRB line cale out (approx 1 year appart), so I wouldn’t call them a ripoff.
 

They are also a bit lighter, have a shallower fretboard, an easier to reach battery compartiment, and have more playable frets near the body.


Speaking of the fretboard, it has a a full layer of carbon underneath it, that covers the top of the headstock too. 


They also have a Low-Z xlr output for direct recording/live purposes without the need for a D.I.

 

Unfortunately my bass has the xlr disconnected because the first owner changed the pre-amp (and updated the tuners to Hipshot Ultralite models). 
 

I’m planning on having it re-connected, and have the switch work as a mute switch.

Edited by musiqman
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