2012 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI, Sunburst

Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI in excellent condition with added Staytrem bridge and Whizzo Buzz Stop Roller.

The Fender Pawn Shop range debuted in 2011 and drew inspiration from the eccentric and sometimes wildly innovative Fender creations of the mid-'60s to mid-'70s era creating instruments that weren’t but could have been.

Star of the series for many was the Pawn Shop Bass VI, a take on the Fender Bass VI model that originally ran from 1961 to the mid-seventies and occupied its own special ground somewhere between a guitar and a bass. Tuned E to E like a guitar but an octave down, the Pawn Shop Bass VI takes the original formula of an offset body, a 30” scale neck with Jazzmaster-style Tremolo and updates it with two Fender Special design Jaguar pickups, a Special design humbucking Jazzmaster Pickup with five way switch for simple tonal variety.

The Instrument is in excellent condition, the rosewood fingerboard is nice and dark and the Sunburst is reminiscent of early ‘60s Fender examples. The pickguard mounted electronics are, unlike the original, intuitive to use and thanks to the Special design pickups sound great whether clean or driven. The Tremolo system works brilliantly especially with the addition of the Staytrem Bridge and saddles with the locking feature useful if using the instrument as a more conventional Bass. The neck is a comfortable C profile with 21 medium frets. Build quality is excellent throughout.

The Bass VI is an unusual but inspirational instrument that found favour with players as diverse as Jack Bruce, Jet Harris, Rick Danko, Robert Smith and Dan Auerbach. With original examples now commanding serious price tags and nothing directly comparable in the current Fender range, a pre-owned Pawn Shop Bass VI has become a good way to experience the seriously cool and quirky instrument.

This instrument comes with a Fender Gigbag.